Monthly Archives: March 2009

Helpful Tips & Tricks, Internet Business, Product

Instantly Beef Up Your Affiliate Conversions

7 Comments

Affiliate Marketing Money PictureWhen I first got into the online marketing scene back in late 2005, I immediately came out of the gate with my first product.   To me, it seemed logical that having your own product line is ultimately the best way to build a business online… at least for me.

There’s tons of ways to make money online, including creating e-commerce stores, providing services to online & offline businesses, affiliate marketing, etc.

Well, in the beginning, I had no Idea how to market my product, so I stuck it on eBay & did quite well with it.  This was when they allowed digital products.

In the mean time, I was also curious about affiliate marketing.  The idea of putting up a review site with a couple affiliate links, then passively making money every month seemed very appealing.

No tech support, no dealing with refunds, none of the typical headaches that come with having your own products.

So like everyone else, I jumped onto the affiliate review sites & landing pages bandwagon.  I put up my product reviews, pointing out how great product ‘X’ was and pointing my visitor to the affiliate link where they could make the purchase.

I remember after setting up my first affiliate review page thinking that the money was going to immediately start rolling in.  I would check my email about every 10 minutes looking for that coveted “Congratulations! You Have Made a Sale” type email.  Really! No kidding, almost every 10 minutes, heh heh!

Needless to say, that first day came & went, and so did the next… and the next.  Hmmmm, maybe they don’t like the way I write?  Does the product suck?  But it’s a hot seller!  So I started testing different variations of the review page.

Hmmmm, two weeks and counting – still no sale.  Uggggh!  I had already sold dozens of my own product, but nothing from these stupid affiliate products.  Maybe affiliate marketing was just a crock.

About this time, I was ready to pitch the whole affiliate marketing thing out the window.  Around this same time, I had injured 3 of my fingers pretty badly on a Skil saw, and they were sliced up pretty good.  I had lost much of the feeling in them at the time.  Because of this, I was interested in finding some type of skin cream that could help my fingers heal faster and maybe even minimize scarring.

So I did the next natural thing.  I Googled for “best skin care for injuries” and many variations including keywords like “review”, etc.

Well, wouldn’t you know it.  Every website I came across had affiliate reviews of how great THEIR product was.  Hmmm.  I didn’t put much credibility into it because I knew that they were probably just trying to get a sale.

I searched onward…  Onward some more… and more!  I must have went through a hundred results before I finally found ONE site that didn’t appear biased.

This site pretty much had a fact sheet format which did comparisons of different skin care products for fast healing & scar reduction.  I was able to use this information to make an informed decision and I bought the product through their link.

YIKES! I suddenly had the “Duh!” moment when I realized how aggravated and frustrated I was getting, trolling hundreds of search results just to get some real info on what I needed.

I already had made my mind up that I wanted to buy, but I had to have real validation that my purchase decision was okay.  I went back to my own affiliate review page and realized that it didn’t look any different in format that those other hundred sites that did absolutely nothing for me!

This time, I changed my landing page from a fluffy, feel good review, to an informative fact sheet, modeled after the website that I had purchased through.  It wasn’t an exact copy of course, but by educating the customer in a complete non-biased fashion, using bullet points and snippets of customer reviews from other shopping sites (with credit back to them of course), I suddenly realized that this page was now an authority page, not a pre-sell.

This time I was excited again, but I didn’t check my email every 10 minutes like I did before.  The next morning while checking my email, there it was… “You Have Made A Sale!”.  I could hear the angelic music in the back ground as I clicked the email link.

I’ll never forget the excitement of my first affiliate sale and the valuable lesson I learned from that whole experience.  I started to realize right then & there not to follow the herd.  Do the opposite.  As marketers, its easy to get so focused on making a landing page, and pushing your visitors to that affiliate link, that we forget about their real needs.

I have found that the real secret is to intercept the buyers.  People who have already decided that they are going to buy.   Generally, we need to validate our decision before pulling out the credit card and that’s where you should come in.  No need for pre-sell, just the facts validating to your visitor that they had made the right decision, and now it’s time to click the link.

It’s brain dead simple.  Not something the ‘gurus’ want you to know, LOL.

From that point on, I stayed in the affiliate marketing game which ultimately inspired my next product.  That product was AmazingCloaker.   Between the fact-sheet layout and the AmazingCloaker embedded-cookie feature, my affiliate projects became a whole new ballgame!

Internet Business, You Posts

The Answers to Those Magical Numbers

9 Comments

Well, as promised, I’m going to elaborate on the magic numbers in the last post.  Firstly, to Robert Plank I have to say nicely done!  You nailed them.  The one that stumped you (number 1) is the same one that stumped me.

Here’s the answer that James twitted back to me:

1 represents focus. There is only one of anything that is really valuable. Life, wife, self, mission, today, moment, etc.

Man, so true on all counts! Remember how I have been pushing the concept of focus in the last few posts?  That’s why I felt a little dumb when he came back with 1 representing focus.

At the same time, it further validates the importance of focus as a key element for success in your online business.  Now let’s put these elements together.

86,400 – We have this many seconds each day to spend or throw away as we please.

If you decide to spend your seconds wisely and get the biggest bang for your time-bucks, then you will invest some of it in defining your vision and your financial goals for your business.

You have to know what you want & were you want to go.  Just think if you just set off for some foreign city that you’ve never been to before without a map, a plan, or any idea where you were going to stay, or go to when you arrived?  It would be pretty tough to get around & accomplish anything if that was your mission.  You could wander aimlessly for ages, so why would you do the same thing with your internet business?

Let’s say your financial goal is $1 million in a year.  For such a large number, it’s logical to break that down into digestible pieces, so that we can make this more ‘real’.  Of course, just starting out you may want a smaller starting goal, such as $100, 000 in a year.  That’s only $274 bucks a day!  Pretty doable once you have a few decent products and a real business going.

Yes, it’s true – instant wealth with no work in the beginning resides in the realm of the tooth fairy or winning the lottery.  If this is where you are, wake up & start creating your future now so that it becomes the present that you want.

So, $1 million a year is broken down into bite size pieces so that you can get a realistic goal of what you need to make each month, week, day, etc.

Here’s a breakdown, taken from Robert Plank’s comment in the last post:

114.20 = amount per hour you would need to make 24 hrs a day to make $1 million per year
2,740 = amount you would need to make per day to earn $1M per year
19,231 = amount you would need per week to earn $1M per year
83,333 = amount you would need per month to earn $1M per year

The other two numbers are simply a reflection of what is, and the choice that has to be made as to where you want to reside.  This depends on how badly you want it.

98 = 98% of the population watches TV and works for someone else
2 = 2% of the population actually gets stuff done

If you aren’t already, and you decide that you want to be a part of the 2% club, then remember that all of the numbers above (including escaping from 98) are really only going to be feasible with the magic number 1 – focus.  This must be the center point in the wheel.

Focus on your vision and take the action to bring it into physical reality.  The keys to the kingdom are there for the taking.  All you have to do is look, lift your hand, take them, insert & turn.

P.S. – Robert Plank has some really cool software products & great online marketing advice.  You can check out his blog here:

http://www.robertplank.com/

Internet Business

Some Additional Magic Numbers

3 Comments

Pic for Magic Numbers - Internet BusinessEarlier today I had a brief twittersation with James Brausch (is twittersation a word? – oh well, I like it, LOL).  James had mentioned some of his favorite numbers in a general tweet.  Firstly, if you’re confused about ‘tweet’ this and ‘twit’ that, check out my twitter link in the sidebar.

Most of the numbers, I recognized right away.  Two of them I wasn’t 100% sure, but was pretty sure.  Then there was one that stumped me.  Hmmm, a little embarrassing when I look back.

Here are some of James’ favorite numbers:

86,400    114.20      2,740      19,231      83,333      98     2      1

If you read my last post, then you should recognize one of those numbers already.

A little hint – If by chance you’ve never heard of James Brausch, he is a happily retired multi-millionaire.  His last project, which was running phenomenally successful internet businesses, propelled him into the stratosphere.

He followed a proven path to success and then shared his path with those who dared to follow and take action.

James was, and still is on many levels, my biggest influence on this path to freedom & success.  Unlike James, my journey in this project is far from complete, but I’ll be forever grateful for crossing cyber-paths with this fascinating & intelligent soul at such a critical time in my entrepreneurial development just a few short years ago.

So, back to the numbers… what do you think they mean?  If you think you know, then leave a comment to this post and give your answer(s).

I’ll reveal the answers in my next post or validate if someone answers correctly.  I’ll also let you know which number it was that stumped me.

Internet Business, You Posts

86,400

4 Comments

86,400… Millionaires, future millionaires,  & CEO’s know exactly what the number 86,400 means.  They know the value and importance of this number.  98% of the sheeple population don’t.  If you find yourself still caught in the 98 percentile mindset, there’s still hope.  You can sign up for my blog announcements in the right hand corner of this page.

Okay, if you don’t know the significance of 86,400 then it is probably a good idea to continue reading. 86,400 is the number of seconds in a 24-hour period. Each and every day we are all allocated the exact same number of seconds, whether we are rich or poor, handicapped, healthy, young or old, the one thing we all have in common is the number of seconds that we have in a day.

So why is it that some people are able to accomplish so much during their 86,400 seconds, while others seem to fritter away those seconds and accomplish absolutely nothing? Is it because they have the mindset that tomorrow they will be given another 86,400 seconds to again play with as they choose?

Perhaps it is this very notion that their ‘bank account’ will be replenished at the stroke of midnight with another 86,400 seconds that encourages people to be frivolous with their time.  Suppose we changed this example to money, and we were all given $86,400 to spend anyway we pleased every day, and then at the stroke of midnight our bank account reset back to $86,400 to be used again the next day.

I would be willing to bet that many people would be spending money right and left on every frivolous pursuit imaginable. After all, you would have unlimited wealth $86,400 at a time.  There’s one major difference however between time and money. Yes, it’s true that time is money, but with that said, money can be replaced, but time cannot.

Once time has been spent, it is gone forever. There is no way to regain wasted minutes that could have been used in some constructive way, such as building your path to freedom, or spending it with a loved one or spouse, and kids if you have them. It’s easy to forget that we all have a limited number of years on this rock, which we are living out every day, 86,400 seconds at a time.

Suppose you were told that in a week you would be dead? yes, dead… deceased, shucked the mortal coil, worm food, feeding the tree, assuming room temperature, etc. Would you live out your remaining days differently? How would your priorities change? Would you look back and say to yourself — “Gosh, I wish that I could have watched a heck of a lot more TV”. . Or maybe this one — “Gee, I really wish I could have worked more hours & spent even less time with my family”! Of course you wouldn’t!

Now let me ask you this; why would you do things differently if you knew that you only had a week?  Maybe those things that we would be doing differently, are the very things that we should be doing now!

Do you find yourself in the position of still wishing for more freedom to be with your loved ones? To really accomplish something? If so, maybe it’s time that you redefined your real goals. Maybe you’ve already begun on that road to building an online business, but you find yourself working long hours for little results because you haven’t properly defined the element of freedom into your vision.

Defining exactly what your vision is which you intend to accomplish is extremely important to successfully reach your goals.  Maybe your goal is building a freedom system.

Most people never succeed because of one fatal flaw, lack of focus. I don’t mean to harp on this one issue so often, however I really can’t stress enough the importance of focus.

Unless you define your goal, focus, and take action on building your online business so that you can attain the freedom that you deserve, you will continue to fritter away countless seconds, minutes, & hours – day in and day out.

Use your 86,400 seconds wisely every day and you will soon discover that this more efficient use of time will have a compounding effect, and will add up very very quickly. Changing this one little aspect in your mindset can make the difference between success and happiness, or the steady downhill slide straight into regretsville.