Here’s a secret working Internet information marketers all know that newbies don’t: you will know within the first 10 minutes whether your e-mail marketing message for that day is going to be a winner or a loser.

For instance, let’s say, for your list, your successful e-mails generate, on average, 50 to 100 orders within 48 hours.

If an e-mail is going to be successful, you will get 5% to 7% of your orders within 10 minutes or so after you distribute the e-mail to your list.

Therefore, if you check your e-mail 10 minutes after the e-mail distributes, and you find half a dozen or so orders have come in right away, the e-mail blast is going to produce nice sales.

On the other hand, if 10 to 15 minutes pass and you have no orders … or just one or two orders … it will probably be a bomb.

Every e-mail marketer looks for a “mini-flood” — a group of immediate orders — a few minutes after distributing the e-mail.

We know if there’s a half a dozen orders we’re all right, but if there is none or one, we’re going to take a bath that day.

Nobody writes about this, as far as I can see, but everyone I talk with acknowledges it is so.

Have you had similar experience? Or are early orders not a real indicator in your business?

As it happens, I know a lot of rich people ? a slew of hard-driving individuals whose wealth and accomplishments put the rest of the population to shame.

I?ve also spent a lot of my life ? too much, in fact ? comparing myself to them ? and of course, coming up short.

So I?m not going to do it any more.

And you neither should you.

If you judge yourself only in comparison to others ? who they are, what they have, what they?ve done ? you can always find someone who outperforms you in any given area.

As Max Ehrlich observed in his 1923 essay Desiradata, ?There will always be those both greater and lesser than you.?

We obsess about those who are ?greater? ? and feel bad that we don?t measure up to their success and accomplishments.

Psychologists call this unhealthy obsession ?compare despair.?

So what can you do about it?

To begin with, stop comparing yourself to others ? because unless you?re Bill Gates, there?s always someone who makes more money than you.

Unless you?re George Clooney or Jessica Alba, there?s always someone either more famous ? or better looking ? or both.

So quit worrying about how you stack up against other people.

Instead, figure out what?s important to you ? helping others in need, writing good books or great copy, being a terrific parent, becoming a guru in your industry or market niche, building an Internet marketing business lucrative enough that you can quit your job, or giving your clients a level of service they can?t get anywhere else.

Then, when you know you?ve made the absolute best effort you can in pursuit of these objectives ? take a minute to feel good about yourself.

After all, you deserve it.

P.S. Am I a lone weirdo in the wilderness always comparing myself to those who are richer and more successful than I am? Or do you too ever indulge in “compare despair”?

I am often asked by aspiring authors, “What’s better — self publishing or traditional publishing — for getting my book published?”

Here are your choices today … and the pros and cons of each:

>> Traditional publishing (selling your book to a major NYC publishing house or smaller press) — has the most prestige … the least work for the author … no cost … my choice if you are writing books to promote yourself as an expert in your field.

>> Self-publishing — less prestige than mainstream publishing … cost can be moderate to considerable … higher profit margin per book sold … lots of work to produce and market the book … my choice if you are a speaker who needs a physical book for your speaker’s kit and a product to sell back of the room (BOR).

>> E-books — least prestigous of the 3 options … almost no cost … highest profit margin … can make a lot of money selling it online … my choice if your goal is maximum revenues and profits.

Here’s the secret: most successful authors and information marketers use a combination of all three options.

Which are you choosing for your first or next book … and why?