Zero to 5 Figures - My 3 Years at the Warrior Forum
Since then, the Warrior Forum has become my online home; the place I go when I need answers (there is an expert in every area of internet marketing here, and many of them offer their expert advice freely); when I am looking to buy something (I have actually spent a small fortune in the WSO Forum {lol}); and when I am simply looking for inspiration.
So, just a little over three years down the road, I think I can call myself an internet marketer at last as I now make a solid 5 figures entirely passively - all on auto-pilot - and my business is consistently and steadily growing. By the way, I know that 5 figures is absolutely peanuts to some people here, but it's not the amount I am earning right now that leads me to finally conclude that I have achieved that status; it's the position of my business - in terms of revenue and growth.
Much of my success has been directly attributable to the contacts I have made right here in the Warrior Forum. So I thought I would take a little time at this juncture to offer some advice for those who are a little further behind me on this amazing journey we are all taking. Because, my friends, if I can do it, then so can you!
1. It's OK to Struggle
I remember reading an ebook one time by Harvey Segal. You will, of course, know that Harvey is the ClickBank guy. Amongst other things, he runs the ClickBank Forum. Well, I don't even remember what that book was about, but there was something he said in it that really struck me. He was speaking about the time before he became successful; and he said something like, 'that was the turning point for me'.
It stopped me and made me think. Here was this really successful guy, well respected within internet marketing, someone who many (including myself) looked up to as a guru saying that rebrandable ebooks were the turning point in his internet marketing career. Now what struck me was this - at one time Harvey Segal was a struggling newbie just like me. He had to go through the same pain and find his own answers in much the same way as I was doing.
So my first real lesson was this: if you are struggling, it's ok. I struggled - we all struggled; even internet marketing guru Harvey Segal struggled. So it's ok to be there at some time. It's where you start; it's not where you finish.
2. There's Gold in Them-Thar Hills
I said I spent a small fortune in the WSO Forum. This is true, but apart from one or two 'duffers', I have purchased some really fantastic products there. You may know of eWriterPro, for example. It's the Professional PDF eBook Compiler product that I launched as a viral marketing campaign; and it became a huge success. Well, that product was both purchased and launched right here in the WSO Forum.
When I launched it, I had no appropriate back-end, follow-up product of my own to offer. In fact, I didn't even think about it, but guess what? I purchased the perfect accompaniment - our eCover Creator software - right there too! Similarly, I got my Membership site in a WSO; and just yesterday purchased a Graphics Design business there too.
My point is this: there is gold in them-thar (WSO) hills - if you know what you are looking for! You don't have to create your own products - though I do indeed do that - you can become successful simply by keeping your eyes open for the right deals. How do you know which are the right deals? Well, when you hang around here for a while, you eventually develop a kind of 'nose' for them.
3. Get them on Your List - if you don't have a list, start one!
Recently, I have had the real pleasure of mentoring two people. They each approached me and asked me to do it. It's not something I want to do on a regular basis, but I thought it might be interesting so I agreed. Both people were on the verge of seeing some success, but had not quite managed to get things together.
When I visited their sites, I was immediately struck by the fact that I did not get an unblockable pop-up right there in my face offering me a free gift for joining their newsletter. Now that's a very simple thing to do, but I can tell you that when I did it, it tripled my sign-ups; and significantly impacted my sales. I understand why people don't do it. They don't want to annoy people. Well, my pop-up only pops once - on first visit, so it's not annoying for my regulars.
So remember that making money is not difficult, but you need people to pitch-to; and in order to do it, you need them on your list. So make use of unblockable pop-ups, co-registration programs and other ways of increasing your sign-ups.
4. Don't Flog Stuff to them - Make Recommendations
In order to recommend, you need to have actually tried something and found it to be genuinely useful - right! Well, that's a key to success right there. Simply carry-on your internet marketing journey; and every step of the way when you encounter some tool, book, video or whatever that you have personally found to be compelling, join the affiliate program and add a new message to your autoresponder. Just keep doing that and over the course of time, you will build up an awesome autoresponder series that will generate income for you.
Personally, I hardly ever send out broadcast emails from my autoresponder; I only do that when I have a new product or genuine special offer. I concentrate on providing valuable information in that autoresponder series. By the way, you definitely need an autoresponder account; and you should go for a good one right at the start. It will save you having to transfer names and addresses later. I actually use Aweber like many here and have found them to be very good. They boast a very high delivery rate; and their charges are very reasonable too.
Hopefully, you can see the power of combining the unblockable pop-up with a great autoresponder series - this will earn you money entirely on auto-pilot for years to come.
5. Have a Great Back-End
For a long time, I did not have any back end products. I was just selling products and letting people slip away without any real after-sales follow-up. That is a big mistake: you can easily double your income simply by getting a good back-end offering in place. Offer your customers something of real value on your Thank-You page - it's as simple as that.
To go one step further, offer your customers something of value for which they will need to sign-up; and put the sign-up form on your Thank-You page. Make it clear that signing-up is entirely optional; after all, they have bought something from you so they should not feel they have to sign-up. But, if you offer something of real value for that sign-up, you will be building a list of real quality - after all, it is a list of buyers.
What do you do with your list of buyers? You stay in touch and offer them your best deals from time to time. By that, I mean genuine discounts and great offers. They deserve to be treated well - they are your most valuable assets. And they will reward you with even more sales because they know you and trust you.
6. Recycle some of your Profits into your Business
When you start making money, you will be able to have the luxury of deciding how to spend it, so spend it wisely. On one occasion, I made $1K on my own WSO. Guess what I did with that money? I recycled it back into the WSO economy. What was the result of that? Well, some of the answers to that question were given above.
But the point is, you need to get out of the Business and find a way to get it growing automatically. And one simple way is that you can pay others to do what you want done. Recently, I have been paying a Warrior $200 to write 5,000 word ebooks for me; and guess what I am doing with those books? Giving them away! Why? Because Google loves content; and she sends me traffic in return. And you remember what happens to a good percentage of the traffic don't you ... pop-up/autoresponder - profit!
So once you have learned how to turn words into money, use some of that money to generate more words because that is how you can achieve growth.
7. Finally
OK - well, I guess I have said enough for now. I hope some people will find this post useful; if so, perhaps I'll do a part 2 sometime.
In closing, I want to say thank you to all Warriors. So many of you have been and continue to be my inspiration!
Will
-Jason
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