How I Made Six Figures in 2012

49 replies
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.
#2012 #figures #takeaways
  • Profile picture of the author rmolina88
    Awesome advice! 2012 was the year I was able to make my full time income online and building a list was the most important.
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    • Profile picture of the author robestrong
      Yes, yes, yes, yes, and YES. I wish they could put this as a sticky it's so concise and so good..
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  • Profile picture of the author Lee Murray
    Fantastic share! Thank you so much for that, and congratulations on your success.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    All true advice, Nate.

    And where did you make your most money? IM niche or something else?
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  • Profile picture of the author thedanbrown
    Great advice and I have started implementing almost all of this into my business too.

    I don't really promote affiliate offers to my list any more though but ya list building is definitely key and the main asset in any information business.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimK06
    Thanks so much for the tips Nate! I just started my business in 2012 so I'm just learning now how to be more consistent.

    Learning the do's and do nots. Catering to my mailing list and the whole 9, but posts like this really do help.

    Kind regards
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  • Profile picture of the author RachelLily
    6 figures? OMG that's so good, congrats to you naterivers. I've only have 5 digits though anyways, thanks for the info. newbies just follow these advice, and be diligent.
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    • Profile picture of the author moreno
      Originally Posted by RachelLily View Post

      6 figures? OMG that's so good, congrats to you naterivers. I've only have 5 digits though anyways, thanks for the info. newbies just follow these advice, and be diligent.
      From your signature you should be making much more in a year.....
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  • Profile picture of the author MKCookins
    Great tips Nate!

    It is so true that money is in the list. Just be sure to always provide excellent free value to them - and in return they will more than likely buy your products when you promote them.

    I am personally going to start creating videos this year to drive traffic to my squeeze pages.
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    • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
      Originally Posted by J Bold View Post

      All true advice, Nate.

      And where did you make your most money? IM niche or something else?
      Roughly 60% from the IM niche. But- I never did anything IM related until I was generating decent revenue from non-IM sources, mainly niche sites & my own products.

      Originally Posted by BarberShop View Post

      6 figures net?
      Yes.
      Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author TheInfoMarket
    Really useful advice Nate, and congratulations on your success.

    Did PPC ads also contribute to your success? Or have your found other marketing methods more effective?
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    $100,000 or $999,999?

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    • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
      Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

      $100,000 or $999,999?

      Or 555,555? lol

      RoD
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      • Profile picture of the author WikiWarrior
        Originally Posted by Rod Cortez View Post

        Or 555,555? lol

        RoD
        C,mon this is internet marketing, surely it's $777,777?

        OP - thanks for sharing what's worked for you and congrats on your success. I hope 2013 brings you more of the same! Was there any one thing in particular that started working really well or was it a case of lots of things just coming together and "clicking"?
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        • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
          Originally Posted by WikiWarrior View Post

          OP - thanks for sharing what's worked for you and congrats on your success. I hope 2013 brings you more of the same! Was there any one thing in particular that started working really well or was it a case of lots of things just coming together and "clicking"?
          One of the biggest things was actively promoting things on a schedule to my different lists. I have a lot of pretty tiny lists in different niches that have an initial sequence setup to sell my own product, but after that I wasn't using them at all.

          So I came up with kind of a schedule to send out informational articles + promotions to the different lists- and that made a huge difference in income- go figure.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rbtmarshall
    or $1234.56


    what were your expenses?
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  • Profile picture of the author Malcolm Thomas
    Great post. I agree with everything you said. Hopefully many newbies can take the lessons you learned and apply them to their own online careers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    Nate, man, LOVE the squeeze page. A breath of fresh air in the IM world.

    Edit: You've been reading some Autoresponder Madness haven't ya? Good job on the copy and nested loops. No wonder you put it first on your list.
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    • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
      Originally Posted by Jesus Perez View Post

      Nate, man, LOVE the squeeze page. A breath of fresh air in the IM world.

      Edit: You've been reading some Autoresponder Madness haven't ya? Good job on the copy and nested loops. No wonder you put it first on your list.
      Jesus- Haha yep I have become a serious student of ARM. That's funny you could tell from the copy.

      ARM had a BIG impact on the year.
      Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author mostafa999
    Great tips, I will start building a list right now
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  • Profile picture of the author ratracegrad
    You can't make it to 6 figures unless you start taking action.
    Your actions increase exponentially when you become good at copywriting.
    The best email list is one built from selling your own products.
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  • Profile picture of the author Devin X
    Banned
    Great share! All great takeaways, especially KEEP PUSHING. A lot of people quit before they even give their business a real chance to even fail.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Awesome advice Nate - especially the part about Youtube marketing. I agree with it 100%. Thanks dude.
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  • Profile picture of the author edhuu
    Awesome tips man! let's make six figures in 2013 together guys
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  • Profile picture of the author johntan17
    Thanks for the Great Tips, NateRivers! I especially like and agree with the things you wrote about building a list and youtube. I think there are the two most important methods to generate traffic and make money online now. I wish you all the best in internet marketing in 2013.
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  • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
    Thank you for sharing this.

    The internet business really isn't that complicated.

    I'd add 2 things you didn't mention:

    # Take the time to really get to know your prospects and clients.

    That will help you determine what products to create and how
    to sell them effectively.

    # Be sure you deliver real value to your clients.

    When you deliver real value your clients will buy
    from you over and over and they'll also buy from
    you at higher and higher prices.


    Kindest regards,
    Andrew Cavanagh
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    • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
      Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh View Post

      Thank you for sharing this.

      The internet business really isn't that complicated.

      I'd add 2 things you didn't mention:

      # Take the time to really get to know your prospects and clients.
      You're right- this of course is a key aspect of putting together effective copy.
      Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author CherryAffairs
    Great tips. From your experience, where is the best place to promote?
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  • Profile picture of the author willisk
    Excellent advice! Good luck with your 2013 year!
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  • Profile picture of the author Stevie C
    Congratulations Nate I always enjoy checking out Strayblogger and I am defientely going to be working on some of the areas you've mentioned for 2013.
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  • Profile picture of the author rockong
    Great tips indeed

    Looks like I'll be checking out Autoresponder Madness Thanks for the share on that.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Hi Nate,

    Good advice.

    Yes, it is a good idea to build a list but that list will be worth nothing if you don't build relationships with them and send them great content.

    Plus, you forgot one thing to add to your list and that is to work with programs that can pay you residual income type programs every month. This is another technique for a person to grow their income online automatically.
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  • Profile picture of the author IanWilcox
    I am going to take away from this thread the point about building a list, Will spend work on this on the weekend

    Never built a list before on any of my sites! heard for years people talk about building a list over and over... I cant personally see what use it will have as many people just delete emails i could be very wrong and wont know until i have tried it!
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    • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
      Originally Posted by IanWilcox View Post

      I am going to take away from this thread the point about building a list, Will spend work on this on the weekend

      Never built a list before on any of my sites! heard for years people talk about building a list over and over... I cant personally see what use it will have as many people just delete emails i could be very wrong and wont know until i have tried it!
      There's no better time to start than now. All the mistakes you'll make and lessons you'll learn are less expensive now than if you were already getting a lot of traffic.
      Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author ymest
    I love reading these success stories! Yeah, the bottom line is to KEEP PUSHING! 110% understood! Congrats by the way!

    Yoan
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  • Profile picture of the author Anton543
    Cost in achieving your six figures? Lot of people mention amount made but not the costs.

    There is a case study on Pat Flynn's Passive Income site and the guy makes well over $10,000 a month from his site, but he also has 15 people writing for him. I am guessing that his costs are well over 50 to 70% of the income. But his site is top notch so he has a powerful web property, not to mention well over 50K email subscribers and also similar number on Twitter. As long he is making a comfortable living I don't think he cares too much about costs.

    But its all relative.
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    • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
      Originally Posted by Anton543 View Post

      Cost in achieving your six figures? Lot of people mention amount made but not the costs.

      There is a case study on Pat Flynn's Passive Income site and the guy makes well over $10,000 a month from his site, but he also has 15 people writing for him. I am guessing that his costs are well over 50 to 70% of the income. But his site is top notch so he has a powerful web property, not to mention well over 50K email subscribers and also similar number on Twitter. As long he is making a comfortable living I don't think he cares too much about costs.

      But its all relative.
      My costs are very low. I don't spend much on PPC and don't use any super expensive tools or services.

      If I was spending 140k to make 160k I would just get a regular job.
      Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay27
    These are definitely the posts I like to read!

    Thank you, Nate, for this bullet point list of excellent advice on how to make an absolute killing online!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Schuman
    Good post Nate. I am finding simple You Tube videos that provide useful information work very well for targeted niches and local business marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author JensSteyaert
    Amazing post! I'm sure this will inspire everybody!
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  • Profile picture of the author xfelipex
    Thanks Nate for the advice ... great advice for newbies and the rest
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  • Profile picture of the author rred
    Superb piece of advise, thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author asiriusthoth
    I agree with everything you said, especially YouTube Videos. It's amazing how powerful these things can be to generate traffic. If done properly, by going after specific keyword phrases, a person can outrank their own website in only a matter of a few weeks.

    Originally Posted by NateRivers View Post

    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.
    Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Stewart
    Originally Posted by NateRivers View Post

    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.

    Great post Nate! Thanks for sharing.

    Joe
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  • Profile picture of the author moreno
    Hi Nate great sharing thanks a lot.
    "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"
    UAW ? really ? i read so many negative .....
    one Q. how did you start to build a list ? where you get the traffic?
    best regards
    Frank Moreno
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    • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
      Originally Posted by moreno View Post

      Hi Nate great sharing thanks a lot.
      "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"
      UAW ? really ? i read so many negative .....
      one Q. how did you start to build a list ? where you get the traffic?
      best regards
      Frank Moreno
      What up Frank- Most people don't know how to use UAW correctly, nor do they give it enough time to see results.

      I get traffic from SEO- long tail keywords mostly, a little paid traffic, Youtube videos, but the best traffic source you can have is email lists. That way your time and money spent on getting traffic isn't just for one-time visits.
      Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author wiery
    Great advice. I didn't make 6 figures last year but I made 5 and finally had some real cash flow instead of making only pennies every month. I will try and build a list this year.
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