How Am I Succeeding?
October 17, 2008I was just sitting down and having a conversation with a guy, Jeremiah, that has been trying internet marketing for 3 years and has only made a few bucks. We’re talking $5 here and a few bucks here.. maybe winning some surfing contests or something like that.
Basically very little success.
I thought to myself, “Hmm, 9 months ago I was a complete newbie. I’m having more success than this guy in far less time.”
I continued to think to myself.. what am I doing that Jeremiah isn’t doing? So we talked a little bit more. We were basically doing the exact same thing! We both surfed traffic exchanges, we both bought credits from time to time, we were both promoting affiliate products, we were both using safelists, we were both getting the word out about ourselves and what we bring to the table.
Why am I enjoying the fruits of my labor and continuing to build while Jeremiah is going basically no where — a few steps short of wasting his time?
I took it upon myself to investigate and here’s what I found:
- I am networking
- I am list building
- I am consistent
That’s the only three differences I could see between myself and Jeremiah. And boy what a difference it makes!
Networking with your peers, as i wrote about a while back, is vitally important. You gather friendship with like minded individuals and you push each other to become better at what each of you do.
For me, I was approached by Paul Kinder and that’s how my networking begun. I got lucky because I had something he sought and he was networking, so I got drug into it by him. Luckily I stayed networking and began meeting people that gave me ideas, helped me further myself, and gave me knowledge and insight. The learning curve was high.. but I was addicted and this is still what I do. You can find me in NetMarketingForum or Affiliate Funnel networking a lot of the time.
Secondly, I was building my (ever-so-hyped-and-talked-about “magical”) ‘list’. I also did this unknowingly. I was trying to build blue-surf (a free membership program).. but what I was building was far more valuable. Each member has what everyone wants — an email address. And now my list is getting strong. I have thousands of email addresses that I can email to whenever I want to inform them of a new product or idea.. and they don’t mind because they can make a few bucks from it, too.
Jeremiah had no list. He had, however, made a couple ‘cold sales’ . Great! But, the problem is, once the sale was over with - that was the end. He could not contact them again. He could not follow up and ensure they were happy with what they bought.
So that brings me to list building. Build your list. Follow up with automated messages. Make people happy and they’ll trust you and continue buying from you again. (Actually, think about how you got to this blog post — you’re probably on my email list. And, although I am not selling you anything.. I am conveying to you a message, which is equally as important.)
You do not need a free membership program to build your list. You can in fact use AWeber as your mailing solution and promote splash pages or squeeze pages and build a nice list.
The money is in the list. Do not ignore this overused almost cliche-like saying. Your list is the most valuable asset you will ever have in this business.
And, finally, I am consistent. Jeremiah, like a lot of people, struggled to stay on top of his internet marketing when things just weren’t happening. He’d take a few months off and then try at it again. Perhaps the next time he tried it would be.. magical. It wasn’t, and this cycle repeated.
On the contrary, I can think of very few days (days when I was extremely ill) that I wasn’t on the computer for hours on end building me and my business.
As I like to say I was (and continue to be) persistently consistent. There are good days and there are bad days. There are good weeks and months and there are bad weeks and months. But you never know… that next subscriber, that next squeeze page, that next whatever might build a relationship between you and a customer that lasts a lifetime. You might get your next sale. And before you know it.. you might have a few extra dollars in the bank.
Great blog Tim. I am not getting a list up and running as I just didn’t know what I should do. I surf every day but like you said, that doesn’t do the list building.
So I will join AWeber and get going.
Thanks for the update.
Starlight
Thank You Scott ,for telling so much and telling so little at the same time. Yes, One can use squeeze page to make list (and TE). Than One can use aweber (or similar) service to send emails to list. And then there is a problem. One cannot send a lot of emails without substance (something that make list happy).If one try that (sending no substance emails, or affiliate link emails), very fast one will receive a lot of unsubscribe messages. So, doing a business is not so easy. In marketing books, everything start with product. SO new enterpreneur MUST ,first, develop his business structure (what are You doing? Than (next step) is advertising : TE+squeeze page+ aweber. Only than people from the list can be happy and buy and make efforts worthy.
And, Yes I like Your TE
Regards, Miroslav Turcinovic
Great post Scott, and thank you for the tips.
I am in the construction business and am in a economic slump like many but the net still after 10 years of this saves my sanity. Now I have sites and have had sites that make some cash lets never confuse the fact you can get rich with this because you wont but using this medium as some stress relief is Great you forget about your normal business for awhile and actually do think you will get rich be the next google thats whats great meet new people and Share not take like what got all of us in the Mess we are in economically. So keep on with marketing and Sharing ideas its the American way!
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Thanks for this information Scott! I have added a link to this article on my site, homegirlspace’s weblog so that all my blog visitors can read it as well. Congratulations on your success!
Scott:
First of all great job with Blue-Surf - it’s a terrific site. This is my second run at IM. I tried a few years ago and did the same things that Jeremiah is doing. I made a few bucks, spent thousands, and eventually dropped out.
Now I’m back… I’ve realized that when I look at all the things that I enjoy doing IM fits my interests best. I have decided that I will make this work. So this time I’ve been bouncing around the internet determined to figure this out.
What I’ve realized these past few months is exactly what you’ve written. It’s all about the ‘list’ and building a business based on customer satisfaction - it’s no different than any other business.
It also requires a lot of time and hard work but it’s what we love doing.
I hope you all get to live the life you’ve imagined,
Joe
Well, I can’t add much,because I “don’t know much” as the cat in the fairy tale said.(about business,that is)But now I know this much.Scott Martin is(and I knew this already)a breath of fresh air in today’s atmosphere of pronounced bipolar swings between the doom&gloomers, (So,OK! IS IT MY FAULT IF THAT PHRASE JUST HAPPENS TO RHYTHMICALLY RHYME WITH “BABY BOOMERS”?(i’m 64,myself;not old enough to be the greatest…[you know]either) and the know-it-alls. I can now tell you,Scott, that I sent out a solo ad email promoting you and BlueSurf.net from my Solo-Ads-Only.com advertising. If anybody out there received one,let them come forward and witness to its niceness,effectiveness and/or the lack thereof. Shalom everyone. Robert Lytle
Great post Scott and what a coincidence! I just finished an eBook dealing with just this subject.
And, as a matter of fact, you’re in it! The title is “How to Make Friends with Influential People.” I’m giving it away to people who join my list.
It can be found here: http://www.ad-alyzer.com/727/myisosp
If you want a direct link to it, just send me an email.
Thanks for the post
Yep no sales pitch alright, just couple of affiliate links but don’t worry I totally understand the reason behind it.
There’s nothing wrong with comparing yourself to another person who’s struggling but please tell the whole story so that everyone can see the big picture. If you have some computer programming knowledge or skills and some decent spending capital, you can pretty much put yourself way ahead to a regular joe with no business or computer programming bacground and has less than $100 bucks to his name.
Is not as simple as, oh I’m building a list and I have a membership site, and oh yeah I’m networking and the other guys isn’t doing any of that, so that’s why he is not succeeding.
It’s not as simple as that. Anyone can start building their opt-in list with 500 subscribers for less than $10 a month, it’s what you do with it.and because you are using aweber, it doesn’t guarantee that you are going to succeed either.
It’s all about hard work.
On the other hand, your post would make a great ad copy because it’s hard to tell if Jeremiah is actually a real person or some fictitious character and you just wanted to promote those aforemention affiliate links. Just an observation folks! that’s all, nothing personal.
Good post, I wish that we could spend more time exploring why some people are succeeding and some people who are not. As the econony around the world are slowing down it is going to be harder and harder to make those sales.
Take care.
Thanks for the HELPFUL emails and posts. This is a great article, however the thing I wanted to comment on was a point you made in your email today. That point was “There are no bonuses and I’m not selling you anything”. That is only one reason I will continue to use Blue-Surf. Not only is your script custom, I love the more customizable traffic delivery you provide, you don’t abuse the privilege of having our email address. I usually pay to upgrade at TE’s, but this month I have been cancelling left and right due to the increasingly annoying barrage of emails from TEs containing sales pitches, promotions, jv’s, etc.
KMart doesn’t call me every time they turn the blue light special on. Why is it necessary for them to email me everytime an owner feels it necessary to run a special or bonus hour. Use Twitter like Linden does, or use some other opt-in for this, or allow premium members to opt-out of this barrage. I’m just one of the almost 100,000 subscribers some of these exchanges have, so my opinion doesnt mean much to them. But I do get results from you and Tim Linden, who both choose to not abuse the fact that I have given you my email address. I’ll be voting with my dollars and cancellations.
Rant over lol. Thanks Scott.
Hey!
Great blog entry. I am also a Jeremiah. No my name is no Jeremiah but I went the same route. I have recently come back to IM while full time employed so the luxury of hour on hours at the computer is not an option for me and the cost of things keeps me from buying too many servics, especially subscription type services like Aweber. So I have decided to try it again using my website to offer a free service with Google ads on it. Obviously I will not make truck loads of money this way but it way the best way I could think of to try to supplement my income. Of course this is not working either and I am getting very very discouraged. After over 20 years in these computers and I have paid WAYYYYYYYY more then I have ever made. With three daughters (6, 12, 15) and my wife I can not always afford all the stuff it takes to push and succeed on this thing.
The blog posting was great, right on the money and right in line with every other successful marketer out there. Keep up he good work and best of luck to you.
This is a great blog. Lots of useful information with no words wasted.
Yes, Nice post. I’m pouring myself a strong one right now as I read this.
Same information other guru’s have been telling me since I started my online venture.
It’s ok to keep pounding that nail in till it hits home.
Actually a couple months ago, I did a little experiment with a splash page, (it was an instantsqueezepagegenerator splash page, combined with a free autoresponder by isoresponder)
The experiment was just to see what sort of reaction I would get. Part of my learning experience.
The reaction was pretty much immediate. I only advertised the page for 1 hour, in 2 traffic exchanges. I got 4 signups within that hour.
So keep pounding that nail in. Eventually the smart ones will come around.
I am still learning how to use autoreponder, and am trying to design my own splash page rather than one from a free resource. But thats another story.
Hi Scott,
It is sooo refreshing to get an occasional email without a OTO. It is one of my pet peeves because even tho you feel you need the great pricing it is so darn hard to afford them all at once and it seems you can’t get any thing online now (free or otherwise without them in there somewhere).
So you always feel you are missing out if you can’t afford it. But it makes too much $$$ for them to ever disappear or even have less of them. I hope I am not out of line to speak about the OTO’s here. If so you can just not publish my comments…I will understand.
They are in some of my own ads as well if I sell anything as an affiliate…lol
I do really like your TE as well. I like the way you have a few specials here and there too and not just have to take a OTO or never get it at a good price again. Thank you for that.
You have given some really good info that we can use here.
I would like to get my hands on some great info to help with what to do with a list after it is built or while being built as it scares so many newbies wondering what to send and how to create great letters for an autoresponder.
I am just beginning to build a list (it is ever so small as of yet) and am terrified about how to create good info and email letters to keep them interested in staying on your list.
I cannot afford an arm and a leg for expensive help and a lot of us are in the same boat.
You have given some great encouragement here. Thank you…Sandi
Thanks Scott. It’s very inspiring.
But I’d like to reply to Paul who said that it’s all about hard work. Hard work, O.K. but you can work hard and get less or no results.
You must work smarter and be efficient; and for an online marketer working efficiently means networking and list building!
Hello Scott.
I identify me with Jeremiah.
Alone 7 months ago, that I am in this world (still new for my)
I thank to the people as your, that Gives its experiences, and counsels.
Cordial greetings!!
Ramiro
from Spain
The more I read this blog, the more I realize the importance of a good content like yours. Keep up the good work.
Nice blog, I love to see this kind of content, keep up the good work.
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