Warning: This post is me heading in another direction and starting something new. Also, I’m going to be overly honest, probably even share more than I “should”, so if you don’t think you can handle that, then I would suggest clicking away. If you’re into that sort of thing, well, here we go.
I was listening to an audio the other day, one I recommended to my list… Alex Jeffries “Money Trigger”. It’s a long audio, but it goes quickly because Alex is incredibly sharp and powerful insights come with little space between them.
He taught through story. In fact, he said at the beginning, “Facts tell. Stories sell.” And then he did it, which is always beautiful. He told Dean Holland’s story, of about how he went from a 1-year long struggling newbie that hadn’t made a dime, to a guy who took Alex’s advice on how to make money on the internet. What was it? Tell people your story through a blog. Set out to do what you want to do, and chronicle it in a blog. So Dean did that. He admitted exactly where he was and then over time, as he would add to his story and have success ($4k+ in 30 days), people would start to interact with him on his blog. Then he had a product, then he had a following, and on and on until he was a millionaire (or something like that, I’m not entirely sure, I just know Dean has done very well recently selling high ticket products).
So you can guess what is happening right now maybe… I’m making one of these “money triggers”. Kind of a funny name when I write it right there. It kind of looks like that’s all I want: money. Which is of course, not true. Everybody (for the most part) wants much more than money. I want freedom, great relationships and big love, fun and adventure, and of course, to be of service in some way to the world. And wouldn’t it be nice if I could make a ton of money doing what I love and helping people?
Well, I do love to write. Funny how I never loved to blog all that much. I often write books – many that I do not release. That is the truth. I have written books that are 50-80% done. I do not have confidence in the truth and helpfulness of my knowledge, much of the time. I often find reasons not to complete or publish – like that I often learn things that are better, once I solidly form an opinion about something. I have a diet book that is 80% done and I haven’t finished it because my health is not 100% because I have not had the discipline to take my own advice.
But I think mostly I didn’t like blogging because I wasn’t ready for a commitment. Or maybe I didn’t know how to make a commitment that I could stick to. I think the majority of my blog posts come from when I have elaborate explanations for a promotion I’m running. But I frequently give good value in those posts, so I’m proud of what I’ve written. In the few posts I’ve written on this blog, I do think there is a good deal to learn. Regardless, I’m going to do the best I can when it comes to making the correct commitment to this blog…
It’s been a bumpy road this year trying to make my income go from low 6-figures to a million. Yea I know, hang on, before you get hot and bothered because you’re making less than that and you think I shouldn’t even be saying it… let’s be clear, I’m not complaining. I’m sharing what’s going on for me, so that it can be of some value to you – hopefully great value. Most likely we’re going through some similar things on a general level. I want to take my business to the next level and I have wanted to for a while. Is that true for you?
Dean was making nothing when he started blogging about his path. I’m not making $0 – this is just where I’m at now. And this year has been a small dip, a small rise, and a plateau for me. A good part of the year has been an effort to get it together emotionally and realize the value in what I’m doing and teaching. I’m an affiliate marketer and product creator in the IM niche, primarily, though I do have other sources of income, like Kindle, and affiliate income in other niches. What is the value of these?
Well, for a while I wasn’t hearing from any customers. It just got quiet on the testimonial front. I can’t tell you how vitally important it is to ASK your customers for testimonials. Not only does it help your future sales, but it also reinforces that what you are doing is making a difference. In a business where it is designed to give you freedom and a barrier to your customers and partners if you want it, it is important to reach out and know you are touching the lives of people – well, it’s important to me. When a couple of testimonials rolled in – one from a guy who was “one step away from living under a bridge” before he got my course and implemented it – I really started to feel the charge again to teach this even better.
And as an affiliate marketer, I have to realize the power of helping other people’s businesses. I used to give a lot of people their start in this business when I would be the top or only big affiliate on their first WSO launch. That felt really great.
I’ve also done a lot of “chasing the money” as Alex called it in the audio, rather than having “the money chase me”. I’ve been too much get, and not enough give. I’ve been lazy at times, but I don’t beat up myself because that doesn’t help anything. I’ve stopped short of finishing projects. I’ve taken a long time to finish projects I’ve started. None of this particularly feels great to acknowledge so I also acknowledge that I’ve done well turning a lot of this around. I’ve worked hard recently and completed things. I’ve given more to colleagues and customers, just for the sake of it.
I also struggle with outsourcing, especially finding good software programmers that I can feel comfortable investing a lot of money in. I’ve recently outsourced my customer service, which has been a HUGE step in the right direction. I’m still struggling with getting projects done in a timely fashion. I do too much myself – like design pages/websites, create content, write emails, make deals, network… finding other people to do some (most) of this in a way that fits my lifestyle is what I’m working towards desperately. I’ve finally proven to myself that I can outsource the support in an effective manner, for a small cost. And since it was by far, my least favorite part of my business, it feels great. (And to be clear, I’m not talking about interacting with my customers – I mean handling support tickets that ask for login details, sales pages, and things that don’t need my personal attention). I’ve been working with a graphics guy out of Thailand as well. That’s been an awesome experience because now I have hot looking pages. He’s working on my List Lifestyle order pages as we speak (because the ones I designed myself are sufficiently lame – there’s a chance you might see them, depending on when you read this – hopefully you’ll see the new ones!). Eben Pagan built a 20 million dollar a year business with 82 regular outsourcers. Rich Schefren, Alex’s mentor talks about this all the time.
Despite all the struggles, I’ve still made a pretty good living. But a million dollars this year was the goal. The question has always been “but how?” I think part of me thought it was going to be an idea or an opportunity that really helped me get there. Or maybe just MORE of the same will get me there. I’m beginning to think it’s the outsourcing bit. If I can get help completing projects, they will get done faster, which means I will be able to contribute more in a shorter period of time. I’m still not entirely sure what will be the “switch” that helps me get over that hump and really take my business and life to another level.
But that’s why I’m writing this blog. So I can share with you, in real time, my journey towards a million dollars. My commitment is to blog at least every 2 weeks and whenever something really significant happens.
Please, if you feel inspired to say something, leave a comment below. I know it will help me stick with this project and connect with my community, I know you guys are out there.
On an action note, one of the things that I am doing to become a better marketer that reaches higher income levels is “get into the mind of my prospects” – what Rich Schefren says is the #1 key to making money online (by the way, if you don’t know who Rich is… he’s probably made more millionaires on the internet than anyone else).
So as you can see, I’ve been using my PollDaddy account a lot these days. I’m interested in understanding who my customers are and how I can help them better.
I’ve always given stuff away for free, but now I think I will just ask you to take a quick survey if you want to get it. Hey, it takes me time, energy, and often times money (bandwidth) to give you something for free. I think it’s a totally fair question for you to answer a couple of questions for me before proceeding. But I agree to keep it fair. If I didn’t, you wouldn’t answer the survey, wouldn’t get the thing for free, and wouldn’t learn – so it’s not my goal to “milk the situation for all it’s worth” or anything like that.
So if you want to see the replay of “Technical Training Thursday”, go here and answer this short survey.
Thank you for being a part of this – and please comment below. As long as it is positive and constructive, I will approve it.
By the way, if you want to get Alex’s “Money Trigger”, click here.
