A handful of business success advisers, like Brian Tracy, have actually created, run and built succesful businesses - that is real businesses with real products or services, selling to real people to satisfy their real needs.  Most of the others have no skills or expertise beyond selling on the internet.

You may be interested to read the note (asking for his comments on this issue) that I sent to the leading professional in wealth creation, Rajiv Tewari of www.truewealth.in, based in Delhi, India; he is a member of the marketing and communications network group of LinkedIn - see the link below.

Dear Rajiv,

I was interested to see your site and wish you all continuing success.  May I raise a query with you which may also be causing you concern? 

My experience is that too much of the advice on the internet on how to be successful is from people who do nothing but sell advice on how to be successful.  Few, as far as I can find, have actually set up and run successfully a REAL business – that is a business that creates real products or services that are sold to real customers for real benefits.

Brian Tracy, who is quoted on your site, is an exception to this as he ran and built businesses before he became a professional adviser.  I hope it is fair to say that the major part of his more career success has come through selling advice on how to be successful and so may have views on the damage some are doing in the advisory area.  I endorse his views and the philosophies that he puts over but many others in the business do not have the depth of experience nor the practical approach to business that he brings to his advice.

Many offering advice (probably the majority on the internet and the conference/workshop advice circuit) are selling to people most of whom will never be able to convert this advice into anything useful.  How many people do they help to be happy or successful?  How many millionaires do they create? 

How can we separate those with real expertise from those selling an artificial dream to people who will never achieve it – and, selling this to people who often cannot afford the services that are so persuasively sold.  Much of the advice is largely obvious, even fatuous and probably of little help to most people. 

Business success needs more than an attitude of mind ... and few who could possibly be successful have everything that is needed, except for not having the right attitude of mind.  To be successful you have to be single minded, massively energetic, determined, persistent, creative, perceptive, obstinate and single minded. Also to be successful, people need to understand the market and have at least one great new idea for 'doing it better'.  This is something that I know Brian Tracy believes himself and stresses in his talks. 

From my own observations and in my own view, this criticism applies to most of the advice sold on the internet; this is weakening the whole wonderful 'access to information' concept.  The get-rich-quick-sector-selling-advice-on-how-to-get-rich-quick-to-other-people area will all collapse one day, leaving those activities of more integrity and value to get on with their good work.

I propose to review and discuss this issue both more broadly and across a wider arena so I would be pleased to hear your comments.  As I have referred in this note to Mr Tracy who has reputation, experience and integrity, I am copying this email to him as he may also want to give his view.  Should I get such comments from yourself and/or Mr Tracy, I will be happy to include them in any discussion.

Best wishes

Roger Haywood

Past chairman,

Chartered Institute of Marketing and Chartered Institute of Public Relations

Chief executive, strategic business advisers, Issues Managers

http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?start=&gid=105450&forumID=3&trk=anet_disc_post&goback=%2Eana_105450_1264364129388_3_1