Wow, 2011! What a year.
I say this for me personally and for internet marketing. On a personal level I want to thank everybody who has made this year such a big success for my business – all my customers, JV partners, and vendors. So awesome! It’s been just over 2 years since I’ve been full-time in internet marketing… and as I write this in Queenstown, New Zealand, 4 weeks into my 6 week trek through the country, I can’t help but be so extremely appreciative for internet marketing. How it has changed my life for the better is mind-boggling to me. (As I write this, I just celebrated the new year last night… and 1/1/2012 is not for another 4-5 hours on the East Coast!)
Last year I wrote a blog post about what I was going to do in 2011 (see it here if you want). It was interesting to read because I got to see what I followed through on and what I didn’t. Also, I can’t believe how similar my plans are for 2012. Of course, my business has changed and I have to adjust for that, but a lot of intentions are the same.
First, I want to break down the IM niche in 2011, the way I’ve seen it…
- The Warrior Plus marketplace has changed the game for 90%+ of the marketers in the IM niche. Clickbank is increasingly lower quality (even though some good products are definitely released there) and the Warrior Forum is where all the best information is being released. We’ve seen two $100k in roughly 24 hour launches on the WF… which is wild exponential growth from where we were last year at this time. I myself launched 4 WSOs this year, totaling around $100k in revenue and about 7,500 sales. Last year, I wrote how Mario Brown said he was going to go away from product creation… well, I think he changed his tune when he saw what was happening on the WF. And I know for a fact that the WF has brought he and Brian a boat load of cash this year, both as a seller and affiliate.
- Getting offline clients is bigger than ever. Except the game now is what new innovations you can bring to brick and mortar companies. Yes, there is still room for grabbing SEO clients… but far less room than there was 1 or 2 years ago. Now it’s about presenting truly innovative concepts for profit. The biggest innovations and opportunities in my opinion are with mobile websites, mobile apps, viral Facebook applications and fan pages, and QR codes (if used in certain ways). HOWEVER, I still think list-building (email in particular) is where it’s at! Yes, even for offline companies! Silly me, always going back to email. But I see it over and over and over again. Send an email, make money. It’s ON-DEMAND, reliable income for any company. One of things that interests me is innovating for offline companies in the list-building arena. Lots is made of the things I just mentioned… but very little attention is paid to list-building. And I mean email lists, text messaging lists, physical address lists, Facebook likes, and Twitter followers. ALL OF THEM hold tremendous value – and many of them can be built simultaneously. The money is in the list! I should have that tattooed backwards on my forehead.
- Selling by Webinars has absolutely exploded. The income and conversion potential of webinars is staggering. The way I see it… for a while there it spiked hard, but then the market was flooded by too many of them and attendance went down a bit and started plateauing. And it seems that some people just cannot get their list to attend webbies. Ultimately I’m not convinced that the EPCs are better on webinars on average… but I still think they are worth doing, especially if you are building a list at the same time (see Triple Action Webinar Profits) and the product you’re selling needs more explaining. Some things are best sold by a sales letter, and some are best sold by webinar – it has to do with the nature of the product. More importantly though, if you can get an autowebinar to convert, then you are riding high. ESPECIALLY if you can do it outside the IM niche, where people are much less wary of this kind of thing. Ultimately, webinars aren’t going anywhere. And more innovative applications for their usage keep popping up.
- As usual, traffic is still being funneled like crazy from the major players – Google and Facebook, mainly. As always, it can be huge if you can figure out these websites. But never rely on them – that is key.
What I’m doing in 2012…
I made a list of things I’m interested in getting into in 2012. Realistically, I know I probably won’t do everything, and the list will expand as the year goes on, but I think it’s cool to get the excitement up and share with you what I really think is going to work… I mean, why would I intend to do it if I didn’t think it would work, right?! 
- More email list-building, of course. The bread and butter of any business. I will preach it until people stop reading emails. Anybody see that coming any time soon?
—> This includes what I was talking about before… watch for some innovations in email for the offline market (hopefully coming from me!).
- Long-term recurring, automated systems, beginning with SEO research. This is just where MY business is at right now. I want to have stuff that is automated, to create even more freedom with my income. The SEO part is based on my perspective of the larger picture. If you want ongoing, free traffic, it’s important to start with Google. So that’s where the market research and product branding (domain choice) needs to start. I actually already have my next project lined up this way. It’s a big endeavor, but hopefully in the end it will be well worth it.
—> Speaking of SEO. I want to make my first product recommendation of 2012. My friend Jonathan, who has been having great success getting his sites and his clients’ sites to the top of Google for VERY competitive terms, just released a VERY impressive and comprehensive SEO course, focusing on how you can outsource the whole thing. Guys, SEO is still huge. If you have any long-term business goals, they must incorporate this traffic source – it’s just too good. Jonathan’s course is cutting-edge and effective – check it out here. Another thing to note… it has the BEST BRANDING I’ve seen the whole year! When Jon told me about it, I was like, YES! That’s awesome!
- Speaking of SEO in other niches… Jonathan actually ranks his own site for a competitive term in the dating/relationship niche. It may come of a surprise to you, but this niche is VERY interesting to me, on a number of levels. The guys who teach this stuff have really changed my life and helped me tremendously with women. So it’s time for me to give back in my own value-driven way. I have already started on an enormous project and when I get back from the Marketer’s Cruise (which is directly after I get back from New Zealand), it will be back in full swing. I’m hoping that 2012 will bring my IM success in this market.
—> On other niches… for me, I don’t feel like entering into just any niche just because there is money to be made. I have limited time and I want to work on what interests me and where I can bring the biggest value. Maybe this is not something to consider when you’re trying to make your first buck online… but at some point, you will see what I’m saying, especially if your organization is small, like mine is.
- WSOs when I’ve come up with innovative concepts. As you might know, I don’t really like to release products unless I think they are innovations. Truth is, I don’t have too much confidence that even slightly worn topics will sell copies! That is probably just paranoia (I bet I could sell copies of whatever I want), but why work my tail off on a launch if I don’t KNOW it’s going to kill it, based on originality. And I’m sure plenty of good stuff will come to me this year, just like it did in the last 2.
- I like the idea of doing viral stuff on Facebook. That website just keeps going and going. I intend to get much better at this, especially with other niches and offline applications.
That’s where I’ll end for now. Yep, a big, exciting year ahead! 2012 is the marking of the dawn of a new age which has already been in swing. Prosperity and joy is only increasing throughout the Earth! So get out there and ride the wave! Life is sweet!
Best,
David
