I’ve been thinking about this blog post for a good two weeks. Basically since the time I was “supposed” to write last, based on my commitment in issue #1. Thus the title of this post…
But it’s all good, December has been a good month for me. I have news for you… if you think you can’t sell “make money online” stuff around Christmas because people are busy buying other things, you are smoking the pipe a bit too much. Or you are just limited in your thinking.
Because while October and November were two of my hardest months since I’ve been in the business, December has been a relatively prosperous time. Not a millionaire yet… but I feel like that is slowly coming into view.
I believe I took a major step in that direction by joining Max Simon’s EEC (Enlightened Entrepreneur Club). The dude speaks to me. He describes the kind of business I want to have and assures me he can lead me to having it – and I believe him. He led Deepak Chopra’s product division when he was like 25. He’s inspired thousands of spiritual entrepreneurs. His stuff makes sense and requires me to think critically about every aspect of my life and business and he encourages me not to settle. It’s what I want in a mentor.
3 years in this business and I never joined a business coaching or mentoring program. I do have a life coach and I have been part of things outside of the business world, but have never done anything like this. I’ve heard it so many times, many successful people join programs like this and follow through on them. Preoccupied with making enough money to pay expenses and spending time building my new romantic relationship (which I’ve been desiring for YEARS) has kept me from focusing on it. But today I made great strides and got “caught up”. It felt good. I know that something profound will come out of my involvement in this program. I’m hoping it’s a business that fills me with purpose, joy, and abundance everyday. I’m sure it will be far more than that as well.
One of the already profound things that Max taught me today is how important it is to “close the loops” in your life. I always had the image of plugging holes in a dam. Either way, he encouraged doing it because it helps you feel light and move forward in life. If you don’t close those loops, then you they will hold you back. I have been doing a lot of that lately. I feel like it’s critically important going into the new year. That is my focus (besides the launch I am orchestrating right now) for the next few days until the new year. It would feel really good to start the new year with a clean plate, so to speak.
Also, I’ve had another important breakthrough in the last month (since I wrote my last post). I got over trying to change the buying habits of my list and promote and sell a certain type of high-priced products. They don’t care for them, it seems. They do however, care for low to mid-priced products of high quality and relevance to them…
In the last 40 days, I believe I promoted 12 different products and made around $7,500 in affiliate commission. Is that record-breaking? No, not even close. I used to average $600-800 per email, without having to even think about my promotions… (maybe that’s why my list is not as powerful today as it could be). But what I found is that when I choose my promotions wisely, buy and use the product myself, put a little bit of effort into selling them, and really put my weight behind a promotion, I do really well. I think my list can tell if I really believe in a product, rather than if I’m just sending something out for a buddy to support him.
And you know what, I like it much better that way. I feel good about the promotions that I really rocked in the last 40 days. I’ve promoted some damn good products and I’m proud of the stuff I’ve recommended. AdvantageBot, Hybrid Connect, MemberRocket, Evil Facebook Magician, Rockstar Power Suite, Rapid Mass List Building… all awesome products made by great marketers. Hell, I keep AdvantageBot open on my computer now and use it almost every time I write an email.
So I think what I realized is that I don’t need to change my people’s buying habits to be happy about my business. I just need to change the way I go about it. I need to keep getting better and better at what I do. And I need to look out for my people, every step of the way, without compromising. I mean, looking back on this, I am pleased. $7500 in affiliate commissions in 40 days is awesome. Most people in the modern world would kill for that. I also feel good that my crisis of conscience is clearing based on my successful and congruent promotions this month. My IM business will survive and thrive yet…
**In ancillary news about software tools… I cancelled my OfficeAutoPilot account. I was tired of them being mediocre in so many areas where I need excellence. I exported all my leads and imported them into GetResponse, who I have been VERY pleased with. Fantastic deliverability and their interface is indeed much better. They still don’t have a goddamn html editor for their emails… but whatever. I make my emails in SeaMonkey and just copy/paste the source code – doesn’t take much more time. It’s tough to get over how much time and money I spent on OAP, but that is part of the process – live and learn. And through my experience, I can now be of great service to others who are “in the question” about those things…
I plan to make up for my extended absence on my blog by writing my annual assessment and intentions for 2013 in a couple of days…
