In a very special All Star baseball game, my son, Karl
was selected to play against an All Star team from Japan.
This game featured a team of the best players from south -
western Pennsylvania to play against a team of the best players
from Japan. The game kicked off the 2001 Pony League
World Series.
Our team had so many pitchers that each boy was allowed
to throw 1 inning. Karl pitched the 6th inning for us and was
the only pitcher the team from Japan didn't score on.
Of course our boys lost the game to an almost professional
team, but it was a wonderful experience for all. Quite an
honor just to be chosen and it was a day they will remember
for the rest of their lives.
There was a reason why Karl was chosen. He had proven
himself to be a very good ball player in our previous All
Star tournament play. At the plate he had a batting average
of.400 and he was our team's leading pitcher giving up
only 2 earned runs with an Earned Run Average of 1.08.
Pitching in the regular season he gave up a grand total of 2 hits
the entire season and allowed zero earned runs to cross the
plate. For the last 3 years almost 75% of the batters he
has gotten out have come from strikeouts.
But, this article is not about his accomplishments, it is about
the struggles and hard work he went through to get there.
Friends, as a baseball coach I want you to know this:
Baseball players are made - not born.
As an online marketer, I want you to know this: Online
marketers are made - not born.
Back when Karl was 9, he had a great desire to become
a pitcher. We set up a special area in our barn where we
could practice. Every night we would be out there
working for endless hours on his throwing mechanics. He
threw me thousands upon thousands of pitches and we
learned from every pitch.
During the day we would go to the local batting cage where
I would throw him pitches until my arm was about to fall off.
Then back home to the barn where we would hit the ball
off a batting tee.
Many times after Little League games we would go home
and practice till midnight. We got his batting mechanics perfect,
we got his pitching mechanics perfect. He can now throw
strikes blindfolded.
It sure didn't start out that way. We worked through failure
after failure and a lot of discouragement. But as you can see,
our persistence has paid off big time for him.
We constantly worked on the mental aspect of the game.
He knows how to set up hitters, pitch to their weaknesses
and most importantly forget the bad events that happen
during a game and go on with what he wants to get done.
Becoming a successful online marketer is really no different
than what I've just outlined.
If you want to be an All Star marketer, you simply need
to have the desire, practice your art, get your marketing
mechanics down pat, learn from your failures, and never
give in to those discouraging events that we all face.
The local paper ran an article on the game with Japan,
you can read it online at:
http://www.observer-reporter.com/284682920866256.bsp
About the Author
Dave Cole
Editor/Publisher
Prosperity: The Choice Is Yours
http://choosetoprosper.com