Without hesitation I knew my answer was neither sink nor swim but rather . . .

SOAR – above and beyond my wildest dreams!

With that being so, I came to some conclusions that would require a definite change in my game plan for success online. It is beyond the realm of my immediate skills and knowledge to successfully pull off and profit from my intended projects. And while I’ve known this for quite some time, I was confused as to the two, very different, schools of thought among marketers.

Any successful marketer will tell you that they don’t do the bulk of the work themselves but rather outsource and use virtual assistants (VAs). So outsourcing is an agreed upon strategy among marketers. Their point of views differ on, whether you gain the experience first by doing it yourself before actually outsourcing the task so you’ll know if it’s done right or outsource what you lack in knowledge and/or experience and just let someone else do it.

I followed the path of, “do it yourself first” so you’ll know if it’s done right and so you’ll be better able to train your team. While I gave it my best shot, it just wasn’t working for me. I started becoming frustrated and with that, thoughts of self doubt began sneaking into my mind. I had to put a stop to the negative chatter going on in my head so flipped the coin and went the route of just let someone else do it.

I officially hired the first two people of my new “team” and I’m really excited about what lies ahead. I have no doubts that this is probably one of the best strategic moves I’ve made yet and promise to keep you updated with the progress of my team members and projects.

Peace and Prosperity!

Be forewarned, if you are easily offended by “adult” language – move on – curses included as he keeps it “real” and speaks from his heart.

If you do watch the video and listen to what Gary has to say and it Doesn’t make you think – Watch It Again!

There are many good tips to take away from this video. Below I’ve listed a few of my favs. What about you? Share your favorite take aways in the comments section below.

• Stop doing what you hate!
• Hustle!
• Have to have a business model!
• Legacy is greater than currency!
• If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, even for a ½ sec, get out now!
• Build Brand Equity!

Watch, Listen, Act!

I attended the event because first and foremost, I’m a Big Howie fan – the man really knows his stuff and always overdelivers- and second, I wanted to undertstand traffic from 3 different “proven” perspectives. And as if learning about traffic from 3 different but effective points of view wasn’t enough, they unselfishly invited a husband/wife team, Lee and Robin Collins, to speak about yet another way of getting traffic.

Howie and Ross focused on social media and dominating Google organically while Simon focused on his speciality, Adwords. And yes while i would rather not pay to advertise on google, the information revealed by Simon will allow me to use google adwords more effectively. For starters, I now know how to rank higher for less PPC (pay per click) cost and adjust my websites/landing pages so that they coincide better with what google is looking for.

What I probably found the most intesteing, was the guest speakers Lee and Robin Collins. Up until they spoke, I had never heard of them or their way of getting traffic – Hybrid Marketing. By the way, not knowing them or their methods is no reflection on them just my newness to the online world of incredible marketers who market from their hearts!

Hybrid marketing is the synthesis of offline and online marketing that can virtually become automated. As Lee and Robin pointed out, automation to them can be equated to outsourcing. Any way you look at it, it’s work that you don’t have to physically do! They defined it as a S-Y-S-T-E-M; Saves You Significant Time Energy & Money!!

In addition to all the information that i walked away with, attending LIVE events has it’s own energy you don’t get from a recording or video. In addtion, the opportunity to network is priceless. I definitley let my newbie status show when I approached Donna Fox and Ken McArthur and introduved myself. Just had to say hello and introduce myself so i could say I met them. Live events lets you see some of the better known online personalities and how they not only talk the talk but walk the walk. I find it real comforting to know the names and faces online are “real approachable” people.

I was hoping to get some pictures from someone I met at the event but have yet to recieve them. If I do indeed get them, I will definitely upload them for all to see. My next live event I promise to take pictures. I just feel a little uncomfortable, as it’s like bothering a movie star for their autograph/picture. Don’t want to become one of “them.”

In closing, if you can get yourself to a LIVE event – GO! If it’s a Howie Schwartz event – get there as fast as you can. If you have never heard Howie speak make it a point to hear what he has to say next chance you get. Then again, Ross Goldberg and Simon Leung also dropped a load of information and would be great to learn from if you ever hear they are around. Then there’s Robin and Lee Collins my newest learning tool and online marketers that I plan on stalking and learning from.

Action Is Required!

I have only attended 3 Live events in the 8  months online but all three were Howie Schwartz events and occured within the last 6 weeks. I almost feel like I’m a Howie Schwartz stalker! Howie’s material is so “must have” if you want a real advantage over your competitors. And from what I heard today, Ross and Simon are equally dominating in their areas of traffic expertise. Tomorrow is the second and last day of this event and I can’t imagine the information and resources they plan to share.

For anyone who has never been to a Live event, I would strongly suggest you get your butt to one as quickly as possible. Live events are not only filled with information and resources you won’t find any where else, but the networking that takes place is priceless. As an online marketer who is still wet behind the ears, I felt star stuck with some of the attendees at this event. As silly as this may sound, today I was thrilled to not only meet Ross Goldberg and Simon Leung in person (had already met Howie), but I also introduced myself to Donna Fox and Ken McArthur. To me, it was like meeting “famous” people – and in many respects they are in their own right! Looking forward to tomorrows training. Will post with more after the conclusion of “Three Sides Of Traffic”

Peace and Prosperity!

With all that I learned and all that I implemented, my efforts still showed no profits. Now I could have easily quit as most new internet entrepreneurs will. Afterall, over 95% of the people who attempt to start an internet business will quit before ever making a dime. I was not going to be among them. I was going to succeed online.

So it hasn’t happened over night and I never really believed it would. I have learned lots and have no regrets. But I do need finances coming in and not just going out! So my solution, which I heard before but I guess, just wasn’t ready, diversify, diversify, and diversify!

If you read my last post, “Hidden Treasures Found in Twitter“, then you’re well aware that I’ve been tweeting and building relationships with marketers who are of a different mindset then those that I initially came into contact with. The main difference being, the marketers on Twitter are people who look to build relationships first and then market, while the typical marketer you find on the web through Google searches and the like are just that, marketers and sales people. Their first priority is making the sale and putting more money in their pockets!

So as I begin to diversify my income streams and work on building relationships, I have turned to affiliate marketing. But not the type where I bombard my list to get them to buy into every new product other internet marketing gurus are promoting. I have chosen to go the route of quality name brand items that the general public seeks to buy at a less expensive price or from the convenience of their home. 

Peace and Prosperity!

Do you want to learn about web 2.0 and social media?
Do you have any burning questions you need answered by an expert?

Do you REALLY understand it?
More importantly do you know how to PROFIT
from it?

Tonight, Howie Schwartz is going to do something different.
He is hosting an ‘OPEN QUESTION’ call.

For 90 minutes, you type your questions -
He will answer every single one of them.

Last call he did like this was on getting traffic to your website
and he answered over 300 questions! Read what I had to say . . .

You can ask him ANY question right now:

http://www.instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=3465534

Then join him LIVE tonight (Wed 7/2) at
8:30pm EST / 5:30pm PST

If you can’t make the live call, you can still
type in all of your questions now, so you can
listen to the answers on the replay.

http://www.instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=3465534

This is something you don’t want to miss!

Action Is Required!

Yes he did promote an upcoming event, but hey, the content he covered and gave away for free on this call was well worth the time. And I’m sure, just a sampling of what you’d get from ANY of his Live events. In a previous post about attending live events, I spoke of my experience at Howie’s Online Profit Workshop. And I’ll still stand by what I said, “If you can get to a Live event, Go! If you can get to a Howie Schwartz Live event, Go faster!

If you’re interested in listening to the webcast replay of this call, visit                                 http://tinyurl.com/6rczhs

If you’re interested in attending Howie’s next Live event, go to: http://www.TrafficTornadoWorkshop.com
I believe you should also be able to listen to the replay here, if he takes it down from the site listed above.

And No this is Not an affiliate plug. This is just my humble opinion and strong suggestion as to where to go and who to follow/listen to when it comes to Making Money in any Niche Market.

Peace and Prosperity!

I had heard Howie a few months ago on a teleseminar with another well-known Social Marketing Web 2.0 genius,  Jack Humphrey.   I was simply amazed to hear what they had to say, but in retrospect, I was not ready for the content they delivered.  It just sat there in the back of my brain as I continued to focus my efforts in other areas.  The impression lasted however and the names would not be forgotten.  I continued to keep up with Jack through his Friday Traffic Report and heard Howie maybe one other time (not really sure of this as I think I had him mixed up with someone else).  In any case, I liked the quality of content they delivered and put them on my “worth following” list.

Then I heard Joel Comm on Ask.JoelComm.com answer the popular question,  ”What’s the fastest way to make money online?”  You can watch the clip here if you like but the short answer was, “Go to a conference!”  “Go to a conference!”  

According to Joel . . .conferences are a great way to Learn and Network.  At conferences you not only get great content from people of authority, you’re able to meet and network with like minds.  Who knows, you may just find your next JV partner or even mentor.

So when I heard about the Online Profit Workshop and that it was being held in NYC (local for me) I really gave it a second thought and decided to take advantage.  Must say, “NO regrets!”  Probably one of the best things I could have done for myself so far since starting online.  The energy, the content, and the resources were unbelievable.  And the fact that this was a small group setting really worked to my advantage. 

When the workshop was over and done with and I was walking out of the room, all I could think of was, “This man just handed us (on a sliver platter) what he does repeatedly to succeed.  While I’ve only been online now for 7 months, if I apply what I learned from Howie Schwartz at the Online Profit Workshop, I’ll be at least 6 months ahead of the average marketer. Hmmm,  I’d be a fool not to apply what I’ve just learned.”

That’s how intense and beneficial the content he delivered at the workshop was.  He gave us a sense of how his mind works and actually walked us through the exact process he uses to find a niche market and then dominate. 

In closing, if you can get yourself to a live event, step outside your house/office and go!   If you hear Howie Schwartz is in town, get there faster! 

We all know that working online can be difficult in the sense that others really don’t understand what we do and we can start to feel isolated and alone.  At least that’s my experience.  But live events have benefits galore – resources, networking, knowledge, and energy just to name a few. 

Peace and Prosperity!

Are they honest?  Can I trust them?  Will their product or service truly benefit me?  Why them and not competitor XYZ?  If all these questions are not answered to their satisfaction, they will move on to your competitor.

This is precisely why you should work on building up a customer base.  When you have a group of people who trust you and know from experience that you deliver quality and value, they’re more likely to be repeat buyers.   This will ensure that you have a recurring and consistent source of income. When you release a product or make an endorsement, you have a group of people always ready to hear what you have to say.

There are several sources that you can tap into to start building a customer base. For example, you can participate in an online discussion forum and give advice and help for free. It won’t be long before people start to recognize your name and stop and listen every time you have something to say. You will become a valuable friend and teacher, and gain the trust of these people. Wouldn’t you buy something your close friend recommends?

Another way to build a customer base is to build a mailing list. There are a gazillion methods to collect subscribers, but the bottom line is, it’s all about proving your value to the crowd and offering an incentive to make them become part of your mailing list. A typical example would be a website choke-full of freely available, helpful and quality articles on a certain subject plus a “special report” that can be downloaded for free provided you give your email address. The rich content provides value, and the “special report” is the extra incentive.

Yet another source for your customer base, which is often forgotten, is your existing customers.  Consider Proactive Customer Service for the Online Business .  If you bought a product from a particular person and s/he was available to answer all your questions (an indication of quality customer service), would you buy from them again in the future?  Definitely. When a customer gives you their money, don’t look at it as a done deal and the end of the affair.  Instead, look at it as the beginning of a new relationship.  Consider keeping in touch with them by sending them updates to new products, holiday cards, birthday card, and newsletters.  If you can build on the “like” and “trust” factors (people buy from those they like and trust) and develop a relationship with them, you will have a lifetime source of income.

Imagine if 100, 1000 or even 10000 customers are waiting to grab your newest products even before they are released! Hence, it’s vital to build a customer base because it simply saves a lot of time and effort.

Peace and Prosperity!

Articles directories are a great place to put your articles so that they drive traffic to your website and at the end of the day make you money.  Article Marketing is a highly effective marketing strategy that yields a high ROI.  People who are interested in your product or service will search for information, see your article, view you as an expert in the subject, and hopefully visit your website. Even if you cannot write or do not have any knowledge on the subject on which you are promoting (for example if you run an affiliate website), you can always hire a writer to do the work for you. Getting quality articles written will incur a fee, but there are plenty of ghostwriters for hire and the fees will vary depending on what you are requesting.  In the long run, they will pay for themselves in no time either through affiliate sales or selling your own services, and everything from then on is pure profit. 

Let’s take a real life example. Imagine that you are an accountant working from home. You write an article on an accounting topic and place it on various article directories. Those who are looking for the subject you wrote about will read your article, see that you have the knowledge and skill that is needed to do a job for them, and visit your website or contact you via e-mail. Your article just gained you a new client who may use your services regularly, but will definitely give you a nice profit at least once.

Furthermore, since you have posted it on a free article directory, others who have affiliate websites about accounting will inevitably use your article for their website. Since they must attach your byline/resource box to it, this will bring you even more exposure for every website that re-posts your article. By doing this, you will be benefiting off of the traffic that they get to their website.

There are numerous article directories out there for you to utilize. Your bet best is to submit a copy of each of your articles to as many article directories as possible for maximum exposure. It will eventually help to bring more traffic and customers to your website, which will lead to new orders and more profit.