You'll Never Make It In IM Today. I've Been There.

[drmani]

Ken, thanks for a touch of nostalgia.

I remember making a few sales of your Lotto ebook as an affiliate
back in the day (t'was one of my early affiliate 'success' stories!)
from a one-page minisite!

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. - I did some digging around in the Way Back Machine - and
guess what I found?! (September 2003)

http://web.archive.org/web/20030903223013/http://www.theezinecenter.com/MS/lotto/

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by Chris W. Sutton

Very thoughtful post but I have to disagree with something...

You don't NEED to beat the Kerns, Reeses and Schefrens. What you need to do is find your own spot in whatever niche you decide to work with.

You are correct that people with "limited knowledge and years" will find the IM niche to be difficult. Heck, it can be difficult for experienced users too. You want to know HOW those guys you mentioned make big money in the IM niche? It goes like this... they have a network and they have a list. No new people will have that!

John Reese would be the first to tell you that he would NEVER had made those huge one-day sells if he had not had a good network that promoted his products.

That is why it is very important to your success to establish relationships in this business. Leverage!

Take care!

Well said Chris and spot on.

A few years ago, I had this guy contact me to do a JV - seemed sincere enough, and when I asked what he was bringing to the table he said he had SiteBuiltIt. After a few emails the result was we didn't JV - he had nothing to offer at all being brand new to IM and computers/Internet.

Over time I mentored this guy, but he was always looking for something to give himself the "Big Score" and never finding it. I even stepped in at one point on a really bad deal he got involved in to get him his money back.

Because of his limited computer and marketing skills/knowledge, I knew he wasn't going to make it unless he did EXACTLY what Chris said here:

You don't NEED to beat the Kerns, Reeses and Schefrens. What you need to do is find your own spot in whatever niche you decide to work with.

The result is that he now has a thriving online busines doing something he is really good at and is applying all of the marketing knowledge he's since learned to grow it even further. There are no limits to the potential of where he can take it.

Most importantly, he was only able to do so after finally giving up on the idea of the "Big Score" and being like the Gurus. Instead, he focuses on earning a little from here, a little from there and seeing how it adds up.

The other thing he deserves a medal for is never giving up despite the barriers - and there were a lot of them. I have to wonder if I would have stuck it out for as long as he did - probably not.

I think he's a case study in how a typical newbie can succeed on line and do so relatively easily, regardless of his or her education, experience and background.

P.S. - I won't mention his name as he's not aware of me posting this. I'll leave it up to him as to whether or not he wants to come forward.

[KenSilver]

Originally Posted by drmani

...P.S. - I did some digging around in the Way Back Machine - and
guess what I found?! (September 2003)

Honest Online Lotto

I see the page still currently links too. Thanks for your sales back then. My affiliates are a major part of the success of my products, and I'm always grateful for their enthusiasm.

[Rod Cortez]

Originally Posted by chris_surfrider

...GIVE A DAMN.

That's the secret.

-Chris

Well said Chris. I was going to say the same thing except "Give an F---!!" But it means the same thing.

Success means you must eliminate the competition by being different. To do that you MUST build something that is protected. Think Coco Cola. Same with my lotto system... the proprietary secret is hidden. Don't rely on patents - anyone can replicate those with a bit of work. What you develop must be unique and unbreakable.

Ken, great to see you posting in here. Over all it was a good post but I disagreed with the above paragraph in one aspect.

I can think of several niches that I'm involved in right now where I work closely with my competition, some of them have my partners for years. Though I understand what you're saying, I don't agree you "must eliminate the competition" and "MUST build something that is protected". Obviously that would help, but I don't think it's necessary for success. I rarely market to the IM niche and 99.999% of my income comes from regular niches like weight loss, dating, etc. and I've found it easier to work with my competitors and make myself stand out by having better products and customer service than they do.

I leave with one of my favorite quotes:

"Take care of your customers and the competition will take care of itself." -The Late Cory Rudl

My 2 cents,

Rod

p.s. Allen, the new forum kicks some serious azz....

[zlchamp]

Hi all,

This is a great dialogue. With 38 years of business building I have what might be a slightly different angle on this.

At the end of the day, the single biggest mistake people make when considering a business is thet start by looking 'out there' for the answer. This NEVER actually works.

This is why so many people struggle and strain to become successful in business. This is why so many people get to the end and just do not feel they are as successful as they intended to be.

Success is not about finding niches, predicting market trends, and cutting big deals.

I expect that some of you will argue this point, but success in business is NOT about hard work, sacrifice, struggle and frustration.

Success in business, as in life, comes from the inside and is expressed outwardly in the way you ive your life and form relationships.

If you are in business and are struggling, you need to re-evaluate your choice of businesses.

If you business seems like hard work and sacrifice, you want to reconsider what you are up-to.

Check this out: A Relevant Story About Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

A Relevant Story About Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams