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