WELCOME TO REALITY, Volume 1, issue 3: Newbies Making $50,000-100,000/mo, What YOU NEED TO KNOW!

It has been a while since I graced you with another issue of the Welcome To Reality Series. For those that are new and what to see the previous two issues, you can view them below.

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...s-nothing.html

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...marketing.html

Today, I'm going to tell you something about those claims of 50k/mo and those claims of 100K/mo. I'm going to tell you how it is done, FOR REAL. There are people on here posting about possibilities, but it isn't just a possibility. It has been done.

There are a ton of threads talking about how... tons of WSO's that try to teach you how, but the fact is they aren't teaching from experience. They are teaching you an idea, and ideas are the easiest things to sell. An idea can get your brain going and you can THINK your way into being sold into the idea. However... Ideas and reality differ. The idea of being your own boss is one that can be sold to anyone... the reality of being your own boss is a reality that becomes a nightmare for many.

So how is it that you can make $50,000 EVERY MONTH? How can you make $100,000 EVERY SINGLE MONTH?

It takes work. It takes marketing. It takes an organizational masterpiece, dedication, systems, and trial and error. It takes more than one form of marketing, usually.

The better way to look at the scenario is, how can you PREPARE to make $50,000-100,000 every month...

Notice, I say PREPARE. It takes preparation to be able to process that kind of money. It takes strategy, and learning, in order to process that amount.

Step 1: Knowing HOW You Will Make Sales

This is what everyone wants to know. Everyone wants to make sales. They might not even want 50K/mo, they might want 5K/mo, but they still need sales. You need to know how you're going to get them.

If it takes you 100 calls, 1000 calls, to get a sale. How many calls can you make to process that amount? Don't theorize this... a theory isn't going to make you money. Testing it is the solution. If you're going to cold call, make 10 sales, document how many numbers were called, how many turned into leads and how many leads turned into sales. Work those ratios and you will see how many calls you need to make to hit your goal.

Not a fan of cold calling? Do the same with direct mailing. Postcards, letters, whatever you fancy. If it takes 1,000 postcards to make a sale, use those numbers. This isn't for theorizing either, this is to use from your own experience.

Lets be real now... Some people here will disagree with me, but I don't believe you are going to make 50-100k/mo if you are just using 1 marketing method. Try a mixture of telemarketing, direct mailing, print advertising, email marketing, social media, PPC and other methods. Your marketing should complement each other and increase your leads. More leads = more sales = more money.

To reiterate... this step is about KNOWING how... not THINKING how, not theorizing how. If you are not using certain methods, and you plan on using them, you NEED to first figure out your law of averages. If you have your law of averages you will be able to do some sales forecasting and KNOW how.

Step 2: Being Physically CAPABLE of Processing Those Sales

If you think you're going to process 50K/mo off the bat with your marketing and all this, you are wrong.

First, you need a way to process payments. Are you using paypal? Be prepared for a nightmare. First off, if you process through paypal, you're already losing $2,000/mo because of transaction fees. You risk being placed on hold because that kind of value is considered high risk, especially when you don't have tangible goods.

Paypal will screw you. It isn't about IF, it is about WHEN. I've had a large amount locked in paypal for 180 days, and when that happens, you don't see your money. You don't get paid, you can't afford to pay your team, and the work you were paid for can't be completed and that means chargebacks happen. That will cost you more money, it will increase the holds placed on your account, and eventually your paypal account will be shut down.

You might think a real merchant account will be better. It is... a little bit better. If you think merchant accounts don't place holds on your account, you are mistaken. The thing is, it is basically a line of credit given to you. If you have poor credit, how will a merchant company be able to trust that they can give you tens of thousands of dollars? If you process $50,000/mo and after 6 months you run off to an island, with $300,000 on you... and your clients all start processing chargebacks... the merchant is ultimately going to pay that. They will come after you for it, but that's what they take into consideration when you apply.

When you apply with a merchant processing company you are given a monthly limit, and maximum limit transaction. You probably won't get $10,000/mo on there, you will need to build up your history and keep requesting increases. If you're doing $5,000/mo right now, you need to work your way up, request an increase, and keep doing that in order to physically be capable of processing that amount. Some of you with bad credit, will never be able to process that amount unless you incorporate and build business credit, even then they still will likely run YOUR credit too.

Your merchant account will still take transaction fees. Your transactions might even cost more with different rates. There are qualified, mid qualified, and non qualified, and that can seriously add up costing you a lot of money.

The way around this, is to process checks, money orders, or cold hard cash. I don't know what it is like in any other country but the US. However, processing checks is easily the safest way for you, and you don't have to worry about chargebacks, or fees.

I process checks through my websites, and over the phone. A few people have mailed them in before, but mostly it is done over the phone. I print my own checks, deposit them in the bank and they clear at midnight. It is safe, easy, and even faster than a merchant account. All you need is a checking account, but I do recommend getting a BUSINESS checking account.

I've had a lot of money held. I will never use a merchant account again until they change the laws. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with knots in my stomach wondering if money was taken out of my account because of a chargeback or hold, or some other issue. I have a lot less stress now that I only process checks.

Step 3: Building a Team That Can KNOCK OUT The Work!

If you're making sales, you need to complete the work. Are you outsourcing project by project to different people? That's the wrong way to do it. You don't outsource your business, you build a TEAM to work for you.

I have a few graphic artists, a VA, and different website techs, along with php experts, link builders, etc.. I'm training one of my graphic artist/tech hybrids to also be a project manager right now.

I have built my team in a unique way that most of you will not be able to. I have trained most of them myself, and a few of my core people didn't have much experience when they started. They grew with me. I don't look for people to outsource to in the common countries, India, Philipines, pakistan, etc. I look for more obscure countries like Paraguay, Uraguay, Thialand, Jamaica, Haiti, Venzeuala, and even have found someone for $2/hr in THE US! LOL. A great way to look for people, find out countries where the USD has the most value and where the average median salary is one of the lowest. Seek out people that speak english, and have SOME kind of experience. IF you know what YOU are doing, you can teach them. This takes more time for you, but they are loyal, and they end up growing with you. They become more experienced as you grow.

If you already are somewhat established, and you already have a team... then it is time to test out your team. You need to get sales and see how much your team can handle with a decent turn around time. Give a 2 week turnaround time and see what all you can accomplish.

It is important to be able to measure how much your team can handle. This allows you to adjust, and add members to your team to be able to handle the volume you are closing in on. You will notice many things if you evaluate properly.. you can make adjustments asking your team to work longer hours, and notice different areas that are time suckers and find a solution to fix it.

Most people here don't have a team capable of handling 10K/mo...let alone talks of 6 figures.

This brings us to the next step....

Step 4: Project Management is a MotherFlipper

Step 3 and 4 kind of go together. Sometimes you have to make adjustments with your team, adding new members, getting rid of dead weight, increasing their productivity, but often times project management is an area that is overlooked.

When you have a team in place to be able to handle increased work load, sometimes productivity isn't at its highest because you aren't managing the project properly. This happens to me all the time. It is important to delegate tasks to the RIGHT people. The ones that can handle more, get more, and can do more difficult tasks. It is normal and ideal for each project you have, to have more than one person working on it. I usually have one graphic artist, one tech, and maybe new members adding content and getting familiar with the CMS we use.

You need a platform... email is not good enough. I don't know about Google Apps because I don't use it. Basecamp is a platform that a lot of people like and the industry kind of calls it king, but the problem with basecamp is that it is time consuming too. Project management takes longer because of how robust it is. I personally don't use it because I am still the project manager and head developer so I don't have time to learn it. When I have someone else project managing then we will probably migrate to basecamp. I'm not sure though.

Currently, I use Collabtive for project management and it is great. It isn't that robust but you can add users/members of your team, add them to certain projects, add and assign tasks to different people and they will be alerted by email. You can set milestones and all that stuff but the platform is super user friendly and makes project management a lot easier. It is open source and you can download it for free.

Step 5: If You Aren't Prepared to LEAD, be Prepared to FAIL

It is easy to set goals but harder to actually hit the goals. Start small... $50,000 might be your long term goal, maybe $100,000... but you have to hit the smaller amounts first. You can't grow too fast or else you will have high stress, and a disaster on your hands.

If you haven't ever made a sale before... focus on making $1,000-$2,000 next month.. If you're average $5,000/mo then you need to focus on hitting $7,500 and then $10,000. If you're making $5,000 this month, you can make $50,000 next year in November. I guarantee it. It is just a matter of scaling up and setting up the ground work to BE ABLE TO.

If you aim too big without any real plan to hit the lower numbers, you will fail. It isn't JUST about SELLING.

My best month ever was pretty high up there! READ CAREFULLY... that does not mean it was my BEST month. I had a lot of angry people because I could not fulfill that amount, I could not do everything that I wanted to do. My team was not prepared. My team regularly handles about half that amount with no problem. The problem wasn't with my team.. the problem was with me.

Like I always say, test everything. I was testing the efficiency of my team, and the team was great. They performed very well but the mistake was in me not delegating other tasks that consumed a lot of my time.

You are a LEADER. You have a TEAM and you're the captain of that team. THIS IS A BUSINESS NOT A HOBBY. When you're running your business you need to start thinking of yourself as a leader. A leader that is fearless, makes good decisions, and has strategies that allow the business to adapt in order to survive and prevail.

My best sales month, was not my best month in customer service, satisfaction, project management, or efficiency. I have a lot of work to do and taking the steps necessary to be able to handle that kind of volume on a regular basis.

Step 6: Forget About "The Four Hour Work Week". It AINT Happenin!

Building an empire takes time... it takes a lot of time. Let us rephrase that... It takes a lot of YOUR time.

Have you read the 4 Hour Work Week? Are you seeing stars, beaches, mountains and hot chicks on jet skis wanting to hang out with you every hour of the day while you're on vacation, sight seeing across the world, working only four hours a week? Great.. come back and read this when you wake up from your dream or when you are treated for your delusional state.

Working less... is that on your mind? Then I'm sorry for wasting THIS MUCH of your time, because you won't achieve the kind of success you're wanting. It takes a lot of work to build up to something great. Eventually, you may be able to work less... but your goal is to hitting a certain financial goal. You need to do whatever it takes to hit that goal, and working less is not the way to doing that.

Be prepared to throw 70-80 hours a week at your business. I sometimes put in more than that... I like doing 14 hours during the week, which is around 70 hours... plus about 10-20 over the weekend... lately I have taken some days off on the weekend. I've earned it.

40-50 hours a week you're going to be working on sales and talking to clients. Assuming it is still you and you aren't hiring real, live help. 40 hours a week should purely be revenue generating time. 10 hours should be customer service and talking to your clients. The remainder should be focused on the actual work, project management, and managing your business.

When you are passionate about what you do, it is very easy to work 90 hours/wk. Some of you are willing to do that. From my experience, you should plan on every 2 or 3 weeks to reduce your load to 70 hours/wk.

Next.. it is important that you aren't looking just at the number of hours you are working, you need to make every hour count and make your time highly efficient. Ever hear the saying, "want something done? Give it to a busy person."? It is true. People who are busy, are efficient, and can get things done quickly and effectively.

Your time is valuable. It is precious. Don't waste it. When you are in business mode, you need to have a laser targeted vision and do not stray away from the tasks you are trying to complete.

During the day, I focus on sales, and different interaction with clients. At night, and sometimes middle of the night, I am working on project management as well as some of the projects themselves.

Step 7: Scale Up + Replace and Replicate Yourself.

When you're achieving some real success it is all about scaling up and being able to replace yourself and other key members of your team.

If you're having success in getting sales, scale up the strategies you are using. Sending 10,000 postcards? Double it... Calling 10,000 people a week? Hire telemarketers to do it too. Spending 1,000/mo on ppc? Increase your budget.

It is easy... You simply increase your revenue generating activities.

The harder part is adding new members of your team. However, by the time you're achieving success you will already have your own systems in place, that allow your business model to work. Key members of your team are already identified, and you know where to go and how to train others so those key members are replicated.

This is a step I am working on right now... I'm moving into an office. Going to be hiring 5 full time sales people, and putting a lot more towards certain marketing activities. Obviously, my overhead is going up, but it is a risk that needs to be taken in order to expand to the numbers I want.

I have also taken steps to grow my team, and fix my weaknesses. Project management is a weakness. I'm working on filling that hole. Also trying to get a few new people trained to handle increased workload, and a new VA to help me be better organized.

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And that's basically it guys. Those flashy thread titles making crazy claims by emailing, or by some gimmicky trick they learned, ignore them. That isn't reality. What I lined out for you, is reality.

If you want to seriously make a lot of money, you need steps in place to be able to do that. People that make this kind of money, aren't going to be sending you to crappy affiliate pages, or CPA offers, and other stuff they learn about when positioning themselves..

Real experts, and real people that make a lot of money in this business are not EVER going to tell you it is easy. It is not easy. It will never be easy.

The reality of business is that you have to be tactful, calculated, have guts, and be able to execute. If you think you can grow your business by playing on facebook, and sending a few emails or posting a couple ads, you are wrong.

Those that want more information on how to do this... don't PM me. I don't read them except the catchy subjects, and only once a month. You don't need more information...

For those that are serious about themselves and the direction of their business... I will see you in the trenches, and we will wish each other the best and nothing more because we both know that we are each others competition.