10 Deadly Business Mistakes

My good friend Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips has just released a new free ebook in preparation for the re-opening of his Online Profits course. Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Daniel about his program and you can read that interview by clicking here.

Daniel’s new ebook is called, “Ten Deadly Business Mistakes” and it’s both a very good and a pretty quick read. You can download it by clicking here and following the directions on his site.

Mistakes number 2 and 8 in his book are the biggest mistakes I have made in the past that really held back my business. Go read the ebook and let me know your biggest mistakes.

PS. Yes, Daniel is a friend, and yes most of the links in this post are my affiliate links that will pay me money if you sign up for his course.

Three Steps to Business Success in 2009

In 2009, my wife Jill and I launched a business that is, so far, surpassing our expectations. Here are three of the main factors that contributed to our success in 2009…

1. Commitment
Early this year (May) I was laid off from my 9-5 job. I had two choices at that point; go look for a job or start a business to make enough money to support my family. After much prayer and discussion with my wife, we decided to start our own business. Prior to being laid off I had been creating websites and marketing them in my spare time, but I never COMMITTED to making my business a success. I always had my 9-5 job to fall back on for money, which kept me from ever totally committing to the business.

All of the people I have known who have had a successful business online have committed to it. Many of them even quit their jobs before starting their business because they understood the importance of commitment. While I don’t recommend you leave your job, I do recommend that you commit yourself to making your business successful. Without commitment it will likely fail. Set some hard deadlines and stick to them.

2. Focus
I have talked about the importance of focus before (see this post). Until I focused on making money with one business (our web marketing and design business), success was elusive.

Now that my wife and I are running a successful business I don’t want to lose focus on that business or it might stop growing. Focus is one of the biggest factors in our success this year and it will continue to be one of the biggest factors in our ongoing success.

3. Time Management
Changing the way I managed my time has made a huge difference in my productivity. Now that I only check my email after I have completed 2 hours worth of important work, my productivity has greatly increased. I learned this and other techniques from various sources, including a very good book on the topic. If you are looking for great time management tips without spending a ton of money, I highly recommend the book, “Getting Things Done”, by David Allen. You can buy a copy at most bookstores or check it out for free at your local library.

One of the other things I did to improve my time management is to create a daily and weekly todo list. I manage the todo list with a very simple free online tool called Voo2Do. At the beginning of each week I create a new todo list with the highest priority items being done earliest in the week to make sure that they get done. In my case, that means that marketing tasks for our clients are done at the beginning of the week. You can also organize your days that way, with the highest priority items being done first and your less high priority items (like checking email) coming later in the day. I also leave some space towards the end of the week for those tasks that get bumped down the priority list by things that required immediate attention, like proposals for clients. Making good use of your time makes a big difference in your business success.

Now, there was a fourth factor that both Jill and I consider to be a bigger factor than any other factor… our belief in God. While everyone may not embrace this view, I do believe that prayer played an important role in our success.

Those were the three things that I did to have a successful 2009, what were the things you did to improve your business?

PS. This post was part of a my friend Daniel’s writing project (Daniel is one of those people I knew who quit his job before starting an online business). You can read all about his project by clicking here.

To Start A Successful Online Business Your Mind Has To Change First

Before you can start an online business, your mind has to change.

I don’t mean “change your mind”. I mean your mind has to change. Online business as a freelance entrepreneur is an example of thinking outside the box. Your personal “box” may take the form of…

• “I can’t make money in any way except a job.”


• “I’ve never tried anything like this before.”


• “I don’t know what I’m doing.”


• “This is a dumb idea.”

Maybe one or more of these apply to you, and these sorts of thoughts have to go. But before I repeat the cliche’ of “thinking outside the box”, how about a real-life example?

For a few months now, I’d been sick of turning on my television set with nothing ever being on, especially given what I paid for cable. Several hundred channels of programming, and it was all miserable. So, I did something that most people wouldn’t even consider: I canceled cable without replacing it. I no longer receive television of any sort.

Now, television tends to be a household staple even if it’s pointless. So this would be my own personal example of “thinking outside the box”. I’m saving a boatload of money, and it’s not as though I’m without distraction or entertainment with cable gone. In other words, net gain for me.

It was a benefit to me to do something most people would not consider, or at least not consider seriously. Online business is the same way. It’s a world of opportunity waiting that most would not even give thought, but it could wind up benefiting you greatly. This is what I mean when I say “First, your mind has to change”. If you don’t seriously believe you can make money online, you’re not going to get anywhere attempting it.

Jay Abraham Reveals 42 Free Ways to Prosper in This Recession

For those of you who don’t know who Jay Abraham is…

Jay has spent the last 25 years helping businesses make TONS of money. When I first started learning about marketing Jay’s name came up everywhere I turned because he is so well respected in the industry. In fact, he was named one of the top 5 executive coaches in the country in the March 6, 2000 issue of Forbes Magazine. I could write a full article on his credentials alone, but suffice it to say that Jay Abraham is considered to be one of the top business experts in the country.

Jay recently come up with a list of 42 different ways you can rapidly profit (and prosper) during this economic recession and he is going to share them with you for free!

It doesn’t matter whether you own a business, work for someone else, or want to find an income source that can rapidly pay all your bills.

If you want to secure your financial future, find a fresh recession income source, or help your employer earn more profits…these recession-based income strategies can provide the financial security blanket that you need to handle all the problems this bad economy is causing you.

Please don’t let fear stop you from prospering in these uncertain times.

Go sign up now for Jay’s FREE teleconference to find out 42 ways to prosper in this recession by clicking here!

You’re about to experience first-hand (for absolutely nothing) the same information a group of beleaguered real estate investors just paid Jay Abraham nearly $200,000 to hear about.

In all of two quick hours, via a convenient teleconference re-broadcast, Jay Abraham, himself, will show you 42 different ways you really CAN prosper from this recession, Right now—- not someday in the future.

None of these strategies will require one dime of capital invested on your part. None bear any downside financial risk, either and none are focused on real estate.

I just reserved my spot because I want to know how to increase my profits during these uncertain times.

Don’t wait! Click here right now, to reserve your spot on the FREE teleconference and learn how you can prosper in these difficult economic times.

Duplicate The Success Of Others

A few weeks ago in my free website marketing newsletter I revealed how to find successful online businesses to emulate. In this post we are going to discuss how to duplicate their success.

The first step is to find out what keywords they are using to advertise their products and services. You already know some of them because of the previous exercise. There are tools that will tell you all the keywords they are using to advertise with. One example of this is KeyCompete.com

Next, you need to figure out what they are doing to sell their products.

Do they have a newsletter?

If yes, how do they entice you to sign up for it?

Sign up for their list and make note of often they email you, what they email, what products and services they promote.

What kind of copy do they use?

Does their website look professional or homey?

What colors do they use on their website?

How is the website layed out?

How many pages do they have?

Do they use pictures? How?

Do they use video? How?

Determine everything they are doing and compare this with all the other sites on your list. Once you are done you will find some common themes. The things each of the sites have in common are things that you should absolutely be doing!

Several years ago I compared the top ten Technorati blogs in a similar fashion. Some of the things I found were:

1. They all made use of images in their posts.
2. A majority of them had their navigation on the right side.
3. A majority of them used either the color green or blue as their main color.

etc.

I didn’t do an in depth study, but if you wanted to emulate the top 10 blogs you could do an in depth of study of them and duplicate what they are doing. You could find out how many posts per day they write, what they write about, how they market their blogs, etc. Then you would know how to duplicate their success.

Emulating the best businesses in your niche will shortcut your path to success.

Note: If you want to read my previous newsletters on this topic just sign up for my newsletter by clicking here. Then enter your name and email and you will get the entire series in order over the course of a few weeks. Plus you will get other free advice that I don’t provide on this blog.

Be the Outsourcing

On occasion, online entrepreneurs have to outsource potions of their latest projects. No one can do everything well, and sooner or later, they’ll have to hire someone to do it for them. Things like web design, programming, writing, or video creation are examples of things that get outsourced. If you can do one or more of those things, you can make money by being the outsourced help.

There are some ups and downs to this technique. The biggest up side is that you get paid regardless of the success or failure of the clients. You do a good job for them, of course, but once you’ve given them what you were hired to create, your part in the matter is done. This cuts your risk considerably, and insures that any work you do will be paid no matter what happens afterwords.

The down side is that you don’t have the opportunity to make as much as you would with direct sales or promoting someone else’s products. Business people takes those risks for a reason, and that’s the chance to make large sums of money. You can still make money, but you’re potential may not be quite as much as another type of entrepreneur.

Still, freelancing is a good way to monetize a skill, and if you want to go this route, here are a few things you’ll need:

• A web site decribing what you do and other things to help sell your services. Those would include automated lead collection, samples of your previous work, and easy navigation so you don’t annoy potential customers away.
• Some means of promotion, especially those that let you build credibility for your expertise.
• A reliable form of payment collection that takes credit cards, like PayPal. Furthermore, never create a project until you have payment in hand. Some people may hire you frivolously, but you can minimize the risk they’ll waste your time by getting paid in advance.

If you have skills, you can put them to use for others to make money online. You took the time to learn them, and using them to make some extra cash is a perfectly legitimate way to go.

Formula 5 Review And Bonus

I have gone through the Formula 5 preview materials, and the folks at StomperNet have created another winner. It is coming out on January 19th, Monday afternoon, so I wanted to give you my honest thoughts on Formula 5 before the doors open on the program.

For starters, they released some really good videos to promote the product. You can watch the videos for free by clicking here.

Paul Lemberg, creator of Formula 5 is a well known business coach who has helped clients create over 350 million dollars in profits. He created Formula 5 to help you increase your business revenues quickly. Formula 5 is taught over a 15 week period and includes DVDs, action plan worksheets, and a printed transcript of each lesson. Plus there is a special members only portal that I have checked out for myself. The members portal is loaded with information. It reminded me a lot of the StomperNet portal – tons of information, forums, blogs, and mastermind groups. I was a bit surprised to see them offering so much to go along with the lessons that you get in the mail. The lessons themselves are good enough to help you increase your revenue, but I suppose the extra information on the portal won’t hurt.

Formula 5 works on 93% of all businesses that try it!

That is the highest success rate I have seen for any product like this.

If you are having trouble making a good profit in your business, then I highly recommend checking out Formula 5. While you might confuse Formula 5 with Formula racing because of the speed at which you can make more money in your current business… I don’t recommend Formula 5 for beginners. Formula 5 is really geared towards those people who already run an online business. On the other hand, beginners can learn a lot from the free videos. So, whether you are a beginner or you already have an online business I suggest you watch their free videos.

My Bonus

I am about 75% finished with a curriculum for a coaching program I intend to launch later this year. One of the ebooks that will be part of the curriculum makes an excellent companion to this product. In fact, the ebook is all about maximizing your profits. If you buy Formula 5 through my affiliate link by clicking here then after you complete the 15 weeks of training, I will send you a free copy of this yet-to-be released ebook from my upcoming coaching program. It is the perfect complement for the Formula 5 training.

Additionally, when you complete the 15 week course I will give you a free 1 hour consultation to check up on your progress in the program and answer any questions you have about my ebook. All you have to do is order Formula 5 through my affiliate link and send me a copy of your receipt for Formula 5. Once I verify the sale I will send you information on getting your bonuses.

Free Formula 5 MBA In A Box – My Quick Summary

The other day I finished reading Stompernet’s free report called “MBA In A Box”.

Here is my quick summary of what is covered in MBA In A Box:

1. Raise the price of your product by 15 percent.

2. Increase the perceived value of your product.

3. Sell more to your existing customers.

4. Businesses fail because:
    A. Lack of vision.
    B. Lack of strategy to carry out vision.
    C. Lack of a system for marketing and sales.
    D. Lack of a system to monetize clients.
    E. Trying to do too many things (no systems to get things done).

5. Businesses succeed when:
    A. They have a strong value proposition.
    B. Continual stream of leads.
    C. Consistently and cost effectively convert leads to customers.
    D. Have a system to monetize customers.
    E. Operate efficiently.

6. Compound all five parts of the formula together to create a huge increase in profits.

I know that Formula 5 is based on solid business success principles because my business mentors have taught me the same strategies discussed in this report (and I teach them as well).

The full report goes into more detail about implementing Formula 5 strategies, but I thought a good summary would help you know what to expect when you check it out for yourself.

So, who should read the free Formula Five MBA In A Box report?

The report is best suited for online entrepreneurs who sell products and services. It’s not really useful for people who make their living (or intend to make their living) from affiliate marketing. It’s also not something that I would generally recommend to people who are absolutely new to Internet marketing (0-3 months experience— if you fall in this category, you should check out OnlineProfits.com). However, it is free and unless you have some sort of formal business training, then you will probably learn a thing or two about maximizing your online business profits by reading it.

If you want to read all the details of the report, you can download it by clicking here.

A Complete Internet Marketing Training Program For Beginners

A group of very successful online marketers (including a good friend) have just launched a new website called OnlineProfits.com. OnlineProfits.com is one of the most complete courses on the topic of Internet marketing and online business that I have seen. The course was put together by a collaboration of experts in a wide variety of Internet marketing niches. The experts include:

Michael Gray: Well known Search Engine Optimization expert.

Neil Patel: Founder of ACS SEO, and personal branding expert.

Yaro Starak: Successful Internet marketer and blogging expert.

Tamar Weinberg: Social media marketing expert.

Hamlet Batista. Affiliate marketing expert and author of the popular SEO software tool RankSense.

Zac Johnson: Very successful Internet marketer.

Courtney Tuttle: Popular Internet marketing blogger and consultant.

Nathan Rice: Nathan is a professional web designer, specializing in WordPress themes.

Skellie Wag: Well known copywriting and social media expert.

Daniel Scocco: Popular blogging expert.

This course looks like an excellent way for beginners to gain a solid understanding of the fundamentals of Internet marketing and online business. I highly recommend you click here to go check out OnlineProfits.com to see what it’s all about.

According To The SBA 62.8% Of You Will Fail

That’s a REAL statistic from the Small Business Association… 62.8% of businesses will fail. I know that is a daunting statistic, but the folks at Stompernet have released a new video that reveals a formula to help businesses succeed that works on 93% of all businesses that try it.

Go check out the video by clicking here.

PS. Stay tuned to this blog for a special announcement on Wednesday, but for now go check out the video.

What Can A 300 Dollar Candle Teach You About Making Money Online In 2009?

Happy New Year to everyone. I want your 2009 to be the most successful year ever. Let me tell you a story about a 300 dollar candle that’s a little bit embarrassing, but will help you make more money in 2009.

A few years back my wife Jill told me how she wished that I would help the kids make more handmade gifts for her. So in my infinite wisdom I decided that it would be easy to make a candle with the kids and she would really like it. I remember my parents making candles when I was little and it looked really easy back then, how hard could it be? Well…

I went to the craft store (a store I never usually go near) and picked up a candle making kit that said it was “easy to use”. One night my wife went out somewhere and the kids and I started making the candle… Long story short, it wasn’t as easy as it looked on the packaging and um…

Apparently, hot candle wax shouldn’t be poured down the garbage disposal!

We did manage to make a candle, but after paying for a new garbage disposal it turned out the total cost of making the candle was around 300 dollars. My wife said that I didn’t have to make her any more crafts because it cost us too much money and next time I can just buy her a pre-made candle at the store.

I learned from that mistake and to this day have never poured candle wax down a garbage disposal again

Have you learned from the mistakes you made in 2008?

Did you try things that didn’t work and keep doing them or did you move on to focus on the things that work?

I am not and never have been good at making crafts. If I had to make a living making candles (or any other craft) I would be a very poor man. However, I am good at making money, which I can then use to buy already made crafts. That works much better for me. How about you?

Are you trying to get traffic through social media marketing, but can only seem to get it through the Search Engines? If so, why not focus on what is working (SEO) and stop focusing on what it isn’t working (social marketing)?

Are you bad at writing content, but great at designing websites? Hire someone or partner with someone who can write content and focus on designing websites.

To make 2009 your most successful year running an online business you need to learn from the mistakes you made in 2008. So what mistakes did you make in 2008 that you won’t be making in 2009?

How To Grow Your Business Fast

I forgot to tell you about this when it first came out, so I just wanted to quickly share a free video with you that teaches 7 of Eban Pagan’s most valuable techniques for building a multi-million dollar company. Just click here and opt-in on this page and you’ll be taken DIRECTLY to the video.

Let me know how you like it.

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