Every moment of the day opportunities get thrown in your face. When this happens you have three possible outcomes:

#1: The opportunity can slip right by you without you even noticing it was in front of your face.

This is a sure sign that you believe you have to work hard at creating what you want in your life and that you expect solutions to show up in your life looking a certain way. Unfortunately, opportunities tend to show up in your life in ways you had never imagined so when these unrecognizable miracles appear, you miss them completely.

#2: You can recognize the opportunity but decide not to take advantage of it because you are unsure of the next course of action.

This is a sure sign that you are more concerned about "looking good" than you are with "taking action." Sometimes you just have to be gutsy and take action that really pushes you out of your comfort zone in order to obtain the reward. It means you could potentially make a fool out of yourself, you could enter into unknown territory or you could really be taking a risk and possibly make a mistake. So while those successful people around you are taking action and being willing to be uncomfortable, you are still playing it safe in your life with moderate or no success.

#3: You can recognize the opportunity and take action and turn it into a tangible benefit for your life. Congratulations. You have your eyes wide open and realize that the rewards come to those who take action immediately when an opportunity presents itself…even if it means entering into unknown territory.

Last week I spoke at the Maximizing Success Passive Income Conference in Phoenix. I was looking forward to seeing the other speakers and was determined to capture nuggets of wisdom that would help my business. The first speaker of the conference was Jack Canfield. While I was busy taking copious notes from Jack's informative presentation, a man walked into the room and sat next to me. His name is Armand Morin.

If you have ever studied anything about marketing on the internet, then Armand's name has crossed your path. If you aren't already on his mailing list, then you have heard his name mentioned by just about every successful internet marketer on the planet. There are many millionaire internet marketers who could directly attribute their success to Armand's information or personal guidance.

I, myself, have been on Armand's list for a few years and avidly soak up his advice, but I have never had the pleasure before to see him speak or meet him personally. So there he was sitting next to me listening to Jack Canfield talk at the front of the room. I had three options. I could sit there quietly and let the moment slip by. I could introduce myself or I could create an opportunity. I decided to do number three.

But I had an inner challenge. Everyday millions of people around the globe get advice online from Armand and here he was in the flesh sitting next to me. He's a self made multi-millionaire that people pay thousands of dollars every year to capture his wisdom. What could I possibly say to this man that would leave a favorable impression that he would remember me, while at the same time make a meaningful connection.

Here was my simple solution. I introduced myself and told him that I had been an avid follower. That was the first step in taking action. Probably the same step that thousands of people take everyday in their effort to meet Armand. Then I took the second step. I entered into a simple, honest, genuine dialogue with him to establish rapport. Fortunately, Armand is a really genuine, honest and generous man… so the conversation was easy. Then I took the third step. I asked Armand if he would be willing to give me an interview about his rise to success for the value of my subscribers.

Now, Armand could have said "NO." I imagine someone as busy as Armand has plenty to do then to give away his time and wisdom for free to someone he just met. He had no idea if I would really write this article. He didn't ask me how many subscribers I had on my list. Instead he agreed to give me a fifteen minute interview and share his knowledge.

Before I tell you the rest of the story, I beg you not to call up Armand or e-mail him and request his valuable time for free. I want to honor Armand's generosity by passing on to you the wisdom he was so kind to impart in our meeting together. Sitting with Armand listening to him share his personal story was enlightening, inspiring and incredibly valuable. He has a quiet air of confidence and authority that is complimented by his genuineness, willingness to share and belief that anyone can achieve true success very quickly.

Since this impromptu interview was an unplanned event, I wasn't carrying a tape recorder. So this article is a paraphrase of the essence of his nuggets of wisdom along with my editorial comments.

Debbie: How did you get your start building businesses on the internet?

Armand: In 1996 I sold my long distance company for millions of dollars worth of stock that unfortunately is worth very little today. I was looking for my next opportunity and decided to explore the internet. Although the internet was in its relative infancy, I had listened to Bill Gates who said the internet would be the best way to make money in the future. So I started exploring the internet. I spent about three weeks figuring out how the internet worked and how to develop a website. In my search I found an interesting website. On this website you could list a link to your website for a fee of $25. I liked that model and decided to try the same type of service.

So I built a website with the same offer. You could list your website on my website for a fee of $25. I put a small classified ad on AOL and in a short amount of time collected $8000 in sales. That is when I realized there was real money making opportunity on the internet.

Then I launched my second online business in 1997. While I was busy surfing the net I found dozens of websites that offered free information. So I decided to compile a list of all these free sites and sold a subscription for $110 a year to access this website. Then I developed an affiliate program to promote this subscription and signed on many affiliate partners. In 12 weeks I had sold 35,000 subscriptions and generated 4.2 million dollars in sales.

Unfortunately, my merchant bank was concerned that I passed through too much money in sales in a short amount of time and they closed my merchant account and held onto half of my sales money. The merchant company was afraid that customers might want their money back and ask for refunds, so they held onto 2 million dollars and put it in an escrow account. I had to pay my affiliates commission on their sales which accounted for the first 2 million dollars. And then the bank was holding onto the other 2 million dollars of my money.

Debbie: Did anyone ask for their money back?

Armand: No. No one asked for a refund. But the bank held onto my money for six months.

Debbie: So what did you do next?

Armand: At that point I spotted another opportunity. I wrote an e-book on how to take payments online without using a merchant account. And I also discovered there was really no software on the market to create e-books. So I hired someone to create a software program that generates e-books called e-book generator.

Over the next few years, I kept trying new websites and offering new products online and testing everything to see what worked and what didn't work.

Debbie: While you were busy testing new products and making money online, were you communicating with other successful internet marketers to see what they were doing?

Armand: No, there was really only a handful of internet marketers who were making a lot of money online and we didn't start communicating with each other until 2001. In 2001 we all met at Ron LeGrand's internet marketing seminar.

Debbie: What would you say was a defining moment in your life?

Armand: A definite defining moment in my life was going to that internet marketing seminar in 2001 and meeting other successful internet marketers. I was already successful when we met, but meeting these other people presented so many more opportunities.

Debbie: What quick valuable internet marketing tips can you pass on that anyone can easily implement?

Armand: Communicate frequently with your list. Right from the start, as soon as someone signs up on your list start e-mailing them. Train your list what to expect from you right from the start. Your dialogue should reflect your personality. Be consistent in the format of your messages.

I have discovered my own formula for success with my e-mails. All my e-mails are less than 100 words in text format. In every e-mail I mention the same link three times to whichever website I want people to go to. Text e-mails are the best because they have a better chance of getting past spam filters and they look symmetrical in format. The only purpose of my e-mails is to drive traffic to a specific website.

Debbie: What do you think is the next big thing to hit the internet? What is the wave of the future?

Armand: Video is the next big thing on the internet. Full motion video will be replacing websites and sales pages so that you will now see more infomercials online instead of the written word.

E-mail will change dramatically. E-mail over the internet will be replaced by RSS feed and will be 100% permission based. We are already beginning to see some e-mail providers charging for e-mails which will force RSS feed to become more widely accepted.

MP3 files will also change and become password protected so that MP3 files can not be shared and passed along. Every MP3 file will be coded to a central database so that someone knows how often it is played and who opened the file.

All technology will be completely integrated including your phone, TV, clothes, car and cell phone.

Debbie: What four things do you think contributed to your success?

Armand:

#1: I am always prepared for any opportunity so when it becomes available I act upon it.
#2: I make decisions quickly so that when an opportunity arises I take action.
#3: I don't sit on my ideas. When I think of an idea I act upon it right away.
#4: I am willing to put it all on the line with the possibility that something might fail. I have failed with some of my ideas and I keep moving forward and am willing to try new ones.

Debbie: What advice would you give someone just starting in business?

Armand: Just take action! No idea is a stupid idea. Act upon your ideas and then take the time to validate that they will work or fix what doesn't work.

Armand and I chatted for more than 15 minutes. You can tell that the internet is what he knows and he is serious about continuing to offer new products into the marketplace to help you be more effective and successful in your business. I am so glad that I acted upon an opportunity and took action by asking Armand for an interview. And I will forever be grateful to Armand for giving me his time and personal attention. That will go down as another defining moment in my life.

©2006, Debbie Bermont. All rights reserved.

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