November 2008 - 2nd Best Month In 6 Years

[Steven Wagenheim]

You hear everyday about how the economy sucks and incomes are going
down. Clickbank has issues, and on and on and on.

I just finished my bookkeeping for November 2008 and it was not only my
best month of 2008 but it was my 2nd best month in the 6 years that I've
been making money online.

Did I have to bust my butt to get there?

Yes...in October. And my October efforts carried on into November. The
morning has just started and I've already taken in over $200 in subscriptions
and ebook sales.

Excuses for poor results are just that...excuses.

October was sucking big time for me and I could see that things were not
good, so I got off my can and rolled up my sleeves.

As Andy Henry mentioned in another thread, money is no longer an issue
for me. I know what the hell I'm doing and I just do it. If you're struggling
to put table scraps on your table, look at your business model because...

That Is Where The Problem Is!

If you have a solid model in place and you're targeting a ravenous market
that will trample its own grandmother to solve it's problem, you will make
money.

I mean for crying out loud, we have some of the most efficient and cheap
forms of traffic generation online today that anybody can use. Spend a
little time to learn how to use them and use them.

My daughter, yes, my daughter, who could give a rat's behind about IM
and thinks her father is a nut case, upon begging from me, took just one
of my income generation methods and made $300 in one freaking day.

After that, when I showed her what she made, she said, "That's nice" and
went back to BSing with her friends on Facebook. Whatever.

Point is, if you have half a freaking brain, there is no excuse not to be
making money online. There are so many untapped niches out there it's
a joke. Find one...tap it.

Get yourself a sold book on how to do niche research. It's not hard. It's
actually very XYZish, and if you follow KEI to the letter (lots of people
don't and that's fine) you can't screw up. It's impossible.

I don't want to hear anymore excuses from people saying that they can't
make money online...none.

For those of you who are having great years yourself in spite of world
economic collapse, my apologies to you.

For the rest of you...get off your cans and do something!

[James Schramko]

True Steven.

This is a great time to be making money online and opportunity is everywhere. The stuff I am doing right now for 2009 will make my 2008 year look like pocketmoney and 2008 was my record ever already.

[Jeremy Kelsall]

Steve,

Congratulations on having such a great month!

I havn't see any type of slow down either. Well, certain niches have slowed a bit, but that is why it is important to have several steams in place to compensate for that.

[jacstone193]

Brilliant ! I'm inspired to work harder....

[Charles E. White]

Steven,

Congratulations! That doesn't suprise me though.

Here is what is kind of funny. When I sold insurance, most of the agents were complaining about how bad the holidays were for sales. Well, personally, I found just the opposite was true. The people wanted to get their grandkids something....why not a cheap insurance policy that will never go up in price? The people had money they knew they were going to spend and had it on hand.....why not spend it on an insurance policy, annuity or IRA?

My point is....the other agent had a negative attitude about the holidays and I had just the opposite, it was always a great season for me. How you look at things always make a difference......mindset!

Yeah, the economy might be awful, so help the people out and show them how they can make more money, save money or spend money more wisely.

[James Schramko]

Charles awesome.

When I was in sales, a lot of sales people would complain about "The market".

Thye sad thing is they are still selling and quite a few are struggling to get by.

I believe it does not matter if the size of the whole pie decreases, just grab a bigger slice!

It is mindset and attitude. If we are prepared to believe there is opportuntiy in every situation we can exploit it through education, experience and determined action.

[Ken Preuss]

Steven,

Two things:

1) THANK YOU for sharing this.

One of the things I admire about you is your willingness to share your experience, whatever it may be. In your detailed and eloquent sharing people get to see themselves in different ways. That is a gift.

2) You highlight something that is one of the main things I work with my coaching students on: business models.

Ultimately your business model will determine how much you make or don't make and how easy or hard it is to do so.

Scratch that - ultimately it will be your willingness to work an effective model that will be the difference. However operating with an ineffective business model will yield little to show for your efforts.

Great post.

Ken

[ShayRockhold]

Thank you for sharing this great post!

This past month has been the best Hubby and I had ever had (financially). We have, literally, doubled our monthly income!

While we have friends and famiy carrying on about the recession, Hubby and I are estatic. Gas prices are low, and our income is high. I love it.

I have a WAHM group and I sent out an email to them a few days ago. Many of them are saying that they are having trouble booking parties and getting sales. They blame the economy. Hogwash! Someone in their company is going to have a $10,000 month - why not them? Somewhere there is a person who wants what you have - find them!

The only economy that I focus on is the one that happens between my 4 walls. If I take my focus off of what I am doing, then I will lose my momentum and not be effective.

JMHO

[Martin Luxton]

I was talking to an insurance sales veteran while I was in Oz and he was saying, historically, insurance sales had rocketed during downturns/recessions (and are booming right now).

You just have to be selling the right thing to the right people.

Martin

[Derek S]

hey Steve,

I have always looked at your efforts online and not really understood why you put yourself through what you do to make a few bucks online lol

I for a fact set up websites in different niche markets.. do the work once and it pays me forever.

Sure there are times you need to sit down and get your hands dirty but if your business model has you working to the bone each day to generate results - than all you have really done is create a job for yourself and not a business lol

Everything should run on auto pilot. All work should be outsourced and turned profitable. If you cant outsource something and have their work make a profit than why bother with that niche.

Everything should be set in place to work for you so you can focus on growing your business instead of acting like an employee in it.

Sure this has been your best month... you took action and received the benefits that come along with that.

For the rest of us who have successfully had our products cranking out large amounts of sales each day for years now on autopilot....

It makes sens to believe there is a reason (beyond just our work ethic) for across the board low sales.

Talk all you want that this has been your best month... If you applied this same amount of effort this time last year there is no question your results would have blown this months out of the water.

Again as i see it - nearly all your efforts have been placed in the "IM/Make money" market so it is really a no brainier why your sales are up in the first place.

[Ken Preuss]

Originally Posted by Shay60654

Thank you for sharing this great post!

This past month has been the best Hubby and I had ever had (financially). We have, literally, doubled our monthly income!

While we have friends and famiy carrying on about the recession, Hubby and I are estatic. Gas prices are low, and our income is high. I love it.

I have a WAHM group and I sent out an email to them a few days ago. Many of them are saying that they are having trouble booking parties and getting sales. They blame the economy. Hogwash! Someone in their company is going to have a $10,000 month - why not them? Somewhere there is a person who wants what you have - find them!

The only economy that I focus on is the one that happens between my 4 walls. If I take my focus off of what I am doing, then I will lose my momentum and not be effective.

Shay,

Just love that last bolded statement of yours. I may have to use that one.

Congrats on such a great month - and way to stand for others realizing they can have the same for themselves.

Ken

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Derek S

hey Steve,

I have always looked at your efforts online and not really understood why you put yourself through what you do to make a few bucks online lol

I for a fact set up websites in different niche markets.. do the work once and it pays me forever.

Sure there are times you need to sit down and get your hands dirty but if your business model has you working to the bone each day to generate results - than all you have really done is create a job for yourself and not a business lol

Everything should run on auto pilot. All work should be outsourced and turned profitable. If you cant outsource something and have their work make a profit than why bother with that niche.

Everything should be set in place to work for you so you can focus on growing your business instead of acting like an employee in it.

Sure this has been your best month... you took action and received the benefits that come along with that.

For the rest of us who have successfully had our products cranking out large amounts of sales each day for years now on autopilot....

It makes sens to believe there is a reason (beyond just our work ethic) for across the board low sales.

Talk all you want that this has been your best month... If you applied this same amount of effort this time last year there is no question your results would have blown this months out of the water.

Again as i see it - nearly all your efforts have been placed in the "IM/Make money" market so it is really a no brainier why your sales are up in the first place.

I was wondering how long it would be before you had to rain on my
parade.

Hey, you've made it clear...you hate my business model, you think I work
too hard, yeah I get it.

Guess what?

I don't care. So tell somebody who does.

[matthewd]

Congrats Steven!

I am curious though as to what you refer to when you say you are pulling up your sleeves.

Does that simply mean writing more articles, running more WSOs, writing more emails?

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by matthewd

Congrats Steven!

I am curious though as to what you refer to when you say you are pulling up your sleeves.

Does that simply mean writing more articles, running more WSOs, writing more emails?

Matt, it was a combination of things, but mostly it was just coming out with
new product ideas. I tend to get lazy in that area and just stick with what I
have selling.

And the one idea I had will actually create new products for me on a
regular basis in an area that has a rabid demand.

So October's near crisis won't ever happen again.

[ShayRockhold]

Originally Posted by Ken Preuss

Shay,

Just love that last bolded statement of yours. I may have to use that one.

Congrats on such a great month - and way to stand for others realizing they can have the same for themselves.

Ken

Thanks!

Feel free to use the statement. It is a philosophy I have used for years.

For me, a recession is simply a fact of life. We have had them before and will have them again.

If I worry about what is going to happen, I won't focus on what I can make happen.

[matthewd]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Matt, it was a combination of things, but mostly it was just coming out with
new product ideas. I tend to get lazy in that area and just stick with what I
have selling.

And the one idea I had will actually create new products for me on a
regular basis in an area that has a rabid demand.

So October's near crisis won't ever happen again.

Awesome; very interesting stuff!

Congrats again and hopefully we can see more of these threads all around the Warrior Forum.

[Nightengale]

Congrats Steven!

So how old is your daughter and what did she do to make $300 so quickly? Inquiring minds want to know...

Michelle

[Andy LaPointe]

Congrats Steve, Great post and thanks for sharing

I agree, November was an explosive month for my online businesses too. Best of all it was across almost of my niches.

After 20+ years of experience in outsales sales (real estate and financial services) I agree with you regarding the four walls. One of my best sales managers had a two saying and I still live by them today. I still remember verbatim to this day.

#1: "It doesn't matter what it economy is doing you still have bills to pay. You still have a family to support. Let the other guy whine about the economy and how bad it is. "

#2: "A salesman without debt has no motivation"

[bhuff85]

That's just it - No matter what, everything requires work.

For those that are talking about complete auto-pilot businesses, it's true that you can one day get your business to run on auto-pilot, but it takes a lot of hard work to even reach that point.

Everyone has their own business model or plan. What works for one person may not work for the next. What one person loves the next man might hate. It's human nature, and everybody's different. Regardless, if a plan works for someone, it works.

I think everyone out there should have some form of a plan or business model set in place. And you should constantly test and tweak that plan until you have a clear method that guarantees results every single time.

When you sit down and put it all on paper, you'll find out how incredibly simple it really is to make money online. Don't think too hard about it and just do it.

[taraff1]

Very motivational post, Steve! Hard work pays off - ALWAYS!

I'll be anxiously awaiting my PM with what your daughter did to make $300! J/K (kind of!) I've been trying to get my girlfriend into this for awhile now with similar results.

Jim

[cscott5288]

HAHAHA

"After that, when I showed her what she made, she said, "That's nice" and
went back to BSing with her friends on Facebook. Whatever."

I foresaw the argument about creating auto-pilot businesses while I was reading Steve's post.

The truth is, as tripmarxx stated, everyone has different things that work for them. Even the most highly automated businesses require some grinding every once and awhile.

If your not putting any hours into your internet business after you've achieved some level of success, it doesn't mean your more successful. It just means that you don't want to improve or expand upon your success.

[John34]

November has been my best month also.Thanks for the good post.

[aboutalhah]

I think you are right about people not making money.

I coach many people offline and online, and I found that those who make money were the most determined.

As for those who don't, they start with a "This won't work" state of mind.

Bottom line, many of those who don't earn (except those who are still in the information overload web sandbox) now will not earn later...

Franck.

[native1]

Steven,

Thanks again for another inspiring post. I have been reading them for quite awhile now and value what you have to say. I had to chime in here after yet ANOTHER negative response to one of your posts!! It drives me nuts to see people raining on someone's parade constantly. I, along with many others here, continue to get inspired and learn from your experience.

Jason

[Rod Cortez]

Originally Posted by Derek S

hey Steve,

I have always looked at your efforts online and not really understood why you put yourself through what you do to make a few bucks online lol

I for a fact set up websites in different niche markets.. do the work once and it pays me forever.

Sure there are times you need to sit down and get your hands dirty but if your business model has you working to the bone each day to generate results - than all you have really done is create a job for yourself and not a business lol

Everything should run on auto pilot. All work should be outsourced and turned profitable. If you cant outsource something and have their work make a profit than why bother with that niche.

Everything should be set in place to work for you so you can focus on growing your business instead of acting like an employee in it.

Sure this has been your best month... you took action and received the benefits that come along with that.

For the rest of us who have successfully had our products cranking out large amounts of sales each day for years now on autopilot....

It makes sens to believe there is a reason (beyond just our work ethic) for across the board low sales.

Talk all you want that this has been your best month... If you applied this same amount of effort this time last year there is no question your results would have blown this months out of the water.

Again as i see it - nearly all your efforts have been placed in the "IM/Make money" market so it is really a no brainier why your sales are up in the first place.

A couple things come to mind.

Firstly, how many freaking times has Steven written that he LOVES what he does? I don't see why that's so hard for people to grasp.

Secondly, your business model is NOT his business model. You do what makes you happy and let Steven do what makes him happy. By the way, not all online business models run on "auto pilot".

You might be surprised that not everyone wants to outsource everything, nor does everyone have your particular goals.

I see what you're trying to say, but I think you're out of line with your assumptions.

RoD

[spressnell]

That is great news Steve, especially to a newbie like me. I'm still finding my way, but I know it will pay off with persistence.

Shirley

[countonuspr]

I couldn't agree more! I am also going to have a record month for affiliate marketing. People are still spending money, people are still employed, people still have problems that they need solutions for. Steve, great post and thanks for the encouragement to everyone out there! Nicely done!

[Jason G Anderson]

Steve - congrats! Seeing a post like that is really motivating for someone who's getting back into online marketing again after a few years. I made money before, and hearing about success from people like you and Shay remind me that I can make it again.

[k0zm0zs0ul]

Hey thanks for the post! It's great to hear stories like this.
Best regards,
Cori

[Joel Gray]

Steven,

I will never get tired reading your posts, congratulations on your record month, and I hope December is even better for you. Keep it up!

Joel

[Daniel Scott]

Steven,

Whilst I respect what you're trying to get across, I think it's unfair to say that the only people not making money are the lazy ones (which was how I interpreted your post, and I may have been wrong).

There are some people working their tails off and getting nowhere. At least, no one for now. I found, personally, that it took me lots of lots of tries to even make any money at all. I am still figuring the basics out, really. I may be slow, or stupid, or whatever, but I am trying and I am getting there now. My income is going up.

For a long time I was working just as hard and it was on zero.

Not everyone has a knack for this kind of thing. You seem to, and I wish I had it. But everyone I have learned has been a difficult battle for me, and although I now seem to be gaining some momentum, for a long time I questioned whether I was just wasting my efforts.

It IS harder to make money right now than it was 6 months ago. I agree that we cannot allow circumstances to dictate our lives, but by the same token, I don't think we should be putting down those who have been working their butts off and just haven't had some crucial discoveries yet.

Everything's easy, once you know how. It's figuring out how that's the hard part.

-Dan

[logosi]

Excellent post!!

There are no reasons not to be making money online, just excuses and for me (sometimes) procrastination.

Walk the walk, talk the talk, and you CAN make money in IM

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Daniel Scott

Steven,

Whilst I respect what you're trying to get across, I think it's unfair to say that the only people not making money are the lazy ones (which was how I interpreted your post, and I may have been wrong).

There are some people working their tails off and getting nowhere. At least, no one for now. I found, personally, that it took me lots of lots of tries to even make any money at all. I am still figuring the basics out, really. I may be slow, or stupid, or whatever, but I am trying and I am getting there now. My income is going up.

For a long time I was working just as hard and it was on zero.

Not everyone has a knack for this kind of thing. You seem to, and I wish I had it. But everyone I have learned has been a difficult battle for me, and although I now seem to be gaining some momentum, for a long time I questioned whether I was just wasting my efforts.

It IS harder to make money right now than it was 6 months ago. I agree that we cannot allow circumstances to dictate our lives, but by the same token, I don't think we should be putting down those who have been working their butts off and just haven't had some crucial discoveries yet.

Everything's easy, once you know how. It's figuring out how that's the hard part.

-Dan

Dan, you're right, not everybody who isn't successful is lazy. It wasn't
the intention of my post either.

Some people just don't know what they're doing. For them, it wouldn't
matter if the economy was good or bad. They'd have no success either
way.

I'm talking about the folks who during good times maybe have a little
success because they are good but then when times get tough they say,
"Heck with it, it's not worth all the trouble" and either get lazy or just
pack it in altogether.

I had one student who was doing about $500 a month. Not a lot, but
they were making something. Times got tough, Google made changes and
the income dried up. Instead of rolling up the sleeves and getting back
to work, this person just said "screw it" and went back to the 9 to 5 job.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if they just put their
mind to it and kept at it. Remember, I'm talking about somebody who
already had some success.

Read my other thread. Like I've said, I don't believe everybody is cut out
for this business even though I have been told many times that anybody
who really wants to do it can do it. If that's the case, why do we have a
95% failure rate? Is it that these people don't really want it? None of them?

I don't have all the answers. But I do know this much. Whenever I put
my mind to do something related to this business (after I finally got the
building blocks in place) I was able to accomplish my goals. Maybe not
100% like I would have liked, but very close.

Determination makes a big difference.

[Daniel Scott]

Steven,

My apologies for misunderstanding.

I 100% agree with you.

I agree, too, that not everyone is cut out for this. Although I think anyone CAN do it, for some people it just doesn't seem to be a fit for them. If they're happier in their 9 - 5, more power to them!

I'm not one of those people though, LOL. I get the feeling you aren't either.

-Dan

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Daniel Scott

Steven,

My apologies for misunderstanding.

I 100% agree with you.

I agree, too, that not everyone is cut out for this. Although I think anyone CAN do it, for some people it just doesn't seem to be a fit for them. If they're happier in their 9 - 5, more power to them!

I'm not one of those people though, LOL. I get the feeling you aren't either.

-Dan

Dan, no apologies needed. I have many times said some pretty stupid
things at this forum.

Just ask anybody.

Amd no, I am not a 9 to 5 person. I'd rather be dead than work for a boss
ever again.

[DougBarger]

Hey Steven,

I didn't know you were on twitter earlier. I'm now following you and just sent you a tweet.

Congrats on your most recent success.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by DougBarger

Hey Steven,

I didn't know you were on twitter earlier. I'm now following you and just sent you a tweet.

Congrats on your most recent success.

Thanks Doug, just got the notification.

Yeah, I'm a twit now.

Heaven help us all.

[Chiayee]

Hey Steven: great post, I am sure you will have another fabulous month this December. Now.. kinda curious.. what income generation method you taught your daughter?

If it's too rude to ask, just ignore my question

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

My daughter, yes, my daughter, who could give a rat's behind about IM
and thinks her father is a nut case, upon begging from me, took just one
of my income generation methods and made $300 in one freaking day.

[Noel2010]

I hate when he talks like that.
"Point is, if you have half a freaking brain, there is no excuse not to be
making money online. There are so many untapped niches out there it's
a joke. Find one...tap it."

And did your daughter use Bum Marketing? We all want to know!

Great post. Thanks.

[Ivancho]

Many Congratz Man.

I like the last 2 sentence in this post.

Alot of people are saying that they don't make any money online but they want. When you go and asked them they simply don't have reason. They are just losing their time on the from of their PC and do nothing at all.