An Unfair Business Advantage

Posted by Andy | Posted on 25-03-2008

Category : Business Building, Starting Out

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Quick recap: Frustration can be turned into fun, once you understand
you’re on the edge of a breakthrough, AND you are truly jazzed and
excited about your topic, but…

Here is the CAUTION from yesterday’s posted message:

Be VERY careful that your hot topic, your passion, is also a business
strength for you. What am I talking about?

If you love the rock band, RUSH, so much so, that you can recite lyrics
in your sleep for the last 30 years+ they’ve been around, and they
inspire you to the point where you want to become a rock drummer…

but you CAN’T play one rhythmic lick on the kit to save your life,
then you’re not working from a strength, you’re working from a weakness,
despite your enthusiasm and excitement.

What I mean is, excitement is great, but it’s a fallacy to belive that
you can be great at anything you want. Now, I agree you can get GOOD at
pretty much anything, given enough time dedicated to it.

But to be GREAT at something takes talent — more specifically, natural
talent.

HERE’S WHAT I DON’T WANT YOU TO DO…

And that is, spend hours upon days upon weeks upon months and even years
pursuing your passion, that’s based on a weakness, which leads
to stress, pain from little cashflow, and an early grave.

Business should be fun! You should be waking up every morning
and really can’t wait to see what the day brings. THAT’S when you
know you’re working from a strength.

The perfect (business) marriage is working from a strength you have,
while really enjoying what you’re working on.

LET ME DEFINE A STRENGTH

I want to be really clear, that a strength is something that
comes more naturally to you, where others tend to struggle.

For example, if you’re REALLY good at building relationships with
people, especially from first meeting them, then you DON’T want
to spend your time behind a desk projecting the sales figures.

The sales figure person would not want to even think about moving
from behind that desk and talking and networking with others either…

just like you couldn’t imagine sitting at desk all day, crunching
numbers. Could you do it? Of course you could. Do you really want
to? I don’t think so. And if you did, you’d be doing your business
an injustice by being mediocre.

And mediocrity sucks.

You want greatness. Shining success. Superb teamwork. A thriving
business!

Your strength will ultimately define you and your company’s success.
And that’s EXACTLY what you want.

I’ve become known as the “Cash Crisis Strategist!” I’ve never thought
of myself that way, until people started branding me that way. And
quite frankly, I wasn’t sure I liked it…

But because I see the value in it, as it’s also my main product, it has
led to other unexpected and exciting things to help others in a greater
way that would not have happened otherwise, simply because I embraced
it, and ran with it.

And I discovered it’s actually a strength, and a great position to
be in, because almost EVERYONE at some point faces a cash crisis
(yes, even gurus) and they need some help, some direction, some
guidance.

And not only am I prepared to give it to them, but they actually
come to me and ask for help, because I’m working from a strength.

Do you see the difference?

Working from a strength defines you and your company, gives you
leverage, and truly an unfair advantage!

All good things.

- Andy

P.S. The netSlingers HOTLINE is open 24 hours for your convenience.
Record your question, frustration, comments, whatever you’d like.
Call 214-615-6505 ext. 8698 and I’ll get back to you right here.

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From Mastering Your Time to Affiliate Marketing

Posted by Andy | Posted on 22-03-2008

Category : Affiliates, Starting Out, Time Management, Websites

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Doreen is having a challenge with her time. Here was her question.

“My biggest problem is TIME MANAGEMENT. During the day, I do the
bookeeping for my husband’s “real world” business and I try to fit my
online business into the gaps. Two problems I keep encountering are: 1)
Whenever I think I have everything caught up and can give my business
some attention, I get interuptions and more “honey do” lists, and 2)
People don’t seem to respect my requests to treat my “job” the same way
that they would theirs because “if I’m home, I’m not REALLY working.”

“Didn’t mean to go on a rant there, but I’m really passionate about my
business and it’s getting very frustrating to not be able to devote the
amount of time to it that I would like to. Were you able to work from
home, or did you have to set up an outside office to work from? I’m
starting to feel like this would be my best option.”

Doreen, this is an important piece of the puzzle to get nailed down,
because it separates those who succeed wildly and those who struggle
with the daily tasks of everyday living.

Your environment AND team is critical to your success. For example, I
have THREE young children (all under the age of 10). I’m a single dad.
I work from home, running a successful online business, while producing
films. I go on EVERY class trip with my kids, and even pick them up
for lunch EVERY DAY.

The day I found out Steven Spielberg, while producing and directing
Hollywood blockbusters and running a world-class studio, carpools his
children to school EVERY DAY, was the day I KNEW something had to change
in my life!

Instead of retelling how to take control of that beast called time
management, and how to tame it, let me direct you to my January 1st
post. It gets more specific.

You can see it here: http://netslingers.com/updates/new-year-new-slate/

Let me know if that helps…

* * *

sveg4 asks:

“How do you build a downloadable product page?”

This question can be a big one or a simple one. Let’s start with
simple first…

A downloadable product page is no different than a sales page,
except the links you have on this page allow you to access or download
your digital product.

Where are the products located? On YOUR server, in another folder,
that allows your buyer to access those items.

The REALLY short answer is to go back to ANY download page where
you have purchased something yourself, and see and learn from their
example.

The long answer depends on how much knowledge you already have
about building pages. And personally, even though I can build
a download page, I’d rather have someone else do it. That way,
my time can be more focused on teaching and marketing.

* * *

Ray asks:

“I am a beginner at internet marketing. I do not have a website. My
interest is in affilliate marketing. I can use all the help I can get to
start this business the right way. So any suggestion that you could give
me on getting started would be greatly appreciated.”

If you want to become a GREAT affiliate marketer, then you want
control and specific knowledge. What do I mean?

You need to position yourself as the “GO TO” guy for the best
products available for your target market. If I was starting
out today to become a top-producing super-affiliate, I would
specialize in ONE market.

It doesn’t matter which market you choose when it comes to affiliate
marketing — mainly because if there are worthy affiliate products
out there, then we must assume there’s a market for it. (Otherwise,
you’re struggling upstream without a paddle, by choosing a product
to promote with NO market. This is critical…making sure there’s
a demand for your products.)

So, first choose a market you’re passionate about. If you love fly
fishing, that’s your first choice. If you love fixing-up run down
properties, then that’s your first choice.

Second, whichever product you choose to first market, make certain
you have used it, learned from it, benefited from it, and KNOW it.

This is probably the BIGGEST mistake first-time affiliate marketers
make... promoting something they’ve never used or have any clue about.
It’s your DUTY to the know the product you’re promoting inside out and
backwards on any given day.

Otherwise, how will you effectively promote it? What will you do if
someone asks you specific questions? Plus, here’s the biggie…

Is this product you’re promoting even worthy of anyone’s time?
How important is your reputation online or anywhere?

To be blunt here…if you promote crap, you’ll be out of business
overnight. If you promote excellence, you’ll be building a
business, as people will come to expect only the best from you.

And they will VALUE your opinion and recommendation — being the
‘GO TO’ guy for this market.

That’s a start. There’s more, but starting is your first step.

Let me know if that helps, and we can go further.

- Andy

REMEMBER, if you’d like to leave your question or have any comments about
this blog post, I’ve set-up a special netSlingers HOTLINE for you, if you
don’t like to write. Call anytime: (214) 615-6505 ext. 8698

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

Posted by Andy | Posted on 24-07-2007

Category : Starting Out

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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

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