Plan For Success: The ONE Thing That Took Me Four Years To Learn

Category : Starting Out

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Listen to the AUDIO version here, if you

prefer, or just read below.

There is ONE thing that took me four years to learn, which catapulted my success into the stratosphere, once I understood it.

And it began in the form of a question: Where do I start?

I get this question a LOT, especially from newbies. And that question is more loaded than you think, because most people don’t really know what they want or even WHY they want it. Here’s some advice…

“Start at the beginning!”….”Yes, yes….and when you come to the end…..STOP!”
- Alice in Wonderland

Simple, yes. But backwards. A wise screenwriter and best-selling author friend of mine said this, in response to, “How do I keep focused on my writing to get it to completion?”

Begin with the end in mind.

Mark Joyner offers the same thing with his Backward Planner in his FREE Simpleology 101 course. It’s something I highly recommend, because it boils down the steps to success, simply and elegantly through video, audio, fun quizzes, and yes, a planner.

And it all begins with the end in mind. What’s your target or your goal? If you can’t define it, then guess what? You won’t hit it, unless by pure blind luck. And that’s not a plan.

And isn’t being successful, first knowing what you want!

I’ll tell you, “money” is NOT something that you really want, though you believe it is. You really want what money can give you…freedom.

You want to be able to spend more time with your kids. You want to be able to travel more. You want to help others live easier lives by contributing more of your time and capital to their cause.

Money can do all those things, but ultimately, it’s not more money you want, it’s the LIFE you want to live on your own terms.

What do you want?

Make it specific. Make it real. What will it give you? Here’s an example: I’d like a smoking gray Ferrari 360 Spyder parked in my driveway by November 24, 2007 or sooner.

How do I get it?

START at the end (Nov. 24th) with what you want (a Ferrari), then plan backward from then, each single step that must happen for you to get it.

8. Pick it up at the dealer on Main St. on Saturday, Nov 24th.

7. I call the dealer on October 24th to place my custom order with a $5,000 deposit and then $2,027 per month to lease or finance for three years.

6. By October 24th my Internet business is now generating an additional $2,500 per month (and growing) on autopilot for the last month.

5. Launch it on September 24th.

4. Follow through with a membership program that generates an additional $2,500 per month on autopilot, as result of my initial campaign as a perfect complement to my main product, immediately following the launch.

3. Create a campaign to net me an additional $5,000 profit by September 24th or sooner. (two months from today)

2. I call the Ferrari dealership and inquire about pricing, financing and lead time.

1. Go through Simpleology 101 starting today, and follow it TO THE LETTER.

That’s a simple 8-step illustration. You can get as detailed as you like, but that’s a good start. So, what’s stopping you from starting? Start with the end in mind, work backward, and do Step 1, which is…

Begin Simpleology 101.

Andy

$1.3 billion a year: A lesson for your home based business

Category : Business Building

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What can you learn from a $1.3 billion-a-year direct response marketing company for your little ole home based business?

This is quite interesting.

As you know, I’m in the entertainment business. So, I have a very different perspective on how the “business” in Show Business operates.

The infomercial industry, for example, is HIGHLY competitive today. But in the early-to-mid ’80’s it was like the wild west. You could get television airtime for virtually nothing (actually zero dollars on local stations) at the worst possible times, like after midnight, and advertise your product and share a piece of the pie.

You could shoot a very cheap video; air it; see if the offer worked or not; reshoot or rejig it; air it again in a few hours or the next night, and make money, literally overnight.

Today, airtime costs big bucks, and the level of production is high-gloss high-quality. i.e. you need financial backers behind you. Which means the risk is greater.

So, a company like Guthy Renker who produces famous infomercials featuring people like Tony Robbins, Vanessa Williams, Victoria Principal, Cindy Crawford, and many others, must think ahead of the competition, while reducing their risk.

This is how they do it…

They won’t even consider you or your product, unless is has recurring income built in.

What do I mean?

Something they must replenish on a monthly or recurring basis. Cosmetics, refillable, and disposable items all qualify.

Does your product or service require monthly replenishment? If it doesn’t, can you repackage it? Can you reposition it? Can you add something to it that does?

Does your product require technical and ongoing support? Maybe a monthly program is in order…

Rethink your current product/service or add a completely new revenue stream that provides this built-in recurring income, just like Guthy Renker does.

Apply THAT to your home based Internet business, and put your revenues on autopilot, because $1.3 billion-a-year can’t be all wrong!

Andy

Second Step: To Start Your Very First Website

Category : Websites

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Following yesterday’s first step of building your first website by registering a domain name, the biggest question I get is, “Where is my website?”

Well, it’s homeless — and it needs a place to live.

Just like when you registered your business name, you still don’t really have a business until you “open shop,” whether it’s online or in the bricks-and-mortar world.

The next step is web hosting.

Because you’re starting out, all you need is plain vanilla hosting. You don’t need dedicated or special platform hosting or robocop hosting. Let’s make this simple.

First, what is hosting?

Think about if you were to open a store, you’d need to either LEASE or RENT space to have customers visit you, right? Well, hosting is the place you would “lease” space to “host” your new (domain or store) name.

You can Google “top 10 web hosting companies” but be cautious because there are a lot of rats out there. Not all web hosting companies are created equal.

Here is one I’ve used, and one that’s recommended by the World’s Fastest Webmaster: www.lovellhosting.com and www.hostrocket.com. The key is getting great tech support. And these two companies’ support services are very good.

You can expect to spend anywhere from $7.95 to $14.95 per month for shared web hosting. And that’s more than you’ll need to get started.

When you get successful in your online business, simply upgrade your package to accommodate the amount of traffic you’re getting.

You’re almost there…

Stay for the next episode of building your very first website.

Andy

P.S. If you just can’t wait to learn more, check out: www.faster-webmaster.com.

P.P.S. Yesterday, I interviewed Erik Stafford – The Faster Webmaster. You can still listen to the replay call here for FREE.

First Step: To Start Your Very First Website

Category : Websites

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I get this question a lot: What is the first thing I need to do to build my first website?

Here it is:

Choose a name, and register it.

But how do you choose a name? Here’s a secret. Whether or not you plan to drive traffic to your first website from search engines or affiliates or press releases or any other form, choose a name that hits the heart of what you are offering.

What does that mean?

Most people make the BIG mistake of trying to be clever with their names, and try creating a “brand” right from the start, like kaboom dot com. What is that? I have no idea, and I don’t have the time to find out.

The whole idea of branding is great, IF you’re a major corporation with an unlimited budget, because only then can you afford to educate the public (with LOTS of advertising) to put that name in the minds of your prospects.

You’re NOT a major corporation, so you need to hit your prospect quickly and not waste precious time. Be specific. Be clear and to the point.

Here’s a personal example: Toronto-Filmmaking dot com. Do you know where and what the website MUST be about? Sure do. It’s clear and specific.

So, think about what kind of business you’re in or would like to be in, and let the (domain) name indicate that idea. Here’s another quick personal example: Make My First Movie dot com. What do you think this website is about? It’s pretty clear, isn’t it!

Here’s an added bonus to having a clear domain name: It’s search engine friendly. By having your website name tie-in with a keyword that people would naturally search for your website, you’re already on top of the search engine game.

Okay, you have your name chosen, what’s next?

You need to officially register it. This is no different than having to register a business name, whether it’s a corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship. You are “doing business as” this new domain name.

I use GoDaddy.com to register my domain names. You will first have to search to see if your name is available or has already been taken. If it has been taken, try a variation of it, or look at their suggestions, if they’re helpful. It costs $8.95, as of this writing, for a single domain name registration. Don’t worry about getting ALL their crazy add-ons. Just keep clicking “No Thanks” and get to the end to register it.

You’ve just jumped over the first hurdle. You’ve got a website (domain) name registered that’s ALL yours!

Stay tuned for more steps in building your first website.

Andy

P.S. If you can’t wait to learn more, check out www.faster-webmaster.com.

P.P.S. I’d like to know if you have found this to be helpful. Feel free to Comment below…

Build Your First Website: Is this holding you back?

Category : Live

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Recently we conducted a survey that gave us tremendous insight.

Over half of you don’t even have your own website!

Here are the main reasons I discovered why…

** For many people, it’s just too hard to understand

** Too much “techie jibber jabber”

** Takes too long to learn what to do

And the more I think about it, the more I remember how terribly frustrating it was when I first got started.

Here’s the answer:

Erik Stafford, “The Faster Webmaster” is back by popular demand…as we had a ton of questions people wanted answered, but no time on the last teleseminar, as it went WELL OVER an hour, and Eric had to leave.

We’re holding another teleseminar tomorrow with Erik to take the mystery AND the difficulty out of starting your own website.

What he has put together is no less than incredible — and easy!

A step-by-step program to show people the EASY WAY to start a website.

If a 61 year old grandma can do it using Erik’s system AND…

Triple her income — well, you can too!

=======> F R E E TELESEMINAR <=======

Date: Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Time: 6 PM Pacific / 9 PM Eastern

Go here: http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=442794

Duration: Approx 60 minutes

** NOTE: To find the time of the call in your area:

http://www.timeanddate.com/

====> Please Mark Your Calendar <====

So, if not having your own website is holding you back…

Don’t miss this call!

To your new profitable website,
Andy

PS: You CAN’T get this kind of program Erik has put together in any college. Check it out before the call: http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=442794

Internet Business Basics: AKA Stuff That Gets Overlooked

Category : Business Building

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It absolutely amazes me sometimes what some folks think a business is all about — especially a home based Internet business.

Beyond all the “do nothing and make bank while you sleep” headlines…

There are essentially only 3 ways to make money online:

1. Promote and sell your own product or service
2. Promote and sell the products or services of others for a commission or…
3. Do a combination of 1 & 2 above

Seems kind of stupidly simple, huh?

This is basically the same for an offline business.

Yet for some reason, some folks seem to think that once you have a home based Internet business, dollar bills suddenly begin to jump out of wallets and start knocking on the door.

NOTE: If that ever happens to you, it’s time for some adjustments on that medication…

It is these same folks that:

** Can just barely use email, much less think about promoting a product or service.

** Refuse to take the initiative to learn even the basic skills of getting a simple website up and running. They don’t care about knowing the basics — they just want the “tidal wave of dollars” to pour in.

** Are the very FIRST people to gripe and complain when IT didn’t work — even though they really did NOTHING with IT. They didn’t read IT, they didn’t apply IT and the dollars didn’t start knocking at the door minutes after they purchased IT.

I’ll tell you what’s really AMAZING…

Folks will spend $40-$80K and 4-6 years of their life to go to college in order to qualify for a $35,000 a year job.

But investing in an education to run an online business — making an income from home — one that could replace that dreaded day job…

For some — it’s like pulling teeth without anesthesia.

A home based Internet business, more than anything, is about constantly learning and getting better and better. And it does take work. Fortunately, it’s mostly brain work.

Start with the basics. Build a web page. Get a hosting account. Get a domain name. Get an autoresponder and learn how it works (for help in this area for a song — go to http://www.faster-webmaster.com).

The great part about an Internet business is this:

You can actually “fail” in a home based Internet business for less than $500 your first year in business, just learning the business. Most everthing you do is tax deductable as a business expense (just check with your tax person on this).

You can’t even get 400 square feet of office space in a strip mall for $500 a month and less than a 6 month lease for a service related business with no inventory.

Just some things to consider.

Basics are a BIG deal and largely under rated.

Cheers,
The Prof

your lucky day

Category : Business Building

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Another day, another movie, yes, another Friday The 13th (part ???) is in the works for next year. How surprising…

What’s interesting is that Friday, the 13th, has always been one of my best days. Can’t explain it — just is. Maybe because for Scots, the number 13 is considered lucky.

Are you feeling lucky today?

Here are the top 13 things you need to know to start, build, and grow an internet home based business that I’ve learned:

  1. Go with your passion, but be absolutely sure your passion is also your strength. You cannot build a business on weakness.
  2. Target a niche, and get rich.
  3. Do it quickly, before someone else does. To quote Joe Vitale, “Money likes speed.”
  4. Welcome frustration and let it propel you to the next level.
  5. Eliminate bad habits by not starting them in the first place! Listen from those who are ALREADY succeeding, and follow their lead. Their experiences will save you time, stress, and unnecessary pain. i.e. get a coach, a mentor, or be an apprentice.
  6. Craft your offer. Copywrite to sell on your own website.
  7. Automate. Automate. Automate. And test everything.
  8. Be ready to accept and fulfill orders.
  9. Drive TONS of traffic and collect the cash.
  10. Build your list to have continual follow-up.
  11. Track conversions, and see what areas could be improved upon. (Collect even more cash.)
  12. Work your way OUT of a job or tasks, and begin delegating/outsourcing.
  13. Collect even greater cash with less work.

That’s really it in a nutshell — the internet marketing strategies of how to make money from a home based business, from a one-person operation to a virtual corporation.

Have a great weekend, especially on Saturday the 14th!

Andy

the naked truth

Category : Live

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Just about two weeks ago, I revealed the naked truth about how I came to be involved in internet marketing, and how I used those strategies to make money from home, and for my film business.

It was a private call that a few of you listened in on.

I revealed how I went from major debt load, fears I had, and the mistakes I made, to my success story. What I did, how I did it, and more.

Usually, I’m on the interviewing end of things by connecting with the best and brightest in internet marketing strategies, on how to make a TON of money working from home.

Well, tonight *I’m* the one being grilled about my story, my background, and I’ll even be revealing some exact strategies that I’ve learned from people like Tellman Knudson, Dave Lakhani, Glenn Dietzel, copywriter Ray Edwards, and our mysterious mystery guest.

Some of the stuff I’ll be talking about isn’t even on the “I Need Cash Now!” Audio Series!

Learn some of the best home based business marketing strategies available to you.

I don’t know if this call will be recorded, as I’m on the hot seat. So, if you’re ready to learn some hard-hitting internet info that you can use immediately, check out: www.InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=375510

It’s happening tonight at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific.

After the call, I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts, by posting below.

Hope you can make it.

Andy

P.S. This is also a webcast, so you can actually listen from your computer for FREE from anywhere in the world: www.InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=375510

Copywriting: Where the REAL profit power is

Category : Blogs

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It seems to me that many folks are under the false impression that…

Traffic is the cure all when it comes to a profitable Internet business.

While traffic is certainly a vital part…

Great copywriting, in my opinion, outweighs traffic when it comes to making significant profits.

Here’s why:

You hear marketers say this over and over again:

“The money is in the list”.

That’s true. But there is NO money in any list if you are unable to connect with (which also means relate to) folks who are on your list.

How do you do that? With copywriting.

Unfortunately, many folks find copywriting difficult at best.

Odd, especially since…

There are only a bazillion examples of KILLER copywriting available to anyone willing to surf the Internet.

So, where’s the disconnect?

The disconnect lies in that…

Most folks don’t have a clue as to what they are really looking at when they look at a an email or a sales page to even see what they need to see — as an Internet business pro looking at producing profitable copy for themselves — as opposed to looking at a sales letter or email as a customer.

It’s kinda like this…

If you don’t know what questions to ask, how can you ask them?

That’s one of the reasons that I am excited that we are able to offer Ewen Chia’s and Dan Lok’s Underground Sales Letters. I don’t think you can find better examples of sales letters, emails, etc. anywhere.

The bottom line is this:

You squeeze the absolute most out of your sales letters by converting the most visitors as possible into buyers. You will do that with great copywriting.

Using this perspective…

Your profits go up even if your traffic doesn’t.

Some food for thought.

Cheers,
The Prof

blind three-legged black and white ______ ____

Category : Blogs

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Wow! My very own Internet Marketing blog. This is L-O-N-G overdue, considering I didn’t make any real money online before March 2007. In Internet time, I’m lagging.

I’m not even sure what I’m doing here. Really… I didn’t set-up this blog (my netSlingers partner Steve did it using WordPress Made Easy).

I understand I’m blogging right now.

I don’t know MANY of the socializing aspects of blogging. What is squidooing or digging anyway? Am I supposed to now have a cocktail party on my secret blog and “get to know people?” Throw me a bone here…

Here’s what I DO know:

You are one of the first ever to see this blog. And you got here from a tele-conference call. I understand that by posting articles here very frequently (daily at first), I’ll get picked up by Search Engines, as I’m providing their ever-growing need for content — relevant content, that is.

That’s what I’m doing right now — writing an article, an article for Internet marketers wanting to use blog secrets to drive traffic back to their offer.

This is what WordPress Made Easy is all about. In fact, Mike Paetzold “just” shared with you his blog secrets.

And because you are one of the first to get here, Mike said it was okay to share this with you…

Check out: www.netslingers.com/easyblog

Hey Mike? What if I wanted to start a blog about rock skipping. Could I do that? How about a blog for blind three-legged patchy black and white Weiner dogs? Could I do that? Oh! And what about for my pets…I mean, uhhh… kids.

I could call it Blogging for Dollars, because I could bet their little lives they’d ridicule it… :)

See you soon (really soon),

Andy

P.S. See what Mike Paetzold has for you:

www.netslingers.com/easyblog