opinion

7 Blogging Tips You Can Apply Today

by Paul Joseph July 19, 2011 Featured

About a month ago I wrote an email to all the columnists on Entrepreneurs-Journey.com with some advice on how they could achieve more rewards from their writing on this blog and also some tips to improve performance of their articles. As I was writing the email I realized much of the advice is good old fundamentals for successful blogging. I decided why not share some of the points with you and the rest of the E-J audience to help with your own blogging efforts. Some of this might seem obvious, the same old blogging advice you have heard before, but since most bloggers don’t follow even the most basic of advice I recommend you read over these points and ask yourself if you are on track. 7 Steps To A Better Blog 1. The Call To Action In Author Boxes This particular piece of advice refers to the little author boxes we use at the end of articles on this blog, which detail information about the author of the article (you can see mine at the end of this article). This is the primary tool columnists use to entice readers to visit their website or join their email newsletter and continue to gain from having a relationship with that particular writer. Chances are you don’t have the same box at the end of your blog articles, especially if you are the only author on your blog, however that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider adding them. They make great calls to action at the end of each piece of content you publish. Even if you don’t have these boxes, this advice is relevant for any area where you are trying to encourage your readership to sign up for something or click a link – any kind of call to action . Here is some of what I sent to the authors about how to improve their author boxes… Your author box is one of the best places for you to promote your own websites and offers, as well as describe your specialities and history. Although you are welcome to use this space to talk about yourself, you will reap more reward if you use the space to offer something of value (a benefit to the reader) and prompt the reader to click your link to get access to it. If you have a free report, or audio series or newsletter – anything you use a first entry point lead generator – your author box is the place to talk about. For example, if I was going to use the author box to generate leads, I would use something like – “Yaro Starak is the author of the Blog Profits Blueprint, a free report you can download instantly to learn how to make $10,000 a month, from only blogging 2 hours per day. You can access the report from here – http://www.blogprofitsblueprint.com” I recommend offering something like this that has only one link to click (focus is important), not too much text, a clear and tangible benefit and offer, that leads the reader to your best first impression. I derive the most value from my email list, hence I promote my report as the opt-in benefit for joining my list. You might prefer to promote a different page or offer of your own. 2. Use Case Studies and Stories You may have noticed many of the best articles on EJ, based on audience response, are when I explain what I do or what someone else does, to get a result. Talking strategy, theory and tactics are great, but people really engage when you combine these with a story to illustrate exactly what someone did. EJ is successful (as are many other blogs), because the writers focus on explaining what they did and what result they get, using specific details. The more specific and real world you can be with your case studies, the more the readers will respond to your writing and follow your work. 3. Be Specific, Avoid Generic Advice Continuing on from the previous point, whenever you teach or tell stories avoid being generic . People like it when you say things like – “I spent $151 in Google Adwords to buy traffic from the following list of keywords – how to grow tomatoes in winter growing tomatoes in winter grow winter tomatoes etc The result of this was 3546 visitors over two weeks, delivering 543 opt-ins to my newsletter” I could have simply written – “I spent some money on adwords to get traffic to my newsletter” The first explanation is a lot more specific and thus interesting to the reader. People want to know details, it gives them direction and clarity and makes you a much more valuable resource to them. The more value you give them, the more they will listen to you, pay attention to your work, click your links, and all the other things you can ask people to do when they actually pay attention. 4. Create “Top List” Articles If you really want to produce a very successful article the single best format I can recommend is a “Top List” . A top list is usually a Top 10 but might be a Top 20 or even 50 list. The idea is to come up with a list of top “somethings”. It’s especially effective if you focus on people. For example for this blog some good ideas might be – “Top 10 most successful female online entrepreneurs” “Top 50 websites to learn how to make money online (and the people behind them)” “Top 10 most inspiring entrepreneurial success stories” These types of articles work really well if you include photos of each person in the top list, then email them to let them know they are in the list. This can take a bit of research, but the rewards are significant as top lists are always shared around the web. You might consider making a top list in regards to whatever your specialty is. For example EJ team member Neroli who focuses on creativity in her column, might come up with a list of the “ Top 10 most creative business ideas of the 21st century “. You don’t need to have the absolute definitive top 10, this is simply your opinion based on your research and knowledge. Don’t be afraid to upset some people who don’t agree with you, this will do wonders for how popular your article becomes because of the controversy. 5. Write As If You Are Talking To One Person Although this blog has thousands of daily readers you should write to one person only when creating your articles. Only one individual actually reads the article in their head, so talk to them individually. For example, use singular words like “you” and “your”, not “people” or “readers” or “all of you”. I find this works best for me when I think that I am talking to just one person when I write my article. Apply this to your articles and you will foster a stronger connection with your readership, one reader at a time. 6. Respond To All Your Comments Comments left on your articles, especially the solid comments with questions or feedback, should be responded to as soon as possible. This shows that you care about the person who was interested enough in your article to leave a comment and are listening to what they have to say. Commenting facilities two-way communication , and all your readers will feel like you are more present if you respond to their comments, fostering better engagement. I’ve noticed several of the EJ team already do this and you can see the difference it makes, so great work. I have to admit that I have been very lax with this piece of advice in recent years myself. During the early years of EJ I was very diligent with comments and I know that is one of the reasons why this blog took off. In recent months I’ve increased my own comment replies to practice what I preach. 7. Be Consistent With Content Production This last tip I include because seven tips makes for a better headline than six, although it wasn’t sent through to the columnists originally because they are already well informed about the importance of being consistent with their column if they want results (it’s in the agreement they make when they come on board!). You already know content is the key to success with a blog. You also know that consistent content is key, yet this is where so many people fail. If you have ever done any article marketing campaigns you will know that without volume it is difficult to have any success. The same applies here. It goes back to the principle of “owning” more of the Internet. The more places you appear, the more exposure you have to your audience, the more people you reach. Don’t forget that just one exposure to one of your articles is not enough to convince a person to do something – they probably won’t even remember your name! It takes repeat exposures to build up some form of engagement with your audience, and no one person is the same. Some might read one of your articles and never read another, while others will come back and read everything you write because the first article they read of yours was so good. You can’t control when people read your work, or what article of yours they read first, or what situation they are coming from when they find your article, yet all these variables impact how well your content performs. The solution to this problem is put your best foot forward and keep walking – in other words, always produce amazing articles and do it again and again and again if you want to make a real impact, and down the line, reap rewards. Keep up the good work, Yaro Starak Still Blogging About Blogging Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: article, book, opinion, person, small-business, space, work

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Take Control Of Your Publicity (Or End Up Like Bill Clinton)

by Paul Joseph June 23, 2011 Featured

What Is Your ‘Personal Brand’? Your personal brand is what should determine your media activity and the type of presence you seek to obtain publically. In my last post, I debated the topic “ Is All Publicity Good Publicity? ” I looked at a range of factors that would influence this statement, and the main conclusions can be summed up as the following: Publicity stunts can be really fun and serve to get attention in a crowded and noisy world, but be sure that any stunt and expected/possible outcomes are suited to your audience and what you would ideally like your reputation to be. Don’t ever let the negatives outweigh the positive, particularly if you are trying to place yourself in a position of authority. The best publicity is well planned and thought out. Don’t be sloppy with any publicity you can control. Be in charge – it’s your reputation after all. Unsurprisingly, a controversial topic such as this one had quite a strong reaction, and there was some debate about whether my example of Bill Clinton’s escapades worked in his favor. There was one school of thought along the lines of the fact that his ratings increased (arguably for a brief time) after he confessed and his wife forgave him. However, another opinion was that he lost credibility and made the white house staff look foolish, as well as putting a question mark over US politics and politicians, and what they really stand for and spend their time doing. With this in mind, I thought it ideal timing to address the topic of what your personal brand is. It is only once you have a grasp on this, can you really take control of your publicity and decide what type of publicity to engage in, how to behave and what messages to put across. What Determines Your Personal Brand? Just as companies have a brand, so do you. Your brand should be largely determined by your industry and the type of clientele you are hoping to appeal to. If your desired clientele are conservative, it goes without saying that you should take a conservative stance with your personal brand. If your industry is one that needs to be taken seriously, such as financial planning, then a personal brand that involves skate boarding and rapper-style trousers would not be altogether appropriate. On the other hand, you may be looking for an excuse to tread some different ground in your industry in order to stand apart from the sea of competition. One good example is Richard Branson , who obviously decided that business and entrepreneurship was altogether too dry and boring, so he decided to take a few risks by stepping outside the square, and launching himself out of a plane quite literally, among other adventurous antics. The public fell for his affable nature and repaid him in the greatest way – millions of fans for him and his business ventures. On a more local level, I have heard of an accountant who delivers seminars and talks on business accounting, but his image is totally opposite of what you might expect from an accountant. He could almost be described as “off-beat” and “hippy”, with colorful clothes and crazy hair. But he is genius in knowing his stuff, and this brand sets him apart from the other hundreds of accountants out there. In fact, a younger demographic feel that they can relate, so he has hit upon another niche altogether – Gen Y business owners . How Your Personal Brand Should Influence Your Publicity Activity If your brand is outlandish and adventurous, and your industry is one of enormous and rapid change (such as internet marketing), you can afford to be a little more controversial in your media statements and image. If, however, you are a politician, you need to be careful to stick to your party’s political policy when speaking publicly, and be careful not to behave or speak in a way that is contrary to what your party is pledging. This is where we can address Bill Clinton’s actions. Middle America is on the whole a conservative public, and while it may be acceptable, even expected, for celebrity to have their “dirty washing aired,” it is the last thing a person in a position of authority would hope for. Tiger Woods was a respected sports identity, and even his debacle tarnished his reputation and caused him to lose sponsorship arrangements together with his marriage. We all make mistakes, but a public, who are replying and entrusting one person to make important decisions on their country’s behalf, would most certainly hope for fewer distractions and more work getting done in the Oval Office. So, yes, while his votes may have increased in the short term, one might describe it as a “pity vote.” I would challenge you to mention the words “Bill Clinton” to any group of adults in most parts of the world, and not receive a snicker, or reference to a cigar. How embarrassing for anyone to endure that as their brand reputation, especially when their industry is meant to be one of a serious and important nature. Having said that, the publicity that surrounded this incident was not encouraged or organized by Clinton himself, and when faced with the horror of the story going to press, he conducted himself in the most appropriate way under the circumstances. Any publicity that is carried out in a controlled way should be given much consideration as to whether it matches your personal brand. This is where having a strategy in place works wonders and should prevent you from acting in conflict to your desired brand. Social Media And Your Personal Brand Social media is where many of us have tripped up, because it is so new and evolving . If you are trying to present a professional business image, clients may be shocked to discover your drunken weekend adventures posted all over your Facebook profile page. Even if that isn’t you, there may be some interests, hobbies and family matters you don’t necessarily want to share with your clients. A public or fan page that separates your “private” and “public” self should avoid any issues. Kerry McDuling Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: business, online, opinion, personal, social-media, young

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6 Steps To Monetize Your Website Successfully

by Paul Joseph May 23, 2011 Featured

How I Used My Offline Knowledge To Make Money Online Part 2 This is the second part to my previous post: How I Used My Offline Knowledge To Make Money Online . Every new blogger is looking for a way to monetize their website as quickly as possible. One of the questions that I get asked the most from people who are starting blogging is, “How did you start to make money online?” In order to help you on your money making journey, here are six steps that I recommend to anyone trying to become successful at making money online. 1. It All Starts With Passion And Knowledge One of the biggest misconceptions that most online bloggers have is that you can make money creating a website where you write about your passion. That may be true or it may not. If your passion is teaching others how to save money or starting a home based business then you may make quite a bit of money. If your passion is writing about collecting bottle tops, you will probably find that you have a difficult time making money online. Blogging about a topic that you care about is not enough. You have to write about topics that other people care deeply about as well . Making money online is a combination of selecting the right topic and merging it with your knowledge base and passion. If it were an equation, it would be expressed as follows: TOPIC + PASSION + KNOWLEDGE = SUCCESS The right topic can make your site a success even with lots of competition. The wrong topic can cause your site to struggle despite producing qualitative post after post. Some topics are just really easy to monetize whereas others may take a lot more work. 2. Find A Topic That Interests You And Others Most people that search online for topics look for subjects that interest them. It does not matter whether it is sports, money, business, politics, or entertainment. The average Internet surfer is trying to find information that they deem relevant. If you want to make money online, you need to find a topic that you care deeply about and that other people care about as well. One of the reasons that I first started my blog, Buy Like Buffett is because I discovered that so many people had questions about what to do with their money. I was always running into friends and family members that would ask me an investing or money management question. It soon struck me that I could create a site that would provide insights into the financial questions that people had. I knew that this topic would work because of my offline experience with people. My day-to-day interactions showed me that the financial area was one in which people were hungry for information. I figured that I could answer a lot of the questions that people have about investing. Since I knew the questions that people had, my blog could provide answers to them. You can create a popular site by just answering the questions that people have and are unable to find answers to anywhere else . 3. Figure Out What Can Make Your Site Unique One thing that you may find is that there are already a number of sites that talk about a similar topic to you. I noticed when I started blogging that there were already a whole lot of financial websites around. That was intimidating because I started to wonder if there was really a need for my website or not. Fortunately, I did not let that stop me. Just because there are other sites that are in the same category as yours does not mean that their sites are just like yours. You don’t have to follow the crowd. You have the ability to put your own unique spin on a topic. I decided that most financial blogs talk about everything in the financial arena equally. My blog would not do this. I decided to focus on the area of my expertise. Most of my content on my site is about investing either via stocks , mutual funds , bonds , or ETF’s . Those are the areas that I know the most about so that is why I write the most about them. I would estimate that 90% or more of my content is centered around investing. I aimed to make my blog unique by giving my opinion on different investments and to explain moves that I was making with my own portfolio. I figured that was something that no other site could duplicate and would guarantee that all of my content was unique, fresh, and original. My knowledge in the investing arena was paramount because I doubt that people would come read my blog if my background was not in finance. You can make your site unique by providing distinctive information that sets you apart from the crowd. This could be through posts , videos , or podcasts . For example, one of the first things that caught my eye on Entrepreneur’s Journey were Yaro’s video posts . They were informative and eye-catching which helped to distinguish his site from the crowd. 4. Become An Authority One thing that I quickly learned is that you can differentiate yourself from large and small sites by showing your authority in your blogging area . One of the reasons that you are taking the time to read this post on this site is that Yaro has demonstrated his expertise in creating online income through entrepreneurship. If you didn’t think that Yaro had a wealth of knowledge to offer then you wouldn’t read his blog. The same thing applies to your website as well. When you write online about topics in which you have a lot of offline knowledge about, your authority will come across to others. Think of every single post that you write as a link in the chain of authority . As your site is filled with more posts, you are increasing the number of links in the chain…even Google uses links to help them determine the authority of a website! Remember that the more authoritative your website is, the more that people are willing to trust your recommendations and reviews. My offline knowledge helped me to become an authority online. I was not writing about finance as a hobby as a lot of site owners were. I was writing about an area that I have worked in for a number of years, studied, and actually made my living doing. I had real life experience in it and this came across to my readers that read my posts. My online authority in finance grew with every guest post, blog post, and interview that I did. 5. Don’t Make This Mistake One of the first things that new bloggers do is try to sell information, products, or software the minute that they create their new blog. Their sites provide little to no information and are solely created to sell a product. Their new ebook or product quickly flops and they often find themselves discouraged and unwilling to engage in any more product sales. That is simply because they took the wrong approach. I am a big believer in the fact that new blogs should not try to sell any product initially . Site owners would be better off creating fantastic content that will fill up their blog’s pages. This content serves two purposes: Helps you to build a reputation in the online universe Attracts traffic to your new website Any successful website owner or Internet marketer has built up a name that people trust. People will buy products because of the recommendation of someone that has built up a reputation over time. Building a reputation in your chosen niche could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. 6. Create Products That Center Around Your Knowledge Basis Once you have built your reputation as an authority to your readership, you are in a position where you can market and sell products to your readers. Most site visitors are not going to disclose their email address or buy a product from a site they visited one time. People buy products from people that they know. Being able to effectively sell products is a matter of trust. People have to feel as if there is a value to buying the products that you are selling and that it will benefit them in some way. It wouldn’t have made sense for me to write an ebook on lifestyle topics when I have not established myself as an authority in that area. It also would not have made sense for me to write an ebook about making money online when I just started blogging. A successful product sale involves selling information in which you have a demonstrated core competence in . If you have built up a reputation as someone that knows a great deal about search engine ranking position, you could use that knowledge to sell SEO services. If you have demonstrated a lot of knowledge in the technology field, your reviews of technology products will be trusted. Focus on your area of expertise and create products around it. That is why a blog is so important. A good blog helps to build two way communication between the writer and the reader . Both parties can dialogue and form a relationship where trust can flourish. As trust increases and authority grows, you will notice that your monthly income will rise as well. Mark Riddix Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: book, financial, make money online, online, opinion, writer

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How To Write Winning Content

by Paul Joseph May 3, 2011 Featured

Almost every article I write and almost every discussion I have about blogging goes pretty much the same way: If you write a lot of quality content , your blog can’t help but be successful . Whether your content is self-created, you have staff, or you rely heavily on guest posters, having lots of fresh content is almost a guarantee you will have consistent readership, you will attract new readers who will become loyal readers, and you will open up income streams, some of which you have never thought about or didn’t know exist. A lot of these criteria are a matter of opinion and perception, but I have tried a few and I am more than willing to share my results. What Is A Lot Of Quality Content? I hear from other bloggers all the time that they create “a lot” of content, have “plenty” of guest posters, or they post but when I look at their blogs I often feel this is the area where people are confused and don’t put their best foot forward. When I first started my blog, about three years ago, I wrote a post a day. As I learned the subject matter and my audience started to build (of course it “grew” but when I had three visitors in my first month it’s tough not to grow), I started to get a better feel as to what type of articles they came for. This revelation of finding something that worked was such a rush almost immediately the ideas and thoughts started running through my head. Within days of my traffic increasing, I was writing two, three, four or more articles every day. My page views always jumped with the more content I had, which meant I was holding my readers and had them looking over the site for more, but I was also bringing in new readers who were looking for a specific thing and found me through the search engines. One thing that has evolved over time is I have more contributors on my site, I have more content, and my traffic goes up. Because certain things we cover on my site are seasonal and some things are just more popular than others, my traffic is seasonal as well – with the Fall and Winter being my busier times, and the Spring and Summer being a little slower.  These cycles aren’t because of anything I am doing or not doing, if anything I branch out more in the slower months as I try and add more parts to make a bigger whole. I personally don’t think my site would be nearly as successful if I didn’t have multiple articles every day. The number one comment I get from my readers is that they love my site and come back often, because they know every time they visit they will find something new . To me, comments and emails like this are a clear message that what we are focusing on trying to do is working and is what the audience wants to see. As I said in my last post , I use a team of writers now and I pay them based upon income the site takes in. I received mixed comments on that article and I received some emails about it as well, but it works for me and it helps me reach my goals. While everyone’s goals are different and everyone’s perception of what is a lot of content is different, for me at 800 articles per month we are putting our best foot forward, and if for some reason we ever failed, it wouldn’t be because we were too lazy to generate enough content or because I was misguided by what a lot of content is, and what is worth paying for. I pay my writers not because they ask for money (they don’t), not just because they work hard and really treat their role like any other job where they have a commitment, obligation, and show up every day, but really the main reason I compensate them is I think it would be some seriously bad karma for me to sit back and make millions of dollars, and for them to receive nothing in return except a back link or a Sports Chat Place T-Shirt. I know my site would be successful if it was just me, it was successful when it was just me, but really it comes down to the interpretation of success. Would you rather have a million dollars or half of 10 million for slightly more work? The way I think about it is I am working on the site most of the time anyway, it’s the only thing I really do and what my occupation is, so why stand in the way of letting it grow into whatever it can become? I try not to talk about money too much, I leave that to the “make money blogging” people but trust me on this, I make a pretty good living watching sports and writing all day. How Do I Come Up With Good Topics? Something I hear all the time is I am lucky to have such a popular niche. While my niche is popular, I also compete with some of the heaviest hitters and biggest budgets anywhere. While people think competing with top bloggers like Yaro , Darren Rowse , Brian Clark , and others is tough competition, I lock horns with ESPN , Fox Sports , CBS Sports , Sports Illustrated , and many others each and every day. What I have found is that while those sites do a great job covering sports news, it still leaves a lot of ground to cover and plenty of new ways to look at a lot of the same basic fields, and just present it in a way that they don’t. In other words, I don’t go head-to-head trying to cover the news and do recaps of games with these guys, they are way too big and have massive budgets. My biggest asset is my opinion and the opinion of those who write at the site. It’s something that no matter how big someone’s budget is, they can’t get, and while a lot of the guys on other big sites might be more well-known than I am, I’m not so sure that if they didn’t get the exposure from being on the big news sites if they would be as popular on their own as we are at Sports Chat Place . While I’m not the only site doing what I do, I consider us the best . What My Readers Want Finding out what my readers wanted to see from my site took some time to figure out and it took some pride swallowing as well.  My readers don’t care that I went to one of the top schools for Communications and Journalism, they don’t care if every prediction I make comes true, what they do care about is that I deliver what I say I am going to deliver with no strings attached . While I have a hugely successful Premium Area on my site, I give away more content for free. When I give free content I don’t promise free content and then make my readers triple opt in to a newsletter, submit 37 tweets and Facebook like me, I simply give them the free info right in the article they click on. While this doesn’t kill six birds with one stone, it does build a loyal following, readership and trust, which I can later use to ask my readers to do all of that other stuff, and many of them, while they are at it, enter their credit card number and join my premium site. I like to believe that it’s because I have delivered and over delivered on what I said I would give them , so they know with the premium section it will be more of the same. Common Content Mistakes Taking too long to write the article: Have you ever told yourself you were right the first time or your first instinct is always right? It’s the same with writing. Your article can always be better, but usually the first draft is what you wrote from your heart and passion, no need to dress it up, over clarify, or over edit it, if you have reached the right audience they will care less about the editing work you have done and want to either read your opinion on something or how to solve the problem that had them scouring the internet. The longer you take on one article, the less time you have to produce more content. Making the article too long: There are few people talented enough to keep the attention of the bulk of Internet users for more than a minute or so, from the studies I have seen, that’s even a long time. By making your articles too long you really hurt yourself twice. Firstly, you will be creating content that more than likely most of your readers won’t read, and secondly you have wasted an opportunity to create fresh new content for your blog with little to no more time and effort than you have already spent. If you have an article that is long enough, try breaking it into pieces and if you can, which is even more effective, try and make the pieces their own separate subjects. Try doing at least two but if it’s long enough try three or even more, this is something you’ll get more comfortable with as to what is acceptable over time. This works well on so many levels that you will truly be floored by the results. Firstly, it gets you indexed multiple times in the search engines for something you would have been indexed only once for the one article. If you title the articles correctly it will also open up new search terms. If you have only been posting one article a day, don’t be afraid to post all of these spate articles the same day, as if you continue to use this method you will have plenty of content every day. Don’t worry that your readers will miss something, if they are your regulars they won’t and will be appreciative that you are taking your content to a new level. If they are people who came from the search engines, if you have done your meta data and titling correctly, you have probably grabbed some people who would have probably never found you. Accepting too many guest posts: If a post doesn’t fit what you are doing at your site, don’t take it. Most guest posters do it for the link, which they will stuff like crazy into the semi-relevant articles they give you. This isn’t worth it in most cases. Be selective and make sure it is original content that isn’t going to other sites. Google is cracking down on Article Farms and that’s not a list of associations you want to be on these days. If it isn’t original content, you could be turning your readers off as well as they may have seen the same article somewhere else, and then all of the sudden the blog you put so much work into is now categorized as being one of “them”. Forgetting content really is king: While everyone says content is king, few people actually practice it. It is content which drives the site and the content which all of those people you spend so much time attracting want to see when they finally get to your site. If you do not have fresh content, people will not come back. I think it’s easier to have people coming to my site once a day or more than to have them check back once a week or so. If you can make visiting your site part of what people do every day, that’s a pretty cool thing. I have had days where I have had tech issues and people have written to me asking where my new video is as watching it is part of their daily routine, so I can’t help but think I’m doing something right when I read that. Mitch Wilson Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: book, credit-card, internet, news, online, opinion, search, words

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How To Grow And Protect Wealth By Diversifying Risk

by Paul Joseph April 29, 2011 Featured

This blog is slowly evolving into the epitome of entrepreneurial information sharing. Various qualified experts frequently write about tried and tested topics in their respective fields. You can learn from these experts and establish your own success as well, but how much do you know about money to ensure you are not only able to make it, but also able to manage it, grow it and protect it in the long run? Some of the most successful entrepreneurs are bankrupt today. Many artists and athletes who once made millions in a single year are now begging on the streets. Why? Making money is one thing, growing it and keeping it is a completely different ball game. There can be a big disconnect between entrepreneurship and basic fundamental personal finance. I can conclude this from my own experiences, interactions with numerous entrepreneurs from all walks of life, and observations from all around me whether it is the real world or the cyberworld that we are increasingly living in today. It is not necessary that someone who is financially savvy and sophisticated be an entrepreneur, but the reverse is a whole different story. It is my opinion that an entrepreneur has to be financially savvy, or at least have a solid fundamental understanding of basic personal finance to succeed in business and life. Among many other characteristics, entrepreneurship involves capital raising, cash flow management, creative thinking from a financial perspective, money management, growth, asset protection, income taxes, debt management, fill in the blanks. No matter how small or large your personal enterprise is, chances are you will be exposed to at least one of these topics. Most entrepreneurs fail, and that is a fact. Even after establishing a successful business, many entrepreneurs end up right where they started years later. It is also a fact that they often fail because they lack the skills in one, more than one or all the areas of money and finance previously mentioned. So whether you own a brick and mortar business, a website, blog, or plan on starting one in the near future, understand that you must be versed with at least the fundamental foundation of money and finance or failing is just about inevitable. Diversification Mitigates Risk And Increases Wealth I often joke around that diversity is key to anything in life, except your spouse. Think about it, having a spare tire helps when one of the main four blows out. Having a ball pen allows you to continue writing when the pencil lead breaks off. Having access to email is one way you can get a hold of someone if they are not reachable by phone. So why don’t many entrepreneurs think this way when it comes to their business and income streams? It is easy to get carried away and end up with all your eggs in one big basket, such as your own business. What happens when that business fails? Do you have another stream of income to keep you afloat if and when the current one dries up? Diversity is critical to risk mitigation, and one can never be too diverse in my opinion. In fact, diversifying within diversity is even better. For example, investing in different industries or sectors within your stock portfolio, or owning different types of rental properties in different areas. Doing so ensures that your exposure (or risk) is not concentrated in any one sub basket (a particular industry or geography) within your bigger investment basket (your overall stock or real estate investment portfolio). Are you diversified today? You may be doing well in business, but do you have a back-up plan? What are you doing to make your money work for you? Or is it that you are constantly finding only yourself working for money? Do you want to continue that way for the rest of your life? There is a reason many successful entrepreneurs have their hands in several different baskets. They are often vested in several avenues that help them manage, protect and grow their wealth. What is it that you are doing for tomorrow with the money you are accumulating today that your business is generating for you? How do you ensure you make the most out of your hard-earned cash? Is your cash working for you in a way that diversifies your risk exposure while giving your wealth the maximum chance to grow? Are you investing some of it in stocks, bonds, real estate and other types of businesses? Are you financially savvy enough to realize that you are effectively blowing half of your hard-earned money away in taxes because you are forced to do so by your Government? Or are you smart enough to be spending pretax dollars by reinvesting back in your business’s growth and thus avoiding a huge tax bill while benefiting your bottom line in the long term? Is your wealth protected in the event someone sues you? Do you know what steps and measures to take to protect what you have? Do a lot of these questions sound Greek to you? If so don’t fret. You are not the only one. Many entrepreneurs are right in that very same boat. The good news is that there is plenty of information that can help you get up to speed. Even better news is that entrepreneurs generally catch on relatively quickly to topics in basic personal finance because of the inherent acumen and desire they possess. The two topics are very much interrelated. It’s usually just a matter of being exposed to the relevant information. All Money Topics Are Interrelated – The Failures In Entrepreneurship Most readers of this blog are entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs. But how many are students of money as well? It has been my experience that many entrepreneurs generally gravitate toward financial education easily and naturally. Many are compelled to as they realize it is critical that they learn about money, while others are naturally attracted to the topic. Although I have no scientific data to back up my claim, I truly believe entrepreneurship and money are two topics that are closely intertwined together. They have to be for success to manifest. Think about it. Money is the underlying objective behind most entrepreneurial ventures. Sure an entrepreneur might say they want to make the world a better place, but would they do it for free? I highly doubt it. I call that a social worker, not an entrepreneur. But even a social-entrepreneur needs to find the funds to start it up. Dig deep down inside and you will find that money more often than not is at the crux. It is the root of it all. I am not saying this is right or wrong, I am just stating the facts that even more so proves that money and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. Two Key Characteristics Of Entrepreneurial Success In my books there are two key characteristics that determine an entrepreneur’s success; an acumen for entrepreneurship and personal finance. Many entrepreneurs fail personally even after making it big with their business(es). Why? Because they don’t understand how to manage, sustain and make their money work for them. Instead they end up losing it all and have nothing to show for their yesteryear of success. They learn how to make money really well, but they fail to learn how to protect it, manage it, and grow it to the next level. In fact many don’t even understand the basic concept behind income taxes, and obviously fail to realize and recognize that taxes are arguably the highest expense line item on their personal financial statements. Yet, taxes are usually a way after thought in most people’s minds. What if you suddenly realized that you pay almost 50% of your income to the government in taxes? How does it feel when you realize that you work from January to potentially June just to cover your tax expense before putting money in your own pocket? What would you do differently? Would this fact trigger any action from you? Now what if I told you that you can legally slash that tax bill by 10, 20, 30, 40 or more percent? Would you want to do that? Would you know where to begin to do that? A successful entrepreneur sure would, or will make sure he or she finds out, or hire an expensive attorney or accountant to take care of it for them. Hiring someone expensive to work on something you have no clue about is not something that I am a fan of, but that’s not what this post is all about. That is a whole different topic for a whole different series of blog posts so I will stay away from it for now. A well-rounded personal finance background is critical, and the good news is that it is not rocket science. Personal finance in fact is very simple . It is unfortunate that our formal education systems forgot to teach us that, but that’s ok. Thanks to magazines, countless finance blogs and souls like Dave Ramsey , there is hope for all of us. This clear void and the necessity for a blended education in entrepreneurship and finance is precisely what made me decide to build my blog as a hybrid of both topics. Although my intention was to build a blog specifically on entrepreneurship, I realized that one doesn’t go very well without the other. And because I had not found any other blog online that blended both topics, I attempted to fill in that gap by leveraging my entrepreneurial experiences, professional education, corporate work experience, credentials and background in accounting and finance. Critical Areas Of Personal Finance For Entrepreneurship Achieving excellence in anything is a lifelong process, as is learning and education. You can never be too educated. Unfortunately for many, this process ends after college when it really should only be starting at that point. Although I can easily conclude this discussion by mentioning that one must learn as much as they can about money and finance, there are a certain set of topics that I recommend one get started with before delving into the tangents and more complex areas. The following is a brief list of finance topics that I feel are critical to understand for any entrepreneur at any level. Wealth & Liability Protection – shielding yourself from liability, separating your personal assets from business, legal entity formation (LLC, S Corps, etc) Managing Your Money – cash flow, forecasting, short-term and long-term funding sources Growing Your Money – various forms of investments such as money market, capital markets, bonds, CDs Saving vs. Investing – these are not the same. Both have different goals, objectives and mediums (vehicles) Debt – debt is not always bad. Learn the difference between good debt and bad debt and how to use each appropriately to your advantage Investments – these come in all shapes and sizes. Stock market investing is the most basic. Learn to diversify your risk exposure while maximizing the possibility for growth. Key topics within investments include asset allocation, investment horizon, target funds, asset class mix Legal Entity Formation – forming legal corporate structures to separate your business from yourself. Income Taxes – proactive tax planning and forecasting Some other areas you can focus on beyond the basics: Real Estate – learn about leverage, value vs. speculative investing Small Businesses – how they work, how to buy one, how to profit from one Buying / Selling Assets Estate Planning – Living trusts, wills, etc. The above four topics are not critical to your foundation, however these are some of the more common topics that many successful entrepreneurs venture out to once their businesses start doing well and make them some money. For example, many entrepreneurs like to take their cash surplus from business and invest it in real estate . I know Yaro does . This provides them with tax advantages and further diversifies their income streams while allowing their money to work for them and grow over time. I personally invest in real estate because it’s a different form of investment for me (tangible), one that reduces my concentration risk in any one particular income stream. Similarly, buying and selling other income producing assets such as stocks and small businesses can also fulfill the same objectives for entrepreneurs. I slipped estate planning in my list as well because this is an area I am currently looking into in depth. As an entrepreneur starts to accumulate serious wealth over time, I feel that estate planning is an area of finance that needs to be considered immediately. It is never too early to have an estate plan. Finally, though I did not include in the brief list above, I believe that charity / philanthropy is an activity that can propel anyone’s career in entrepreneurship or otherwise. Charity or philanthropy is not only for those who are religious or spiritual. Rather it is for anyone and everyone who believes in the greater good for a much larger cause. This is obviously not a mandatory requirement for success, but I can tell you from personal experience that the more I have given away, the more has come back to me multiple times over in all aspects of my life. There has been much material covered in this post, and I understand that it can be overwhelming, particularly for someone who has not been exposed to it previously. But if you want to be financially successful, you must take time to learn and understand the basics of money and finance. And if you are an entrepreneur or an aspiring one, educating yourself on general topics in personal finance is critical to go hand in hand with your entrepreneurial success. This is the only way in my opinion to truly get ahead in life and beat everyone else who is running the rat race with and around you. My intention is certainly not to scare you, but rather to raise awareness. Balancing adequate knowledge of entrepreneurship and personal finance characteristics is mandatory if you want to succeed. Not everyone is born with these characteristics. I certainly was not, but they can definitely be developed over time. Prevent inevitable failure by preparing yourself appropriately. Start sowing today so you can reap the rewards tomorrow. Are you prepared? How are you diversifying your risk exposure? What are you doing to build, manage and protect your wealth? What would you like to add to the mix? Sunil Balancing Characteristics Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: government, income, life, online, opinion, small-business, taxes

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What Drives You To Do What You Do?

by Paul Joseph April 5, 2011 Featured

Every morning, we wake up and get ready to do some things. Often those things revolve around our job, our business or our hobbies. Day after day, week after week, year after year, we do them. Why? What drives you to do what you do? Sometimes it is necessity. Sometimes it is passion. Even curiosity, compulsion or coercion. But when you take a closer look, it becomes obvious that all this is driven by something more abstract, that is unique and special to the human state. And that is… Your Purpose. What Is Purpose? Some define it narrowly as being like a goal or target, a point to aim for and reach in whatever you do. A purpose is indeed like that, in one sense – yet different. It is more. It has wider implications. It has higher meaning. It has greater impact. From a broader perspective, it is the axle around which the wheel of your life revolves – and without which it will spin out of control and meander aimlessly away into a meaningless void. Because “purpose” is your essential “reason why” . It is your motivating force, your invigorating energy, your inner fuel that fires your engines. Purpose is what drives you to do what you already do – and want to keep doing. And that’s a good reason for every entrepreneur to introspect from time to time upon what their purpose is. It isn’t always glaringly obvious, but shows up when you take the effort to look for it and give it a clearer shape and form. How exactly is ‘purpose’ different from other things that are similar – like ‘goals’ and ‘targets’? There are at least four ways your purpose is unique. Your Purpose Goes Deeper Let’s take an example that many readers are familiar with – making money. It’s one of the reasons we became entrepreneurs, if not the only (or most important) one. Perhaps you set out with a goal to reach. Was it a million dollars? Or ten? Or a more modest figure that meets all your income needs? Whatever that number was, that was your goal. Your purpose, however, is the reason why you chose that figure. It could be that you felt it will leave you financially independent or debt free. You may have set that target because you wanted to earn enough to meet all your household needs, or to finance the dreams you had for your children and loved ones. Maybe you calculated what it costs to buy a house, afford college, take an annual vacation, travel around the world…whatever. That deeper ‘why’ is your purpose. Your Purpose Will Evolve No matter how high, impossible and unreachable your goals and targets seem today, sooner or later you’ll reach them. Now let’s say everything went well with your endeavor and your business grew by leaps and bounds to hit that goal in just 5 years. Great news, right? So what do you do next? Do you retire or sell off your business, and holiday the rest of your life? Sure, some people do that. But many continue – because by then, their purpose has evolved . What started out as merely bringing in enough income to meet your family’s basic needs now grows into wanting to provide them with small luxuries, to save up enough for future security, to extend their advantages and comforts in multiple other ways. Your purpose is essentially the same – to provide for yourself and your family. But it has also evolved to do it better, on a larger scale, in many new ways. Your Purpose Will Expand And Extend When I first started writing, it was more as an escape from becoming a mono-maniac, obsessed with only one facet of my life (as many medical doctors are). I wanted to do something outside of my professional work. So I wrote. When I realized that I was good at it, that purpose expanded to an idea of writing for money – and using that money to fund a dream project , and help children with congenital heart defects who could not afford treatment. My purpose expanded, and my writing now took on interesting new directions and form. Years later, I had another ‘Aha’ moment while reading a book by Seth Godin called ‘Linchpin’ , when I saw how my writing, and the purpose-driven information business that grew up around it was itself serving to inspire many more people to do something like it with their business and skills! It is this extension of the purpose of my writing that led me to pen this column every week – because it gives me a chance to share this with a large audience that Yaro Starak has grown over years. Your Purpose Will Endure A final distinction between a ‘goal’ or a ‘target’ and your deeper ‘purpose’ is that the latter will last longer . Once you’ve reached it, a goal or target becomes moot. No matter how high you set the bar, you will jump over it at some point in your future. I was reading a fascinating article about Google co-founder Larry Page in FAST COMPANY magazine. Now, by any financial yardstick, we can agree that Page has no monetary reasons to continue to want to work, right? Well, he’s still as passionate as ever for things he wants to accomplish through Google. And many of them have little or nothing to do with ‘search engines’, or even making more money. Guy Kawasaki’s fascinating book “The Art of the Start” (which I believe every entrepreneur should read at least once), taught me one powerful lesson: Make Meaning, Not Money. As a young adult, I had a plaque on my desk where Charlie Brown says: “Don’t forget, money isn’t everything.” In smaller print, beside it, were Lucy’s words: “But don’t forget to make a lot of it before talking such nonsense!” My point is that sometimes it takes money to make meaning. But recognizing and being constantly aware of that meaning is important – and in my opinion, even vital – for the success and growth of any enterprise, even profit-centric business ventures. That’s why I advise my mentorees to always tap into two powerful forces – passion and purpose – in everything they do or plan in their online business. These two have provided me with a competitive edge that has sustained my Internet based efforts for 15 years, in a niche where the average attrition rate over three years is 97% or higher. Passion is powerful. Purpose is enduring. Together, they can help you move mountains. Or build another Google. And make meaning while you do. Dr. Mani Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: book, business, entrepreneur, online, opinion, search engines, young

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Young Entrepreneur Interview: Tony Chen of BuzzBlaze

by Paul Joseph March 31, 2011 Featured

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’re always on the lookout for the next big thing. Well, we don’t make those kinds of predictions here, but let’s just say we wouldn’t be shocked if today’s interviewee, Tony Chen, was sitting on something that you’ll one day read about in a list of innovations that changed the way we do things. BuzzBlaze , Tony’s company, is like having your very own Huffington Post. Everyone who’s out there creating news content is your reporter, and you get to decide what gets published and what doesn’t. Tony has some outstanding insights about what it takes to make it as a young entrepreneur, and we know you’re going to get a lot out of what he has to say, so without further delay, here’s the interview: Your company, BuzzBlaze, is a fantastic idea. Can you sum up what it is for our readers? My Co-Founder Stanley Tang and I started seven months ago with a simple idea – to build an application that enables people to discover and share content online. BuzzBlaze is a news reader for the web that delivers what we call a social news experience to our users. We were inspired by the idea of information overload, that our ability to create information has far exceeded our ability to manage it and we wanted to develop something that tackles this overwhelming availability of content across the web. On BuzzBlaze, you can add and manage content sources on an elegant dashboard interface and follow your friends to see what they are reading. It’s a great way to discover new content and share it with friends. This is your second business. Where did you get your entrepreneurial spirit? Are your parents entrepreneurial? My parents? Not particularly, but they have played a pivotal role in developing my interest for entrepreneurship. When I was just barely two years old, we moved to Canada so my life is firmly grounded in the immigrant experience. My parents are the hardest working people I know and have demonstrated an incredible tenacity in the pursuit of opportunity. Their embrace of perseverance and calculated risk may explain my zeal for entrepreneurship. I also draw inspiration from industry leaders such as Steve Jobs and founders of successful and innovative startups like Jack Dorsey. To have a vision and the courage to pursue it – that I believe is something rare but really important in this industry. As a teen entrepreneur, do you feel like you gave up any of what it means to be a teen? Would you do it all again? I dedicate a lot of my time and effort to pursue my entrepreneurial passion, but I don’t really see myself giving up being a normal teenager. This is just the beginning of my career as a tech entrepreneur and there is no doubt that I want to pursue this in the future. So yes, I would definitely do it again, but with all the experience and knowledge I have already acquired. Whether or not your first startup succeeds is not important – it’s what you learn from the experience that is far more valuable. It’s just something they don’t teach at school. What three pieces of advice do you have for young entrepreneurs interested in starting their first business? Every great idea is a part of a larger vision and I think it is important to have the determination and courage to pursue that vision. Secondly, just having a great idea will not make you successful – they say it’s 10% idea, 90% execution – and for entrepreneurs, hard work is not a choice, but a way of life. Last but not least, to bring innovation, it is important to have an open mind. Creativity is an indispensible characteristic for entrepreneurs and it gives us a unique angle when tackling difficult problems. How do you personally define success? I see success as something less tangible and quantifiable. Success, in my opinion, is when I build something that brings value to the world and offers solutions to the problems people experience. When I have an idea for a new project, I always ask myself: “What problem will this solve?” because I want to build products that change the world. I think the technology industry today is very powerful in that it has such a great potential to drive innovation for social change and this is something I would like to be a part of.

Tagged as: business, career, entrepreneur, industry, innovation, interview, opinion, startup, world, young-entrepreneur

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What I Learned From Lee McIntyre’s Instant Internet Lifestyle Workshop

by Paul Joseph March 22, 2011 Featured

Ever since I started in Internet Marketing back in January of 2008, I’ve come across a ton of Internet Marketers who teach all kinds of topics relating to growing an online business. I’ve signed up for a bunch of mailing lists and have received all kinds of info from these guys, including a bunch of Spam. At a certain point, I decided to cut most internet marketers off. I unsubscribed from a bunch of mailing lists except for four. After receiving so much overwhelming info, I decided to stick with the ones that I’ve received the most value from. Lee McIntyre was one of those guys, and I just couldn’t let him go. Why? Let’s put it this way . . . I had ONE coaching call with him when I used to run an Internet Marketing Forum . I left that coaching call with actionable info that I was able to implement and increase my income by $1,000 that same week. Does that sound crazy? It still does to me! I’ll tell you more about it later. Who Is Lee McIntyre? One of the reasons I like Lee so much is because he used to be a High School teacher, just like me. However, at one point in his teaching career, he got fed up and decided to start an online business. In a rather short period of time, he was able to start and grow an online business to the tune of $7,230.95 in just 29 days . He’s used a combination of making information products, promoting affiliate products, blogging, outsourcing and a few other tactics to grow a strong online empire. What Is Instant Internet Lifestyle? Back in August of 2010, Lee McIntyre did a live 2-day workshop in Manchester, U.K. where he taught a room-full of internet Marketers how he went from a high school teacher to growing a massive online business – one that at the time was making him over $100,000 per month and currently makes over $200,000 per month . These marketers all paid $997 to attend this workshop, and from what I’ve seen, they’ve all raved about the value they received. Lee had a professional video crew at the program and had a series of videos made that gives access to that workshop. He initially planned on selling it for $1,997, but decided to basically give it away in order to get more people exposed to his content. The program consists of 10 hours of high quality training, where he gives a proven blueprint that anyone can follow to grow a solid online business. Here are some of the concepts taught in the program: How to build a list quickly How to get your list to trust you How to get your subscribers to beg you to sell them more stuff How to become a Super Affiliate How to automate your business How to create amazing products quickly How to get a lot of traffic by having others do the work for you How to get the big guys to stop ignoring your JV requests And Much more . . . Here’s a screenshot from inside the program that shows the modules that are provided in the program: As you can see, it covers a wide variety of topics that are crucial to having a thriving online business, starting with beginner concepts all the way to more advanced topics. In addition to all of that training info, he includes a number of bonuses that he doesn’t mention. Here are some screenshots of the bonuses: Ok, that sounds like a bunch of sales talk. Let me give you my personal experience with the program. When I found out about the program, I decided I needed to check it out. The price was very low (under $20), so I really didn’t have anything to loose. I spent the next 3 days going through the content and was so amazed at how much value I had gotten for the $20 that I had to call up one of my Internet Marketing buddies on the phone to share some of the things I learned. Since then, I’ve been using it as a reference. I go back to that training every so often to see what gold nugget I can take and implement in my business to help me take my business to the next level. When it comes to Internet Marketing, the first part of the equation (in my opinion) is learning . However, the second and more important part, is taking action . Instant Internet Lifestyle provides you with a solid model of how to build an online business, but it is the action that follows that allows you to really take it to the next level. Using Lee’s strategies, I’ve been able to have my name listed as a top affiliate for a few big name internet marketers, including Lee himself. In fact, by implementing the stuff he teaches, he has sent me more affiliate payments than any other internet marketer I’ve worked with. I feel like I’ve been equipped to be able to more effectively promote products of value from what I’ve learned. I first watched the training in October of last year, and I’m still working on implementing the things I’ve learned. The step that I’m focusing on at the moment has to do with developing my own info product, and the program has taught me A LOT of what needs to be done. What I Learned Create a Low-Priced, High-value Product The first step to having a strong online business the way Lee recommends is to create a low-priced, High-value product. This is done by finding a limited group of people with a problem. A problem for which they are looking for a solution. Once you have found that group, create a product that is the solution to that particular problem . This product has to be so specific that it caters to a small subset of the population, not everyone. By doing so, it is so targeted that the people who are interested are really interested and more likely to make a purchase. The purpose of this low-priced, high-value product is to over-deliver on your promise , so that you can show your customers that they can trust you to deliver high quality content. I like to say that by doing this, you become a trusted “expert friend”. Being in that position makes it very likely that they will buy from you in the future, or take your recommendations as to products/services that can help them accomplish their goals. Develop a Strong Backend Once you have a low-priced, High-value product, the next task is to develop a strong backend. This is done by making even higher-value products that you can sell to your customers after they have made this initial purchase. Since you’ve established that you are trustworthy, and that you deliver high value in the lower priced product, they are more likely to purchase what you have to offer at higher price points. Lee has done this by creating membership sites and other products that deliver high-value. Because these higher-priced products are targeting individuals who already bought the initial product, conversion rates are significantly higher than if you are marketing to individuals who have never bought from you. Have a Follow Up Sequence that Promotes the Strong Backend How do you get your customers to purchase your higher-priced products? By letting them know that they are available and how they can help them accomplish more of their goals. This can be easily done using an autoresponder service. However, the goal of your follow up sequence is not simply to sell products. It’s to nurture a growing relationship with your subscribers. Recruit Affiliates Effectively One of the big mistakes many people make when promoting their own products is that they try to do all of the marketing themselves. Yes, it’s important to promote your stuff. However, it’s much more effective to have many people promoting for you. This can be accomplished by recruiting affiliates. This is something that many people find challenging. With all the information products out there, how do you convince a potential affiliate to become an affiliate, especially if they have a big list and get many affiliate requests? You make them an offer they can’t refuse . In other words, offer them something of value beyond just a commission. For example, in addition to a 50% commission, you can offer to make a video for them that they can use on their blog to offer value to their subscribers. You can can offer to write a series of articles that are free to use on their blog. Or, you can offer a full series of training videos specifically for their subscribers. Everyone has a price, and if you offer enough value, you’d be surprised at who will promote your product. Make your Affiliates VERY Happy If you are going to rely on affiliates to continually drive traffic to your website, you need to continually strive to make them happy. Offer them great support. Treat them like kings and queens. Increase your conversions so that they can make more and more sales. Do whatever you can to let them know that you value everything they do to promote your products and they will be more likely to promote it for you. What I Don’t Like About Instant Internet Lifestyle I have yet to find a perfect Internet Marketing product. Even the most valuable ones I’ve been a part of has had some flaws, but that’s just the nature of the beast. Firstly, I’m not a fan of the name of the program – INSTANT Internet Lifestyle . It gives the impression that if you implement the stuff you learn, you will instantly get rich. The truth is – that is far from the truth for most people. Yes, some people have taken action on the content and have had some remarkable success in a short period of time, but that is far from the norm. Like any other valid strategies, it takes time and effort. Yes, it is hard work growing an online business. But I like that you can work hard now to work less later My other problem with the program is more a personal preference. Lee is big on upsells (part of the whole “strong backend” concept). This is quite common in internet marketing, but it’s something that I don’t like to see too much of. He has some other GREAT programs that he promotes along with it, but they can be quite intimidating – especially to new internet marketers. However, when I compare those two things with the value that you receive in this program, they really don’t measure up. If you only ever buy that one product from him, and implement what he teaches, you will be ahead of the game. So How Did Lee Help Me Make $1,000 In One Week? I’m glad you asked. At the time, I was running a large forum , but was struggling to monetize it effectively. Lee introduced me to the concept of having a continuity program with little to no effort . He showed me HOW I could implement that concept to add a paid feature to my forum that could generate me monthly income. He also showed me how to set it up in an easy, and relatively stress-free way so that my members would thank me for what I was doing. Well – to make a long story short, it worked, and that made me happy . It was a simple concept, but one that I lacked the clarity to see. Lee was able to help me to see beyond what was happening in my business at the time to what needed to be done. In Summary . . . Instant Internet Lifestyle is hands down one of the best Internet Marketing products I’ve found and THE most affordable. At a price point of under $20, there is virtually no risk involved. You get a lot of actionable content from someone who knows what he’s doing and knows how to teach. When you combine those two factors, you get a very powerful combination. In the event that you don’t like it, or didn’t get as much value as you’d like to get for your $20, you can request a refund within 30 days. I highly recommend for anyone interested in learning more about building an online business to get it. Even if you never purchase any of his other programs, it’s one of those investments that you won’t regret. Download The Instant Internet Lifestyle Workshop Here Instantly yours , Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: goals, income, make money online, marketing, nature, online, online-business, opinion, people, personal, price, training, work

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