Everyone has heard inspirational and motivational speakers mention the power of persistence or the importance of perseverance, but how many of us have considered exactly what those terms "persistence" and "perseverance" really mean to us, owners of top online or web-based businesses.

Consulting a dictionary or a reference site will give us the following:

Persistence: Noun

1. The act or fact of persisting

2. The quality of being persistent: You have persistence, I'll say that for you.

3. Continued existence or occurrence: the persistence of smallpox

4. The continuance of an effect after its cause is eliminated

Perseverance: Noun

1. Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc, esp. in spite of difficulty

2. Theology/ continuance in a state of grace to the end leading to eternal salvation.

However, these do not give us the sense of power that scholars and visionaries have seen in these simple words and the importance of the qualities that are inherent in application.

These synonyms are self explanatory and pertinent to our industry:

Perseverance is constancy and continuance.

Perseverance is dedication, diligence, determination and drive.

Perseverance is endurance.

Perseverance is patience, and resolve.

Perseverance is doggedness, guts, stamina, and tenacity.

Perseverance is never never ever giving up.

Perseverance is getting back on the bike you fell off

Perseverance is hard work and persistence.

Perseverance is getting up after falling on your a$S, and trying again.

The late great Jim Rohn said it also in one of his speeches:"Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you're signed up for a season, see it through. You don't have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through."

One of the most consistent of his messages is:" Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals."

One of the pitfalls of persistence and perseverance is mistaking either for repetition. Albert Einstein said it best "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

Guard yourself from this. If you are doing something in your business that is not working for you, stop and evaluate what you are doing - if there is a problem, change something and check the results again. If it is still not working, change it again, and keep changing it until it works. But do NOT give up.

You will find this surprisingly effective; the secret is to document the changes and the results to facilitate proper analysis.

History if full of stories of people who failed and failed and failed again. Then, finally they succeed. If you know the name of Edison you will understand. If you don't, do yourself a favor and Google him....

If you persist, in the end you WILL succeed...