Warriors: IM Works! Just Got My First Sale!

Very good...keep going with it!

Anton,

My business is built for scalability, which I love. I tend to overthink and overanalyze everything (hence my serious case of analysis paralysis! ) and with my previous freelance writing experience, I KNEW I needed to build scalability into whatever I decided to do.

I quickly found out that I want freedom as much (or even more than) income. I DON'T want to be tied to client demands 24/7. So providing a service was definitely OUT. My day job career has been in customer service (call center, billing, etc.) so I've spent almost 10 years listening to irate, nasty customers. I'm NOT doing it in my own business! I'm not starting my own business just to repeat my day job nightmares.

So my business is built for scalability and as little handholding as possible -- at least at the lower levels. As soon as I can, I'll be hiring a customer service person to handle the little day-to-day details, at least on a part-time basis.

People here occasionally post about their customer service nightmares. I've LIVED that in my day job for almost 10 years. I can't be the CEO my business needs if I'm dragged down emotionally and mentally by nasty customers.

So one of my first goals is to hire a customer service VA.

I'm excited! My business is specifically built for scalability and growth with minimal client/member handholding. Yay!

Michelle

P.S. As for advertising my business here, Warriors aren't really my market, although if one wants to become a member, I'm not going to say no.

Thanks everyone!

akmal85, my mentor is Sheri McConnell of the Smart Women Institute (SmartWomenInstitute.com). Sheri is the founder and CEO of the National Association of Women Writers, which she folded into SWI in 2010. She's been phenomenal!

Hope that helps!

Michelle

Thanks so much for the encouragement! I appreciate it!

I work still work a day job (tech support), but fortunately I work from home, which is a HUGE plus. I work a split shift (9AM - 1PM and then 6PM - 10PM), so my evenings are all taken. Plus, I work weekends.

But the positive side of that is that I have time off during the business day to work on my own business: every afternoon and two whole days during the week: Tuesday and Thursday. I love that.

I panicked this morning though when I got an e-mail from my second customer saying he couldn't open any of the links for the downloadable resources in the members-only area of my website.

Yikes! What a great start... NOT!

My years of customer service experience and tech support have left me with a not-so-positive opinion of John Q. Public and I fear I have a permanent aversion to customer service ANYTHING anymore.

Since I'd triple-checked all of my pages and links, I KNEW it was working. A brief e-mail to him asking for further details didn't elicit much clarity other than that he couldn't access the resources via the links. :confused: So I panicked this morning, wondering if somehow my files or links had been corrupted or something.

As soon as I got off of my morning shift, I dove headfirst for my laptop to check it all out. Yep, everything works. So I decided to call him instead of going back and forth on e-mail, which can cause more confusion than it solves.

Like most of us with our first customers or new customers, I really didn't want to deal with it. I LIVE unpleasant customer service every day and didn't relish this. Plus, like most of us, I was afraid he'd ask for a refund. I'd give it promptly, of course, but it would be incredibly demoralizing to have to give a refund so soon.

So I called, DREADING it because I already spend 8 hours a day on the phone with customers and have come to almost hate it.

It worked out nicely though. Turns out that, for whatever reason, the PDFs weren't opening when he clicked on them. (I think he said it took him to a Google page. :confused: I have NO idea what the issue was.)

So I had him right-click the link, select "Copy Shortcut" and paste the link into his address bar. Ta da! He can see it.

Whew! I was prepared for a nightmare, worried I'd look like an idiot saying "Well, I dunno. It works for me. Are you SURE you know how to click a link???" :p

He was happy he could access it and I was happy I'd solved his problem -- though I still have NO idea why he'd receive some sort of weird result when he clicked my download links!

I have specific download instructions at the bottom of the members page, but I went in and added the instructions I gave him to the top of the page along with the note that "further download instructions are at the bottom of this page."

Hopefully that will help other members in the future, although a certain percentage of people never read directions and just call customer service.

Also, does anyone here know of a screen sharing utility/site I can use, preferably free to help future customers? We use one at work (Citrix GoToAssist) and I LOVE it because it makes it so much easier and faster for me to help someone -- especially if they don't even know what a browser window is! (Grrrr!)

We chatted for a few minutes, I learned a bit more about his business and learned that someone had referred him! (He subscribed to my list and joined as a member at the same time!) Unfortunately, I didn't find out who it was.

It's exciting to know people are already referring me! That is the best marketing I could ever have and I'm THRILLED about it!

Michelle

@buckeyes09

Where did you get that image?

Genius.

Congratulations Michelle! You're a good example of persistence, and doing what it takes to keep your business growing. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the support everyone! I'm excited!

I posted this because I know how frustrating IM can be. Especially when you haven't made any money yet and you're overwhelmed with all of the info and not sure exactly what you want to do in the first place. BELIEVE ME, I understand that!

You begin to wonder if IM is all a scam... Which is why I posted this thread. Just wanted to let you know that a fellow Warrior, still a beginner, has made some money.

Good luck to us all, every one! (Shades of Tiny Tim...)

Michelle

This is SO true!

It's so easy to get sucked into spending 12 hours a day at your computer in IM. Worst of all, most of us do this with NO return on our time or money spent.

There's a lot of talk on this forum about taking action -- and rightfully so. We all have tons of stuff we've purchased just sitting on our hard drives. "Just do it!" other Warriors admonish us.

But my own experience, as well that of most Warriors (I know because I've been watching them for years here), is that most newbies have NO CLUE. They're chasing tactics instead of an overall plan or strategy. Worse, they have NO IDEA what their business model is.

Hence, their frustration.

Chasing random information and tactics will only leave you more frustrated. Taking a lot of the WRONG action -- without an overall plan or strategy -- will leave you more frustrated.

There's no instant money in IM. And yes, in the beginning, you'll spend a lot of time (and some money) getting set up and gaining traction and building momentum for your new business. But you need to have a clear plan and a business model that will bring in good money and run almost on "autopilot" (how I HATE that word!) once it's up and running.

But it won't run on autopilot in the beginning!

Clarity is a HUGE part of IM success.

IM is actually pretty simple: you can sell only one of two things:

1. Products
2. Services

That's it!

And selling products or services online happens in the same basic way for everyone, no matter what they're selling:

Traffic > Opt-in page > Autoresponder series (or e-zine) > Sales page

That's it! It's just that simple. (We IMers tend to overcomplicate things.)

But no matter what your niche is, or whether you're selling a product or a service, do you know what your business model is?

A business model is the framework or skeleton of your business. Essentially there are three types of online business models:

1. Membership-based model

A membership-based business model allows you to build a community of people (your members) who are as passionate about your subject as you are. Your membership fees can be monthly or annual, but either way, you're building recurring, passive income.

There are a lot of resources and information out there to help you build a membership-based business if you're interested in doing this.

2. Product-based model

Selling products allows you to maximize your time and effort by selling items over and over again. This can be hard goods or it can be information products. Information marketing is it's own business model under the product-based model. Information marketing allows you to take your brain to the bank by creating a product ONCE based on what you know and selling it over and over again.

I see someone has already recommended affiliate marketing. You can choose to market either products or services as an affiliate.

3. Service-based model

Selling services can be great for 1) generating quick cash (as in the case of article writing or video producing) and 2) establishing your expertise and getting testimonials.

However, in the long run, your goal should be to offer services at a PREMIUM. The biggest advantage of IM is LEVERAGE. You're able to leverage your time, money and expertise exponentially online. We all have just 24 hours each day. Time to get ruthless about what you expect for those hours you spend in IM each day. Expect more of yourself and more from your business friends, clients, partners, etc.

What results are you getting for those hours you spend online each day? Ultimately, your services should be at the bottom of your funnel and cost the most since they involve your time and personal attention. (We all have a limited amount of time each day.)

The fun (and confusion) comes in with all of the endless mix-and-match possibilities of the above models. If you're just starting or still struggling to make money, keep it simple:

Pick just ONE!

1. Pick ONE niche. (Something you're interested in and know something about.)

2. Pick ONE target market for your product or service. (Who will buy what you're offering? The more specific you are, the more you narrow it down, the more successful you'll be.)

3. Pick ONE business model.

Now that you're clear about what business you're in, FOCUS! (And stop buying any info not related to your niche and target market, period!)

F -- Follow
O -- One
C -- Course
U -- Until
S -- Successful

And remember: build a list, Build a List, BUILD A LIST!

In IM, it's easy to put the cart before the horse. Take a deep breath, step back and consider what type of business you're REALLY want. Don't worry about getting traffic or buying that expensive traffic product until you know 1) what your business model is, 2) what niche you're in and 3) WHO your target market is!

Successful business people will tell you that MARKETING is more than half the effort that's needed for success anyway. So pick a niche, target market and business model. Then spend most of your time and effort marketing it.

If you DON'T have a solid plan or system, THAT'S when it's hard. A good system will shave YEARS (and save you big $$$) off of your learning curve

That's why I recommend investing in at least one good, comprehensive IM course (or mentor who will give you such a system) instead of jumping from one $37 e-book to the next. A lot of people here complain about not being able to make any money. But neither are they willing to invest in their business. (Buying a random bunch of $37 e-books doesn't count.)

The best thing I ever did was invest in a comprehensive IM course aimed at REAL business owners, not just other IM wannabes. Yes it was $1500. (Now it's only $997. :p) But it was truly some of the best A-Z IM info I ever bought. Everything else I've learned (from the $37 e-books) since has simply been plugged into this system.

Get a solid plan or system and then work the plan!

Hope this helps!

Michelle