If you could travel back 4 years in time, what would you tell yourself in regards to making money???

If you could travel back 4 years in time...what would you tell yourself in regards to making money?

Some one asked me this question today and I figured I would answer it hear because I would love to hear everyone elses answer.

So Here's the story:

In late 2007 I read a book that changed my life.

It was called the "4 hour work week", perhaps you've read it
as well.

In that book there was one question that stood out in the book
"Why work hard during your golden years just to save up for
the pot of gold at then end, why not enjoy life NOW"

It was the question that started my internet marketing adventure.

And so I rather than take a job as a engineer at Westinghouse,
after I graduated from college I moved home to live with my
parents and start an internet business that would make $40,000
a month

Heck, I figured if Tim Ferriss was making $80,000 a month, I could
do at least half as good.

Little did I know learning how to make money online is world
filled with smoke and mirrors, Shuckters, People who only
tell a little bit of the truth, people who lie by omission,
and the occasional scam artist.

And so I struggled...

Buying up one magic bullet after another...

I learned SEO, Adwords, PPC, Affiliate Marketing...

Yet, I saw very little success. Things hit a low point when
I was dumped by girlfriend at the time and was collecting
unemployment.

All I wanted to know was the TRUTH, what skills do I actually
need to learn, what do I need to do.

Well, now after experiencing a modest online(working with
millionaire entrepreneurs like Travis Sago, Dr. Tom Orent, Doberman
Dan and being a highly sough after freelance
marketing strategist working for companies like Force Factor)if I
could go back in time I would tell myself a few things.

First, I would tell myself to stop taking life so seriously and
relax. When you are serious your behavior is rigid. And
serious people don't have alot of fun.

Second, I would tell myself to focus on persuasion and simple evergreen
skills.

Here's what I mean:

Making money online comes down to two things. Your ability to get
traffic and your ability to convert traffic into sales.

How we get the eyeballs to see our message is going to change.

But the conversion part, well that is based on getting humans
to take action and that hasn't changed this the dawn of time.

It for this reason that the top online marketers still read
books like Scientific Advertising, which was written by Claude
Hopkins in 1920.

It's because the persuasion/conversion skill is based on human
nature, and that doesn't change.

Now, You can spend years learning SEO only to have google change the
algorithm and WHAM! that knowledge that you knew is now half as valuable
if not worthless.

I know, I used to go to the Boston SEO meetup group and tried being
SEO consultant to local businesses a few years back.

Also let me ask you how valuable is a SEO book from 10 years ago???

You can figure out google adwords only to have them introduce a
quality score and WHAM! all those fancy adwords skills of yours
are useless.

Spend a years learning copywriting, persuasion, etc. And that's a
skill that is good for the rest of your life.

I would re-read the last line it's that important. In fact, working
with the "guru's" this is what they focus on...ALL of them.

I would have also told myself when it comes to traffic
focus on simple methods that are as evergreen as possible.

Stuff like solo ads, banners, posting special offers in forms
and not relying on big platforms that dictate the way you play
the game.

I also tell myself that internet marketing is half math and half behavioral
psychology...and not to forget the math. And to build funnels that have
forgiving economics.

I would tell myself a bunch of other stuff but I think that is the important stuff.

So what would you tell yourself?