Me & the Boss

Me & the Boss

Friday, September 28, 2007

software that builds unlimited niche article sites

Hi,  If you have already received the amazing software that builds unlimited niche article sites then you should be well on your way to building your Adsense empire!  Isn't the software absolutely Amazing? It should be a great feeling for you  now you will never have to worry about writing those articles ever again.  I'm quite sure you're business bottom line is already beginning to improve…  and it's only been one day!  If you have not had the chance yet to grab this "business building" software,  simply go to this link below and do that now…  http://www.privatelabelnichearticlesmonthly.com?rid=550  Once you've had the chance to install this script, you Will see how easy it  is to save hundreds of hours writing unique articles and put you Adsense building  business into action.  You'll understand what I mean as soon as you start to use this software. For  others, this time saving technique is so critical and powerful that it has  completely changed their business.  I'll give you some time to read through all the information provided, and we'll  talk in the next few days.  Again, if you missed the chance to take advantage of this amazing software, you  can get it now by going to this link here:  http://www.privatelabelnichearticlesmonthly.com?rid=550   I'll see you in the next few days and we'll go over some more critical information.  Best Regards,  phil 

powerful new tool

Hi there,  phil here with a brief note today on a very powerful new tool I have found that will finally make your article rewriting chores a breeze.  I have never recommended any of the more popular high priced PLR article sites. Mainly because they were either a royal pain in the behind to edit all their articles to make them unique, or the articles they produced, sucked.  Well, that has changed, on both fronts today.  Finally, there is a tool that allows you to take one seed article and in a matter of a half hour or so, spin it into hundreds of thousands fresh, unique,  search engine friendly and most importantly, reader friendly articles.  As usual, I won't bore you with the details here, I'll let you watch a quick powerful video to decide if this tool is for you.  http://www.privatelabelnichearticlesmonthly.com?rid=550   After you watch the video and decide that this is something you want to add to your tool set, head on over here right away:  http://www.privatelabelnichearticlesmonthly.com?rid=550  Warmly,  phil

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Have you ever wanted to work for yourself? Look no further,

Hi,
 
Have you ever wanted your own business? Have you ever wanted to work for yourself? Look no further, get all the kit you need to get started and the marketing tools to promote it.
 
What is the cost?
 
NOTHING!!!!!
 
 
phil

Well I am hyping it :) but it does work.........

Well I am hyping it  :) but it does work.........
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
=================
;

New Professional Marketing System Explodes your Income!

New Professional Marketing System Explodes your Income!

http://www.t2000ultra.com/?rid=8384

The real secret to making money online has nothing to do with your site or the product you sell......Fact!

What really makes the difference as to whether you make money or go bust is all dependant on how many people see your site each day.

If you only get 10 to 100 people per day visit your site, you might as well give up now.

What if you could get 1 million visitors in the next 30 days? Would that make your sales increase?

What if you could guarantee that all these visitors were real people, and they would be on your site for at least 10 seconds each? And what if you could get all this completely free?

Would your bank balance be able to take the strain as the sales poored in?

There's an incredible new marketing system that can easily and very realistically send you over a million guaranteed real visitors to your website, and it won't cost you a thing.

All you have to do is check out

http://www.t2000ultra.com/?rid=8384

This is going to change the way you market forever.

 

Monday, September 24, 2007

Yanik Silver been giving away some really good videos here:

Yanik Silver been giving away some really good videos here:
 
 
(Outlines a cool "Oil Well" model for an Info-Products business.)
 
 
(Shows how to come up with a unique hook. Pay attention.  This is the
same guy who came up with the "Underground" marketing seminar
concept ...and it sells out every time despite fierce competition.)
 
 
(Shows how to map out your business.  I use this method personally.
If you think "visually", this is for you.)
 
 
(Shows you how to charge a lot more for your stuff.  This one's my favorite
for obvious reasons.)

Monday, September 17, 2007

Download Your FREE Gifts...

logo250

The Ultimate Graphics Giveaway The F.R.E.E. Ultimate

Giveaway is almost over! Have you signed up? What are you waiting for... Reed Floren & Stephanie Mulac will be canceling the download soon and if you don't hurry, you will miss out forever! Grab all the fabulous graphic gifts right now! 

phil eugene

P.S. These products are the real deal many of them are being sold for ($27-$197)! But for a limited time they're yours. Get 'em while they're there.. Visit the Ultimate Graphics Giveaway  right now!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

200 traffic generating ideas

The more traffic you generate, the greater your income.
 
It's as simple as that. But unfortunately, generating the traffic can be a challenge. If you need help attracting more visitors to your site, try these techniques:
 
- Submit regular press releases to relevant media outlets.  Don't think it takes knowing the right people to get publicity for your business. By distributing regular press releases that are well written, targeted and interesting the media will be glad to publish them. Do you have an exciting new product? Do you have an event going on? Come up with something newsworthy and start writing! To get your press release into the right hands there are several online services. Check out the free wire service PRWeb.com or use the pay per contact service offered by imediafax.com.
 
- Do cross promotions or cross endorsements. Find another product or service that you really like and offer to endorse it in exchange for the creator endorsing your product. This is an effective technique because you both have a relationship with the people on your lists and they trust you - therefore the endorsement carries more weight than an ad would. If you don�t currently have a list you can ask for endorsements simply based on the fact that the list owner will earn a commission on all sales to their list. The key is to have them use your product first and then endorse it in their own words.
 
- Distribute a brandable ebook or special report. A brandable ebook or report is one that a website or list owner can change to include a reference to their website. This doesn�t mean that it looks like they are the publisher, it�s just a way for them to include information on where the ebook was downloaded from and (if applicable) to include their affiliate link for your products and services. By allowing others to freely distribute your ebook you�ll receive a steady stream of traffic. A great tool for easily creating brandable .pdf files is Viral PDF (http://www.viralpdf.com).
 
- Run weekly or monthly polls on your site. People love to voice their opinions, so encourage them to do so by running weekly or monthly polls. If you choose topics that are controversial or have a wide appeal, visitors will also be interested in seeing the results. This can be a great way to keep people coming back � especially if you combine it with a method of reminding them when a new poll has been posted and letting them browse through previous poll results.
 
- Start a niche focused forum. A popular forum is an excellent source of traffic. Although it can be a lot of work to get one started, if you choose a narrowly focused niche topic you�ll find that word of mouth advertising will help it take off. Two of the most popular scripts for adding a forum to your site are phpBB and Snitz Forums. Both are free!
 
- Give to charity. On a regular basis give to a deserving charity and distribute a press release about it. There�s no rule on how much you should give for it to be newsworthy but it�s a good idea to be as generous as you can. The more creative you are � and the more high profile the charity is � the more publicity you will get.
 
- Pull a stunt that gets people talking! The media loves stories about people doing crazy things. Whether you do it online or offline if you make a big splash people will start talking about you. Just make sure it�s somehow related to your website so that your URL gets exposure.
 
- Make it a habit to ask visitors how they found your site. Although you should be tracking all of your site traffic it�s also a good idea to add a field to your order form asking people how they found your site. You may be surprised by the answers! This is another way to get a detailed picture of the best places to get targeted traffic from.
 
- Approach eBay sellers about advertising your products and services when they ship an item. Every day, thousands of eBay sellers ship packages to the winners of their auctions. Use this fact to generate traffic for your site by approaching sellers offering items that your target audience are buying. Offer them a percentage of sales if they include a note in each shipment encouraging people to check out your website. The more that this note endorses your product, the better! Since the people receiving the notes will have to type in your URL make it easy for them while still tracking sales properly by making the URL they are sent to something such as �http://www.yourdomain.com/ebaysellerid� which is a redirect to the affiliate URL assigned to them by your affiliate software. To create redirects for your URLs check out the free online tool Profit Protector Affiliate Link Cloaker at http://www.measuring-up.com/html-tools/profit-protector.html.
 
- Interview famous people that your visitors want to know more about. People can�t seem to get enough of interviews. Use this to your advantage by conducting interviews and publishing them on your site as an article or audio clip. To get started create a list of people that you would like to interview. Email each of them a nice letter explaining what you would like to do, how much of their time is involved and what you will do with the resulting content. You�ll be surprised how many say yes! To conduct the interview you can email them the questions and allow them to type their responses or phone them and record it using a telephone recorder available at stores such as Radio Shack. Make sure visitors know you�ll be adding interviews on a regular basis and have them join your mailing list to receive announcements when a new one is ready.
 
- Avoid having to pay for multiple exposures in one newsletter by working out an arrangement with the list owner to combine your paid ad with other forms of promotion. For example, run a paid ad in one newsletter, in the next one have them run an article written by you and in the third an endorsement for an upcoming teleseminar you�re hosting. This repeated exposure will get you noticed and increase your traffic yet you only have to pay for one ad. Not all publishers will be willing to make this sort of arrangement but if you offer them a commission on all sales you may find a few who will take you up on your offer.
 
- Join networking sites to build your personal network. Networking sites are designed to make it easy for people to meet others in their industry and to advertise their products and service. Similar to offline networking events where lots of people come together for the sole purpose of meeting people, online networking sites work the same way. A couple of great ones to look in to are Ryze.com and Ecademy.com.
 
- Write articles that showcase your expertise. Articles are an excellent way to generate free, targeted traffic for your website. If you don�t enjoy writing don�t worry, there are alternatives that require less work but are still very effective. Instead you can do an email interview with someone your target market is interested in, create a �top 10� list, write a quick series of tips, review a product, book or website, pose and answer the questions you are most often asked about your industry or conduct a survey and write a synopsis of your findings. Whatever option you choose make sure your article is free of errors, informative and of interest to your ideal customer. A good trick for encouraging list owners to publish your article is to offer a generous affiliate program and allow them to change the URL in your resource box to their affiliate URL. That way they get great content and the potential to earn some money at the same time!
 
- If you sell physical products, include a coupon for related items in every package you ship. This is a great way to encourage existing customers to visit your site again. And as we all know repeat customers are the most profitable ones because they cost you practically nothing to find and they already trust you . There�s also a good chance that if they�re not interested they�ll give the coupon to a friend and encourage them to visit your site.
 
- Run a contest. People love the prospect of winning something � that�s why a contest for the right target audience can be a great traffic generator. Form a JV with several other webmasters and together offer the prizes. The key is to choose the prize(s) to attract people from your target audience. If you make the grand prize a new laptop you�ll get entries from everyone who would like to win a new laptop (which is basically every computer user in the world!). Get more targeted traffic by choosing something that your target audience is interested in but wouldn�t mean much to other people. To start promoting your contest do a search in Google for �Contest Directories� and you�ll find lots of places to list your contest for free.
 
- Make sure your listings in the search engines are something that people will want to click on. You could have the #1 ranking but if the title and description of your website don�t make people want to click, you�ll never see any traffic. Every search engine uses a different combination for your description that may include your page title, the first few lines of text from your site or the first section of text that includes the terms that are being searched for. Poodle Predictor (http://www.gritechnologies.com/tools/spider.go) will let you see how Google will display your webpage descriptions.
 
- Give a free teleseminar. These have become very popular lately and are inexpensive to do with the free bridge lines that are now available such as FreeConferenceCall.com. Get more bang for your buck by making it a Joint Venture and having other webmasters or list owners promote it in exchange for a portion of any backend sales. Or, make it a group teleseminar in which several people speak or are interviewed. The participants will most likely mention the event to their lists and encourage them to listen in. Be sure to record the call to be used later as a bonus product or to be given free as a lead generator.
 
- Exchange links with other websites. Exchanging links with other websites can bring a substantial amount of traffic if you choose your link partners wisely. Remember, you�re better to have 10 links from sites that are prominently displaying your URL and driving traffic to it � than 100 who just put your link on a page with hundreds of other links. In fact having links on your site to pages that include hundreds of links can hurt your search engine rankings, so be sure you�re only linking to sites that are relevant to yours and that you honestly endorse. If you don�t have time to spend looking for link partners consider hiring someone. For around $1.50 a link you can outsource this task.
 
- Stay in contact with potential customers. Ask visitors to subscribe to your ezine, request a special report or download a free ebook. This will give you a reason to ask for their first name and email address. You can then send them your newsletter or include them in your autoresponder series and follow up with them on a regular basis. When they start receiving emails from you they�ll visit your site again � and they�ll be a lot more likely to buy on the second visit!
 
- Start a blog. If you�re not familiar with blogs, you soon will be. They�re taking the online world by storm! Basically a blog is a series of regular posts to a webpage that readers can look over and even subscribe to anonymously if they�re interested. Their appeal is that they become a compilation of interesting and informative posts that people can read through at their leisure. For webmasters they�re easier than publishing a newsletter because posts can be done when you feel like it and can be as long or as short as you�d like. There are also no formatting issues or spam filters to worry about! John Reese, one of the net�s most successful marketers was recently quoted as saying �If you don't have a Blog for your niche market you're NUTS!" Get started with your own blog using the free blogger.com hosted solution or for a more robust solution check out Wordpress.com or Movable Type. For added exposure list your blog at GetBlogs.com, Blogarama.com, Blogwise.com and the BlogSearchEngine.com.
 
- Write articles and submit them to newsletter publishers and article directories. There are thousands of newsletters (also called ezines) published online. Writing good quality articles and submitting them to the publishers for inclusion in these ezines is still one of the best ways to get free, targeted traffic. Start by creating a list of ezine publishers who accept article submissions using a reliable directory such as the Directory of Ezines (http://www.directoryofezines.com). Once you have this list compiled it will be easy to mail them your new articles on a regular basis. Another great way to get your articles published is to submit them to article directories.
 
- Co-Author a report or ebook and jointly promote it. Let�s say for example that you run a website that sells jewellery and you find a website that sells purses and shoes. Get together with the other website owner and create a special report titled  �The Hottest Accessory Trends This Year!� In the report mention both of your websites. You can then jointly promote the report by distributing it on your websites, sending it to the media, submitting it to online directories, mentioning it in the forums, including it in your email signatures, mailing it to your customer lists� and any other way you can think of!
 
- Include an exit popover on important pages. In addition to selling your products and services, the goal of your website should be to capture contact information for as many visitors as possible. This allows you to follow up with them later and hopefully turn them in to a paying customer. When a customer clicks the Back button or closes their browser without buying or joining your mailing list you�ve lost them, and they may never return. Don�t let this happen! Include an exit popover on your site that only appears when someone is leaving.
 
- Put together an online survey that collects information of value to webmasters. Once you�ve completed the survey approach webmasters of sites targeted at your ideal customer and ask them to send some traffic to your survey in exchange for a copy of the results. If you choose a topic that is of great interest you should be able to generate some substantial traffic. Perhaps you can even work out a deal to run several surveys per year to keep an ongoing link on their site. Another way to use your survey is to collect responses by posting a link to it in the forums. Many forums will allow you to do this as long as it collects information and is not a sales pitch.
- Ask your visitors for referrals with a "Tell A Friend" feature. It really is true that �birds of a feather flock together�. In other words, most people know a lot of other people just like themselves. Use this to your advantage by making it easy for visitors to refer your site to their friends and colleagues with a �Tell A Friend� feature. This is a small script that allows others to enter the contact information of people they think would be interested in your site and have an email automatically sent to them with your URL. Since word of mouth is by far the best type of advertising, this technique can be very effective for bringing in targeted traffic. Add this functionality to your site using TellDog (http://www.telldog.com). Usually just asking for the referral is all it takes but if you want to get even more referrals offer people a bonus such as an ebook or special report if they use your form to refer their friends. Some websites even offer a free product or service to anyone who refers three or more friends. An easy to use script for handling this type of incentive program is Tell-A-Friend Pro (http://www.tafpro.com).
 
- Swap ads with other site/list owners. An alternative to swapping articles is to swap ads. This can include newsletter or website ads, or a combination of the two.
 
- Try Traffic Swarm. Some very high profile marketers have reported excellent results with this service. Basically how it works is everyone earns credits for visiting the sites of other members. Although some similar traffic exchange services have been overrated, Traffic Swarm has real potential. You can get started with the free version and if you see good results it�s affordable to upgrade to the pro version. Check it out at http://trafficswarm.com. Or see what other traffic exchanges there are at TrafficHoopla.com.
 
- Publish your website address everywhere that people may see it. The more people who see your website address, the more traffic your site will get. Get your address out there by printing it on t-shirts and hats and wearing them to large events, putting a decal on your car and including it on the return address labels you use on all outgoing snail mail. The possibilities are endless � get creative!
 
- Get together with 8 - 10 other webmasters and create an online scavenger hunt. This can be a great way to introduce people to related but non-competing websites. How it works is people visit each of the sites and look for a certain clue (be sure to make it something that will require them to look around a bit and read some of your sales copy). Once they�ve completed the scavenger hunt have them email their results to you. Randomly draw a winner and give them a grand prize that is contributed jointly by all of the webmasters. Be sure to maximize the exposure this gets your site by creating a buzz on the forums, submitting press releases and even writing a special report about your experience after it�s over.
 
- Submit your site for awards. There are several sites that offer awards and an easy way to get some exposure is to nominate your site. Of course in order to win you have to meet their criteria � so take the time to research what they�re looking for and if possible modify your site. Do a search in Google to find lots of awards sites.
 
- Make your site friendly to the search engine spiders. To get ranked well by the major search engines, your site has to be easily accessed by their robots. Some things to avoid when designing your site:
 
a. Frames � The search engines do not do well with frames. What often happens is that the search engines find content pages, but when displayed they are missing the navigation. So potential customers are unable to move around your site as intended.
 
b. Flash and Javascript Navigation Buttons - Although they look great, search engines can't follow flash or javascript menus. As a result the spiders don�t make it to the inside pages of your site. If you do use them, supplement them with regular HTML links somewhere else on the page. That way you know that hyperlinks exist that can get search engines spiders from the front page to every page in your site. A sitemap with links to all of your pages can help as well.
 
c. URLs with Question Marks - Some shopping carts and content management systems created dynamic URLs. You can spot them by seeing whether your URLs have questions marks in them. If they do, then you have dynamic URLs. Although not as big of a problem as they used to be, some search engines spiders still cannot handle more than 3 variables in dynamic URLs. If you find the search engines aren't indexing your interior pages this may be the reason.
 
d. Flash Intro Pages � Not only do visitors find them annoying, but they also make the first page of your site devoid of any useful content (at least to the search engine spiders).
 
- Find the people who have the top PPC listings for keywords you�re interested in and contact them to see if they would like to offset their PPC costs. Work out an arrangement to sell your product in an exit popover. The visitors are already leaving their site at that point so they may as well make an offer for your product or service and make a few extra bucks. If the prospect of earning a commission isn�t enough for the webmaster, you can also offer a per click amount. Either way be sure to use a popover to display your offer, rather than a popup, so that it doesn�t break the rules that many PPCs have in place about popups.
 
- Give a way your product or service to influential people. In every target market there is a group of people who are the �influencers�. They�re the ones who like to try new products and are very outspoken when they find something they like. The best way to reach these people is to start a word of mouth advertising campaign. Do this by giving away early versions of your product or service to the influencers in your industry and encourage them to spread the word to everyone they know.
 
- Maintain a calendar for your industry. This can include trade shows, online events, offline events or whatever else your target audience may want to keep track of. If people begin referring to it on a regular basis and linking to your site you�ll soon see a big increase in traffic.
 
- Don�t waste your time submitting to FFAs and safelists. Although some people have had success with these methods in the past, they�re effectiveness has dwindled. To get any response at all requires A LOT of work and even then you rarely attract paying customers. If you�re on a tight budget you�re better to focus on other free traffic generation techniques such as writing articles, optimizing for the search engines and finding Joint Venture partners. To determine whether a free advertising method is worthwhile consider the amount you�re making for every hour you put in. For example if it takes you 8 hours per week to manage your safelist submissions and that earns you $50 per week in extra sales you�re only making $6.25 an hour. Your time is worth a lot more than that!
 
- Create search engine friendly pages that don�t interfere with your main sales page. The problem with optimizing pages for the search engines is that often marketers undo the elements that have made their site convert visitors into buyers. You can get loads of traffic but if the people aren�t buying you won�t be making any more money. Avoid this problem by creating multiple pages that are specifically designed to rank well in the search engines and that funnel traffic back to the page that is set up to sell. This can be done by simply including enough information on the page to get their attention and then putting a link at the bottom to your main site where they can get more information. The search engines will rank your pages well because they use specific keywords and include useful content and you can still have a site that converts well.
 
- Carefully track all of your traffic. To get a complete picture of your website traffic it�s a good idea to use both unique tracking URLs and a website statistics package. Unique tracking URLs will give you exact clickthroughs for every URL you publish. For example if you write an article and include your URL in the resource box you can create a unique tracking URL and know exactly how many people clicked through to your site. Use a different tracking code for every marketing initiative. A great option for creating tracking URLs is ezTrackZ.com. For the big picture you�ll need a website statistics package. This will tell you more general information about the number of visitors, how long they stayed on the site, what pages they viewed and the page they exited the site from. A great option for website statistics is Clickalyzer.com. Not only does it do everything mentioned here but it also tells you how far down each page the visitor read. Invaluable information when working on your site�s conversion rate!
 
- Buy expired domains that already have traffic going to them. It happens more than you might think that someone creates a website and drives traffic to it through search engines and link exchanges only to let it expire. Usually it�s because they never found a way to make money from that traffic. Well their loss can be your gain! If you purchase one of these domains and point it to your site you will get that lost traffic. Some of these domains are even listed in Yahoo so it�s a great way to get a free Yahoo listing. Search in Google or Yahoo for �expired domain services� to learn more.
 
- Include a useful script on your site. There are many programs available which can be used as traffic generators by giving visitors a reason to return to your site over and over again. Tools such as classified ad sites, free-for-all link pages, message boards, chat rooms, ecard sites, and other can all contribute to your traffic building plan. The good news is that most of these programs can be added to your website for little or no cost. For a directory of CGI scripts visit http://cgi.resourceindex.com and for PHP scripts visit http://php.resourceindex.com. Most scripts are not difficult to install but if you�re uncomfortable with making changes to your website, there are places that remotely host scripts. For a list check out http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Remotely_Hosted/. That means that they install everything on their servers and you simply place a link to the service on your site to allow your visitors to use it.
 
- Remind visitors to bookmark your site. Increase the chances that visitors will return by reminding them to bookmark your site. If you give them a good reason to visit again  � such as to read new articles, participate in the forum, read your blog or even play your new advergames � they will want to create a bookmark so they don�t forget to come back. Increase the chances of a repeat visit even more by making a custom �favicon�. This is the graphic that is displayed beside the name of the site in the bookmarks menu. If you choose something that grabs their attention they�ll see it every time they browse through their bookmarks list. Create a favicon using any image with the free Favicon Generator Tool (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/favicon/) or learn more with the tutorial at http://www.axialis.com/tutorials/tutorial-iw004.html.
 
- Hold free seminars. Not everyone is comfortable with speaking in front of large groups of people � but if you are it can be an excellent way to get the word out about your site. Get started by offering to do a talk at local meetings for organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce or industry Associations. Or rent a hotel boardroom and advertise your free seminar locally to fill the seats. At the end of your talk offer to send a free report to anyone who gives you their business card. Not only can you add all of these people to your list but they�ll also be likely to mention the seminar (and in turn your site) to their friends, colleagues and customers.
 
- Get better quality visitors by including negative qualifiers in your ads. There are a lot of people who are �freebie seekers� and will never be paying customers. Avoid wasting money on these people by including what are known as �negative qualifiers� in your PPC ads. The most common one is including the price of the product or service you�re selling (or a range of prices if you offer multiple products or services). This limits the people who click to only those who are willing to pay.
 
- Offer a book for sale at Amazon.com. The thought of this may sound ridiculous, but it�s not as difficult as you think! You can have books printed on demand at cafepress.com, Lulu.com or you can even print and bind them yourself at your local copy shop. To generate traffic with this idea make the title of your book a URL (including .com at the end). When people see the title they�ll be interested in learning more and visit your site. This doesn�t have to be your main site, it can be a different URL that you use to capture traffic and then feed it to your main site. Just make sure you give people a good reason to continue on to your main site!
 
- Co-create an advergame with several other websites. By co-creating an advergame you can offset the initial cost of developing it as well as have multiple channels for promoting it. If there are 5 other sites involved that will be 5 times the amount of traffic it generates!
 
- Swap articles with other site/list owners. One of the best ways to get traffic is to write informative articles and allow others to publish them in their newsletters and on their sites. Take this one step further and combine it with a joint venture. After all, most list owners also publish articles and want exposure just like you. Offer to promote their articles in exchange for them doing the same.
 
- Make your ezine ads even more powerful using a viral lead generator. Instead of advertising something for sale in your ads, use them to give away an ebook, special report or free software application as a way of generating leads.  If it�s something that prospects can pass around to their friends you�ll create a viral effect that will continue to produce traffic long after the ad is forgotten!
 
- When targeting publications for your articles, or for paid advertisements, look for ones that maintain online archives. Doing so will mean you�ll get continued exposure when people read through the past issues. And it�s another link to your site, which the search engines love!
 
- Create an advergame specific to your site. Advergames are small online games designed to drive traffic to your site based on their entertainment value. As their name suggests their purpose is to advertise your website, product or service in a fun way. If you design one that becomes popular it can create a substantial amount of traffic to your site. Make the most of this by requiring people to give their name and email address before they can play so that you can follow up with them later. The best part is if your game is fun and unique people will tell everyone they know. What a great viral technique!
 
- Put together a package. Customers like to purchase packages, especially if they�re getting a deal. Use this your advantage by putting together a joint venture that provides customers with a package consisting of multiple products and services. For example you could have a �complete ebook creation package� which includes partners that offer information on writing an ebook, a website template and an ebook cover designed by a professional. Have all of the partners promote the main sales page, which includes links to all of the participating sites. This will provide a revenue stream as well traffic to your site. If you�re the one organizing the joint venture you can get added exposure by hosting the pages at your domain. A lot of people will check out your main site once they arrive at the package page out of curiosity.
 
- Get the most out of paid ezine ads by using them to gather email leads � rather than sell your products and services. If you offer something for free in exchange for a prospects name and email address, you�ll be able to follow up with that person indefinitely. Rather than seeing your ad only once they�ll see it repeatedly. To make this strategy work give something away that is of value and use your follow up emails to build a relationship with these prospective customers - not give them a hard sell. Once they trust you and see you as an authority in your industry, the sales will come.
 
- When running an ad make sure you run it more than once. No ad has ever been so spectacular that it brought in a flood of visitors the first time it ran. With all forms of advertising you need REPETITION to be successful. People see your ad the first time and barely notice it, the second time they may actually read it, by the third time they think it looks familiar and if you�re lucky by the fourth time they�re considering buying. In fact studies show that it takes 7 - 9 views of your ad before a customer makes a purchase. If you�re only going to run an ad once don�t bother � you�ll be wasting your money. Instead budget to advertise to a smaller number of people in a different way for a minimum of 3 times.
 
- Ask visitors to fill out an online survey or questionnaire. The better you understand your target customers, the better you�ll be able to predict their actions and profit from them. Get a better idea of why people visit your site by asking them! A short survey or questionnaire can be quick to create and will give you invaluable insight into why people are visiting your site, what they like about it and what can be improved. SurveyMonkey.com offers a great free option or get more features by upgrading to a pro account for a reasonable monthly fee.
 
- Focus your pages on no more than 3 keyword phrases. SEO experts recommend that you have no more than 3 keyword phrases for each page of your site. Why? Because keeping a tight focus will get you better ranked in the search engines, which will bring more targeted traffic. Check out what your competitors are doing and you�ll probably find that they are still building general pages that they�re trying to optimize for 10 or more phrases. By narrowing the focus of each of your pages you�ll have an advantage over other sites in your industry.
 
- Know where your time is best spent. There is no such thing as �free� traffic generation methods. Nothing is free. Although you may not have to pay with money, you will pay with your time. If the time you put in produces results then great. If not, spend your time on something else instead. To determine what traffic generation techniques had the best return on your time keep a spreadsheet that logs all of your hours, the traffic generated and the resulting sales. This will let you determine how much money you made per hour of work and is a good benchmark when deciding where to spend your time.
 
- Write testimonials for products that you like. If you do a good job your testimonial will most likely be published on the product sales page along with your website address. That could mean a steady stream of visitors to your site for every testimonial you get published.
 
- Get traffic using your competitors URL. Did you know that many people when searching for a specific URL actually type it into a search engine? For example they would type in Google �ebay.com� instead of using the address bar. Use this to your advantage by creating a comparison table between you and your competitors. This allows you to legitimately use their name on your site. You can then bid in the PPCs on their domain. This won�t be applicable to all sites but it�s great if there are large companies in your industry that people know by name.
 
- Also in your logs, find out the top keywords. These are what people typed in to reach your site so they�re the words potential customers use to describe your product or service. Use this information to optimize your pages for the search engines and purchase PPC ads. This will ensure that your site is attracting more targeted traffic.
 
- Load your site with a variety of content and update it regularly. Content is king on the Internet. For the most part people aren�t surfing around looking to buy products; they�re looking for information. Give them what they want and your site will quickly become a reference for your visitors. Not only will this keep them coming back but it will also have linking to your site so others can read your content. The ideal is to create your own content and make it available exclusively on your site. If that isn�t possible choose the best content from others to include. A great way to keep your content fresh is to include information that is updated often such as news (which you can syndicate from elsewhere or write yourself), a blog or a forum.
 
- Get your site listed in directories. Search in Google for keywords related to your site and you�ll likely find several directories, small search engines and other websites where you can list your site. Let�s say you�re looking for links from sites related to pets. Try searching for "add url pets�, "add site pets", "pets directory" and other variations. There are hundreds of possibilities so spend some time on this to create a comprehensive list. Some good directories to start with are DMOZ.org, JoeAnt.com, GoGuides.com, Gimpsy.com, Business.com and About.com.
 
- Keep your HTML code clean. To get a good search engine ranking you need the robots that spider your site to quickly and easily get to your content. Help them do this by keeping your HTML code clean and removing any unnecessary information. Get started by:
 
a. Placing all JavaScript & Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in a separate file
b. Eliminating any extra and unnecessary HTML tags
c. Ensuring your HTML is valid and up to standards
 
If these terms are foreign to you it would be worthwhile to hire a professional website designer to take a look at your site.
 
- Review books for the online bookstores. Choose books that would be of interest to your target market (and that you�ve read of course!) and write reviews for the major online bookstores including Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and Chapters.Indigo.ca. If you include your domain name or email address as the Reviewer Name it will be added along with your comments. If your domain doesn�t give people an idea of what they�ll find at your site considering including a descriptive word before your name and the URL after. For example �Coach Jennifer (www.mysmallbizcoach.com)�.
 
- Use Google Web Alerts and Google News Alerts. The Google Web Alerts system allows you to monitor Google for any mention of specific words or URLs. Once a day you receive an email that summarizes all web pages that recently added the information you�re monitoring. Similarly Google News Alerts monitors the media. Use these in your business to monitor both your own site and your competitors�.  It will show you when an affiliate adds a URL to their site, where articles are being published and even forum posts. This is a great way to learn more about where your competitors are getting their traffic from. Signup for Google Alerts at http://www.google.com/alerts
 
- NEVER buy visitors. Although services that offer website visitors for a small fee are tempting because of the impressive numbers they promise, the traffic they provide is untargeted and usually results in no sales. How these services work is they form a partnership with a site that gets a lot of traffic and in exchange for a little bit of money the site agrees to display an exit popup showing the advertisers sites. The problem is that a lot of these sites are on a general topic - such as joke sites � and the visitors aren�t looking to buy. All of a sudden there�s a window on the screen with your website in it. You got a hit to your site, but what are the odds that the visitor will actually look around? Slim to none. Don�t waste your money on these services � instead invest in some of the other forms of paid advertising that will be discussed in this section.
  
- Choose the keywords you optimize your site for carefully. If there is a lot of competition for the keyword you�ve chosen then you�ll never achieve a good ranking � on the other hand if it�s a keyword no one searches for there�s no point even trying to get a good ranking for it. Investigate possible keywords by making a list of all words that you can think of which apply to your site. Also check out your competitors� sites for ideas as well as forums to see what words people use when discussing your industry. Then use WordTracker.com, GoodKeywords.com or KeywordDiscovery.com to find the number of competitors for each keyword and alternatives.
 
- Encourage visitors to save a desktop icon that points to your site. Often visitors never return to a site simply because they forget about it. Make it quick and easy to find your site again by giving people a way to add a link to their desktop.  The best tool for doing this is the See you Again Shortcut (http://www.seeyouagainshortcut.com).
 
- Include a powerful signature on all outgoing email. Every time you send a piece of mail you have the potential to get a visitor to your site. Simply create a �signature� that is automatically added to every outgoing message. Use the signature to briefly explain what you do, give your USP or slogan and add a hyperlink to your site. Once it�s set up you don�t have to think about it again!
 
- Ask for a website review on the forums where your target customers spend time. Most moderators have no problem with this as long as you don�t include a big sales pitch along with your request. Simply state the nature of your site and ask politely for comments and feedback from others. Not only will you get more traffic, you�ll also get lots of great advice on how to improve your site.
 
- Work closely with your JV partners and affiliates to make sure they�re doing everything they can to promote your site. This may include providing exclusive articles, reports they can rebrand with their affiliate URL, proven sales copy, banners and any other materials that you KNOW work. How do you know what promotion materials will work? Test, test, test!  Also get feedback from each partner/affiliate about what has historically worked well with their customers and then provide those materials. The more personal attention you can give each affiliate the more likely they�ll be to heavily promote your site and send you lots of traffic!
 
- Use your website logs to identify what sites referred the most visitors. The top referrers usually aren�t a surprise, but watch for unexpected referrers such as sites that mentioned your product or a newsletter that ran one of your articles. If they�ve sent you a lot of traffic contact them about other ways you can reach their customers because they�re obviously interested in what you offer.
 
- Start an ad co-op. An ad co-op involves several websites or list owners getting together and jointly selling advertising space. When someone purchases you all agree to run their ad either in your newsletter or on your site. You will earn a small revenue stream, but more importantly you�ll get traffic because you can run your own ads across the co-op network on a regular basis.
 
- Paid ads in an ezine are a great way to get traffic � but be sure to choose wisely. Don�t make your choices based solely on subscription numbers. Recently a lot list owners with 50,000+ subscribers have asked everyone to resubscribe because of the new spam legislation. Although their lists were cut by 50% or more, they didn�t see a decline in conversion rates. In other words more than half of their list wasn�t even reading. Look for ezines that have a similar theme to yours and that offer good quality content rather than a series of ads. Expect to pay $50 - $100 for a typical classified ad and up to $300 for a top sponsor or solo ad. This may seem like a lot but it can be well worth it!
 
- Create (or have someone create for you) a free software application.  Think of a simple tool that you wish you had � or that people in your target market would like to have. If you�re able to do programming you can create this application yourself. If not, hire a programmer and have them create the tool. Once complete you�ll have a great lead generator. Allow list owners to offer it free to their subscribers, give it away on your site, use it in Joint Ventures, post it on the forums or get it listed in the search engines. If you�re looking for a reasonably priced programmer it�s free to post jobs at Scriptlance.com, Elance.com or RentACoder.com and you�re under not obligation to go ahead with the project. So if you have an idea and you�re unsure whether you can afford to develop, post it and see what bids you get!
 
- Syndicate your content. Content syndication is a simple way for you to distribute your articles to multiple sites. All you have to do is give other webmasters a small piece of code that they insert into the appropriate webpage and every time you publish a new article it will automatically be displayed on their site. Of course in order for people to want to publish your articles you have to make sure they are always well written, informative and on topic. For more information on how to set up syndication read the article �How To Get You Web Site Content Syndicated� at http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com/How_To_Get_Your_Web_Site_Content_Syndicated.htm or get the software Master Syndicator V4 (http://willmaster.com/master/syndicator/index.shtml).
 
- Set up an eBay account and make your username your URL. Although eBay doesn�t allow URLs as usernames, you can get around this rule by include a �*� at either end. For example �*www.mysmallbizcoach.com*� (without the quotes). You can then create an �About Me� page that includes a link to your site and information on the products and services you sell. Auction off copies of your own products or other items related to your industry and people will begin noticing you and visiting your site.
 
- Track your conversion rate for all sources of traffic. The number that describes the percentage of visitors who make a purchase is your conversion rate. Websites typically have a conversion rate between 1% and 3% - meaning that 1 to 3 out of every 100 visitors becomes a paying customer. Increase this number by tracking your traffic vs. sales for all of your different traffic sources. In other words don�t just determine your overall website conversion rate, take the time to learn what sources of traffic are most likely to buy. This will make it a lot easier to determine where to spend your time and money in the future! For conversion rate tracking check out ezTrackZ.com.
 
- Offer a multi-tier affiliate program. Offering an affiliate program is an excellent way to generate targeted traffic. If you get good quality affiliates they�ll spread the word about your products and services farther and faster then you could ever do on your own. Make your affiliate program even more effective by offering two or three tiers of compensation. This will motivate your affiliates to make sales while at the same time recruiting new affiliates under them. A good affiliate program can provide an exponential growth in traffic!
 
- Avoid email problems and send messages directly to the desktops of people who have requested information from you. There is a new technology that is making waves in the Internet Marketing community. It allows you to avoid cluttered email inboxes and get your message to the people who want it. How it works is both you and your readers download a small application. They then indicate that they are interested in receiving information from you so that when you publish a new announcement or issue of your newsletter it is delivered (through the application) directly to their computer. No spam filters, no lost email, no headaches. Use this technique to generate traffic by giving your readers a compelling reason to visit your site in every message. One way to do this is to publish the first paragraph of a few different articles and have them visit your site to read the rest.
 
- A variation on the �Tell a Friend� feature is to include a way for visitors to refer specific pages to a friend. Go beyond just allowing people to refer your main URL and make it easy to recommend specific page within your site. This could include articles, product comparison charts, special reports or even your newsletter signup page. TellDog (http://www.telldog.com) has the capability of doing this or check out CJ Send Page V1.0 from CJ Website Design (http://www.cj-design.com).
 
- Run offline co-op ads with other site owners. Many webmasters are achieving considerable amounts of website traffic with offline co-op ads. One way to do this is to purchase a postcard in a card deck that goes out to 100,000 people for between $1500 and $2000. Then, you could sell 10 or so ads on it for $149 or $199 and make back the money that you paid out for the ad. Then, your web site ad gets to ride along for FREE. Do a search in Google or Yahoo for �postcard decks� to find companies offering this type of advertising.
 
- Don�t overlook banner ads. Although they�ve gotten a bad name lately, web traffic guru John Reese says banner ads are still an excellent source of cheap, targeted traffic. As with all paid advertising though be sure to research exactly what your money is buying. If your banner will be displayed on a site that is irrelevant to what you offer you won�t generate much interest. Instead choose well-targeted sites that have a reasonable amount of traffic and a �typical visitor� profile that matches your ideal customer.
 
- Join an Association. Almost every industry has at least one association. Although your customers may not be members, other businesses in your industry most likely are. By networking with these people you will find new opportunities for referrals, Joint Ventures and most likely you�ll even learn a few things that will help you grow your business. For a comprehensive list of associations visit the Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/div/aon/).
 
- Never use automated services to submit your site to the search engines. There are less than 20 major search engines � all the rest don�t matter. This makes the services that advertise, �pay to be submitted to 30,000 search engines� a big waste of money. Instead take the time to learn how each search engine prefers to receive listings and then do the work yourself. To learn more about the search engines check out the Bruce Clay Search Engine Relationship Chart (http://www.bruceclay.com/searchenginerelationshipchart.htm).
 
- Give visitors free promotional merchandise. It can be hats, bumper stickers, mugs, t-shirts, pens, mousepads, notepads or anything else you can think of that you can print your website address on. Not only will you get contact information from everyone interested which you can use later for marketing purposes � but you�ll also have other people promoting your URL for you.
 
- If you sell physical products, consider froogle. This service by Google was created to help consumers find physical products. It�s free for merchants to list their items so you have nothing to lose! For more information visit the Froogle Home Page at http://froogle.google.com/.
 
- Use Google Image Ads to get your site noticed. Google now allows advertisers to display graphical banner ads in different sizes across their AdSense network. Learn more on the Adwords Site (https://adwords.google.com).
 
- Make custom Error pages. If potential customers are looking for a page on your site that has moved, or that they�ve mistyped the URL for, they�ll be frustrated and quickly leave if they encounter an Error page. Avoid this by creating custom Error pages that explain that the URL is invalid and gives them links to explore other areas of your site. For instructions on creating a custom error page read the article �Creating Custom Error Pages� at http://www.outfront.net/tutorials_02/adv_tech/customerrors1.htm.
 
- Create a topic specific dictionary or glossary. This is the type of content that people refer to on a regular basis and that other webmasters are likely to link to as a reference. Get even more leverage from this idea by allowing other sites in your industry to syndicate your dictionary or glossary. This can also be a great way to learn the specific words people are interested in learning more about so that you can better optimize your site and create specific content that will interest them. Get ideas by browsing other dictionaries at http://directory.google.com/Top/Reference/Dictionaries/.
 
- Find out where your competitors� traffic comes from. Google has a handy feature that quickly shows which sites are linked together. To use it go to Google and type in �link:www.domainname.com� (without the quotes). Using this feature you can find out who is linking to your competitors and approach them about a link exchange, joint venture or publishing one of your articles. Another great resource for finding out who has linked to a specific website, check out the Marketleap Link Popularity Check at http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/.
 
- Try free newsletter classified ads. There are lots of newsletter publishers who give free classified ads to new subscribers. Although these don�t typically bring a huge response, they can generate some traffic if you offer something for free. They�re also a great way to test new ads to see which ones get the best response. Once you�ve found a winner use it in a PPC campaign, make it your new email signature, run it as a top sponsor newsletter ad or use it as your forum signature.
 
- Offer customers a customized toolbar. You�ve most likely seen the toolbars offered by Google, Yahoo and other large sites that stay at the top of your browser window for quick reference. The intention of these toolbars is to keep their brand in front of their customers so they remember them when they need to use their services. Now you can have the same effect by offering your customers a toolbar that is customized for your site. Use it to give people a reference list of your sites and related ones, offer them a multi-part course and even to distribute your newsletter. You could easily add your newsletter to your own customized toolbar along with other useful information. Remember, your toolbar has to provide value to potential customers or they won�t download it.
 
- Submit coupon codes to the many coupon sites. Getting your site listed on the deal finding websites will increase your traffic and allow you to see what your customers really want. For example if you put up 2 coupons - one for 10% off and the other for free shipping � you�ll be able to tell by the response whether your customers prefer a lower price or free shipping. Experiment with the coupons you offer to find the ones that bring you the most traffic (and that convert the most number of those visitors to buyers!)
 
- Pay super affiliates to promote your site. Hand pick webmasters with popular sites or list owners with large, responsive lists and offer them $100 just for signing up for your affiliate program and promoting your link. With this approach you�ll definitely get their attention and ensure that you sign up REAL affiliates who will actively promote your products and services. Even just 3 or 4 of these affiliates can cause a substantial increase in your site�s traffic (and your sales!).
 
- Track offline marketing initiatives such as direct mail campaigns with different website addresses. Be sure to continue rigorous tracking even with your offline marketing campaigns. This can be easily achieved by using different URLs for different initiatives. For example if you send a postcard about your newest product to a group of customers include the URL as �http://www.yourdomain.com/newproduct.html� and track the number of visitors to that page. For other offline advertising use a different web page. Of course some people will go directly to your main site but at least this is better than nothing!
 
- Generate traffic quickly by offering high commissions to partners. A great way to get the attention of people with large lists and busy sites is to offer them a substantial commission (75%+). You can bet this type of offer will be hard for them to turn down! Although you won�t make much on the initial sale, you�ll generate a lot of traffic and build up a list that you can sell to again and again.
 
- Create a membership site and give visitors VIP access in exchange for their contact information. Of course to make this work you have to provide good content inside the members area. If you do then people will return to your site on a regular basis to check out your member�s area. A great free software application for creating a membership site is Account Manager Lite (http://www.mycgiscripts.com/account-manager.html). For more advanced sites they also offer a PRO version at a reasonable price.
 
- Learn what viral marketing techniques others are using and apply their ideas to your business.  Some of the most successful advertising campaigns are the ones that were proven successful in one industry and then applied to another. A few great sources of viral techniques that are working are ViralBank.com, ViralMeister.com and the Lycos Viral Chart.
 
- Use your �thank you pages�. Often the �thank you page� that is displayed after someone makes a purchase or signs up for a newsletter is wasted real estate. Put these pages to work by using them to promote other products and services. After all, if people have already agreed to do one thing that you wanted them to, they�re likely to do something else. A great idea is to form JVs with other webmasters so that you can promote their products and in return they�ll promote yours. You don�t have to have hundreds of sales a day to make this work. Simply contact website owners that are a similar size to you and let them know how many sales per week you receive. Then ask if they�d be willing to exchange �thank you page ads� that include affiliate links so you both have the potential to make money on all referrals. You�ll be surprised how many say yes. Another good use of �thank you pages� is to promote an affiliate program or another related site that you run. Just don�t let this great opportunity to generate more traffic get away!
 
- Submit your free ebook or special report to directories. There are lots of sites dedicated to compiling lists of free information products. Submit your ebooks and special reports for added exposure and traffic. The key is to make sure that what you offer is high quality so that people will be interested in learning about your products and services once they�ve read the free information. If you throw something together in an hour it will show and you�ll lose credibility with potential customers.
 
- Don�t forget to consider the smaller PPC Search Engines. For most keywords you�ll pay less than Google Adwords or Overture and many give you a credit in your account when you sign up. For a list of 600+ search engines visit PayPerClickSearchEngines.com.
 
- Do a direct mail campaign using postcards. Postcards have become a favorite advertising method of online marketers because they�re easy to design, inexpensive and they almost always get read. The added bonus is that not only does the recipient read it but often so do several other people along the way. To get started with a postcard campaign use your current customer list and send them a special offer. Another option is to find someone with a list and ask if you can pay them per postcard to send your offer. Or, find a reputable list company and purchase a list of potential customers. Remember though, like all advertising you can�t send one card and expect a flood of orders. Create a campaign that includes a minimum of 3 cards to get the maximum benefit.
 
- Participate in Newsgroups, Forums, and Mailing Lists. There are hundreds of forums online and you can find one for almost any topic imaginable. Most allow you to include a signature line that will be attached to every message. This is a chance for you to advertise your site. Visiting these forums to post thoughtful questions and offer your expertise will mean your signature is viewed by others and will bring you free, targeted traffic. Of course how much traffic you get depends on how often you post and whether your signature makes people want to visit your site. A good approach is to use an ad you�ve had success with elsewhere as your signature.
 
Hopefully these tips have given you some ideas that you can implement in your own business. Remember, generating traffic is more art than science. It usually requires some trial and error before you find what works best for your site. But if you stick with it, you'll be rewarded with a steady stream of visitors!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Why Can't 100% Succeed?

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Why Can't 100% Succeed?

Printed from: The Warrior Forum
Topic URL: http://www.WarriorForum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=176962
Printed on: 08/20/2007

Topic:


Topic author: Willie Crawford
Subject: Why Can't 100% Succeed?
Posted on: 08/18/2007 21:51:35
Message:

On my flights between Florida and California over the past
several days, one of the books that I read was "Be
Unreasonable" by Paul Lemberg. It was a review copy sent to
me by a publicist friend.

One of the premises in the book is that great things happen
because "unreasonable" people DO rock the boat, and do
attempt things that most people consider impossible.

It's a great book that you should be hearing a lot about
soon, if you haven't already!

While out in Hollywood, I spent time chatting with
several friends who are extremely successful online.
One of them caused me to chuckle when he mentioned a
1.xx million dollar tax bill that he'd recently paid.
He actually enjoyed paying this bill and as we talked
I fully understood where he was coming from.

The weekend was very invigorating for me... reminding
me that I'd settled into a routine of accepting too much
of the status quo.

One of the unreasonable questions that I asked myself
is "Why is the statistic that 95% of online businesses
fail - probably true?" Some answers that made me feel
"OK" with that fact, came to mind, yet another part of
me questioned, "Why can 100% Succeed?"

I realize that is an unreasonable question, but certainly
many, many more people seeking to start homebased businesses
should be succeeding than are succeeding.

I think that it would be a lot of fun to actually
unravel the how this can become a reality. If we know
why so many aren't doing that great... something
everyone seems to be able to explain to you... then why
can't we figure out how more CAN succeed.

A lot of the answer to that question did come to me
over the weekend... but again, I thought that it would
be fun to discuss here.

Anyone game?

Willie

Replies:


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/18/2007 21:59:22
Message:

To expand upon the previous post, one of the
things that struck me as "odd" is how quickly
the experts suggest that nothing works for
everyone, and then they don't generally
offer a step-by-step action plan on what
worked for them.

A few people do this, but most seem to wimp
out. I think that it's better to say he's
the roadmap... with a disclaimer that it worked
for me but that there's no guarantee that it
will work for you. That seems a LOT better
than just pointing out 100 pieces of a puzzle
without showing how YOU pieced some of them
together.

Willie


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:01:29
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford



If we know
why so many aren't doing that great... something
everyone seems to be able to explain to you... then why
can't we figure out how more CAN succeed.



More don't succeed

Because......

More don't apply.
More don't plan.
More don't seek out practical knowledge.
More don't take ownership and claim their Success.
More don't broadcast their projects,goals and dreams.
More don't commit to functional business plan.
More don't cut the green grass on their own projects.
More don't seek out professional honest critiques of their plan.
More don't treat their time with dicipline.
More don't do the little things that others won't do.
More don't do more.

How's that for a start of discussing about

More?

HTH,

Richard
P.S. To succeed you have to do alot more than just more.


Reply author: Lucy Weber
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:04:11
Message:

I think one of the biggest obstacles is not having a boss. There are several reasons that having a boss is beneficial.

1. A boss tells you what to do, as well as how and when to do it.
2. A boss provides you with an incentive to keep working. (As in, don't work - get fired!)

When you work for yourself, sometimes it is hard to develop and understanding of exactly what needs to be done, the process that you need to go through to achieve it, and the schedule of when to completed each task.

Plus, there isn't as much incentive to keep working when you work for yourself. You have so much temptation to say, "I'll just watch this one 30 minute television show." Or you say, "I'll just read one chapter of that book." Or maybe, "I'll just take one day off to go to the beach and relax." But that one hour or one day turns into two or three or twenty.

I think in order you be successful, you have to get yourself into the mentality of REALLY being your own boss. Being your own boss means just that, you have to BE YOUR OWN BOSS. If you take that literally, I think it will lead to a vast improvement of how much you get done.

That's my take on things, and thinking like a boss has helped me. :)

Remember, folks, working for yourself doesn't mean you don't have a boss to listen to anymore! It means YOU must be that boss, and the more of a hard-@ss you are, the more you're likely to get done!


Reply author: June Campbell
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:04:52
Message:

How more people can succeed? I think the failure rate of all start up businesses is high, although perhaps not as high as online businesses. It's my guess that a lot of people dive into an online business without doing their homework, and having no idea of what is involved. It's much easier to "start an online business" than it is to start a real life business. You don't need anything other than an Internet enabled computer and you can say "I'm in business". No need to get a license, write a business plan, write a marketing plan, stock inventory, find customers... you just figure out how to sign up to Clickbank and away you go. I'm thinking more would succeed if they spent the time in the beginning learning about the new industry that they plan to populate. There is still such a belief out there that any damned fool can make money on the Internet and bring in tons of money while they sleep, etc. I have friends who comment on how amazing it is that anybody can just make a living without knowing how to do much of anything but sit at a keyboard. That's the mindset that too many people bring to the table when they decide to join us.


Reply author: People
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:06:02
Message:

quote :

One of the unreasonable questions that I asked myself
is "Why is the statistic that 95% of online businesses
fail - probably true?" Some answers that made me feel
"OK" with that fact, came to mind, yet another part of
me questioned, "Why can 100% Succeed?"



Relativity.

Whether we like it or not it's one big competition, one big poker game and not everybody can walk away with more chips than they sat down with.

The game changes constantly, so do the rules, but the limited chips on the table will never be given to everybody.

The one thing which allows the winners to succeed online is the ability to learn from their mistakes just a tad more than others who don't learn much from their mistakes. It takes a sharp mind to see the path to money, and not everybody can turn those corners as fast as others, and those who turn the corners faster get first dibs on the gold and diamonds sitting in those mines. :-)

The mines become dry every so often, and the winners are the ones who turn those corners faster on their way to the next mine. It's all a competition.


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:08:55
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by RichardDriver

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford



If we know
why so many aren't doing that great... something
everyone seems to be able to explain to you... then why
can't we figure out how more CAN succeed.



More don't succeed

Because......

More don't apply.
More don't plan.
More don't seek out practical knowledge.
More don't take ownership and claim their Success.
More don't broadcast their projects,goals and dreams.
More don't commit to functional business plan.
More don't cut the green grass on their own projects.
More don't seek out professional honest critiques of their plan.
More don't treat their time with dicipline.
More don't do the little things that others won't do.
More don't do more.

How's that for a start of discussing about

More?

HTH,

Richard
P.S. To succeed you have to do alot more than just more.



That IS a great start

A root cause of many of the things that you list is
that more don't know how. So, seeking the proper
training seems to be something sorely needed.

It's also true that many people simply won't put in
the time and effort to learn what they actually need
to know!

Willie


Reply author: Lynn Terry
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:09:59
Message:

The thing is, you can show people "how to" all day long. You can even show them proof and results. They might get excited, and they might want to have those same results you achieved. But they DONT want to put in the work you put in to get where you got.

Not all of course, just that 95%.

I think what makes the difference for that small percentage of people that either find a map and follow it - or figure out the path on their own - is that they have a consuming desire or an overwhelming NEED TO SUCCEED.

Take me for example. My start-up story is inspiring, most say. But I wouldnt wish the circumstances on anyone. I am a single mother to 2 children with no extended family and no father involvement. When I first started, I was married to a man who never worked and we had 4 children in the house (mine, his, ours) plus his sick father lived with us. That's 7 on my one paycheck, which wasnt cutting it.

The way I saw it, I didnt have a choice but to make change, and so I started a business and MADE it work.

Without that pressure, people lose interest or lose motivation or lose steam - or whatever. Some of the greatest success stories have come out of the worst of circumstances.

Wanting to "be wealthy" is not motivation enough - not when you have shoes on your feet and a full belly.

My 2c.

http://www.clicknewz.com/560/employ...ntrepreneur/
http://www.clicknewz.com/959/flashb...0-years-ago/


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:11:21
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by People

quote :

One of the unreasonable questions that I asked myself
is "Why is the statistic that 95% of online businesses
fail - probably true?" Some answers that made me feel
"OK" with that fact, came to mind, yet another part of
me questioned, "Why can 100% Succeed?"



Relativity.

Whether we like it or not it's one big competition, one big poker game and not everybody can walk away with more chips than they sat down with.

The game changes constantly, so do the rules, but the limited chips on the table will never be given to everybody.

The one thing which allows the winners to succeed online is the ability to learn from their mistakes just a tad more than others who don't learn much from their mistakes. It takes a sharp mind to see the path to money, and not everybody can turn those corners as fast as others, and those who turn the corners faster get first dibs on the gold and diamonds sitting in those mines. :-)

The mines become dry every so often, and the winners are the ones who turn those corners faster on their way to the next mine. It's all a competition.



I don't see starting an online business as a zero sum
game... where in order to win, someone has to lose. That's
the case in some niches, but not most.

You have some excellent points though.

Willie


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:20:21
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford

quote :

Originally posted by RichardDriver

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford



If we know
why so many aren't doing that great... something
everyone seems to be able to explain to you... then why
can't we figure out how more CAN succeed.



More don't succeed

Because......

More don't apply.
More don't plan.
More don't seek out practical knowledge.
More don't take ownership and claim their Success.
More don't broadcast their projects,goals and dreams.
More don't commit to functional business plan.
More don't cut the green grass on their own projects.
More don't seek out professional honest critiques of their plan.
More don't treat their time with dicipline.
More don't do the little things that others won't do.
More don't do more.

How's that for a start of discussing about

More?

HTH,

Richard
P.S. To succeed you have to do alot more than just more.



That IS a great start

A root cause of many of the things that you list is
that more don't know how. So, seeking the proper
training seems to be something sorely needed.

It's also true that many people simply won't put in
the time and effort to learn what they actually need
to know!

Willie



Thanks Willie

I am passionate about this topic as you can tell.

quote :

It's also true that many people simply won't put in
the time and effort to learn what they actually need
to know!



I personally have noticed that they won't take the big step
forward and make the tough decisions.

They don't take a gamble on themselves.
They want to take the safe route.
They want to ride others coat tails.

Over and over I am faced with students that
don't get it until they get whacked in the face
with the truth about their so called business.

When their business get disected there really
was no business there to start with.

It is so easy for someone to sit down at their
computer and say....

"I am running my own home based business!"

When in fact the business is running them and
they are to in denile about what they are really
spending their time on.

Some of my most rewarding students have been the
ones that are speachless on our first session together.

The ones that keep saying

I do that
I did that
I am doing that

Usually don't work out... They are too busy defending ther
sinking ship.

Getting them the puzzle pieces and numbering them is not the
solution.

You have to get them to be able to see the real picture first.

Rant over I hand the mike back over to you.

Richard


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:23:58
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Lucy Weber

I think one of the biggest obstacles is not having a boss. There are several reasons that having a boss is beneficial.



You have a lot of valid points, and many people
aren't cut out to be their own bosses.

The way I deal with the problem that you outline
is by making myself accountable to others. You
can be accountable to a mentor, coach, or
accountability partners.

When you know that in not following through on an
agreed plan of action, you are not just letting
yourself down, but hurting others who are also
depending upon you to do your part so that they
can do theirs, that motivates a lot of people.

I also introduce an accountability factor by
telling others my plans or projects. Knowing
that the world... or a family member who can't
wait to say "I told you so!" are watching, keeps
some of us going

Willie


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:26:32
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by RichardDriver

Rant over I hand the mike back over to you.

Richard



I'm not sure how to follow that, so I'll just
pass the mike to the guy in the corner who just
raised his hand

and YES, the passion does show.

Willie


Reply author: Lucy Weber
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:30:23
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford

You have a lot of valid points, and many people
aren't cut out to be their own bosses.



You're right, Willie. There are a lot of people who really aren't cut out to be their own boss. I think one way you could bring in the accountability (other than coaching and such) is to find a partner that is at approximately the same stage in business that you are and team up with them. You won't actually work together, but you'll send each other your weekly tasks lists and then hold each other accountable for what you do and do not get done.

This is somewhat like those AA meetings and dieting groups that give you a "buddy". You team up together for a common goal, support each other, and help hold each other accountable. If you're on a diet and you gain three pounds, it's going to be a bit embarrassing telling your buddy you screwed up when they lost two pounds that week. :) Same idea for business. If you buddy put up four new AdSense sites and wrote and submitted twenty articles and all you did was create a header and write half of an article, you're going to feel a bit embarrassed. Hehe.


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:31:28
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Lynn Terry

I think what makes the difference for that small percentage of people that either find a map and follow it - or figure out the path on their own - is that they have a consuming desire or an overwhelming NEED TO SUCCEED.



I hear you. By the time I left home, I was tired of rats,
roaches, tattered clothing, government subsistence, the
cycle of poverty, and that feeling of total hopelessness.

Books and television gave me a glimpse of what was possible
and ignited the refusal to give up in me. Now, I'd think
the internet makes that ignition even more vivid, although
the hype conceals the landmines.

Willie


Reply author: mr_kyle
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:33:34
Message:

A big reason is...

Ineffective action.

Whether it be taking no action (highly ineffective) or just taking the wrong action (e.g. building your business on a "trick" rather than a solid footing, or fighting battles when you should be winning wars)


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:38:49
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford

quote :

Originally posted by RichardDriver

Rant over I hand the mike back over to you.

Richard



I'm not sure how to follow that, so I'll just
pass the mike to the guy in the corner who just
raised his hand

and YES, the passion does show.

Willie



That Mr Crawford is a risky decision.
I could shoot my post count up to over
10,000 tonight on this subject.

Richard


Reply author: People
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:39:13
Message:

quote :

When you know that in not following through on an
agreed plan of action, you are not just letting
yourself down, but hurting others who are also
depending upon you to do your part so that they
can do theirs, that motivates a lot of people.

I also introduce an accountability factor by
telling others my plans or projects. Knowing
that the world... or a family member who can't
wait to say "I told you so!" are watching, keeps
some of us going



Great points indeed, and I often use this same tactic to hold myself accountable.

*But it's interesting to note that I often tell newbies to do the exact opposite when they're first starting out. I tell them to never tell their family or friends what they're doing because this "accountability tactic" can also backfire and create a feeling of failure in the eyes of others, which forces many people to quit rather than enduring more humiliating failure in the eyes of others.

You may not realize it, but having your friends and family see you fail for months in a row (when you're just starting out and still learning by mistakes) can be a death blow to a person's mental image of themselves, and I know people who have quit because they couldn't take the humiliation of being a failure in front of family and friends.

So I'm not sure that all newbies should use this tactic of holding themselves accountable, since it's a double edged sword. It depends on personality I guess.

But I definitely use this tactic myself, since that which doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.


Reply author: lotsoftraffic
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:49:57
Message:

True good valid point on the family issue.. If they only knew how I really felt and what I see could be done by working my online business! They constantly banter about me getting a "real job"! If they only knew that I put more time and effort into my online business to help it one day succeed, maybe they would understand? No most likely they wont simple because thats life, the last thing they want is for you to see success.. Our goal online is to hang it there, do the rope a dope whatever it takes.. Hang it there! I have someone very close to me... who I had heard that if I go get a "JOB" than they would help me out financially.. Now hmmm.. since I need help to get my business off the ground now, wouldnt it make sense for them to help me now, heck I can even teach them how to make money online... Hello.. This person has the means with little investment to set me on my way... but chose not too..No Begging here...


Reply author: Evita
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:50:17
Message:

As with anything else in life, why are some people more successful than others?
Bottom line is self esteem. Think you can? You do... Think you can not? You do not...

And here's what I believe to be a huge factor. (One of many, many, many..)

Most of us are raised to make an hourly wage.
We put out one hour of work and we get paid X dollars.
To have an idea, to implement a smart business move,
and then sit back and watch the money roll in is not
in people's comfort zone. Not their outgoing vibration
so to speak, it is foreign. It makes as much sense as for the
person making $20.000/year to believe they can make
200.000 per year. That thought would set off massive
internal conflicts, even though the person SAY they would
Love to make 200.000 per year. All of a sudden becoming
a success is a Huge threat to peoples survival instincts.
(Anything threatening your survival, or your "flock" status,
will be rejected immediately.)

How's that? Your whole life would change.
Your family would see you differently. Actually, if you become "too" successful you may not feel as part
of the family anymore.
Your friends may not like your new status...
You'd have to get new friends... Bottom line is that,
without sounding dramatic, a part of your life would die.

There are a lot of negative perceptions associated with being successful.

Maybe it is not OK to make more money than Dad?
How can you justify making oodles of money while people are
starving? (That one is REALLY common) It is better to be poor,
and for sure it is more Spiritual(!!)... Oh, and a very common
one,,,, rich people are crooks/not nice/greedy b#tches.

Most of these are unconscious, installed at some early age, but
continually and effectively stopping the efforts when the person "steps out of line" :)

I've helped a lot of people find their "stoppers" to prosperity
over some years, and there is a definite ongoing process :)
EVERYONE has blocks to being more successful. Cuz there is no end,
you can always be even more successful... but we are where we are
because of our own limiting beliefs, even if we are "successful"- such a relative term!-. :)

Anyway, I'm rambling, way past bedtime here!!

Here's to all of us asking, that we'll receive the knowing of what stands in our way!

Evita
PS. A fun experiment would be to find someone experienced in energy field testing, and test your congruency on statements such as :"It's OK for me to make <insert number of your dreams> per year.
I will bet my Cartier handbag, you will test Weak, meaning some serious internal opposition to your goal.






Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/18/2007 22:53:42
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by People
[br
You may not realize it, but having your friends and family see you fail for months in a row (when you're just starting out and still learning by mistakes) can be a death blow to a person's mental image of themselves, and I know people who have quit because they couldn't take the humiliation of being a failure in front of family and friends.



Sometimes the reality is too much for them to handle and they take an
even sader exit decision

People would sooner pay $97 for the

Mega Dollar Boomerang Generator System.
Then to sit down and properly fund their
business education.

Richard


Reply author: Evita
Replied on: 08/18/2007 23:09:40
Message:

Well, I'm still up, damn it!

Just wanted to add.
It is NOT the outside actions that matter. The actions, or lack thereof,
is the end-result of the internal workings.
To say someone isn't "doing" this or not "doing" that the right way is not the issue.
The REASON they are doing this, or not, is the ENTIRE issue.

In order for change, stuff has to change inside.

Evita <yawn>


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/18/2007 23:14:25
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Evita

Well, I'm still up, damn it!

Just wanted to add.
It is NOT the outside actions that matter. The actions, or lack thereof,
is the end-result of the internal workings.
To say someone isn't "doing" this or not "doing" that the right way is not the issue.
The REASON they are doing this, or not, is the ENTIRE issue.

In order for change, stuff has to change inside.

Evita <yawn>




In order for change, stuff has to change inside upstairs between the ears.


Richard


Reply author: dblgdee
Replied on: 08/18/2007 23:22:06
Message:

I had to get some of this

On of the reasons is that
Success rarely comes easily, despite what we are some times led to believe and most are not willing and or ready to endure to the end.
Success is desired, but are not really willing to step outside the comfort zone or give more than what it takes.
They don't want it bad enough or think it will be easy and sometimes may quit prematurely.
This is a constant in almost any area.

If you were in a situation where your ultimate survival depends solely on succeeding at one particular task, the chances of survival and success would increase dramatically.


Plan your attack and attack your plan.


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/18/2007 23:27:12
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by dblgdee


If you were in a situation where your ultimate survival depends solely on succeeding at one particular task, the chances of survival and success would increase dramatically.


Plan your attack and attack your plan.



Imagine a reality show...

That......

Contestants are sitting on an electric chair.
They have 6 hours to generate $600 to not be
ZAPPED!

I bet you there would be more successes than failures.

Richard


Reply author: Evita
Replied on: 08/18/2007 23:30:01
Message:

Uh,Oh!
I feel my first WSO coming on.
"Evitas Success Chair!" Batteries not included!

Evita


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/18/2007 23:34:44
Message:

You can do a WSO for the chair.

I'll do one for the

$600 Get Out of Chair Card

Richard


Reply author: BillyBee
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:09:50
Message:

No one has mentioned talent, so I will say it: talent matters.

Many of the gurus like to give off an "Aw shucks" vibe as if they just stumbled into success trying a few easy things, but then you look at their sales letters and emails and videos and you see that they are really good communicators. The stuff they write is naturally compelling. They're natural sales people.

You see the same thing in the MLM industry (which supposedly has a similar failure rate). Ever hear the successful people in THAT industry? They've all got great phone voices, great personalities, they have that shiny, happy sheen.

Yes, perseverance is more valuable than talent, but I think inherent talent and smarts is a big factor.

You also need to "have a pair." That helps.


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:11:54
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by BillyBee

No one has mentioned talent, so I will say it: talent matters.

Many of the gurus like to give off an "Aw shucks" vibe as if they just stumbled into success trying a few easy things, but then you look at their sales letters and emails and videos and you see that they are really good communicators. The stuff they write is naturally compelling. They're natural sales people.

You see the same thing in the MLM industry (which supposedly has a similar failure rate). Ever hear the successful people in THAT industry? They've all got great phone voices, great personalities, they have that shiny, happy sheen.

Yes, perseverance is more valuable than talent, but I think inherent talent and smarts is a big factor.

You also need to "have a pair." That helps.



BANG ON!

Richard


Reply author: successbuy
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:16:32
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by People

Whether we like it or not it's one big competition, one big poker game and not everybody can walk away with more chips than they sat down with.

The game changes constantly, so do the rules, but the limited chips on the table will never be given to everybody.


I'm sorry, but I have to take issue with this one. That's "scarcity thinking" and is not based in fact.

Get yourself a copy of "The Richest Man In Babylon." There's a parable in there about this very topic. In it, the author uses the example of a man who builds a house.

The man pays for the house to be built by giving money to the construction workers and material supply houses. Once he has paid everyone, he's got less wealth than before he started, right? WRONG!!! He now has a house that is worth AT LEAST what he paid to get it built. And the land he built it on is worth more. And the neighboring properties are worth more.

The man CREATED value. And he didn't do it by taking it from someone else! He created NEW value. That's the key. If you can teach people to CREATE real value, then everyone CAN succeed!

Just my 2-cents...

- Dan


Reply author: Michelle Brouse
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:32:12
Message:

I can't believe I had about 15 paragraphs written about this topic, and clicked the wrong way and lost it. :-(

Everyone will be in bed before I can write all that again.

Anyhow Richard, I'm dang close to sending you an email, a Pm - etc. I'm plotting that time off in a big way. Wanted to get everything done by this Friday - when I go to a family reunion. I'll be MIA for almost 2 weeks, but on all my off time I will be planning, and doing things that I need to get done. There may be no internet connection where I'm staying, but that's not all bad. I can build a plan of action.

Willie, I have some super great ideas that I just typed out, but lost the dang post, so I need to start over. Problem is my eyelids are drooping.

Ayhow, great stuff can come from this thread.

Thanks!
Michelle


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:35:41
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Michelle Brouse

I can't believe I had about 15 paragraphs written about this topic, and clicked the wrong way and lost it. :-(

Everyone will be in bed before I can write all that again.

Anyhow Richard, I'm dang close to sending you an email, a Pm - etc. I'm plotting that time off in a big way. Wanted to get everything done by this Friday - when I go to a family reunion. I'll be MIA for almost 2 weeks, but on all my off time I will be planning, and doing things that I need to get done. There may be no internet connection where I'm staying, but that's not all bad. I can build a plan of action.

Willie, I have some super great ideas that I just typed out, but lost the dang post, so I need to start over. Problem is my eyelids are drooping.

Ayhow, great stuff can come from this thread.

Thanks!
Michelle



Michelle,

I am so proud that you are kicking the habbit and moving
forward. You can do it and I'll kick your butt if you slip.


Richard


Reply author: People
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:53:10
Message:

quote :

The man pays for the house to be built by giving money to the construction workers and material supply houses. Once he has paid everyone, he's got less wealth than before he started, right? WRONG!!! He now has a house that is worth AT LEAST what he paid to get it built. And the land he built it on is worth more. And the neighboring properties are worth more.

The man CREATED value. And he didn't do it by taking it from someone else! He created NEW value. That's the key. If you can teach people to CREATE real value, then everyone CAN succeed!



Yeah, but the real estate market is in the toilet right now, so doesn't that change things? (that's a joke)

Seriously, that's an interesting concept and I'd like to hear what somebody like Dr. Mani has to say about this idea.

It sounds nice, but I'm not sure that everybody can be equal with such an imbalance of wealth in the world.

To quote Gordon Gecko: It's a zero sum game, somebody wins and somebody loses. (that's a joke too, don't go postal everybody)


Reply author: Kurt
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:57:57
Message:


1. As BillyBee posted, we're not all created equal.

2. Luck. It's seems taboo to say so, but many people have just had bad luck. How many "successful" people lost everything in New Orleans due to Katrina? Or the loss of loved ones subtracts from any material drive a person may have had...

3. Most importantly, not all of us define "success" in the same way. Who's to say that some of the 95% that "fail" didn't move on to something they became successful at? I'm sure some of them became successful parents and spouses, while many of the "successful" online folks are total failures at some of the more important aspects of life.

Because all of us will never agree what success really is, it is then logical to extract that all of us can't be successful in the eyes of all others, as it's impossible to live up to the standards of all the people, all the time.



Reply author: Michelle Brouse
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:58:29
Message:

My butt NEEDS kicked Richard.

Thanks!
Michelle :dozing off in PC chair: Brouse


Reply author: successbuy
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:59:21
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by People

To quote Gordon Gecko: It's a zero sum game, somebody wins and somebody loses. (that's a joke too, don't go postal everybody)


Don't worry...I've got a pretty good sense of humor.

- Dan


Reply author: ProfessorLUMP
Replied on: 08/19/2007 00:59:37
Message:

I'd say 100% can't succeed because success is relative, and many people are afraid to take the first step and define what success means to them. Instead, they clamor over what others have defined as success and search for a shortcut to similar results. So, essentially they have no purpose, no drive, no map, and no destination. All they have is someone else's page with a red X on it and an imagination that runs wild desperately searching for the shortest path to the X.


Reply author: mr_kyle
Replied on: 08/19/2007 01:01:52
Message:

An abundance mindset helps a LOT...

Thinking that someone else has to lose for you to win automatically sets yourself up for self-sabotage -> You think you're a "good" person -> You try to "win" but think someone else is now "losing" -> You self-correct and "fail" -> Thus making you "good" in your own mind, and consistent with your beliefs.

I just made that up then but I buy it :)


Reply author: Shaun OReilly
Replied on: 08/19/2007 01:15:04
Message:

"Why is the statistic that 95% of online businesses
fail - probably true?"


In plain language, people are addicted to remaining
the same and strongly wired NOT to change. Change is
scary and keeping the status quo is comfortable - so
people don't change and neither do their businesses.

As Jim Rohn wisely says:

"If you will change, everything will change for you"

But few do. Few people take the risk to change what
they're doing so that they can get different results.

Best wishes,

Shaun


Reply author: jchengery
Replied on: 08/19/2007 01:30:25
Message:

Hello everyone,

Willie - a very interesting challenge! :-)

I think there are many good points in this thread, including what Richard, Lucy, and June have said.

I think for some, it also has to do with a confidence issue, truly believing that one can do it. For most, doubt seems to creep in because they are, to borrow a Star Trek phrase, "boldly going into a new frontier," and trying to figure things out as they go. As June mentioned, it's good to have some plans in place before doing so, but even then, one must figure out how to achieve those plans in an online world, which is a bit different than the offline world, and for many, technology frightens people in that they are unsure whether they know how to do the necessary tasks and afraid of messing something up as they attempt to achieve those tasks.

I know at times that I struggle with trying to figure things out online and fearing of making a mistake that I'll have to try to correct later, especially when it comes to HTML. I've gotten better with it, but I am still learning new things everyday, which I think most new online businesspeople have to adjust to as well - virtually everyday, you'll learn something new online, and you have to learn how to apply that to your business in the most effective and cost-efficient way possible, and that usually takes time and trial & error to master.

In addition, one must learn where to go for trustworthy help and advice, and that's usually online for most people, as most people don't know that many people personally offline to discuss online business tactics and how to achieve success online. That's why going to seminars whenever possible is certainly helpful, but that usually involves taking time off work from your offline job and involves a decent amount of money as well, which again leads to that question of how confident and committed one is to make an online business succeed - if one is not confident enough to believe that he/she can succeed online, it's likely he/she won't put the money into going to seminars and investing in information crucial to helping one succeed online more quickly, and for most, if they don't start seeing some success online after a relatively short period of time, they start to think that "Internet marketing doesn't work for them" and they give up or fail online.

I believe all of the above also factors into why 95% of online businesses fail.

Hopefully, this is helpful.

Take care and have a great day!

Sincerely,

Joe Chengery III


Reply author: Michelle Brouse
Replied on: 08/19/2007 01:40:06
Message:

Hey guys, almost out... I am REALLY nodding off in my PC chair I'm so tired, and I'll dig this thread out tomorrow to retype my comments.

But for now, load this page: http://www.ztvd.com/index.htm

Go get a beverage, walk around the house a bit, whatever. Then come back with your mind on taking a quick break. Click the play button and see if it helps.

Just finished this show, basically for me to remember what I need to do to succeed. I hope it will help many other people... so you guys and gals are the first to view this one. Takes a while to load - 48 meg file... but I hope it makes you think. ;-)

Thanks!
Michelle


Reply author: cyberslick
Replied on: 08/19/2007 01:51:20
Message:

100% can't succeed because 99% don't try.

Simply put. If you can't make money on the internet, you AREN'T honestly trying.


Reply author: Mary Gallivan
Replied on: 08/19/2007 01:58:23
Message:

Hi Willie

Great post and some great responses.

I think another part of the problem is that there are people that want to make that fast cash overnight with little or no work. How many times have we seen the posts of 'I need $500 by the end of the week!' Once they hear they have to work to make their money they get a shock.

Another reason I personally think, is lack of skills. That was my biggest problem and still is to be quite honest. I've seen all the sales pitch that says 'if you can copy and past, you can do this'. Baloney! It's not always that easy. I remember when it took me months to learn how to put images into my word documents, then when needed the images didn't show up. I'd copied and pasted and done everything I was told but nothing seemed to work.

I emailed anyone I could think of but there was one crucial piece of the jigsaw that nobody told me about. I wish I was part of this forum then. Nobody ever told me I had to upload my image to my web host first and provide a link to it.

I think some people forget the VERY basics when teaching others how to do something.

OK, so instead of aving to only be able to copy and paste I had to get a web host. at the time it was 'how do I do that?' Who do I choose? How do I get a domain name? How do I build a website?

There's so many of these things we take for granted and think the newbies know how to do them. I laugh now when I think of how naive I was. I could have so easily given up but I was always a stubborn little soul :-)

I remember a lesson I had on a course once - totally unrelated to IM and it was to :

Write step by step instructions on how to put a tie on.

It sounds easy at first glance but it was surprising to see how many did not mention in their instructions that the first thing you had to do was put the tie round your neck!!

There's many videos out there now that shows all the steps of getting started. Maybe somebody could start of directory of some of the best sites to go to for video tutorials - there's free ones out there. Then in books for newbies guide them in that direction as well.

Don't forget - it's only easy if you know how to do it.

Anyway, I'm still here, still reading, still learning, still doing and still willing to help.

Sorry if I've rambled on too much :-)

Mary


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 01:59:44
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by cyberslick

100% can't succeed because 99% don't try.

Simply put. If you can't make money on the internet, you AREN'T honestly trying.



Sorry to disagree with you but 99% is not a correct stat.

Richard

PS. I am going to catch some zzzzz now. Will catch up tomorrow
on this outstanding thread.


Reply author: nimcus38318
Replied on: 08/19/2007 02:48:10
Message:

This has been an interesting thread to read. I am struggling right now and my lack of success is not because I'm totally not trying. I guess I should say that I cannot for the life of me figure out what I know enough about to write about. Richard, I know there is a flame coming from you..but I feel like a total doof for not being instantly smitten with a narrow niche in which to peddle my wares.

I've gotten a small list, but none of them buy anything. I guess I don't sell things well. It is hard when you feel like you SHOULD know enough and you SHOULD be able to go out and conquer, and are still unable to make a dime. It is not like I'm going from one get rich quick scheme to another either. I'm plodding along, but I think I'm putting the pieces of the puzzle together ass-backwards or something.

I'm absolutely financially fried...I have 5 on my paycheck and am so far behind I don't know if I"ll have my house by next month...but I keep trying, keep sending out ads, keep mailing to my list. Sometimes I think that I need a mentor, but I don't know where to go apply for that bonus...

Anyhow, it bothers me to continuously hear that #1)making money on the internet is easy, #2) if you can't make money you are an idiot, and #3)you aren't trying hard enough...

MY 2 cents.

Sarah


Reply author: cyberslick
Replied on: 08/19/2007 03:44:51
Message:

Yes because 99% was an exact figure that I ran through a series of calculations... Sigh, you can't say anything on a forum anymore. Thank you for your sleuthing Richard.

Seriously though, a gigantic percentage of people will never succeed because they never truly put the effort into it. Error only goes so far, with enough work, you're bound to score.


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 04:02:19
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by nimcus38318

This has been an interesting thread to read. I am struggling right now and my lack of success is not because I'm totally not trying. I guess I should say that I cannot for the life of me figure out what I know enough about to write about. Richard, I know there is a flame coming from you..but I feel like a total doof for not being instantly smitten with a narrow niche in which to peddle my wares.

I've gotten a small list, but none of them buy anything. I guess I don't sell things well. It is hard when you feel like you SHOULD know enough and you SHOULD be able to go out and conquer, and are still unable to make a dime. It is not like I'm going from one get rich quick scheme to another either. I'm plodding along, but I think I'm putting the pieces of the puzzle together ass-backwards or something.

I'm absolutely financially fried...I have 5 on my paycheck and am so far behind I don't know if I"ll have my house by next month...but I keep trying, keep sending out ads, keep mailing to my list. Sometimes I think that I need a mentor, but I don't know where to go apply for that bonus...

Anyhow, it bothers me to continuously hear that #1)making money on the internet is easy, #2) if you can't make money you are an idiot, and #3)you aren't trying hard enough...

MY 2 cents.

Sarah



Sarah your honesty and sheer drive to succeed is only being stalled by lack of knowledge. No flame here you are awesome.
Please send me a pm with your full contact info I'll call you personally and see how to help you put the pieces together.

You can obviously see the picture.

Richard


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 04:06:39
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by cyberslick

Yes because 99% was an exact figure that I ran through a series of calculations... Sigh, you can't say anything on a forum anymore. Thank you for your sleuthing Richard.

Seriously though, a gigantic percentage of people will never succeed because they never truly put the effort into it. Error only goes so far, with enough work, you're bound to score.



Cyberslick,

As you can see from Sarah's post above this is serious and it is effecting people in a profound way not being able to make it.

Enough work will not guarantee you making it.

Work alone is not enough.

Richard


Reply author: Blissful
Replied on: 08/19/2007 04:32:53
Message:

My observation: It's not too hard to succeed. It's too easy to fail.

Most people start internet marketing as a part time gig, hoping it'll take off, but with no real consequences to failure. How many of those just starting in IM are truly depending on it to feed themselves? For most, it's too easy to quit, to just let it slide when it gets difficult or frustrating.

In a non-internet business, there tends to be more at stake if you fail. If you fail in a brick and mortar business, you've got to worry about your storefront rental/lease, inventory, defaulting on loans, employees, etc, not to mention the fact that it's probably your only source of income.

If you're a newbie who fails at your internet business, chances are you're only out a few bucks, and some of your time.


Reply author: drmani
Replied on: 08/19/2007 04:55:35
Message:

Why can't 100% succeed?

No reason why.

They can.

It takes 3 P's...

- Passion
- Purpose
- Persistence

You must want success - badly enough

You must have a reason to want it - a worthy enough one

You must be willing to stick it out and wait - even if it takes a long while

quote :

Anyhow, it bothers me to continuously hear that #1)making money on the internet is easy, #2) if you can't make money you are an idiot, and #3)you aren't trying hard enough...



It bothers me too, because

#1 - it is NOT always easy,

#2 - I know many idiots who DO make money

#3 - you could be trying hard enough - and still not succeed... hard work alone is not a guarantee, though sticking it out certainly is.

quote :

Seriously, that's an interesting concept and I'd like to hear what somebody like Dr. Mani has to say about this idea.

It sounds nice, but I'm not sure that everybody can be equal with such an imbalance of wealth in the world.



Value addition greatly INCREASES 'wealth' levels - and theoretically it should be possible to generate enough to meet everyone's needs and more. But then, I'm no socialist, and don't believe Nature ever intended "everybody to be equal" (indeed, it would be a boring world if that were to ever happen!)

Inequality, unfairness, imbalance are inherent in humanity - but we can still keep tweaking the odds... in our favor!

All success
Dr.Mani


Reply author: Fabian.JH
Replied on: 08/19/2007 05:00:51
Message:

I guess 100% can't succeed because laws of nature don't allow it. If there are no failures, there can't be any successes, or so the saying goes.

In any competition, there are lots of losers and one winner...

Fabian


Reply author: drmani
Replied on: 08/19/2007 05:22:43
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Fabian.JH

In any competition, there are lots of losers and one winner...

Fabian



Fabian, guess who taught me differently?

My daughter - when she was 4 years old.

We were playing a game - I don't recall which one.

I won... and she promptly said:

"Daddy, you're the winner. I'm the SECOND winner!"

Out of the mouth of babes...

Dr.Mani


Reply author: moscowmartin
Replied on: 08/19/2007 05:31:44
Message:

Hi all,

I believe it is in the mind set, when Edison was asked about failing to make a light bulb 100 times he said that "he had found 100 ways of not making a light bulb" to him and many other people that succeed, they see failure as a learning experience and not as a set back.


Reply author: Richard Odell
Replied on: 08/19/2007 06:06:33
Message:

This at the end of a long thread but here goes... "Its lack of clarity - a sense of feeling overwhelmed".

The Internet market place is massive and it grows exponentially everyday. I believe people become overwhelmed by the whole experience. The give up, because they fail to make they're voice heard in the deafening noise of a billion voices.

Why people succeed is as Wille quotes...

quote :

One of the premises in the book is that great things happen
because "unreasonable" people DO rock the boat, and do
attempt things that most people consider impossible.



People fail because they 'hide their light under a bushel' they conceal your talents and abilities, they lack faith in their own ability to succeed.

Ultimately they are drowned out by the sound of those who shout louder and 'rock the boat'.

Richard


Reply author: James Schramko
Replied on: 08/19/2007 06:40:48
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by drmani

quote :

Originally posted by Fabian.JH

In any competition, there are lots of losers and one winner...

Fabian



Fabian, guess who taught me differently?

My daughter - when she was 4 years old.

We were playing a game - I don't recall which one.

I won... and she promptly said:

"Daddy, you're the winner. I'm the SECOND winner!"

Out of the mouth of babes...

Dr.Mani



Or did you come second last?


Reply author: Kimberly Clay
Replied on: 08/19/2007 08:00:59
Message:

Hi Willie-

Great topic. I've read through the posts and just can't help but reply. Many of you have made valid points, but I have to say this.

There are certainly people with more talent, vision, perserverence, etc. etc. We're not all created equal. HOWEVER, this is not rocket science. It really isn't. It's not something that requires that a person understand quantum physics or Einstein's Law.

I must go back to Willie's second post where he speaks of successful people giving pieces of the puzzle, but not telling newbies how the parts fit together. Not eveyone, even those who are extremely intelligent in other areas, are able to connect the dots without real help.

From my experience, I think a great number of people become really frustrated; one because they don't have reasonable expectations (we were just discussing this in another thread), but also because they think something is wrong because they can't figure out the "success solution". So, they do give up. Not everybody wants to keep banging their head against a wall (I'm just odd that way:O)).

If a person has done literally all that they think that they can do and they see no result, then often they think that they're either wasting they're time, it's above their head or they're being swindled and the success is not real. In either of those cases, those individuals want to "do the smart thing" and jump ship to cut any losses; not keep throwing good money and effort after bad. Everyone around them is telling them it's ridiculous anyway...nobody makes money like that, and if they do, it's not as much as they say.

Think about that perspective for just a moment.

I really think that if more people had a step-by-step plan mapped out from the beginning, one that truly gave real information and an accurate and HONEST roadmap (not keeping back this piece and that piece because I don't want the competition or because I want to keep selling these info products and lining my own pocket), there would be a greater percentage of success.

There will always be those who do not succeed for many of the reasons quite a few have already mentioned. My point is that I believe that the success rate could be higher if there were more genuine roadmaps to show them how.


Reply author: 1inamillion
Replied on: 08/19/2007 08:14:17
Message:

The only problem is not taking action. Knowledge is not power when you don't apply it. Application of knowledge is what matter. Why 95% fail is lack of these three things
1. Action
2. Action.
3. Action
4. Massive Action


Reply author: Michael J
Replied on: 08/19/2007 08:34:34
Message:

quote :

Another reason I personally think, is lack of skills. That was my biggest problem and still is to be quite honest. I've seen all the sales pitch that says 'if you can copy and past, you can do this'. Baloney! It's not always that easy. I remember when it took me months to learn how to put images into my word documents, then when needed the images didn't show up. I'd copied and pasted and done everything I was told but nothing seemed to work.

I emailed anyone I could think of but there was one crucial piece of the jigsaw that nobody told me about. I wish I was part of this forum then. Nobody ever told me I had to upload my image to my web host first and provide a link to it.

I think some people forget the VERY basics when teaching others how to do something.

OK, so instead of aving to only be able to copy and paste I had to get a web host. at the time it was 'how do I do that?' Who do I choose? How do I get a domain name? How do I build a website?

There's so many of these things we take for granted and think the newbies know how to do them. I laugh now when I think of how naive I was. I could have so easily given up but I was always a stubborn little soul :-)



Good morning. Finaly got the gonads to post. This very much discribes my situation , a total lack of "basic" knowledge. this thread is about ME,thank you. I'm selfemployed so I understand the realities of being in business and self motivation,not an issue.The work I do is physicaly very demanding and I'm not getting any younger.The bank is not on the verge of repo'ing my house and my 2 children go to bed with full bellies,but I do live month to month financially and the present American economy will affect me profoundly,soon. I stumbled upon this "great" forum 2 months ago and have been following many of your threads just about every day. I have not fallen prey to any of the "get rich guick" scams found elsewhere. I really have few skills and little direction at this point,outside of subscribing to Dr. mani and Kevin Riley.. Where do I go now? or Do I go at all? or should I pickup a job app. at Burger King?Really looking for solid pro input.............Thanks much in advance.

Michael J


Reply author: Michael J
Replied on: 08/19/2007 08:42:09
Message:

quote :

Hi Willie-

Great topic. I've read through the posts and just can't help but reply. Many of you have made valid points, but I have to say this.

There are certainly people with more talent, vision, perserverence, etc. etc. We're not all created equal. HOWEVER, this is not rocket science. It really isn't. It's not something that requires that a person understand quantum physics or Einstein's Law.

I must go back to Willie's second post where he speaks of successful people giving pieces of the puzzle, but not telling newbies how the parts fit together. Not eveyone, even those who are extremely intelligent in other areas, are able to connect the dots without real help.

From my experience, I think a great number of people become really frustrated; one because they don't have reasonable expectations (we were just discussing this in another thread), but also because they think something is wrong because they can't figure out the "success solution". So, they do give up. Not everybody wants to keep banging their head against a wall (I'm just odd that way:O)).

If a person has done literally all that they think that they can do and they see no result, then often they think that they're either wasting they're time, it's above their head or they're being swindled and the success is not real. In either of those cases, those individuals want to "do the smart thing" and jump ship to cut any losses; not keep throwing good money and effort after bad. Everyone around them is telling them it's ridiculous anyway...nobody makes money like that, and if they do, it's not as much as they say.

Think about that perspective for just a moment.

I really think that if more people had a step-by-step plan mapped out from the beginning, one that truly gave real information and an accurate and HONEST roadmap (not keeping back this piece and that piece because I don't want the competition or because I want to keep selling these info products and lining my own pocket), there would be a greater percentage of success.

There will always be those who do not succeed for many of the reasons quite a few have already mentioned. My point is that I believe that the success rate could be higher if there were more genuine roadmaps to show them how.




Yes,

Michael J exactly.


Reply author: ProfessorLUMP
Replied on: 08/19/2007 08:56:40
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by drmani
Fabian, guess who taught me differently?

My daughter - when she was 4 years old.

We were playing a game - I don't recall which one.

I won... and she promptly said:

"Daddy, you're the winner. I'm the SECOND winner!"

Out of the mouth of babes...

Dr.Mani



See, it's all relative. Too bad most kids are reprogrammed to accept absolutes and in the process have their positive outlook and creativity replaced by negativity and conformity. Why do you think so many people fear "failure"?


Reply author: davidbowie
Replied on: 08/19/2007 09:13:05
Message:

Willie, thanks for the great topic. Not really sure about the percentage that fail though. Most people are afraid to task risk. Also, it is easy to blame someone else for your failures than looking at one`s self. Lack of discipline is another. I have been a boss for a major Company for the past 12 years and was willing to take risk. I recently bought an ebook that showed a blueprint on making more money and I did not do so well. The guy was kind enough to send me an e-mail and wanted to know my results. I kindly told him that I made several hundred dollars and that I must have overlooked something and would try again.

I take full ownership of failures and successes. Willie, you can give people a step by step blueprint and they will still fail. Why? No focus. I took on a client, a few months back who was looking to make money online. I gave her what works for me and about every three weeks, she calls and says, can I explain it to her again?

It just dawned on me that I launched a program two months ago, that has brought in close to $100,000 and I`m thinking, where is the money? Most of it went to my resellers. Although, I get good advice from this forum, last year I was told that I would not make money with the programs I promote. I was bullheaded and it has paid off. I was tempted to call you when you were in Hollywood, since I live in Socal. I hope your trip was fruitful.

David Bowie


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/19/2007 09:26:03
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by RichardDriver

quote :

Originally posted by cyberslick

Yes because 99% was an exact figure that I ran through a series of calculations... Sigh, you can't say anything on a forum anymore. Thank you for your sleuthing Richard.

Seriously though, a gigantic percentage of people will never succeed because they never truly put the effort into it. Error only goes so far, with enough work, you're bound to score.



Cyberslick,

As you can see from Sarah's post above this is serious and it is effecting people in a profound way not being able to make it.

Enough work will not guarantee you making it.

Work alone is not enough.

Richard



Yes. There are countless people achieving the SAME
results as Sarah. So, part of my question is why, and
how can that be changed.

Willie


Reply author: lakading
Replied on: 08/19/2007 09:36:11
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by nimcus38318

This has been an interesting thread to read. I am struggling right now and my lack of success is not because I'm totally not trying. I guess I should say that I cannot for the life of me figure out what I know enough about to write about. Richard, I know there is a flame coming from you..but I feel like a total doof for not being instantly smitten with a narrow niche in which to peddle my wares.



It seems to me that your first problem is that you're painting yourself with the brush of "writer" when it appears that writing isn't your strength. I think it was Dick Benson who said something along the lines of "Do what you do best, and buy the rest around the corner." Simply put, if your strength is marketing, hire someone to do the actual writing and focus your energy on marketing. It can still be your knowledge, but just packaged and written by someone else.


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 09:42:31
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford

quote :

Originally posted by RichardDriver

quote :

Originally posted by cyberslick

Yes because 99% was an exact figure that I ran through a series of calculations... Sigh, you can't say anything on a forum anymore. Thank you for your sleuthing Richard.

Seriously though, a gigantic percentage of people will never succeed because they never truly put the effort into it. Error only goes so far, with enough work, you're bound to score.



Cyberslick,

As you can see from Sarah's post above this is serious and it is effecting people in a profound way not being able to make it.

Enough work will not guarantee you making it.

Work alone is not enough.

Richard



Yes. There are countless people achieving the SAME
results as Sarah. So, part of my question is why, and
how can that be changed.

Willie



Hopefully this story will bring understanding.

There was a lumberjack who invited his friend to spend
the day with him while he sawed trees.

His friend was excited to spend the day in the crisp outdoors.

While his friend was vigoursly sawing a huge tree he noticed
that his blade was very dull.

Wanting to be heplful he asked his friend the lumberjack.
"Why don't you stop sawing and sharpen your saw?"

To which his friend the lumberjack replied.

"I can't I'm too busy sawing"

This is what a great many marketers are doing.
They are too busy doing the same thing today
that they were doing yesterday expecting
different results.

Nothing can replace a good sharp saw and massive
energy to use the saw.

Having the know for all where to get your saw sharpened
and keeping it sharpe is not a part of the battle it is
the majority of the battle.

They also keep listening to those that tell them to just
keep sawing and ignore the sharpening.

HTH,

Richard


Reply author: davidbowie
Replied on: 08/19/2007 09:52:10
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by nimcus38318

This has been an interesting thread to read. I am struggling right now and my lack of success is not because I'm totally not trying. I guess I should say that I cannot for the life of me figure out what I know enough about to write about. Richard, I know there is a flame coming from you..but I feel like a total doof for not being instantly smitten with a narrow niche in which to peddle my wares.

I've gotten a small list, but none of them buy anything. I guess I don't sell things well. It is hard when you feel like you SHOULD know enough and you SHOULD be able to go out and conquer, and are still unable to make a dime. It is not like I'm going from one get rich quick scheme to another either. I'm plodding along, but I think I'm putting the pieces of the puzzle together ass-backwards or something.

I'm absolutely financially fried...I have 5 on my paycheck and am so far behind I don't know if I"ll have my house by next month...but I keep trying, keep sending out ads, keep mailing to my list. Sometimes I think that I need a mentor, but I don't know where to go apply for that bonus...

Anyhow, it bothers me to continuously hear that #1)making money on the internet is easy, #2) if you can't make money you are an idiot, and #3)you aren't trying hard enough...

MY 2 cents.

Sarah



Sarah, do not give up. stay focused. There are many people who will help you. I have been online for seven years and just started to see some success over the last year. #1 Making money online is not easy and #2 If you can`t make money, you are an idiot? (Sorry for being blunt here but what idiot said that?) #3 You aren`t trying hard enough. hmmm, sounds judgemental. Sarah, for inspiration, you might want to look at Job.

David


Reply author: Joe Russell
Replied on: 08/19/2007 10:09:45
Message:

In my opionion two of the reasons for the high failure rate is lack of experience and shoddy products or services being sold with too much HYPE! When a total newbie logs onto the internet looking to make money the first place they head is the search engines. When you do a search for "how to make money online" all you see is bull$*%# claiming you will make $10,000 plus a week doing nothing but selling miracle juice to your Aunt Suzy and her bridge buddies.

After a newbie joins a few of these programs or purchases ebooks claiming the same and then they fail they are now extremely cautious and skeptical about joining or purchasing anything and finally decide to just give up and label making money online a scam and the only ones making the money scammers.

It isnt that these people are dumb or that they just dont get it, its just that they lack basic marketing principles and quality products that will teach those principles. You dont see a 95% failure rate in schools and universities for any subject that is being offered and that is because for the most part there are quality instructors with quality educational material.

Could it be that the extremely high rate of over hyped worthless products and services is whats helping to create the high rate of failure that we are seeing?

I'll bet you a beer that if it was somehow mandatory for all newbies to join the WF first and be a member for at least 30 days before starting any online business or buying any product we would see a lower failure rate.

Joe Russell


Reply author: sciencetoy
Replied on: 08/19/2007 11:50:48
Message:

This is a fascinating topic, thanks to OP and all!

First, I'm bemused that we've gotten this far into this topic without even mentioning the most basic thing, in order to make money on the internet (or anything else) you have to SELL something. And continue to sell something. So, everything I read here at WF, every hot technique I find goes thru my filter: what does this have to do with selling stuff?

We all have our strengths, and thank goodness we're all different. What's easy for one person is impossibly complex for another. Makes it difficult to find one system that will work for all.

And there are so many possibilities here on the web, it's so easy to get sidetracked. And the downside to the many possibilities is that there is also limitless complexity.

I do find I have to re-define the hype. "Make a million in a week" is roughly equivalent to a "permanent wave" at the salon, "permanent" means it'll look funny for a few days, look really good for a week or two, look nice for another month and then pretty ratty for a while. It's a good thing, but the word permanent doesn't mean what it means anywhere else.

"Make a million" means that the SELLER hopes to make a lot of money, I think.

The 100% success part is too vague without defining what success means. A million a year? A million, total? Quitting your day job? A nice extra few dollars? Staying on your chair and not falling off while on the web?

I love this place because there are so many interesting and generous people here.

Thanks!





Reply author: sbyholm
Replied on: 08/19/2007 12:32:58
Message:

I've been online since 1995 but I've only done business online since 2003 and I'm slowly learning by reading newsletters and buying some marketing related product every month.

I think I'm slowly getting the picture here. To succeed you have to

1. Work hard (nothing happens until something moves)
2. Know what to do
3. Stay focused (don't try too many things at once)

I think tome people never get started, they just learn more and more but never get going.

Others work day and night but do not learn, either because they don't want to or they think they already know.

Some learn, but from the wrong source. They bought some get rich quick pack from a self proclaimed guru and now they are learning the wrong thing.

Some both learn and work but get distracted by new ideas and new projects all the time never finishing one project to the point where it starts to bring in serious money.

I'm the person that learns more than I work, and I get easily distracted. But I'm learning, and I hit the delete buttin quickly now when the latest greatest offer comes along.

I think what people are missing with online business is that it's exactly the same as offline business. At least from a distance.

* Do market research
* Create or aquire a product or service
* Make a well converting sales process for that product
* Get customers (traffic)
* Increase revenue with backend and advanced marketing methods

This is exactly the same offline and online. Here another way of telling it:

* Find a market or niche
* Learn exactly what these people want and need
* Sell them exactly what they want
* Learn more about what they want
* Sell them more of what they want

I think why so many newbies online fail is because the majority of marketing products out there, especially the sales pages, paint the picture that business online should be easy.

If you're not on a sunny beach in the caribbean letting you business push dollars into your bank account on autopilot you're doing something wrong.

In reality every guru I know work hard on their business, most work more than 40 hours a week and are having fun doing it. But it's hard work, and it's even harder when starting.

An online business will run on autopilot, but it's up to you to build the business and that's hard work.


The most important fundamental aspect of any business is this one from the list above

MARKET RESEARCH

Without market research the rest will fail miserably as you will be selling stuff to people that THEY DON'T WANT TO HAVE!

If on the other hand you have done proper market research and you know exactly what your target market want and you sell that to them, THEY WILL BUY YOUR STUFF ON THE SPOT, GLADLY GIVING YOU THEIR MONEY.

Competition plays a role of cource, and you need traffic and conversion for everything to roll, but without market research it's a 95% chance that your business will fail.

I think why so many fail online is because so few make-money-cources teaches market research.

Some ebooks will say that it's important, but I have yet to find one that will guide you step by step through the market research process.

I suspect many marketers holds back on this piece of the puzzle as it's the key to success, and they could easily create competition for themselves if they showed how they found the niches they make money in.

Another aspect is that this is a lot of work if done properly. You have to gather data through tests and forms that you have people fill out, then analyze the data and actually ask questions to poeple to find out what they want.

It can both cost a lot and take a long time without you selling anything yet.

And the result?

You will know if it's profitable to enter this market without making a product and a sales process.

If it looks profitable you can go ahead with product and sales process creation. If not you can abandon this market and try the next until you find the goldmine.

It will be a lot easier and a lot more fun selling stuff that people wants.

Thanks for reading this far. I hope this has been usefull to someone and if I'm totally of track I hope one of the gurus around will step in and point me in the right direction.

Simon


Reply author: rockerrockstar
Replied on: 08/19/2007 12:36:53
Message:

This is going to be Willie's new special report WSO right.


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 12:42:10
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by sciencetoy

This is a fascinating topic, thanks to OP and all!

I do find I have to re-define the hype. "Make a million in a week" is roughly equivalent to a "permanent wave" at the salon, "permanent" means it'll look funny for a few days, look really good for a week or two, look nice for another month and then pretty ratty for a while. It's a good thing, but the word permanent doesn't mean what it means anywhere else.



Permanent

Richard


Reply author: Steven Wagenheim
Replied on: 08/19/2007 12:58:44
Message:

I don't know. Maybe I'm just oversimplifying this, but I think the biggest
reason that 95% of marketers fail is that they just don't know what to do.

When I first started to try to make money online, I certainly had the desire,
drive and motivation - maybe even more so than I have now because at the time
I was broke. I was out of work and desperate.

But I didn't know what I was doing. I had no clue. I had no direction. I
didn't even know where to begin. As a result, I spent 5 months not making
any money at all.

It wasn't until I got the knowledge I needed and some direction from
people who were willing to help me that I finally started to make some
money online.

Yes, I had to still put in the work. I had to be committed. But if I didn't
have the knowledge that I had gained, I would have been in the same boat
that I was in at the start, 4 plus years later.

Knowledge is the key.

Without it, you don't stand a chance.


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 13:03:22
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by sbyholm

I suspect many marketers holds back on this piece of the puzzle as it's the key to success, and they could easily create competition for themselves if they showed how they found the niches they make money in.



This is one inside tip I can tell you that if you grasp it completely
and take it to heart you will have a better journey.

Guru's ( successful marketers)
Know from experience and stats that if you mention these words in your sales letter your conversions will drop noticalbly.

: Work
: Study
: Course
: Time
: Schedule
: Semester
: Class
: Hard Work
: Tasks
: Homework

You get my drift.

As a successful mentor one of the first things I weed out before
taking on a new student is how you react to those words above.

If you squeal like a scared vampire being shown garlic or the cross
my guidance won't be of any good for you.

If you are not affraid to hear the truth and roll up your sleeves we'll get along famously.

Here's a point that we shouldn't miss on this thread.

When do you stop the drain and plug the whole?
This thread has something like 800 views already
and lots of replies.

Yet no one has put up their hand to declare that today
is the day that they get real about their business and
commit to working smarter and more deciplined.

You would be totally shocked at how 30 days of working
on the right to do list can turn anyones business around.

Even people who don't have all the talents. They can be
obtained.

No one can be a Jack of all trades except Jack!

Get a bloody big sign and put this in the middle of it in
BIG BOLD LETTERS!

TODAY IS THE DAY!

Now put it at eye level beside your monitor.

Make a pledge to Work, Study, focus, and complete
your daily to do list and you'll be golden.

HTH,

Richard


Reply author: dbressler
Replied on: 08/19/2007 13:15:14
Message:

Action.

Not just in internet marketing, but in all areas of life.

Yesterday I was listening to the car radio and they were talking about the Ballys Fitness Chain filing for bankruptcy. In the investigation during the filing, it was learned that facility use among customers averaged ONE HALF A WORKOUT PER WEEK.

Now, these people saw a need to improve their fitness level AND signed a multi-year CONTRACT to use the facilities. Then they quit.

Having worked with clients starting a myriad of home businesses since 1990, I've seen this time and again in a certain percentage of people.

Possessing a fitness membership doesn't make you fit.

Possessing the latest ebook, or video, or consulting course will not make you rich.

It takes follow through and action.

Debbi Bressler


Reply author: cyberslick
Replied on: 08/19/2007 13:17:33
Message:

The formula is out there. Every tenth post on this forum is a step by step guide how someone made money, and how you can easily replicate it.

Everyones heard it before. Make a site, throw adsense on it, promote a product, and send it traffic.

You want to make a $150 bucks in two days?

Go to www.clixgalore.com and make a free affiliate account. Find an online dating service. Post in craigslist that you are looking for someone to chat to you in an adult setting, and forward them to your affiliate link.

Bam instant money. It's not hard, people just need to work harder and smarter. I've listed several surefire methods like this in my own signature product, and I can see probably hundreds of equally useful products in the WSO right now.


Reply author: Lloyd Lopes
Replied on: 08/19/2007 13:31:39
Message:

I see many reasons here ..... maybe i can cover them in a simple concept.

Lets presume that the success we are talking about is making loads of loot.

We know that :

1. A lot of people don't take action. Some people who have done very little or nothing at all have become rich.
2.People dont have the skills. We know college students with zero skills have made mountains of cash.
3. People don't have motivation. People have got accidentally rich on the internet with no motivation to get rich at all....remember the pixel sites?
4.People dont have resources etc etc... Some people have started with nothing and become wealthy.


I think the most common blanket to cover these reasons is:

People starting out in business do not provide in value what they ask in money.

And for me - the only real thing that has made me money is providing people with more in value than I ask in money.

This could be anything - hard work - an idea - a service etc - but they simply don't hand out more in value than what they ask for in monetary return. Thats why spamming , phishing , auto site and content creators and everything else will fail.

Trying to get a buck for providing nothing in return is never going to get you anywhere. This works with your own products and promoting others products. It applies when building content sites. It applies pretty to everything - including doing nothing.


Reply author: dabuzz
Replied on: 08/19/2007 13:35:03
Message:

there are many answers to the question..
one of it is.. in Paul's thread..

"it takes time to succeed"

people don't get it.. and throw in the
towel a lot sooner.. that's the reason
they dont' see the first light of success..

coz they never waited that long!

Shariq.


Reply author: kev314
Replied on: 08/19/2007 13:38:39
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford

quote :

Originally posted by RichardDriver

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford



If we know
why so many aren't doing that great... something
everyone seems to be able to explain to you... then why
can't we figure out how more CAN succeed.



More don't succeed

Because......

More don't apply.
More don't plan.
More don't seek out practical knowledge.
More don't take ownership and claim their Success.
More don't broadcast their projects,goals and dreams.
More don't commit to functional business plan.
More don't cut the green grass on their own projects.
More don't seek out professional honest critiques of their plan.
More don't treat their time with dicipline.
More don't do the little things that others won't do.
More don't do more.

How's that for a start of discussing about

More?

HTH,

Richard
P.S. To succeed you have to do alot more than just more.



That IS a great start

A root cause of many of the things that you list is
that more don't know how. So, seeking the proper
training seems to be something sorely needed.

It's also true that many people simply won't put in
the time and effort to learn what they actually need
to know!

Willie



Even if you give someone a fool proof plan, you really haven't helped that much. In order to dramatically increase the success of others, the "success threshold" to execute the plan needs to be lowered. If it was merely the plan/system that made the difference, then everyone would be thin(eat only healthy food and exercise every day).
The focus from my perspective is finding all the little details that help you(not necessarily others) increase your likelihood of success. One example from exercise(for me) is listening to audiobooks while walking, one example from internet businesses(for me) is asking myself "does this serve my clients", the trick is finding the 100 little things that propel(not drive) you toward market success.


Reply author: PowerOfOne
Replied on: 08/19/2007 13:47:59
Message:

They don't succeed because they haven't developed
the mindset, the skill set, and the consistency to
create success.

I think most people just aren't far along enough on
the journey of SELF development, to really put in the
work it takes to succeed. And to really have the strength,
confidence, and endurance of going through all the hard
times.

Then there's the fact that it takes TALENT.

You don't here that alot, but TALENT is a major
thing most successful people have. And that's not
something that duplicates.

You either have natural talents that will help you
do better in the business world, or you dont.

And you can try and try to develop them, but sometimes
people just aren't very good at things and thats the
way it is.

So...I believe that people have to fail because its
preparing them to succeed. Maybe in this life, maybe not...
but its preparing them more for the journey it takes
to make it big then anything else.

And the tirekickers get weeded out early on, the people
with some gusto stay in to fight, and the Real Deal
entrepreneurs never stop until the job is done
no matter what.

Just my .02

Jonathan


Reply author: bobcath
Replied on: 08/19/2007 14:41:09
Message:

Don't mean to be simplistic, but I think Willie touched on the main reason...MOTIVATION...either being motivated strongly enough to move away from something that you're hating, or toward something that you feel you will love. I know all of the other stuff is important too, but if you dont have the strong 'WHY' you're doomed to start...

Regards
Bobby


Reply author: Steven Wagenheim
Replied on: 08/19/2007 14:52:32
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by bobcath

Don't mean to be simplistic, but I think Willie touched on the main reason...MOTIVATION...either being motivated strongly enough to move away from something that you're hating, or toward something that you feel you will love. I know all of the other stuff is important too, but if you dont have the strong 'WHY' you're doomed to start...

Regards
Bobby



Bobby, you're absolutely right. You MUST have motivation, but
I had all the motivation in the world when I first started.
Hell, I was DESPERATE. I was out of work and broke. And yet,
it wasn't enough to give me success until I got the education
that I needed.

Motivation without knowing what you're doing is not going
to cut it.

At least it didn't for me.


Reply author: Elliot Hanson
Replied on: 08/19/2007 14:54:25
Message:

Great topic and interesting discussion.

I don't think failure is necessarily a bad thing as long as it is thought as a teaching tool. You have to have a certain mindset about failure and success. A baby learns how to walk after falling down multiple times. Learning how to walk is no easy task for a baby, but they do eventually evolve from crawling to standing up and walking. Failure tests our will to succeed and helps us learn why we didn't succeed.

With that said I think there are a couple reasons why people don't achieve the level of success they want to. One reason is they have no plan or direction to follow. They get distracted by new products or the latest greatest thing of the moment. They try every method out there and don't have focus. They waste time looking for a magic bullet or think this is the "one". Meanwhile they could have been gaining the know how to reach their goal.

Time management and lack of self discipline to actually take daily action could be another problem. Working online can cause people to get distracted by things that break our focus: email, viral videos, forums and IM. It takes attention away from what needs to get done at that moment and can waste hours.

A success mindset and knowing you will make it even if your bank account or others tell you otherwise. Surrounding yourself with people who encourage your goal or have already achieved what you want to achieve is also very important. It can be easier to succeed for those starting out when surrounded by positive, encouraging people rather than negative people telling you your goals are unrealistic. Sometimes family and friends don't understand what you're doing and think you're wasting time surfing the internet.

After a while all that negativity can really get to someone and the person starting out may give up. Negativity can wear someone down and seems almost contagious.

Along the same lines is not teaming up with others or trying to go at it alone. It can be easier to succeed if you have a friend(s) who is going for the same goal and is pushing for your success. A great book I read when starting out was Wishcraft by Barbara Sher. The book was about practically and strategically setting and reaching goals. In it she writes about the importance of having others who not only give you support but also help you get things done such as calling each other and checking in at the end of the day to give each other updates and nudges to get more done tomorrow. Having a network is also important. Someone in your network may have a contact or friend who can help you out.

Laziness can also wreak havoc with someone's goal. I think that comes down to a lack of motivation or not defining the purpose of exactly why they are trying to set up online business.

Also, some people are opportunity seekers and don't think in terms of building a long term business.

Finally, knowing when to bail out of a dead end idea or trying to approach a problem from a different way. Sometimes people are working hard at something that won't really help them reach their goal and they turn into hamster on a wheel. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Testing, tweaking and time is necessary to see what works and what doesn't.


Reply author: Mary Gallivan
Replied on: 08/19/2007 15:22:29
Message:

Hi

Maybe one question that needs to be asked is 'What does success man to you?

If you know the answer to that you could be halfway there.

If success means earning a 6 figure sum and you're earning a 5 figure sum does that mean you haven't succeeded? Success to me is to earn enough money to keep a roof over my head, pay the bills and have a bit left over for a rainy day - we've had a lot of those here lately :-) Anything above and beyond that makes me even happier but I'd feel successful to earn enough to live on.

There's so many that want to earn mega amounts with little or no effort or work and think it's easy to somehow do it.

It's said so many times about doing surveys, ask the list subscribers what they want. So should one of the first questions be - What does success mean to you?

Mary


Reply author: Richard Odell
Replied on: 08/19/2007 15:45:24
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by drmani

Why can't 100% succeed?

No reason why.

They can.

It takes 3 P's...

- Passion
- Purpose
- Persistence



Strange when I was was a in the Ambulance service the three P's stood for..

Pick them up.
Pack them in.
And piss off!

How times change...

Richard

PS We were not "Paramedics" back then - strangely the survival rate was higher!


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/19/2007 15:50:48
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Joe Russell

I'll bet you a beer that if it was somehow mandatory for all newbies to join the WF first and be a member for at least 30 days before starting any online business or buying any product we would see a lower failure rate.

Joe Russell



You're probably right. Allen should use his clout
with The Internet Council and make that a requirement

Willie


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/19/2007 16:00:57
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by rockerrockstar

This is going to be Willie's new special report WSO right.



No, but there is enough material here to give
someone several good products. A lot of needs
and want and FRUSTRATIONS are being pointed out here.

Willie


Reply author: TinkBD
Replied on: 08/19/2007 16:07:14
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by RichardDriver

As a successful mentor one of the first things I weed out before
taking on a new student is how you react to those words above.

If you squeal like a scared vampire being shown garlic or the cross
my guidance won't be of any good for you.

If you are not afraid to hear the truth and roll up your sleeves we'll get along famously.



If you are one of the lucky ones to be offered help from Richard, as a result of this thread... grab it with BOTH HANDS!

quote :



Yet no one has put up their hand to declare that today
is the day that they get real about their business and
commit to working smarter and more disciplined.




LOL Sorry - I was working to hard on my new Online Survival Course to take the time until now!

Tink


Reply author: DougBarger
Replied on: 08/19/2007 16:10:06
Message:

Willie,

I really appreciate your post. The accountability is so important.

I learn that more and more.

Thanks for sharing secrets of your success.

Even the crumbs that fall from the table are nice nuggets for beginners.

Doug


Reply author: Nathan_Johnson
Replied on: 08/19/2007 16:10:23
Message:

My philosophy when it comes to creating products is simple: I do my best job to give them the tools to get the job done, if they don't want to put them to use, then I can't make them.

I'm sorry that more people don't take action, but it has to be accepted. I get plenty of feedback from people that have put it to use and love it! That means I'm doing something right. When I started online, I vowed to make sure to help at least one person better their life. After an awful lot of people later, I know I'm doing a good thing here.

- Nathan Johnson


Reply author: jiveman
Replied on: 08/19/2007 16:27:09
Message:

A lot of people can't actually make money onlin because they don't take action.And the very few who did later find the task really hard to come by,so they give up so easily.It happened to me too operating an internet business from this part of the world is a lot hectic.But I had made up my mind never to give up,after the motivation I received from this forum some months back."When the going gets tough,the tough get going",So I will never stop this race of success till I'm one of the best online.WATCH OUT!
Olajide Adetutu


Reply author: Michelle Brouse
Replied on: 08/19/2007 16:35:58
Message:

Well, here we go again, hopefully third time is a charm. The second huge post I wrote about 3 hours ago was closed by my two year old. This time I'm writing the thing in notepad.

Anyhow, this comes from someone who has been working on the PC for about 10 years now. I have always been able to make money, even from day one. I've been through ebay, I worked in Cleveland for other people, and I've been doing website work on my own since 2000. I started getting into Internet Marketing about 2 years ago. Various reasons, but mostly because I KNEW I would make a whole lot more money.

When I first started my own website, it was interesting to say the least. I already had basic graphic skills, Photoshop etc. - I knew how to build websites through front page, plus a host of other oftware skills. Software wasn't the problem.

Things I had never done, like... creating a worthy digital product, building an ebook cover, creating a salespage, even down to finding out how to get my own domain name and get it hosted needed to be learned. I took one step at a time, and I still do that a lot. I won't put too much effort into learning something I'm not ready for - found out the hard way, that by the time I get to that point - I need to go look it back up. Forgot everything I learned unless I actually put it to use, immediately.

So, I'm not making a bundle, yet I'm always able to make enough to get by. Since I'm at the point to where something has to change so that I can make that 40 grand a month, I'll be revamping my system in a hurry. I'd like to share here, what it is that I think I have done wrong... and what I think I have done right so far. What I have done WRONG, is what's stopping me from the success I'm looking for. I'm sure there are a few people that can relate in some way.

Here is what I have done WRONG in the last two years:

NO FOCUS.
This one is a biggie. Mrs. Sidetrack Queen over here, can get one PM, one email, one IM - or see one forum post and be sidetracked for over an hour. This kind of "flitting around" has to stop. Part of the problem that causes this "lack of focus" is:

NO PLANNING.
It's not that I DON'T have a plan, because I do have various plans for websites, and other little plans for this and that. The main plan is: "I will make a million dollars per year within 5 years by creating digital products to sell on the internet." Some plan.

The problem with this, is that my main plan should be broke down into what has to be accomplished each year. Each year needs broke down into what needs done each month, which needs broke down into what needs done each week, into what needs done each day. With no daily plan that leads through to the big 5 year plan - I lack focus, and end up spinning my wheels doing busy work.

HELPING TOO MANY PEOPLE.
Yes, it's nice to help others. I love to pay things forward, help people who are newer than me, and help my friends. Problem is, this is time consuming. I also don't get paid for it.

TRADING TIME FOR MONEY.
Since most of my time has been spent in service oriented tasks, like creating graphics for hire... I have not been able to use leverage. I know better than to keep trading time for money, but it becomes a vicious circle. You need the money to pay your bills, so you trade your time to get the money to get those bills.

You are left with very little time to do your own work so that you CAN use leverage. I end up losing lots of sleep due to trading time for money, having no specific plan, and having a lack of focus. I just stay up all night trying to get more time. Not good for the health.

UNDERPRICING PRODUCTS AND SERVICE, GIVING FREEBIES.
Another thing I just love to do for some reason. Took me forever to raise my cover fees, and they have needed raised again for the last YEAR and I haven't got around to changing them yet. How stupid is that. I don't do any kind of testing to figure out how to price my other products. There is no great thought to the pricing, usually it's "hmmm - $9.97 ought to work" - and out it goes at that price. Usually it stays there forever, with no testing etc. Bad move. Not to mention giving out way too many free graphics over the last two years. All of this ends up hurting me and my business. I'm sure it's great for my customers, but it isn't great for me.

STUCK IN THE PRODUCT CREATION PHASE.
I could sit and create things all day long. I love to create products and graphics. It's one of those "built in" things I was born with. I received MANY ribbons and awards for Art while in school, including a gold key. I played in bands and wrote some original tunes. So I'm no stranger to creating things, but I've been stuck in that rut. Instead of getting out and marketing what I HAVE created, I just go out and create something else. Also not a real bright move on my part.

LACK OF OGANIZATION.
There is no true organization to ANYTHING that I do. I don't care if it's cleaning house, or working on the PC. That's all about to change in a big way though. Not only will homeschooling require organization and time management, I seriously need it on my business. Most of the big changes will get applied when we finally move into that beast house... but for now I'll be starting with organizing THIS house, and the homeschooling first. While I'm at it, I'll carry this over to my work on the PC. Now THAT is going to take a lot of effort, but it will be soooo worth it. Add some good planning, and FOCUS... and I should be all set.

Here is what I think I've done right.

EDUCATION.
I have taken the time to learn most all of the skills I need to run an internet business. From software skills,

programs I need, how to handle taxes, and way too many other things to list. I have invested money and time in my education, and have studied pretty hard at each point where I had to learn something new. I learn it, use it, and go on to the next thing. Let me tell you, it's been a whole lot cheaper to learn IM than it was to go to a one year tech college!

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS.
I didn't do a whole lot of this at first. I kind of muddled through on my own until I met Russell Brunson in the Lost Files Forum. His coaching class helped me a lot. He told me about the WF, which almost scared me when I started reading! LOL. I learned how to use IM to work with others from a man that ended up being very bad news, but I was thankful for some of the things he taught me. From this man I learned not to be affraid to approach other people online. I also learned quite a bit on how to tell a bad apple from a good one, and that I needed to check up on anyone that I would be working with. Building great relationships has been key in many areas where I needed to exchange help, or learn things quickly.

TAKING ACTION.
When I have a good idea for a product, or run across some market that looks promising - the first thing I do is buy a domain name. I don't wait on the domain name for one reason. By the time I actually get to the site, that domain name could be long gone. I get it when the gettin's good. It also serves as a reminder of what my original idea was. Epecially when the renewal fees come due. :-)

But, I usually start on the idea as soon as I have it, and think it's good enough. This isn't always possible due to the number of ideas, but on the really good ones... I try to move. I learned the hard way that the universe likes speed. You may be working on something that 5 other people already started. So you don't want to "dilly-dally" around, just do it.

PERSISTENCE.
My boys are probably the most persistent kids I know when they want something. (Gee, I wouldn't have any idea where they get THAT from!) I do NOT give up. I may want to, I may feel like it, but I have NEVER given up on anything that I have truly wanted in my life. This business is no different. And let me tell you, when you get hit really bad by a con, or you have a really bad day online, you'll WANT to give up. It's then time to step back, and think of a different approach. What has NOT been working? WHY has it NOT been working?
Figure it out, change what you need to change, and get right back at it.

DRIVE.
I'm also a very "driven" person. I have no idea how you develop something like that, it just seems to have been built right into me. I think if a person has no drive, they won't get too far on much of anything, and will be satisfied with the "status quo" or whatever they think they are "worthy" of. Having no DRIVE, will hinder your success at darn near everything.

So as you see... it seems that I'm doing a bit more things wrong than I'm doing right - but I'm still making money. It's not incredibly easy, but it's not incredibly HARD either. You're going to fail. Get that done and over with as quick as possible, and don't look back. You might fail at 50 things, but it only takes ONE GOOD SUCCESS to get the snowball rolling.

One more thing I thing is needed to help propell you to success, and that is mentoring. A coach or mentor that can stop you when they see you going the wrong way, and direct you back on track. This can be expensive, but from my own experience, and by watching others... a good mentor can do wonders for you.

One 1/2 hour phone call with Russell about 2 years or so ago, had me making money within 24 hours. I was so dang new, that my biggest goal was to just get a few orders.

Now days things have changed, and I need a whole different "kick in the ass." Richard would like to give it to me, so I'm going to take him up on his offer. :-) First things first, I'll be doing what he already TOLD me to do. That means shutting it down for a week or so, get that plan together, get organized, get focused - and get my crap together.

Shut down prep is going on right now... incredible how many things need done just to be able to shut down for a while.

Hope my list above helps a few others... I wrote this post three times now! Living proof of about 3 things I do wrong listed above! LOL!

Thanks!
Michelle


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/19/2007 16:54:39
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Nathan_Johnson

My philosophy when it comes to creating products is simple: I do my best job to give them the tools to get the job done, if they don't want to put them to use, then I can't make them.

I'm sorry that more people don't take action, but it has to be accepted. I get plenty of feedback from people that have put it to use and love it! That means I'm doing something right. When I started online, I vowed to make sure to help at least one person better their life. After an awful lot of people later, I know I'm doing a good thing here.

- Nathan Johnson



Hi Nathan,

I hear what you're saying.

I've heard it expressed as "I can't want your success
more than you do!" Sometimes, it can seem like you
actually do with some people who just won't do the
few simple things that they just need to DO

Willie


Reply author: Willie Crawford
Replied on: 08/19/2007 17:01:35
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Michelle Brouse

Well, here we go again, hopefully third time is a charm. The second huge post I wrote about 3 hours ago was closed by my two year old. This time I'm writing the thing in notepad.



Michelle, you just wrote an ebook

Share how you worked through the fairly common
problems that you listed, and you'll guide a lot
of others along the path.

Great post!

Willie


Reply author: RichardDriver
Replied on: 08/19/2007 18:33:17
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Michelle Brouse


Now days things have changed, and I need a whole different "kick in the ass." Richard would like to give it to me, so I'm going to take him up on his offer. :-)



Funny you should post that. I just returned from the shoe store buying a special pair of Michelle boots

Like Willie said it's a great post you made and your follow up I know will be just as good.

Then you get off the computer.....

Richard


Reply author: Paul_Evans
Replied on: 08/19/2007 20:05:57
Message:

Wow! This is a SOLID thread.

Why can't 100% succeed?

As we see from this thread there are hundreds of ways to fail! It's easy. There are hundreds of ways to get off track.

On the other hand, the successful people online that I know rarely stray from...

1. Driving traffic to their site(s).

2. Building a list and developing a relationship.

3. Making relevant offers - most of which are their own products.

Recently I spent a few days with one of the top guns of internet marketing.

He never checked email. Never talked about anything going on "out there" in internet marketing. He just concentrated on the fundamentals and did not spend any time on anything that would not directly increase his income through the service he provides.


Reply author: howieS
Replied on: 08/19/2007 20:30:48
Message:

Most people don't "REALLY TRY"

they fumble around, buy a whole bunch of stuff
then they give up and buy another program
then eventually they flame out (credit card runs out)

the '5%' of people who make it are the ones who FOCUS

this is not about luck
it is about hard work and trying / failing / learning / and trying again!


Reply author: mikepaul
Replied on: 08/19/2007 20:45:12
Message:

Wow, I just spent the last 30 minutes reading through this entire thread. Excellent info and I have to say it's good to hear some other people that are experiencing the same types of frustration that I have been.

I got into online business a little over a year ago when I started a podcast. And, yes, I have to admit I fell for the trap of "put it up and they will come" and just assumed that the money would start rolling in just because I talked about an affiliate product on my show.

Unfortunately, this didn't happen. I'm sure most of you knew I was going to say that, so I'll continue.

As I have been moving through the last year I think I can trace the root of my problems to two main reasons: lack of focus and lack of knowledge.

I'm a gadget guy and a computer freak. I get very easily distracted when I see shiny objects, hear email notifications, or basically just about anything that happens to me while I sit at one of my three computers. (Yes, I admit I'm a total dipstick but that has nothing to do with making money online...)

I have all the greatest intentions in the world to accomplish great things, then I fall prey to the old distraction monster. And so life has gone on for the last year. Meanwhile, I've gotten in debt up to my eyeballs buying every new product to come down the line and trying one project after another that hasn't worked.

I assume all responsibility for the position that I'm in now, it's nobody's fault but my own. I understand and realize that if I had been more focused from the beginning, I'd probably be in a much better situation right now and might even be able to escape the absolute nonsense that is my day job.

I'm also convinced that I've never really figured out exactly what I'm supposed to do. I've heard lots of people talking in this thread about having a road map to follow and knowing where all the pieces are supposed to fit. I just haven't gotten there yet.

Or could it be that I have the road map sitting in front of me and I just need to finally choose one and stick with it? Possibly...

Also, I don't think that I've had a good enough "why" to get me motivated and get off my duff to get things moving. That's changing, too. I'm getting married in just a little less than a year and I don't want to take a mountain of debt into that marriage and I don't want to still be at the same job that I know is going to be a tremendous strain on my marriage due to the schedule that I have to work.

Maybe it's time I did like Richard said and say "TODAY IS THE DAY!"

Sounds like a good idea to me and I'm glad that I found this forum and more specifically this thread to get some much needed inspiration.


Reply author: chris_surfrider
Replied on: 08/19/2007 21:48:34
Message:

I think a lot of people fail because they try to make a go of one or perhaps a combination of the following:

1) Selling the wrong product

2) Targeting the wrong audience

3) Weak and ineffective copy that doesn't captivate or communicate

4) Advertising through the wrong mediums


I started out trying to innovate and be "first to market" with a bunch of stuff - and failed, or at least fell miserably short of anything substantial, to be sure.

Things started to drastically improve once I realized some basic truths:

a) Sell what's proven to sell - just follow the numbers

b) Innovation and Creativity should ONLY be applied to IMPROVING an already-existing product or business model; don't re-invent the wheel, make it better.

c) Go to where the buying traffic is. This is a business, and you need customers. Look for markets that you could compete in by providing either an accessory or a great product that fits an already-existing NEED that others already exploit.

Quick Cash Strategy for the Meantime and to Boost Your "Ego":
-------------------------------------------------------------

And - if you're really stuck and you need some cash - seriously, build a bunch of topical niche sites that deal with product reviews and information about products - and load 'em up with your affiliate links.

Then go out (or hire a freelancer for a few hundred) and build about 30 one-way links, 100 reciprocal links, write and distribute 10 articles through the major article sites, comment on blogs, drop a couple social bookmarks and do directory submissions.

If you've got the cash, buy about 4 or 5 one-way links with a PR 5 or higher.

Do this and you will absolutely dominate the targeted, BUYING search traffic for specific product keywords in most niches, even with a lot of competition. And because of your target visitor, you'll only need 10% of the traffic to make as much money as someone with a more "generic" site.

Not hard.

And it's a hell of a lot better than Bum Marketing because it's your own site, you'll have organic leverage and you can sell it later on if you want. Besides, you should be using Bum Marketing to PROMOTE your own sites, because, yes, it does work, but it really benefits the TARGET site the most.

Might as well be yours.

And on top of that - think about WHY this strategy works.

It's because you're going after what's ALREADY selling.

Do the same with your own products, and you'll achieve, as Borat would say, "Great Success!"

:-)

-Chris


Reply author: hldnboy1
Replied on: 08/19/2007 22:02:29
Message:

OOOH COOOME on

I can direct you to at least a dozen e-books which for only $97 will show you how to earn a fortune online with almost zero work.
Havent tried them myself, but the salespage sure is convincing.

Noel :)


Reply author: JW888
Replied on: 08/19/2007 23:20:30
Message:


Their are many reasons why people fail.

Just a small sampling:

- Lack of understanding of the business
- Fear of change in their work habits
- They are just too lazy to follow through
- They suffer from the GRQ mentality.
- They don't have a positive outlook.
- They don't see failure as a part of success.
- Their only dreamers, not actually doers.
- They've been scammed way too many times.
- Negative influences in their everyday life.

When I first started out as an affiliate marketer, my biggest
problem was with family and friends that kept telling me that
this would never work and that I needed to find a real job.


Reply author: warner444
Replied on: 08/19/2007 23:21:02
Message:

For me I know I jumped into too many projects. If one did not show fast enough results I tried other projects instead of sticking with fewer projects.

I had to learn many new skills as I went along and am now looking back over the many posibilities to boil down to a few best ones.

I think it is good to evaliaute my skills, determine which are my best and focus my efforts where I have the best skills.

There are really a lot of various factors involved in most any Internet Marketing adventure.
Looking back I think planning well in advance is critical (while avoiding paralisys by analysis). Continued learning and skill building is esential.

Starting any business will challenge a person at the base of their existance and make them quesion and learn about themselves. Maybe many people are not up being as honset about thier shortcomings to be able to see where they fall short and see where they need to improve so just make some convienient excuse that blames the situation.

Maybe it could be usefull for people who are succesfull to share thier stories so people can see what it really took.


Reply author: Joe Russell
Replied on: 08/19/2007 23:40:28
Message:

quote :

Originally posted by Willie Crawford

quote :

Originally posted by Joe Russell

I'll bet you a beer that if it was somehow mandatory for all newbies to join the WF first and be a member for at least 30 days before starting any online business or buying any product we would see a lower failure rate.

Joe Russell



You're probably right. Allen should use his clout
with The Internet Council and make that a requirement

Willie



I dont think we need to go that far Willie, Google may be able to point a good percentage of every money making keyword searcher to the WF and with Allens pull we may be able to get MSN and Yahoo to take part

Joe


Reply author: BillyBee
Replied on: 08/19/2007 23:59:40
Message:

Most people can't write very well. This dawned on me when a friend of mine asked for my advice on how to market his website. He was doing everything wrong, but that wasn't his fault -- he didn't know anything about internet marketing at the time.

So I told him what to do. I spent about an hour typing up a very detailed sequence of steps on how to assemble a compelling sales letter. I mean, I spelled it out completely, gave him examples, warned him of pitfalls, gave him the reasoning behind all the steps so that he could use it other areas. I did everything but teach him how to channel Gary Halbert directly from the beyond. (Now THERE'S a membership site! "From the money-sucking waters north of Jewfish creek . . .")

My friend emails me a few days later asking me to look at his site.

"Tell me what you think!" he wrote.

I looked at his site and my heart sank. He hadn't even gotten the gist of a serviceable headline.

I used to think of writing like talking: I figured everyone could do it reasonably well. The more I see what's out there, the more I realize that this stuff is perhaps more art than science.

Video aside, all we have are your words on people's screens, so they had better be good ones.


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