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Adrian Ling
"Hey" "Guru Name Here"
You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.
You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.
Plus, you have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, and an internet connection for only one month.
You no longer have your big guru name or JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie.
What would you do, from day 1 to day 30, to save yourself?
Joe Kumar
Answer: By Adrian Ling
Day 1
I’ll take a complete break – get away from everything and everyone to be alone. I’ll take a walk in my favorite park and enjoy the wondrous beauty that God has created - the sound of birds singing, the smell of fresh flowers, the gentle bubbling of a brook …. I will take time to compose myself, my thoughts and not think about my loss. Today will be a complete day of rest.
Day 2
First thing I’ll do is to write a short letter to all my creditors and ask for a 30 day grace period to settle all my debts. Personalize the letter and sent it to all my creditors so that I will have 29 days of un-interrupted time to fully concentrate on what needs to be done.
Then I’ll map out an action plan -
Identify my goal(s) - Is it just to pay my bills? Earn $X in 30 days?
Identify the obstacles (“road-blocks”) and how to get around it.
Identify the various options available.
Day 3
Identify my goal.
This is very important as it will set the direction and motivation for me to achieve it. Do I want to earn a few hundred dollars a month, just enough to pay my bills and live day to day? Or do I want to earn a few thousand dollars a month, and live comfortably?
Which goal will motivate me? Which goal will prompt me to take consistent and persistent actions, regardless of the odds against me? Which goal will spur me on when I feel like throwing in the towel?
A clearly defined (and written) goal will provide clarity on what needs to be done. After defining and writing my goal, I will read them before I go to bed each night, and I’ll read them again when I wake up in the morning.
Note: it’s very important to write down the goal, clearly and with as much details as possible. A written goal such as “I want to be rich” is not a goal at all and will not empower you in any way.
To help me formulate my goal, I will study a chapter from “Unlimited Power” by Anthony Robbins – ( chapter XI Limitation Disengage – What do you want ?).
Day 4
Identifying and Overcoming the Obstacles. There will be moments of doubt, fear and discouragement … especially as each day passes and if I don’t seem to be making any “significant progress”.
Mentally prepare myself to negate these thoughts as it will put me in an un-resourceful state that won’t allow me to do anything productive.
To do this (prepare myself mentally), I will:
* Re-read my Goal …. visualize the day when I’ve achieved my goals, “experience it in the future – how would I feel ? What would I see ? Hear ?”
* Remember and visualize my past successes – I did it in the past, I can do it now. My past successes will be sort of an anchor that will remind me of my abilities.
* I will start each day by spending time with God first, and to commit the day to Him. Then, I’ll spend at least 20 minutes of preparation – thinking through what needs to be done today and list them in order of priority. This will give me focus and clarity of mind to do what needs to be done today and minimizes the chances of having doubts.
Day 5 and 6
Identifying the various options to take. This is the time to determine the nature of the online business that I want to start – do I want to write an ebook ? Develop new software? Promote an affiliate program? I will list down:
My strengths/skills
My passion/interests/inclination
Since I’m good at it and like programming, I will develop software to sell.
Note: You may have specific skills, such as copy-writing, story-telling, magic-tricks, real-estate knowledge, taxes, healthy dieting, etc – which you can take advantage of … write a book on the topic. If you’re not a writer, you can do the outline/frame-work, i.e. provide the contents and hire a writer to write it on your behalf – you can do a search on this keyword – “ghost writing” or “freelance writers” on http://www.google.com/ or you can search/post your request at http://www.elance.com/
Note: You should do something which you’re passionate about (or at the very least, have some interest in). This will ensure that the next few weeks will be enjoyable and less stressful for you. Your level of passion/interests will fuel your desire to succeed and empower you to make your goals a reality.
Next, I need to find out what kind of software people are looking for and are willing to pay for it.
Time to visit some of the better known Free Internet Marketing Forums on the Internet.
http://www.ablake.net/forum
http://www.howtocorp.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl
http://www.friendsinbusiness.com/board1/
Get a notebook and divide each page into 4 columns –
Column 1 – Date
Column 2 – Name of the poster
Column 3 – Email of the poster
Column 4 - Website of the poster
Column 5 – The contents of the post
(note: you can also use Microsoft Excel or Word if you prefer to do this electronically. If you use MS. Excel, you will be able to do sorting and searching which will speed things up.)
Spent the rest of today browsing through all the posts, paying close attention to various “problems” or “request for help” posts, and note them down in the notebook/Excel.
Day 7
Day of Rest. Take a break to refresh myself. Every Sunday will be a day of rest.
Day 8-14
My daily routine for the next 7 days
After time with God and breakfast, read the goal that I’ve set and spend about 20 minutes to prepare for the day – the things that I want to accomplish for the day.
Next, comb through all the marketing forums and start to participate. Make it point to contribute to at least 7 posts per day in each forum, leaving only my email address (no website url or affiliate link).
There’s a reason for doing this – by contributing (without any ads or affiliate link), I’m introducing myself to the community as someone who’s very helpful and who provides solid information. I’m building my reputation as someone who’s helpful, knowledgeable and trustworthy to the community at the forum.
Pay close attention to all the “problems/request for help” posts in the forums and file them away in my notebook/Excel.
These posts are important as they will help me identify what software to develop. If many people are asking about a particular problem, then I have found my answer – “I shall develop software that will solve this problem”.
(note: This tip is equally valid if you’re planning on writing an ebook – what is the recurring question people ask ? For example, if the recurring question is – “how do I build my subscriber base ?” Then you have found a potential topic for your ebook.)
Day 15
After 7 days of intensive forum contribution and taking note of the various problems posted by various people, I’ve narrowed down on the type of software/script I will develop. (The way I narrow it down is to find a “recurring problem” – a problem which is posted regularly and on multiple forums)
Many online merchants and Clickbank affiliates are asking, “How can I direct my visitors to a particular page at a merchant’s site ?” and “How do I prevent someone from stealing my affiliate commission ?” “How do I contact my affiliates ?”
In other words, a Clickbank Merchant has no way of knowing who his affiliates are, and if the merchant is selling multiple products, the affiliates cannot send visitors to a particular product page.
I have identified a niche market with huge potential! I will now develop a script to address these problems/limitations.
(Note: http://www.clickbank.com/ is an excellent 3rd party payment processor)
Next, check out the competition by doing search on http://www.google.com/. Enter the following keywords, +“Clickbank +Affiliates +scripts” in the search box. Visit all the websites that came up and jot down all the features of the products in each of those sites.
Much to my delight, none of my “competitors” has a product that does exactly what I have in mind. I shall proceed to develop my software, which I’ll call “easyClickGuard”.
* Note: this is how http://www.easybiztools.com/ came to be in April 2002. EasyClickMate, then easyClickGuard was the first of its kind. Today, it has about 12+ competitors ;-)
Day 16
Today, I will contact my good friends at the forum whom I trust and run my software idea with them.
(Note: this is another hidden treasure in forum participation – you’ll get to build relationships with many people – some of whom will become your best buddies online. I have found my online mentor and many good buddies in this manner).
Based on their encouraging feedback, I decided to go ahead with the software development.
Next, build a “skeleton website” to start building my own mailing-list. As I don’t have the complete details of what my software is going to be, I can’t write the sales copy yet, but I do know what problem my software will solve.
The skeleton website will contain a brief description of the problem, and a short paragraph of the solution (my software) with the release date, 28th. There will be a simple form for interested prospects to register themselves to get priority notification as well as a 20% early bird discount.
Then, I’ll setup the automation software for my website, i.e. Autoresponder, Mailing List and a User-support forum.
There’s a free autoresponder service at http://www.freeautobot.com/ . There’re also numerous free scripts for mailing lists and forums at: http://www.hotscripts.com/ . I decide to install phpBB (http://www.phpbb.com/) as my support forum software.
(Note: if you’ve the resources, it’s recommended that you get a paid autoresponder, i.e. either you purchase an autoresponder software and install it at your site or subscribe to a paid-service. This will add a more professional image to your business).
Day 17-22
The next 6 days is spent on software development. I will still continue to frequent the forums, but I will limit my time to only 2 hours a day and answer only 2-3 posts.
Now, each time I make a post, I will put the URL link to my “skeleton website”. As I’ve already built a good reputation on these forums, people who visit my site from the forums will register themselves for the priority notification.
In this manner, I’m building my mailing list now, even before my site or software is even ready.
Day 22-23
The beta software is ready for testing. After ironing out the bugs, I emailed it to my friends again, asking them to review it.
Based on their feedback, I will adjust the features accordingly. This took another 2 days of development. I will also start to draft the outline of the sales copy as I put the finishing touches to the software.
The draft outline of the sales copy goes something like this:
1. Title – Unlock the Full Potential of Clickbank ! (The title should capture the interests of the reader and draws him/her to continue reading – it should provide the main benefits of the product)
2. Introduction - Summarizes the key points/benefits the product – (most people are in a hurry – they will scan through your sales copy and unless they see something which catches their attention, they will go away. This section will build on the main benefit stated on the Title and draws them to continue reading)
3. At this point, a testimonial may be appropriate – an endorsement to the claims that you’ve just made.
4. State the problem – what the reader will be missing if they’re not using my product, and state how the product will help them overcome it. Tell the reader how your product will help them, how it will increase their sales/solve their problems, etc.
5. More testimonials
6. Summarize the key benefits/points again.
7. Provide a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
8. The call to action – the order link. Make it easy for your readers to order.
9. Your personal signature and contact details
10. A bonus (if any) and or a P.S. (optional)
Note: You can view the actual sales copy at: http://www.easybiztools.com/
Day 24
The software is finally ready. Contact my friends again and ask if they would be willing to promote it to their list. Profits will be shared 50-50. I will also ask them for a testimonial/endorsement if they found it useful.
(Note: Clickbank has a superb affiliate program in place, which will make it easy for me to do joint-ventures - I don’t have to write cheques for my joint-venture partners, Clickbank will handle all the payments).
After getting a Clickbank Merchant account, I will start writing the sales copy based on the draft outline that I’ve made.
Day 25
Contact my friends again and ask them to review the sales copy. Based on their feedback, I will polish it further.
I will also add more info to the “early bird registration page” so that it has a more detailed info on the software. Continue to participate and contribute in forums with more vigor with my URL link to the registration page.
Day 26
I will do a final check on the sales copy and send an email broadcast to all who have signed-up at the “early bird registration”. Replace the “early-bird registration page” with the final sales-copy.
Write a JV letter to send out. (This is where the notebook containing the name, email and website url of the forum participants comes in handy again).
In order to help me formulate the JV-letter, this is what I normally do: visit their sites to find out what they are selling and who their subscribers/customers might be, and how my software may benefit them.
The JV letter will begin with a few line of brief introduction of who I am and the reason I’m writing. Then, I’ll proceed in more detail how a joint-venture might benefit their subscribers/customers and therefore, benefit them. I will also offer them my script for free. I will send the JV letter at a later date, after my friends have broadcasted to their lists.
Day 27
Sales start to come in from the “early bird registrants”. My good friends will email their list today.
Wrote a “thank-you note” to each of my customers. (This part was manually done until the sales volume increased, then I automated it).
A sample “thank-you note” will look like this:
Dear NAME,
Thank you for purchasing easyClickMate. You may download the software and the bonus here: __________
Should you have any questions regarding the software or need any help in installation, please feel free to drop me an email or drop by our support forum.
Have a great day !
Kind regards,
Adrian
Ps: I would like to invite you to participate in our affiliate program where we pay you a generous 50% of the sales you make. Please note that our affiliate program is restricted and is not open to the general public as we want to protect your interests as our valued customer and affiliate.
Day 28
More sales came in from my friends’ lists. Wrote and thanked each one of them for sending the email out to their list.
Now, to expand further by looking for other JV partners who I’ve not contacted yet. Polish the JV letter and do a mail-out to these marketers.
Day 29
Reply any queries I may have from the new potential JV partners. I do not submit to any search engines as the process is too tedious, but since my customers (who are also my affiliates) use my software to link back to me, the major search engines like Google will start to notice my site and soon it’ll get listed. Also, the URL links (in my signature) which I leave on the forums when I post will also contribute to the link popularity.
Day 30
Research on “Back-end products” to provide me additional sources of income. What other tools/books will help my customers in their business? Can I promote these as well?
In the days to come, my routine will be customer support, building relationships with my customers as well as other marketers, and continue to search for suitable/complementary products for back-end-sales. And THAT is how you succeed on the internet, in 30 days or less!
Final Words:
“Instant Gratification” – almost everyone is guilty of that – me included. If you read carefully in between the lines of many pieces of sales copy, you will find that most of them promise you that their product will “make you an expert” almost instantly, and with minimal effort! It’ll trigger something within you that says, “Hey, if I buy that product, I can start earning $$$ by this time next week.”
Well, sad to say, I’ve yet to find such a product (although I’ve bought many that promise that). I’m not saying that these products are not good, some of them are, but the real secret is,
“You need to put in lots of time, effort and discipline, especially if you’re new”.
How many years did you spend at school ? College ? How many years did you prepare yourself to get a job ? Likewise, one should expect to put in lots of effort, time and determination if one is to succeed in an Internet Business. It took me nearly 6 months of learning and 2 months of product development before http://www.easybiztools.com/ was launched.
The important thing is that you learn something new each day and you PUT INTO PRACTISE what you’ve learnt.
Another thing to take note of is this, “FOCUS” – there will be 1001 legitimate and good business opportunities on the net, but you’ve got to stick to one for sometime, nurture and grow it … if you hop from one to another (each one promising instant riches), you will never find it. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Finally, TAKE ACTION NOW … no matter how small ! The longest journey begins with a small step !
I wish you much success in your Online Endeavors !
This article is supplied for information purposes only and, as experienced in this subject matter as the contributors are, the material herein does not constitute professional business advice.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and the contributors are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
The reader is advised to consult with an appropriately qualified business professional before making any business decision. The contributors, Joe Kumar and JoeKumar.com do not accept any responsibility for any liabilities resulting from the business decisions made by readers of this article.
copyright © Joe Kumar and JoeKumar.com
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