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29 September 2009, 00:21
Michael Angier builds business by helping others build their
South Burlington company sells success
By Matt Sutkoski • Free Press Staff Writer • Monday, September 28, 2009
SOUTH BURLINGTON — Michael Angier is optimistic.
It’s all there on his Web site, SuccessNet.org, which is packed with information on how to become a success in business and in life.
The site oozes with ideas for success, how to win solid profits in a principle-driven business. Discover your life’s purpose. Get your book published in 60 days or less.
Angier says he makes a comfortable living, and greatly enjoys his job, offering memberships and subscriptions to his site for clients worldwide.
Not bad for a man who says his own success rose from the ashes of failures.
Angier grew up on Addison County farm land, raised hogs, and eventually established the Vermont Meat Packing Co. This was in the days before the interest in local food, and the prematurity of his business contributed to the venture’s death, he said. He moved on to found Creating Excellence magazine. “We did well right up until the recession,” he said. Money got tight, advertising diminished, and the publication fell victim to overhead costs and folded around 1991.
By 1996, he’d created Success Networks International and its flagship Web site SuccessNet.org, an early entry into online publishing. On this attempt, the timing was right. People were being drawn to the Internet, interest in small business was rising, and Angier discovered he could run a business online with little overhead, a problem that sank Creating Excellence.
Overall, Angier says people must continually strive to move forward, no matter the circumstances. In one of his blog posts he writes: “I didn’t give up, although I wanted to. Instead, I recommitted and went back to the basics.”
He described those basics as follows: “Get clear on what you want, why you want it, stay focused and take consistent actions toward your goals. You will succeed. And you’ll have a lot of fun along the way.”
SuccessNet helps mostly small-business owners find ways to focus, move forward and make their enterprises thrive, Angier said. The site offers plenty of free advice, but people can also buy memberships and subscriptions to receive additional help. That’s how Angier makes his income from SuccessNet, which has about 97,000 subscribers. Basic memberships cost $17 and “gold” subscriptions cost $99. He also sells his books and other publications online.
There is an element of nuts-and-bolts practical advice sprinkled throughout SuccessNet, but the site largely offers lessons in business and life philosophy. “What we look to do is work on principals of business rather than strategies and tactics,” Angier said.
Angier, who runs SuccessNet out of a basement office in his South Burlington home, calls himself the Chief Inspiration Officer. “People need to be inspired, especially people who work at home who need stimulation from outside.”
One feature of SuccessNet that people can buy is a way to meet up with other business owners, in what Angier calls Master Mind Teams. Angier facilitates online meetings between five subscribers who bounce ideas off one another, share tips, offer support and ask questions.
Angier is also organizing a SuccessNet Summit in Dallas on Nov. 6-8. He has a variety of business experts, coaches, authors and entrepreneurs lined up to give talks. He held a similar summit in Burlington last year. He said such meetings help people make connections, more so than is possible online.
Angier said making money is fine, and he encourages people to find ways to do it. But it has to be done in an authentic way, he says. That enhances the chances the business will last, and also makes running the business more satisfying, he said.
The authenticity Angier prescribes is in large part a plea for basic honesty and truthworthiness. Many businesses proclaim they can be trusted. “A lot of it is probably lip service. They’re looking for ways to stand out.
“If you say ‘We’re the company you can trust,’ you have to back it up. A lot of companies don’t do that.”
He said, in general, businesses owned by women have better odds of surviving than those owned by men. “Women have higher success rates than men. They bring a little humanity to the table.”
Every business needs a vision statement, Angier said. He said the vision should be somewhat unrealistic, painting an idealized picture of what the business will look like when it reaches its ultimate success.
“Your vision statement should be your best possible outcome,” he writes. “Remember that the purpose of your vision statement is to inspire, motivate and stimulate creativity.”
Angier said much of what he does stems from his voracious reading habits. Angier said his eldest son, a successful stock analyst, told him he remembered Angier’s remark from years earlier: “Leaders are readers,” he said.
“I read a fair amount and I subscribe to certain blogs,” he said. “Reading is kind of a catalyst for thinking.” From there, he thinks about how what he reads can be applied to business success. “I’m pretty good at connecting the dots.”
His passion for reading has translated into books for others to read. He has written such publications as “101 Best Ways to Be Your Best” and “101 Best Ways to Get Ahead.” Another book, “Growing You and Your Business,” is due early next year. He said he’s published about 1,500 articles and operates more than a dozen Web sites beyond the core SuccessNet.
The Internet has made it possible for anyone to easily start a business, but such Web-based businesses can be isolating, Angier said. SuccessNet aims to combat that isolation by connecting people with each other, and new ideas.
Internet and business possibilities are not endless, he said. He counsels business owners and would-be entrepreneurs to figure out how to marry whichever of their passions can work together, and maybe not purse some that can’t be part of the business.
“You can achieve anything you want, but not everything,” he said.
Angier said he has achieved the satisfaction he urges others to find. “Eighty-five percent of what I do, I’d do for nothing,” he said.
Contact Matt Sutkoski at 660-1846 or msutkosk@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.
ENJOY!
Margarita Nomeikiene
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