3 Big Takeaways From the 2013 Traffic and Conversion Summit

21 replies
Just got back from San Fran yesterday. I was at the 3rd (I think) annual Traffic and Conversions Summit hosted by Ryan Deiss and Perry Belcher.

It was great meeting up with Kenster and a few other guys on this forum.

I learned A TON of little ninja tactics from the summit, but I also learned a few major "big picture" philosophies from this summit...

1. Building a Sellable Business- that runs with or without you

I think a lot of us get into IM because we the freedom of working for ourselves. But what ends up happening is we still bust our @sses and have much less freedom than we imagined.

(It's like that old joke... "As an entrepreneur you can choose your own hours... any 14 hours of the day...")

Maybe you just want to make some quick cash, but personally, I want to build a real, long-term sustainable business that I can SELL in the future.

The key to doing this, as I learned from Mike Cooch, is to build an asset, not just an income. Do things like documenting and refining your systems, creating recurring revenue, and a proven sales model.

So in 2013, one of my goals is to systemize everything and only focus on important tasks, while delegating/outsourcing the rest. (A great book I just finished is "Work the System" by Sam Carpenter)

2. Own media, not products

This was something Ryan Deiss stressed on big time. Your product is not your business. Products come and go. So It's the media (or your crowd) that counts. The best examples of media is an email list.

So if you're not building an email list, start right away, because it's going to be your most valuable asset!

I actually learned this the hard way. I didn't build a list when I first started and struggled for a loonnng time. Even to the point of financial collapse. Things quickly turned around when I started building and marketing to a list.

3. Get published

Tucker Max gave me this "aha" moment . He mentioned that as marketers, we're often seen in a bad light. Society views us scammers. It doesn't matter how much money you're making, you're always going to be associated with scams, frauds and a lot of other slimey stuff.

But if you're a published author, then everything changes. Suddenly, everyone respects you. Because you wrote a book. You almost have the same social status and prestige as movie stars and musicians now.The coolest part is, you don't need to seek a publisher. You can self-publish on Kindle nowadays.

Also, keep in mind, you don't want to publish books to make money (because chances are most people won't make much, no matter how many little kindle eBooks they pump out). The real purpose is to use your book as to establish your authority and expertise in your niche.

Another goal for me in 2013 is to write and publish a Kindle book (and not for the sake of making sales but for positioning and branding).

What about you? Anything you plan on doing different in 2013?
#2013 #big #conversion #summit #takeaways #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author sanhal
    Thanks for the feedback Anthony.

    When you talk about being a published author do you mean a physical book?
    I am not sure that you would be regarded with such authority if you just have a Kindle book.

    I have an ebook on Clickbank and have published 3 books on Kindle so I hope that makes me some kind of authority and expert in my niche.

    It's my goal this year to get a high converting squeeze/sales funnel set up to build a list in the IM niche and make a success of the licensed partnership program I have just joined.

    Sandy
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    • Profile picture of the author carathanassis
      Thanks for your summit high lights. I was there as well and I came away with your first two as the main highlights for me as well with networking being my first.

      I had no idea Tucker Max was there. I am already working on my book and trying to learn quick books.
      I hope to turn 2013 around and have it be the best year yet.
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthony W
      Originally Posted by sanhal View Post

      Thanks for the feedback Anthony.

      When you talk about being a published author do you mean a physical book?
      I am not sure that you would be regarded with such authority if you just have a Kindle book.

      I have an ebook on Clickbank and have published 3 books on Kindle so I hope that makes me some kind of authority and expert in my niche.

      It's my goal this year to get a high converting squeeze/sales funnel set up to build a list in the IM niche and make a success of the licensed partnership program I have just joined.

      Sandy
      Yeah of course, a physical book on the NYTimes best sellers list would be better than a Kindle book. But a Kindle book with great reviews is still better than nothing, right?
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    The "get published" point is one that I learned from
    Mark Joyner many eons ago. Getting published
    really puts you ahead of the pack. But I'm not so
    sure how it works today because it's so easy to
    get (self)published these days so the competition
    is much heavier. I think what you have to aim for
    is getting a "best seller" status on some popular
    platform so you can add that title to your name.

    Looks like you got your money's worth.

    -Ray Edwards
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    The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthony W
      Originally Posted by Raydal View Post

      The "get published" point is one that I learned from
      Mark Joyner many eons ago. Getting published
      really puts you ahead of the pack. But I'm not so
      sure how it works today because it's so easy to
      get (self)published these days so the competition
      is much heavier. I think what you have to aim for
      is getting a "best seller" status on some popular
      platform so you can add that title to your name.

      Looks like you got your money's worth.

      -Ray Edwards
      Guy Kawasaki spoke about a neat strategy for publishing your first book and getting amazing reviews right off the bat. Basically, you need a decent sized list/social media followers and ask for people to give you feedback on your book's outline.

      Then a few months later, ask for reviews of the first draft. And finally the final draft. Your followers will enjoy being part of something big.

      Then, shoot out a message before it launches and ask for reviews.
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      • Profile picture of the author Dustin Lyle
        Originally Posted by Anthony W View Post

        Guy Kawasaki spoke about a neat strategy for publishing your first book and getting amazing reviews right off the bat. Basically, you need a decent sized list/social media followers and ask for people to give you feedback on your book's outline.

        Then a few months later, ask for reviews of the first draft. And finally the final draft. Your followers will enjoy being part of something big.

        Then, shoot out a message before it launches and ask for reviews.
        This is EXACTLY what Amish Shah has done.. Were friends on Facebook and he sent most all of us an invitation to read his outline and give creditable feed back... And now, He has a great sales page for when he releases it to the public..
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  • I dont agree with #3, but I totally agree with #1 and #2.
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthony W
      Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate View Post

      I dont agree with #3, but I totally agree with #1 and #2.
      Why not? Just curious.
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  • Profile picture of the author moneymakerway
    Anthony W, Thanks for this post!
    I also learned the hard way about importance
    of building an email list!
    But it is better ever than never!

    The core of my plan is really to provide
    value and to be consistent as much as I can!
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  • Profile picture of the author thedanbrown
    Great stuff man!

    I like the part about creating a book...

    This is a service you can charge someone for too like real estate agents and other people looking for more credibility in their field.

    If they have a blog you could reach out to them, tell them you will compile some of their posts into a book and publish it for them on Amazon. They will most likely be completely shocked that it's that easy and you could probably charge around 1k depending on the customer...

    Just an idea haha you got the wheels spinnin'!!
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  • Profile picture of the author daniellawseo
    Great post Anthony. Couldn't agree more with all 3 points.

    Many marketers really need to start incorporating the concept of building an asset and not just an income.
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  • Profile picture of the author moneyman2010
    Nice post Anthony..That's my goal this year is to build a business that runs with out me..Also another really good book on building systems is The E-Myth..
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  • Profile picture of the author drewfioravanti
    Books are the new income proof? Interesting concept.

    And before you say "anyone can publish a kindle book", anyone can make a million dollars too, but only a few do what it takes to get there.
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  • Profile picture of the author vtotheyouknow
    Thanks for the cliff notes Anthony. :-)

    Getting published...now that's an idea. Does kindle count? Seems like you'd have more credibility from a traditional publishing deal and I seem to recall Tim Ferriss suggesting the same..
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  • Profile picture of the author Kenster
    Great seeing you again as well Tony! Was a great event
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Several years ago, a marketer named Mike Stewart (TheInternetAudioGuy) recommended that you title your book "The Book On ..."

      That way, you could truthfully presents yourself as the person who 'wrote the book on...'
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      • Profile picture of the author Kenster
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Several years ago, a marketer named Mike Stewart (TheInternetAudioGuy) recommended that you title your book "The Book On ..."

        That way, you could truthfully presents yourself as the person who 'wrote the book on...'


        Great tip...I like that!
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  • Profile picture of the author Lance Johnson
    Very neat! Thanks for the notes. Hey, do you know who won the marketer of the year and other awards?

    Thanks,
    JMJ -Lance
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  • Profile picture of the author crosshairs
    Thanks Anthony. I see that the book you recommended is now free on the author's site in audio and pdf formats. Well free for an opt in

    Work The System Academy
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    • Profile picture of the author giant90
      Thanks Anthony for sharing this great stuff and for recommendation this good book.
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      I am Jyoti Chauhan,SEO Expert and blogger at UpdateLand.com having two years of experience in Internet Marketing. I’m familiar with all the on-page and off-page strategies.
      Connect With me at Google+, Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin.

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  • Profile picture of the author Deepak Media
    Unless you are a published author in one of the traditional publishing book houses I don't think there is any reputation to claim. Kindle platform is so open to anybody that one can churn out a book in 15-20 days and it gets published. Also retaining best seller status is not possible because its not going to be there for ever.

    I think the best way is to go after traditional publishing model. Being an author aith McGraw Hill or Wiley will give the kind of rep that nothing else can give.
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    Digital Marketing Author | Speaker | Consultant

    Read my Blog: DigitalDeepak.com

    @ Bangalore, India.
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