How I Made Six Figures in 2012

What's up everyone- some of you may know me and some of you may not. I used to post a lot, but in the second half of 2012 I didn't really at all.

I did 6 figures in 2012, and I wanted to make a post listing some things that really contributed to it.

Here they are:

Learn copywriting. You don't have to become a master, but at least understanding how effective copy works will positively affect your emails, headlines, sales letters, sales videos, etc etc etc. Instead of reading Twilight at night read Claude Hopkins, Ogilvy, Bly, or Kennedy.

Build lists. You hear this one all the time, but start building a list right now if you're not. Make that your primary goal in 2013. I won't go into a mini "how to build a list" course right now- there are many ways to build a list. The basics are to setup a squeeze page, figure out how to get traffic to your squeeze page, and always be split testing your squeeze page. Constantly take the better performing version and make it your control, and test a variation of it. One other tip- use pop up optins on your site. I don't care if you personally hate them- they work.

Don't be afraid to promote. Why build the list if you're not going to promote anything? Do it in good taste and add value to your list- but when there is a product you like and recommend- recommend it. Adding a bonus that complements it really helps.

Create your own products. Info products are still wide open. Just today I purchased two info courses on how to play Madden 13 better because I was so pissed off after a bad loss... lol. The dude had a crappy site, a really crappy delivery system, but from watching his videos I knew he knew what he's talking about. An info product can be a Kindle ebook, an ebook on your own site, a video course, an audio course, or some combination. Just create something and try to start selling it. If it really sucks your first few customers will let you know- but at least you'll know and all you do is improve it.

Youtube Videos are a long-term play that work. A lot of my niche sites still get traffic and sales almost exclusively from Youtube videos at this point. I've still not found anything that works better for getting them ranked than Unique Article Wizard. Haters are gonna hate for that comment. Super simple powerpoint style videos. Your ideal customer is after information- not Hollywood production quality. Try to make them look good though, it does help.

Advertise your backend product(s) in your members area: This one is self-explanatory. It just works.

If you think of an idea- try it. Some of my biggest wins this past year were things I thought of and just tried.

Keep taking the next step. I used to feel weird about recording my voice on a video and having my voice out there. Now it's no big deal. I was really nervous to start paying for GotoWebinar and doing webinars- now I'm super glad I did and webinars are the funnest part of my business.

Keep pushing. Slow progress adds up. I spent 3 years spending a lot of time on this stuff with NO results.

Ok... that might not be every lesson I learned but it's all I can think of right now. I hope something in there helps you or gives you some ideas.