How to Finally Stop Struggling And Become A 6 to 7 Figure Marketer

Hi everyone,

As we enter 2009 I'd like to share some specific things that came out of a mastermind call I was on recently about how to stop struggling and finally build the internet business you want.

This is a mastermind comprised of only individuals who are earning 6 figures or more on the internet (some MUCH more). Somehow during the call we stumbled onto the topic of why most people struggle.

It turned into such an amazing conversation that I ended up switching on my recorder. I've transcribed the highlights and want to share them with you.

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1) Be honest about who you are and who you are NOT

A lot of people struggle because they seek to make money in ways that do not line up with anything they're passionate about or are actually skilled at.

Six and seven figure earners operate in a way that is congruent with who they are. Therefore there is little if any resistance.

When you're honest about who you are and especially who you are NOT, you operate with a litmus test that allows you to quickly determine which path(s) to take, or not....which skills to learn, or not...what actions to take, or not....etc.

Example:

One of the individuals on the call said when he started out he was attached to speaking from the stage as a way to generate leads and sales in his niche. He knew that didn't line up with his natural abilities and skills but he was allowing outside ideas to influence his beliefs - and therefore his bank account.

Once he "got real" with himself (his words) and focused only on what he does best - writing, creating content, audio/video - his income began to skyrocket because there was no more resistance.


2) Understand that Activity does not equal Productivity

I will quote the main things this person said since she stated it better than I can (she's a 7-figure earner):

"Writing and submitting articles will not make you money. Putting up blogs will not make you money. Learning Pay Per Click or SEO or Adsense will not make you money. None of these things in and of themselves will make you a dime."

"99% of people think that activity will make you money. It will not. The only thing that makes money is productivity. Meaning activity that serves a pre-defined result."

"The reason most people struggle is they do a lot of 'stuff'. But the 'stuff' they're doing is not serving any plan let alone a plan designed to generate revenue."

"Instead of just doing 'stuff' people need to create a master plan for what they want to build, then work backwards and figure out what 'stuff' needs to be learned and accomplished to make that plan a reality. And leave out the 'stuff' that won't serve the plan."

Example:

At that point another person on the call shared a story about spinning his wheels for over a year and finally waking up one day and deciding to "just shut everything down" as he put it. He unsubscribed from everything, put all his IM products in the basement out of sight and chose to "literally start from scratch."

He then said something very interesting:

"My experience of eliminating distractions did something I didn't expect - it created space. Space that hadn't been there before. Space to choose a single path, space to formulate a single plan without the constant distractions, space to choose who my business would serve. I realized all the distractions (e-mails, products, etc.) were keeping me from creating a real plan and following through on it."


3) Realize your ideal customer already exists

This is something I say a lot to my own students so I was glad it came up on the call.

The main idea is simple: Most businesses succeeding wildly on the internet are not trying to create brand new customers. They are serving existing customers in their niche who are already hungry and buying.

Again not all successful internet businesses do this. But most do.

The consensus among us was a lot of folks allow creativity and innovation to lead them astray from what's already proven to work.

Note: None and I do mean none of the individuals on this call have reinvented the wheel. Relative to the industries we serve, all of our businesses could be described as "common". An important lesson.

Example:

This is a personal example of my own. I had been in the real estate investing niche for a couple years and was doing pretty well but could not seem to crash through what I perceived as a "glass income ceiling."

Through a fluke I had the fortune of talking on the phone with a 7 figure earner in the coaching arena and he said, "I took one look at your website and can tell you why you're not making $40K per month even though you should be."

I said, "Um, yes please tell me."

He said, "Because your website looks nothing like what real estate investing customers are used to seeing, and the main product you're selling is not related to anything they are used to buying."

Bingo. That's all I needed to hear. The ridiculous part was I had started out as a customer in the niche and knew what was already working - but had allowed my own ego to keep me from modeling it.

After revamping my website and main product, within 60 days my income jumped over 300%.

(I would have paid him $10K for that twenty minute phone call)


4) Realize there is ONE thing every successful business has in common

If you look at a number of successful internet businesses you could find a bunch of things they have in common depending on the niche, types of products, etc.

But there is literally one thing they ALL have in common:

---> They generate leads and convert them to sales.

Alright, maybe that's two things. But the main point is they SELL.

One thing I and a few others on the call noted is there are many people in IM who don't want to "sell."

As a former teacher with no previous business experience I understand. But the simple fact is this: To succeed you must sell. There is no getting around it.

The reason many people struggle to make much of anything online is they believe they don't actually have to sell anything. That they can just put up a website, offer good information and magically people will just buy.

As with everything there are rare exceptions. But trust me that 99.99% of the time it will never work that way.

The great news is the internet medium allows you to sell through a variety of strategies that do not require any blood, sweat or tears: web copy, sales pages, e-mail copy, teleclasses, webinars, outsourced phone sales, online offer leading to offline direct mail, etc. etc.

The moment you fully accept that you must learn how to sell (and do it well) you will stop resisting, you'll start learning these methods and your struggling will rapidly diminish.

Example:

Another personal story. After a very successful start in the real estate niche I had been struggling to generate consistent income and get over the hump as I previously mentioned.

One thing I noticed in the real estate industry was the big guys were conducting teleclasses. A lot of them. All the time.

Once I wised up to the fact that my creativity was hindering me I got on one of those teleclasses and took furious notes. I was like a madman.

I had no intention of buying or getting sucked into their sales message. Not this time. I just took notes as fast as I could about what they were saying, how they led from one topic to another, phrases they used during their sales pitch, and so on.

After the call my brain literally hurt because I had been concentrating so hard. And then it hit me:

I now had in my possession a proven sales model for my niche. I had a blueprint from a 7-figure earner I could now use as a 'skeleton' for selling to my own customers the real estate niche.

That blueprint ended up becoming the core for ALL of my promotions and was a major factor in creating my massive income leap.

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My fellow Warriors who are struggling, my sincere hope is this post provides you with two things:

1) Ideas - specific ideas that will help you look at your business from a different perspective

2) Belief - a belief that you CAN overcome your struggles and reach the income level you desire


All the best for an exciting and prosperous 2009.

Ken
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Ken Preuss