65 Lessons Learned Over 12 Years Of Being In IM
So this is the list I wish I had when I first got started...... 1. You have a lot more power than you think. And don't let anyone tell you differently. Power simply means "the ability to act" and all of you possess this. You just have to decide to use it. Power is like the muscle, the more action you take, the easier it gets. Science has already proven this to be true as the neural strands in your brain get thicker the more you do certain things. 2. When I first got started I wish someone would have held a gun to my head and advised me "look, you're going to focus on ONE thing at a time and master it before you move onto the next". Focus isn't just a word, it's the ability to keep your eye on what you want to accomplish so any obstacles you see will be ignored. Ok, "master" is probably too strong of a word. For example, when I first started using PPC advertising (Pay-Per-Click) many years ago I was losing money for over 2 straight months because I didn't know how to test my campaigns. So I invested in a solid PPC course by Perry Marshall and studied it. I started small and then reinvested my profits. 3. The first thing anyone should do is get clarity on what they really want. Making 10k per month is not a real goal. It's good to have, but if you don't become CRYSTAL clear on the WHY behind that goal, you're going to let obstacles kick your butt. Wanting money never got me anywhere. Now spending time with my loved ones and telling my boss to go pound sand.......PRICELESS!!!! 4. Trust no one, at first. Yes, there are some FANTASTIC people out there that are willing to help you, but there are also a lot of charlatans. I paid a lot of money to consultant a few years ago to help me increase my conversions, after the hour long phone call I realized he didn't know what he was talking about.

But boy could he talk a good game. Yes, he was able to sucker someone with 20 years of business experience because he was an extremely savvy salesperson, too bad he didn't know much about conversions. So be careful and don't be afraid to ask for references. I didn't in the beginning and I learned this lesson the hard way. 5. Automation and software are key to running a business, but there is no such thing as a push button solution that will make you rich. Anyone who says so is selling you snake oil. 6. Hard work and persistence are great, but always take a step back so you can make sure you're going in the right direction. No sense in ending up in the south pole if your intention was to go to New York. 7. Mediocrity rules the marketplace. I don't care if it's improving your golf swing, finding the mate of your dreams, curing sweaty palms, or saving for retirement.......you will almost always win if you truly EXCEED your customer's expectations in any market. In the words of the late Cory Rudl, "Take care of your customers and the competition will take care of themselves." 8. Ranting and complaining never made anyone rich. 9. You can't please everybody and to try is folly. Stay true to yourself, throw your heart into your business, and stand firm in your beliefs and good things will happen to you (as long as your heart is in the right place). 10. Always take income claims with a grain of salt. Remember, they are not you and.....you are NOT them. 11. Embrace fear and don't let it rule your actions. Even the late Johnny Carson, the master public speaker and entertainer, got nervous before each show. 12. Adopt the "student" frame and always keep it. Nobody knows everything. I promise you, if you have this mindset you will never stop learning and growing and life will bring you good things. Even masters at something have mentors (and so do their mentors). 13. Learn to help others anonymously once you make it, it WILL come back to you ten times over. And if it doesn't, you still made this world a better place.

(EDIT: People have been asking me about this one. What I mean by this is that my philosophy is that one should help themselves and their families first. This way they'll be in a better position to help more people). 14. Making money is simple, but it's not easy. Yes, it's simple, almost ridiculously so, but it takes W-O-R-K in the beginning. A lot of it. Are there exceptions to this rule? Very, very few. 15. If you don't write down your goals, you're running a hobby, not a business. Just remind yourself daily that virtually all profitable corporations plan out their year(s) ahead of time. IN Japan they plan out 25 to 50 years ahead of time...... 16. If you don't write a deadline by your goal, by definition it's not a goal. 17. Internet marketing techniques will always change and evolve, but business principles will remain constant. (EDIT: People have been asking me about this one too. A few examples would be the ability to create effective sales copy, basic market research, knowing how to price a product / service, how to deliver value to your customers as efficiently as possible, investing in oneself, giving back to your community, solving a specific problem, providing great service, promoting your business, etc.). 18. Run a principled-based, purpose-driven business and you will radically increase your chances at long-term success. (EDIT: it could be as simple as under-promising and over-delivering for your customers and having that as your core purpose). 19. Follow results, not sales copy. Here's one example of following someone who GETS results: Tony Robbins "gets it". He's a good mentor to have because he can help you understand HOW your brain works and once you learn that there is nothing that you will not be able to achieve. His paperback books or digital books are very affordable. From a personal stand point: no single mentor has had more influence on me than Tony Robbins. Why? Because he has the amazing ability to take the best of the best and put it into a concise format that anyone can use. And it makes sense because this has been his life's focus. He helped me lose unhealthy weight, to understand the social matrix, how to build wealth, lower my blood pressure, and make my doctor grab me and

exclaim, "how did you do all this without prescription drugs?" (I used to have super high blood pressure, high fat content in my blood, and high cholesterol and I lowered it all naturally without using any drugs. I did it all by permanently changing the way I eat). 20. Don't be afraid to create your own products if that's what your interest is, there ARE people out there that want to buy from you, over and over again....and again. At least 20 to 33% of them from your existing customer base. (EDIT: you don't have to create your own products, people do really well with affiliate, CPA, and Adsense marketing. I have a bias toward product creation because I like having more control over the products I promote, the sales process, the follow up, etc. But if you want to create your own products, then I say go for it). If I had to start all over again, the first thing I would do is create my own product line. Remember you can always hire someone to help you create your first product. 21. Feeling overwhelmed is a very common feeling, but don't let it rule you. The best way to deal with it is to have your goals WRITTEN down and then focusing on one of them at a time. Remember, Rome was not built in one day. And it took 30 years for the Taco Bell triple stack to come to market...... 22. Don't try to be someone you're not. Whether you believe it or not, you have some AMAZING things about you. Find out what those things are and use those things to find the Unique Selling Proposition for your business. And remember, mediocrity abounds on the internet, you can usually compete on value and service. 23. Never, ever compromise your CHARACTER. Integrity, honesty, and wanting to give value will ALWAYS make your business stand head and shoulders above everyone else. This isn't my opinion, it's the basic law of the attraction universe. When you're a person of integrity your customers will see it come through in the way you run your business. In the long run it will increase your customer base dramatically. 24. Talent recognizes talent, and you have much more of it than you think.

25. If you have 2 or more solid info products on how to make money online in your hard drive then you probably have enough information already to make 6 figures by next year. No, I'm NOT kidding. The list of Businessmen and other Entrepreneurs who have proven this theory would be longer than the Twilight Trilogy. 26. Education is key. Invest in yourself, always. I've been at this seriously since the late 1990s and I still invest in educational materials. One thing I love to do is attend seminars, I always end up learning something that helps out my business. 27. After submitting thousands of pieces of content in the form of articles, videos, podcasts, original blog comments, etc. I've come to learn that CONTENT marketing not only works, but it will be around for decades to come. Applications might rule the next decade, but after that something else will rule.......but people will always demand quality content, regardless if the format it comes in. 28. Remember, to make money you have to SELL something. Whether it's a click, a product, a link, a service, etc. and everything else is just mental masturbation. (EDIT: what inspired me to write this one was watching clients spend endless hours on things that did not make them money. If you're not selling with some consistency then you either need more traffic, better conversions, more products, or you're not promoting your business enough). 29. It is very difficult to build a multi-million dollar organization on your own. You should out source as soon as you can afford it (and it might be sooner than you think). Yes, I advised to trust "no one" in the beginning, but once someone earns your trust you better hold onto them. 30. Once someone earns your trust, don't be afraid to make them part of your mastermind / group/ or business. 31. One-product launches are a recipe for disaster. Start off with at least 3 and you'll more than triple your chances for success. This is based on pure mathematics. (EDIT: I got a lot of questions on this one. All I mean by this is that you should have an effective product launch strategy. What's going to be your first product? What are you going to up-sell or cross-sell? What mix of products or

services are you going to market to them AFTER you've made the sale? This goes hand-in-hand with building a list). 32. Build your own network of people who "get it" and you will NEVER be poor. Whether it's building a list, a Facebook fan page, or a forum like this one or a membership site, focus on building your own network of people that KNOW and TRUST you and you will have wealth for as long as they are with you. I have a neighbor that lives on my block who stills makes a very nice living marketing with post cards. When I asked him why he uses post cards to get his marketing message out, his reply was simple: "The mail doesn't have spam filters and people still love getting things in the mail". 33. You can build massive wealth in one year, though it will most likely take you 3 to 5 years. 34. Reinvest your profits, don't buy things, initially, and if you don't believe me, read the book by Andrew Tobias called The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, it costs less than a large pizza and it's entertaining too. 35. Once your WRITE down your goals they are not set in stone. You can always change them as needed. 36. Your friends, family, and even your significant other might not understand what you are doing. That's okay, as long as they don't inhibit your progress. Tell them to give you 2 years as that should be enough time to prove them wrong. (EDIT: When I first started IM I had been with my girlfriend at the time for 5 years. She became very "jealous" of my new business, despite the fact that I still spent a lot of time with her away from my computer. It got to the point where she was actually holding my dreams back. I had to end it with her and even though it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, it was one of the smartest things I ever did. I also stopped spending time with friends who were energy vampires. When you hang around people that are negative or unsupportive, they really have an effect on you. Sometimes you have to ask yourself what's more important........and only you can decide that for yourself.).

37. Your 5 predominant habits will predict what your future will be like. So take some time and write them down. If any of them have anything to do with habitual complaining, blaming others, drugs, too much partying, spending too much money, or being negative in any way, then you already know what you need to change. 38. Change is a lot easier than you think, you simply need to DECIDE that it is so. (EDIT: this is why it's so important to write down your goals and review them daily. It will help you stay focused so you can make the changes that you need to make). 39. "There is no such thing as a 'normal life', there's only life Wyatt." - Doc Holiday. (EDIT: what inspired me to write this was a friend of mine who spends a lot of time worrying about living a "normal" life because his IM business is taking a lot of time investment and opportunity cost. And I told him that quote from the movie Tombstone. There's no such thing as a normal life. There's just life). 40. Check your ego at the door. Nobody likes a know-it-all. If you stay teachable your rewards in this business will be monolithic despite what some people will tell you. 41. Get a third opinion, really - it can't hurt in most cases. The worse thing that can happen is that you now have 3 opinions to work with. 42. There should be an opt-in form of some kind on every single web page that you own. Yes, even "your contact us page." (EDIT: I've been experimenting with this for years now. I get a lot of free leads this way. Yes, it does leave a "foot print" that people can find, but personally, it's never been an issue for me). 43. A proven viral marketing secret is this: give more value consistently than just ONE of your top competitors and you'll be raking it in. With the internet having more and more people share things with people they know, word-of-mouth advertising will never go out of style. One of my favorite things to do is give people unadvertised bonuses, it's a great way to build a relationship with your readership, list, buyers, or network of people.

44. Seth Godin is one smart cookie; read everything he publishes, your marketing efforts will be better for it. (EDIT: we all have our favorite authors. I like authors that make me THINK, even if I don't agree with them on some things. Seth makes me think and my business has been better for it). 45. If you want traffic to your website realize that the following will never go out of style: A. Providing REAL value to your prospects and customers. B. "Original, valuable, but INCOMPLETE content will always get visitors to your website." -Jimmy D. Brown. C. Marketplaces and devices are growing every year, whether it's Amazon, Nook, a Kindle device, the iPad, iTunes, Lulu, Clickbank, Digiresults, etc. - if you continue your presence in more of them you are increasing your chances of more exposure which will get you more leads, which will lead to more sales. D. PLR content does not get the job done, in the long run. E. Advertising: you can always buy traffic. Start small and scale up with your profits. F. Free publicity: press releases, appearing as a guest on TV, radio, or online radio will continue to work as long as we have media. Study and learn about publicity and how it works. Millionaires have been created in a very short time frame by utilizing the power of the media. 46. Press releases will continue to work as long as we have a media such as the news, TMZ, radio, television, entertainment, talk shows, etc. I suggest submitting at least one per month per website / business. 47. Learn to PROTECT your wealth. (EDIT: Ask your financial professional about Living Trusts, Corporations, and other ways of protecting your assets. Remember Rick James @#$%!!. ). 48. Warren Buffett didn't get rich because he's so smart. He got rich because he stuck to a proven system. Once you find something that works, continue to tweak it so you can grow it and scale up. 49. Test, track, and tweak because 99.8% of your competitors are too lazy to do this. I had a website once that was make $1,400 a month and I was very happy with that. Then one of my copywriting coaches made two changes to my sales page and my website's sales doubled over the next month. I now track nearly everything that I do.

If you're not testing and tracking your efforts, you're not going to know who your losers or winners are. 50. Niche research is a lot easier than you think, do these TWO things and you'll never run out of profitable niche ideas. Niche research is something people over complicate: A. Ask people (known or strangers) what's important to them. I found my most profitable markets by doing this (this is my favorite way to get new niche ideas). Some people in marketing forums have poo-pooed this, yet I have to remind them this is how I have found my MOST profitable niches. B. Follow the money. Where are advertisers spending their money? Where are people spending their money? There are ads everywhere, pay close attention to them. Check out marketplaces like Amazon, Clickbank, etc. to get ideas. 51. Screenshots are pretty worthless. And not because they can be faked. It's primarily because what they earned has very little to do with what you'll earn. 52. Don't kid yourself. A blog is just a website with a different name. Should you have one though? Probably, the Search Engines LOVE blogs that have FRESH content. 53. Social networking is just the beginning. Collaboration is going to increase in the coming years and beyond. And it's only going to get better from there. 54. After millions of transactions I've learned one essential truth: honor your refund policy, in the long run it can only bring you good will. (EDIT: there are some definite exceptions to this as some products or services, by their very nature, are not refundable. But if you have a refund policy, you should honor it). 55. One tequila shot once in a while won't kill ya..... (EDIT: by this I mean make sure you go out and do something fun at least once a week, no matter what that is for you. I just happen to love fine tequila and enjoy it from time to time). 56. It's OKAY to do your own thing. No, really.

57. Find A Mentor Or A Coach if you want to radically shrink your learning curve. You don't need to have a personal mentor, there are plenty of books, audio courses, master mind groups, etc. that you have access to. Find a couple of mentors and learn from them. 58. Invest in a medium-sized to large whiteboard. If you're a visual person like me it helps to see things. Write down your ideas on this whiteboard. Also write down the daily tasks that you need to do to get your business going in the direction it needs to go. After all these years, I still utilize my whiteboard. It helps me organize my thoughts. I also write down my primary 3 to 5 goals on the white board and flesh them out with time lines so I know EXACTLY what to do from week-toweek. 59. Treat your business like it's a real business. I never truly understood this phrase when I first started. I treated mine like a hobby because I spent more time procrastinating and reading then actually doing the things that would GROW my business. Then one of my mentors advised me to set aside set times for my business. He also taught me to think strategically and write my thoughts down on a white board. From there I was able to ascertain what daily tasks I needed to do. If I put a complete date by a task, I would go out of my way to meet that deadline. That really helped my businesses grow. 60. Stay focused by focusing on your goals daily. With all the distractions out there it's a miracle that people are able to stay focused. You've got TV, satellite or cable TV, video games, movie theaters, comedy clubs, plays, family, friends, holidays, new products, new seminars, etc. Remember, there are new products coming out every single hour trying to convince you that you need their product or service for you business. Before you buy anything ask yourself honestly, "does my business really need this to grow?" 61. Put away unnecessary distractions for at least 6 months (a year is much better). Once I put the video games away, the television, and cancelled my satellite service it was easier for me to focus on building my businesses. I was able to prove to myself that I was serious about this.

The funny thing is, I haven't owned a television now several years. I honestly don't miss it. I'm having too much fun creating new products, working with my team, looking for new opportunities, and spending my time with family and friends (invariably, I'm now watching TV at their homes...lol). 62. Be very careful whom you choose to spend time with. This ties in with lesson #37 very closely. This isn't my opinion. Studies started by the great Dale Carnegie and many others after him have proven that who you habitually spend your time affects how you think and act. It was very difficult for me to break up with my girlfriend back then and to spend less time with certain friends, but I had to surround myself with positive, like-minded entrepreneurs who got it. Once I was able to do that, it became much, much easier to earn money. Some people won't understand why you might want to spend more time on your "business" then hang out with them. It's not personal, usually, you just need to communicate to them that you have a dream and that you're going to go for it. 63. The fastest way to tell if a market is profitable is this: 1)). It has advertising dollars. 2)). There's competition. Finding markets is simple. If you head over to market places like Amazon, Clickbank, Commission Junction, CPA networks, you'll find hundreds of markets, niches, and sub-niches. What's not simple is monetizing that market. Virtually everyone knows that markets like weight loss, dating, wedding planning, dog training, health issues, etc. are extremely profitable. Yet people view them as highly competitive and saturated. Yet a new weight loss millionaire is created every single day. I'm not saying that if you're a newbie that your first niche should be highly competitive, but I'm also not saying you should overlook it either. 64. Fear, uncertainty, and procrastination. I call these the "big 3 dream destroyers" because everyone experiences them. I want you to realize that for 99.9% of people who start a business, at some point they are going to experience one of these (sometimes all three).

So realize you're not alone. I almost quit a couple times during my first year online and I am so glad that I didn't. If you are ever in doubt in what you should be doing always ask yourself this question: "What's the ONE thing that I can do today that will GROW my business?". It could be contacting 10 potential JV partners. It could be writing 5 articles and submitting them to your own website first then over to web properties / web-masters that will take them. It could be opening an account at Advertising.com, Google Adwords, MSN Micro center, etc. It could be placing a Facebook and Twitter buttons on your home page. It could be writing a press release (or hiring someone to do it for you). It could be uploading an e-book to a marketplace like Clickbank, Kindle, Nook, etc. It could be making more phone calls. It could be writing a 10 page report and submitting it to document sharing websites. It could be finding ONE blog who will take your content as a "guest writer". It could be testing a new ad campaign. It could be writing down a simple business plan outline (my first one had about a dozen bullet points; it wasn't pretty, but it gave me a road map to follow and tweak and change as needed). 65. If You Are Feeling Down Or Feel Like Quitting......then go to your local bookstore (or Amazon) and read UNSTOPPABLE by Cynthia Kersey. It's a bunch of true short stories of people who overcame great odds. I've read a lot of books, but I read this particular book many years ago when I was ready to quit this business and go back to corporate America, so it has a special place for me in my heart. Read one story per day until you finish the book. I guarantee you, your mindset will change and it WILL recharge your batteries.