The Top 5 Things That Helped me Get Online, Selling, and Making a Profit Year One

If I HAD to give just one piece of advice to anyone starting out online, or anyone
else who hasn't seen the results they've wanted yet, it's this...

*** Just start Making Offers***

Seriously, far too many people get caught up in reading book after book,
trying to find the one key secret they are missing.

Well, reading and learning without applying is kinda like not reading
anything at all. It gets you just as far.

1. You don't need a long business plan

When I started online in 2001, I just put up an ugly looking
page with a buy now button, so that anyone could order my
fitness book.

I had already written the book from my years as a personal
trainer, so I hired someone to put it into word and then PDF.

I slapped a Paypal button and later on, a Clickbank order button.

But from that very first UGLY page, it went on to do over $4.4 million
in sales before I sold the company.

And through the years, I would change and adapt the site
based on marketing and copy I learned and applied.

But not once, with millions in sales, did I have a set "business plan".

I simply tried to make offers, look at my numbers to make sure
I was making more than spending, and I kept it simple for
10 years.

2. I Didn't Focus on my Product... I Cared About the Market's Problem

When I started out, I sold a simple fitness book for $47.

Then, I kept releasing new products, in new niches and the entire
time... I kept my eyes on the market and their problem that I could solve.

I didn't get wrapped up in what kind of products I'd sell, how I'd
deliver it, what I'd price it at, and all of that stuff.

Sure, it's important, but it's not what I focused most on.

I knew that products and how they'd get delivered would change,
over time, but what I knew WOULDN'T were the single biggest problems
that my market had.

So, I made sure to address those first, and make sure they were getting
value and the solutions they needed.

I didn't care if I had to dish out my advice by broadcast email to those
people who invested with me, I made sure that I kept my focus on their
problems... and found ways to deliver solutions.

3. Build the Business that I Wanted to Run

Now, even though I made sure to keep the focus on the people
I was trying to help... it didn't mean I wasn't trying to create the
kind of business I wanted.

In fact, for the first 5 years of my business, I was SO excited to
get up in the morning and get to work... because I had set up
things exactly how I wanted them to be.

If I didn't want to do calls for the first years, I didn't do coaching
or consults.

When I wanted to talk to people and do more of a group coaching
thing... I did teleseminars and then webinars.

But the entire time, I tried building a business that I would love
running. It was my own creation... by baby, so I figured "why not
set it up the way I want things to BE":

The biggest mistake I see people making is, they set up their
business in a way that makes them not want to do it, over time.

If that's the case, why not just work at a job for someone else.

The whole point of your business is to set it up how you want it,
and create something you LOVE... not something you detest.

4. Stay flexible and ready to pivot.

Let's face it, stuff changes.

Even faster now than it did when I started online.

Back in 2001, there was no Facebook to buy ads on,
there wasn't even Google Adwords.

Then, over the course of the next decade, came and went
dozens of traffic sources and places you could buy ads.

Written sales letters gave way to video sales letters, webinars
kinda took over from video sales letters.

The whole point is, the one constant will be things change.

So, be ready to change and adapt, or you run the risk of being
obsolete.

If you find that your customers keep asking for something
you're not offering, and you feel that you can add more value
and help more people by doing THAT... don't be afraid to change.

Being able to pivot and change, when needed, means you're
going to be able to give people what they want and need, no
matter what else comes and goes in the process.

Ad methods change, delivery methods change, but the one
constant you can keep focused on is... how can I add value
to as many people as possible.

5. You Don't Have to do it all yourself

This was probably the hardest part of growing a business.

When I realized that I couldn't do everything myself... I realized
it was time to delegate.

I started the business myself, so I kind of kept that same mentality
for the first few years.

But after a while, not only did I get tired of doing everything..
I realized that some of the stuff, I wasn't that good at.

And when I realized that it would take some help, by others,
for me to grow and help out more people... that's when outsourcing
really helped me grow.

It goes back to #3... which is building the business you want to run.

If you're fine with staying small, if you're fine with doing it all yourself
and it doesn't take away from your mission, then by all means... stick
to what matters.

But if you want to grow and keep putting out more solutions and products,
and you want to help as many people as you can, it may involve delegating
and outsourcing the stuff you're either not good at, or stuff you feel
takes away from your core strengths.

It's good to know what each area of your business does, so you can tell
if it's working right and things are getting done well, but it's very tough
to grow and scale without having some help.

You don't have to do it all yourself.

Anyways, those are 5 of the top things I learned, over the first few
years of starting and running my first business, that may help you
get online and selling faster and easier.