Monetizing Mistakes and How To Avoid Them !!
Hey there,
This Blog post is all about monetizing your list of subscribers or buyers.
Quite often marketers successfully start building their lists but then do not know where to go from there.
The reason for most people and businesses to build a list in the first place is to generate an income from that list. So what are the ways to monetize your list and what are some of the factors you need to consider when trying to monetize your list?
Well…first of all you should have or at least be building a good relationship with your list of subscribers. Attempting to bombard your list with offers before that relationship is built will bury your chances of generating any decent income before you even start.
I have explained the importance of building that relationship many times before so I am not going to go into it in detail here. Sure you can choose the churn and burn method if you like, but you will end up exhausted trying to maintain that in the end, and on this Blog I subscribe to ethical marketing only so do not suggest you go down the churn and burn route of marketing.
Assuming that you have been offering value to your subscribers and you have at least started to build that relationship with them, then you can start recommending offers to them.
These offers can be your own offers or other peoples offers for which you receive an affiliate commission. Of course these offers could be physical or digital products or services so keep an open mind as to what you can offer your subscribers.
It shouldn’t need to be said, but these offers should offer value to your subscribers and be of top quality. If you keep promoting below quality offers or offers which are irrelevant to your list then it won’t take long before they unsubscribe of just ignore your emails altogether.
On the topic of relevance, this is one that many new marketers get wrong. If you are building a list in, for example the Internet Marketing space by giving a free Ebook away on Video Marketing, then the offers you email to that list after should be as relevant to that as possible. Sure…many people who are interested in Video Marketing may also be interested in List Building or SEO also but not all of them will be. The further away from the core topic which they signed up for, the less relevant to them you are likely to be.
A good way to increase the relevance of each email you send is to segregate your list. If for example the subscriber who signed into your original list on video marketing also shows interest in List Building then find a way to get them onto a separate list relevant to list building by offering them a free report in that topic too. That way you can send list building offers to your List building list and Video Marketing offers to your Video Marketing list…etc.
Another mistake that many marketers made is to send a different offer everyday to their subscribers. This is quite often whatever the latest WSO or JVZoo offer of the day is. Again, it won’t take long for your subscribers to realize that all you are trying to do is get as much money out of them as possible and then that relationship with be lost. It is much better to pick a quality product each week and build a campaign around it for that week and offer bonuses as an incentive too. This demonstrates that you are actually behind the product and trying to offer real value to your subscribers. It also takes less time as you are not scrambling trying to find the latest craze offer every day.
Finally, another good idea is to find quality offers with reoccurring subscriptions. This will mean that instead of just getting paid a commission once that you will be paid each month for as long as the customers remain subscribed. This can add up over time and give you a more consistent income.
So, with these hints and tips in mind, I hope I have given some pointers on how to more effectively monetize your list of subscribers.
Until next time….
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Well…first of all you should have or at least be building a good relationship with your list of subscribers. Attempting to bombard your list with offers before that relationship is built will bury your chances of generating any decent income before you even start.
I have explained the importance of building that relationship many times before so I am not going to go into it in detail here. Sure you can choose the churn and burn method if you like, but you will end up exhausted trying to maintain that in the end, and on this Blog I subscribe to ethical marketing only so do not suggest you go down the churn and burn route of marketing.
Assuming that you have been offering value to your subscribers and you have at least started to build that relationship with them, then you can start recommending offers to them.
These offers can be your own offers or other peoples offers for which you receive an affiliate commission. Of course these offers could be physical or digital products or services so keep an open mind as to what you can offer your subscribers.
It shouldn’t need to be said, but these offers should offer value to your subscribers and be of top quality. If you keep promoting below quality offers or offers which are irrelevant to your list then it won’t take long before they unsubscribe of just ignore your emails altogether.
On the topic of relevance, this is one that many new marketers get wrong. If you are building a list in, for example the Internet Marketing space by giving a free Ebook away on Video Marketing, then the offers you email to that list after should be as relevant to that as possible. Sure…many people who are interested in Video Marketing may also be interested in List Building or SEO also but not all of them will be. The further away from the core topic which they signed up for, the less relevant to them you are likely to be.
A good way to increase the relevance of each email you send is to segregate your list. If for example the subscriber who signed into your original list on video marketing also shows interest in List Building then find a way to get them onto a separate list relevant to list building by offering them a free report in that topic too. That way you can send list building offers to your List building list and Video Marketing offers to your Video Marketing list…etc.
Another mistake that many marketers made is to send a different offer everyday to their subscribers. This is quite often whatever the latest WSO or JVZoo offer of the day is. Again, it won’t take long for your subscribers to realize that all you are trying to do is get as much money out of them as possible and then that relationship with be lost. It is much better to pick a quality product each week and build a campaign around it for that week and offer bonuses as an incentive too. This demonstrates that you are actually behind the product and trying to offer real value to your subscribers. It also takes less time as you are not scrambling trying to find the latest craze offer every day.
Finally, another good idea is to find quality offers with reoccurring subscriptions. This will mean that instead of just getting paid a commission once that you will be paid each month for as long as the customers remain subscribed. This can add up over time and give you a more consistent income.
So, with these hints and tips in mind, I hope I have given some pointers on how to more effectively monetize your list of subscribers.
Until next time….
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Never Be Lost For Traffic Ideas Again !!
Hey there,
One of the things many people struggle with when starting online is getting traffic to their website.
Many people starting out also do not have the funds or are scared to go straight into paid advertising.
I am therefore writing this post to help give you ideas about getting more traffic to your webpages.
Starting with Paid Traffic, when selecting a paid traffic source it is important to select one that matches the result you are trying to achieve. Paid traffic can get expensive but can also be worth the expense in terms of the payback. Be prepared for a learning curve with paid traffic also. It is vitally important to know your metrics though with paid traffic or otherwise it is similar to driving blind. You therefore need to be tracking everything.
Paid advertising includes, but is not limited to Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, Banner Advertisements and Pay Per View Advertising. Each one of these is platforms could fill a full course by themselves, so I am not going to go into them individually in this post.
With the ever increasing popularity of social media, it can be a great source of traffic and can be used to promote content on your website. Social Media is also a great way to create engagement with your audience and potential customers. Different social media platforms are more suitable to different audience types. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are better suited for B2C type businesses whereas LinkedIn and Google + are better suited for B2B type businesses. Of course the other advantage of social media is that it is free so an ideal place to start if on a tighter budget.
In general when you are creating content, there are a few things that you should pay attention to. The first is the Headlines on your content pieces. If the headline does not grab the attention of the visitors then they are unlikely to read the content. Therefore, it is important to spend come time on your Headlines. You should also vary your content in both format and length. Content can come in many formats be it written, audio, video or graphical. Different people prefer different formats so it is a good idea to use as many of these formats as possible. Also remember that you can re-purpose your content and submit it to many different websites to drive traffic back to your own pages.
When creating content for your own pages also remember to keep SEO in mind. You are not likely to rank for major keywords but it is quite possible with not too much effort to rank for longer tail keywords and these can add up over time, so don’t ignore them. Internal linking within the pages on your own website can also help with SEO. Also, when creating your content, try and make it top quality content to that other sites are more likely to link to it.
Other free strategies include Guest Blogging on other websites or allowing others to Guest Blog on your website. If you can get your guest posts on other high trafficed websites then this can result in quite a decent about of traffic back to your site. Also if you allow others to Guest Blog on your website then they will likely also promote and share that content which will bring more visitors to your website. You could also interview other big names in your niche or industry. Again these people are likely to promote and share this content and in addition it also builds your own credibility through association.
Other free methods of driving traffic include older but no less effective ways like forum posting and blog commenting. There of course will take time to build traction but with a long term plan they can be extremely effective. Forum posting particularly if done correctly, and you provide value in your posts, will also build your credibility which in turn of course leads to more traffic too.
The important thing to realize about using free traffic methods is that you will not get overnight results. At first it will be slow to develop any traction. However, with steady and consistent work on these methods, the longer term results can be excellent. Also, once, you start making some revenue using these free methods you should reinvest some of the money back into paid methods as these allow you to generate traffic faster and scale up quickly too.
So with all the above points in mind I hope I have helped spark some ideas for you when it comes to generating traffic. Remember also, to be creative. You are not tied to any one, or a number of the methods above. If you can come up with others, by all means try them.
Until next time….
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
In general when you are creating content, there are a few things that you should pay attention to. The first is the Headlines on your content pieces. If the headline does not grab the attention of the visitors then they are unlikely to read the content. Therefore, it is important to spend come time on your Headlines. You should also vary your content in both format and length. Content can come in many formats be it written, audio, video or graphical. Different people prefer different formats so it is a good idea to use as many of these formats as possible. Also remember that you can re-purpose your content and submit it to many different websites to drive traffic back to your own pages.
When creating content for your own pages also remember to keep SEO in mind. You are not likely to rank for major keywords but it is quite possible with not too much effort to rank for longer tail keywords and these can add up over time, so don’t ignore them. Internal linking within the pages on your own website can also help with SEO. Also, when creating your content, try and make it top quality content to that other sites are more likely to link to it.
Other free strategies include Guest Blogging on other websites or allowing others to Guest Blog on your website. If you can get your guest posts on other high trafficed websites then this can result in quite a decent about of traffic back to your site. Also if you allow others to Guest Blog on your website then they will likely also promote and share that content which will bring more visitors to your website. You could also interview other big names in your niche or industry. Again these people are likely to promote and share this content and in addition it also builds your own credibility through association.
Other free methods of driving traffic include older but no less effective ways like forum posting and blog commenting. There of course will take time to build traction but with a long term plan they can be extremely effective. Forum posting particularly if done correctly, and you provide value in your posts, will also build your credibility which in turn of course leads to more traffic too.
The important thing to realize about using free traffic methods is that you will not get overnight results. At first it will be slow to develop any traction. However, with steady and consistent work on these methods, the longer term results can be excellent. Also, once, you start making some revenue using these free methods you should reinvest some of the money back into paid methods as these allow you to generate traffic faster and scale up quickly too.
So with all the above points in mind I hope I have helped spark some ideas for you when it comes to generating traffic. Remember also, to be creative. You are not tied to any one, or a number of the methods above. If you can come up with others, by all means try them.
Until next time….
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Secrets To Building A Lasting Relationship With Your Subscribers
Hey there,
I get a lot of questions from people asking me how to build the relationship with their new subscribers when building their list. People fail to do this or don’t do it properly and as a result email open rates fall through the floor and then they end up thinking that Email marketing does not work.
Despite what you may hear from some people, Email marketing is still a very powerful way to market to people. Therefore, whatever you do, you should make sure as a marketer that you do email.
Admittedly it is not always the easiest. You cannot simply setup a followup sequence and send the odd broadcast email. You need to build the relationship with your new subscribers so that they grow to know, like and trust you. It is not until they know like and trust you that they will start to buy from you….
However, if you do this step the right way you can build a large base of raving fans.
The first thing you need to do when setting up a new email marketing campaign is to work out what you are trying to achieve with the campaign. If you don’t know what you are trying to acheive then it will be difficult to succeed. Examples of common email marketing campaign goals would be to make more sales, or to get your customers to take a survey or give feedback. Perhaps you are just trying to drive more traffic or simply trying to increase your customer retention.
So now that you have worked out your email marketing campaign goal you are ready to put the campaign together.
Your welcome email is the first email your new subscribers will receive and is therefore the first impression they will get of you. Therefore, you should give them a big warm welcome, thank them for joining and let them know that you appreciate them.
Let them know what to expect and let them know about the value they will receive.
In addition to the importance of your welcome email you should also pay close attention to your opt-in thank you page. Most autoresponders use a default thank you page which is pretty impersonal. You should use a custom thank you page which includes the same elements as your welcome email as well as a photo and should be personal and engaging.
Next up, all of your emails should come from you and not some business or company name. Again this adds the personal touch and makes it more likely that your subscribers will actually open your email.
Following on from that make the content of your emails personal too. Write like you are writing to a friend. Tell stories as everyone likes to hear a story. It is the way we have evolved over 1000’s of years of passing on information through stories.
Make your content valuable and engaging and add emotion where appropriate. Most of all be yourself. Sure, not everyone is going to like you but that is normal. not everybody likes everybody else. If you just be yourself the right people will like you and thats what is important. These are the people who will become your raving fans over time.
Use personalization in you emails too. This assumes of course that you are capturing your subscribers First names at least. All auroresponders allow for this and it has been proven that personalization works so use it if you can.
Another great way to create engagement and interaction is to ask questions in your emails and encourage your subscribers to respond. This is great for showing that you are a real person and further building that relationship with your subscribers. This also allows you to learn more about your audience, what are the struggles and what do they need help with. This gives you the advantage of then knowing what to offer to your customers and subscribers. It also has the added benefit of keeping you out of the SPAM folder because many applications such as Gmail, when they see that you reply to an email, take it as a signal that you are conversing with a friend.
Finally, never stop emailing. The more you email out the better the relationship will be that you build with your subscribers. Not only that but you will become better and more comfortable at writing emails and that in turn will also help in the relationship building process.
Anyway, I think there is enough information there now to get you thinking about how you can use these various methods in your own email sequences.
So until next time….
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
However, if you do this step the right way you can build a large base of raving fans.
The first thing you need to do when setting up a new email marketing campaign is to work out what you are trying to achieve with the campaign. If you don’t know what you are trying to acheive then it will be difficult to succeed. Examples of common email marketing campaign goals would be to make more sales, or to get your customers to take a survey or give feedback. Perhaps you are just trying to drive more traffic or simply trying to increase your customer retention.
So now that you have worked out your email marketing campaign goal you are ready to put the campaign together.
Your welcome email is the first email your new subscribers will receive and is therefore the first impression they will get of you. Therefore, you should give them a big warm welcome, thank them for joining and let them know that you appreciate them.
Let them know what to expect and let them know about the value they will receive.
In addition to the importance of your welcome email you should also pay close attention to your opt-in thank you page. Most autoresponders use a default thank you page which is pretty impersonal. You should use a custom thank you page which includes the same elements as your welcome email as well as a photo and should be personal and engaging.
Next up, all of your emails should come from you and not some business or company name. Again this adds the personal touch and makes it more likely that your subscribers will actually open your email.
Following on from that make the content of your emails personal too. Write like you are writing to a friend. Tell stories as everyone likes to hear a story. It is the way we have evolved over 1000’s of years of passing on information through stories.
Make your content valuable and engaging and add emotion where appropriate. Most of all be yourself. Sure, not everyone is going to like you but that is normal. not everybody likes everybody else. If you just be yourself the right people will like you and thats what is important. These are the people who will become your raving fans over time.
Use personalization in you emails too. This assumes of course that you are capturing your subscribers First names at least. All auroresponders allow for this and it has been proven that personalization works so use it if you can.
Another great way to create engagement and interaction is to ask questions in your emails and encourage your subscribers to respond. This is great for showing that you are a real person and further building that relationship with your subscribers. This also allows you to learn more about your audience, what are the struggles and what do they need help with. This gives you the advantage of then knowing what to offer to your customers and subscribers. It also has the added benefit of keeping you out of the SPAM folder because many applications such as Gmail, when they see that you reply to an email, take it as a signal that you are conversing with a friend.
Finally, never stop emailing. The more you email out the better the relationship will be that you build with your subscribers. Not only that but you will become better and more comfortable at writing emails and that in turn will also help in the relationship building process.
Anyway, I think there is enough information there now to get you thinking about how you can use these various methods in your own email sequences.
So until next time….
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
How To Get Over Your Tech Phobias
Hey there,
One of the things that hold many people back when they first start tryig to build an online business is the tech side of things.
It can seem overwhelming dealing with all the jargon and bits and pieces that have to be setup and fit together.
The truth is though that if you take everything step by step and one step at a time it becomes easier.
Also, the more you do something the better you get at it and the easier it becomes.
Another thing to bear in mind is that many of the things which you have to setup when you are first starting out only need to be setup once.
Many of the tech tasks are much more simplified these days too compared to 5 or 10 years ago.
There are plenty of free and cheap tools available now to help you perform technical tasks.
So here are a few things you can do to help you get over your fear of the tech stuff and help you on the way.
So here are a few things you can do to help you get over your fear of the tech stuff and help you on the way.
- Play around with stuff. When it comes to using software programs and applications you cannot break anything. Almost all software now comes with training videos so you can learn from those and then play around with the software. If you make a mistake or do something wrong it can be undone so don’t worry. By doing this you will learn how it works over time and get used to using it.
- If you do not know or cannot figure out how to do something you can always search on Google. There will be other people with the same question who have asked on forums and there will usually always be plenty of answers too.
- Youtube is another great resource for finding information and videos explaining how to use software and applications. You can learn about pretty much anything on Youtube these days and of course the best part is that its free too.
- Another place to look is in the many Facebook Groups that are now widely available to join. You can join a few active Facebook Groups and ask questions there. There will almost always be people with the knowledge who are willing to offer you assistance. A group to start with is my very own Facebook Group which you can find here: Internet Marketing Den
- Finally, if you still cannot figure something out or simply don’t have to time or don’t want to do it yourself, you can always outsource the task. Many tasks can now be outsourced inexpensively at websites such as Fiverr.
Build Your Tribe and Don’t Feed the Trolls !!!
Hey there,
I hope you are doing well.
I don’t know about you but for me the time seems to flying away these days.
It has already been over a week since my last Blog post.
I am still working away on my sales funnel adding the final touches and tweaking it.
This has included ordering graphics and adding sales videos too.
I think I definitely need some more practice shooting videos LOL.
So…. what else has happened over the last week?
Well…a topic which I noticed has surfaced a number of times this week is related to putting yourself out there in the public and the possibility of gettig trolled in the process.
Fortunately it hasn’t happened me yet but I am sure it will….because it happens to everyone who puts themselves out there.
If it does happen however you should not get disheartened or give up.
The fact is that not everyone out there in Internet land is going to agree with you or like you.
Let these people go and move on.
I also touched on this topic before in relation to getting unsubscribes in your autoresponder account.
If these people don’t like your style then you don’t need them on your list or in your audience anyway.
People on your list who are never going to buy from you anyway are just costing you money.
The other type of negative person you may end up with as I mentioned already are trolls.
Sometimes these people can get nasty which can go as far as to hurt your feelings.
There are a few things you should keep in mind when dealing with trolls.
First is that it is easy for some people to be brave from behind their computer screens and say things that they would never say to you face.
The fact is that these people are the ones with the problem and are more than likely just jealous that you are achieving more than they are….
or that you at least have to motivation to try and get out there and make a better life for yourself…. something they wish they could do too but aren’t.
The best way to deal with these people is to simply ignore them.
Whatever you do, do not let them drag you down to their level.
In most cases you are the one in control,, whether its your email list, Facebook Page or Group or Youtube channel.
You can unsubscribe them, remove their posts and block them.
Just remove the negativity as that is the last thing you need when you are trying to build your successful online business.
So on that note …. get out there and get yourself known and fearlessly build your own tribe….
…and in the meantime…
We will catch up next week.
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
So…. what else has happened over the last week?
Well…a topic which I noticed has surfaced a number of times this week is related to putting yourself out there in the public and the possibility of gettig trolled in the process.
Fortunately it hasn’t happened me yet but I am sure it will….because it happens to everyone who puts themselves out there.
If it does happen however you should not get disheartened or give up.
The fact is that not everyone out there in Internet land is going to agree with you or like you.
Let these people go and move on.
I also touched on this topic before in relation to getting unsubscribes in your autoresponder account.
If these people don’t like your style then you don’t need them on your list or in your audience anyway.
People on your list who are never going to buy from you anyway are just costing you money.
The other type of negative person you may end up with as I mentioned already are trolls.
Sometimes these people can get nasty which can go as far as to hurt your feelings.
There are a few things you should keep in mind when dealing with trolls.
First is that it is easy for some people to be brave from behind their computer screens and say things that they would never say to you face.
The fact is that these people are the ones with the problem and are more than likely just jealous that you are achieving more than they are….
or that you at least have to motivation to try and get out there and make a better life for yourself…. something they wish they could do too but aren’t.
The best way to deal with these people is to simply ignore them.
Whatever you do, do not let them drag you down to their level.
In most cases you are the one in control,, whether its your email list, Facebook Page or Group or Youtube channel.
You can unsubscribe them, remove their posts and block them.
Just remove the negativity as that is the last thing you need when you are trying to build your successful online business.
So on that note …. get out there and get yourself known and fearlessly build your own tribe….
…and in the meantime…
We will catch up next week.
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Missing In Action but Back On Track !!
Hey there,
I hope you are doing well.
Its been a few weeks since my last Blog post so I need to get my act together and get back on track.
To be honest the last few weeks have been hectic for me.
Sometimes life has a funny way of throwing everything at you at the same time.
I must admit I got somewhat overwhelmed and at times a bit down and lethargic and even when I had some time to do things I just couldn’t seem to get myself to do anything.
I guess the thing to take out of this is that there will be times when we all go though periods like this.
Sometimes you just have to take a short break to relax and recoup.
I am back now with renewed enthusiasm and will endeavor to get back to my one Blog post every week.
Having said all of that, I have managed to progress somewhat in continuing to build the foundations of my business.
I have still had my weekly calls with Andy and that has motivated me to produce something each week, little and all as it may be.
Again the accountability factor I keep talking about makes a massive difference with this.
Without it I probably would have achieved nothing at all over the last few weeks.
I am scheduled to have a call with Andy in just over half an hour now to go through the first draft of the various sales pages in my funnel.
I have to say that I have struggled somewhat with the copywriting part of all this.
Copywriting is not easy…
However, I do recognize that it is one of the most valuable skills you can learn as a marketer, be it online or offline.
Whether it be a Squeeze page, a sales page or an email you are sending out, being able to write copy, even to a basic level will make a huge difference to your results as a marketer.
With that in mind I have also started to read one of the many books I have on the subject.
The one I am reading at the moment was recommended by Andy… The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert W. Bly and I have to say I am impressed so far.
No matter what though, getting good at copy takes practice and will take time so the more you practice and test the better you will get.
Learning to build and maintain a profitable online business is a continuous learning process and I do enjoy that even though it can be frustrating at times. 🙂
There are a few other important things I have realized about writing copy ….
First is you really need to have a clear picture of who your prospective customer is.
You need to know what their desires and fears are and what makes them tick.
I could write a whole Blog post on this topic and will do at some stage.
If you know this then it makes your copy so much more easier to write.
A second thing which makes a big difference is having a swipe file of copy.
This can and should include headlines, squeeze pages, sales pages and emails etc.
Having a swipe file gives you something you can refer to when it comes to writing copy.
It means you are not starting off with a blank page which is very difficult to do, especially as a beginner to writing copy.
You should start building a swipe file as soon as possible.
Anytime you see a piece of copy that resonates with you and makes you want to take action you should take a copy for yourself and add it to your swipe file.
This is something I have just started to do myself as I start my journey to becoming the next Gary Halbert LOL.
Anyway, lets see what Andy thinks about my latest attempt in the next 15 minutes :).
Until next week.
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
I guess the thing to take out of this is that there will be times when we all go though periods like this.
Sometimes you just have to take a short break to relax and recoup.
I am back now with renewed enthusiasm and will endeavor to get back to my one Blog post every week.
Having said all of that, I have managed to progress somewhat in continuing to build the foundations of my business.
I have still had my weekly calls with Andy and that has motivated me to produce something each week, little and all as it may be.
Again the accountability factor I keep talking about makes a massive difference with this.
Without it I probably would have achieved nothing at all over the last few weeks.
I am scheduled to have a call with Andy in just over half an hour now to go through the first draft of the various sales pages in my funnel.
I have to say that I have struggled somewhat with the copywriting part of all this.
Copywriting is not easy…
However, I do recognize that it is one of the most valuable skills you can learn as a marketer, be it online or offline.
Whether it be a Squeeze page, a sales page or an email you are sending out, being able to write copy, even to a basic level will make a huge difference to your results as a marketer.
With that in mind I have also started to read one of the many books I have on the subject.
The one I am reading at the moment was recommended by Andy… The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert W. Bly and I have to say I am impressed so far.
No matter what though, getting good at copy takes practice and will take time so the more you practice and test the better you will get.
Learning to build and maintain a profitable online business is a continuous learning process and I do enjoy that even though it can be frustrating at times. 🙂
There are a few other important things I have realized about writing copy ….
First is you really need to have a clear picture of who your prospective customer is.
You need to know what their desires and fears are and what makes them tick.
I could write a whole Blog post on this topic and will do at some stage.
If you know this then it makes your copy so much more easier to write.
A second thing which makes a big difference is having a swipe file of copy.
This can and should include headlines, squeeze pages, sales pages and emails etc.
Having a swipe file gives you something you can refer to when it comes to writing copy.
It means you are not starting off with a blank page which is very difficult to do, especially as a beginner to writing copy.
You should start building a swipe file as soon as possible.
Anytime you see a piece of copy that resonates with you and makes you want to take action you should take a copy for yourself and add it to your swipe file.
This is something I have just started to do myself as I start my journey to becoming the next Gary Halbert LOL.
Anyway, lets see what Andy thinks about my latest attempt in the next 15 minutes :).
Until next week.
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Yaaay….Content Finally Finished !!
Hey there,
And yet another week gone by….
Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun 🙂
I hope you have been doing well yourself over the last week.
Well… its been another busy week for me and things are progressing nicely.
I finally finished creating all of my training videos this week.
Doing over the shoulder videos definitely takes more effort (and editing) than simple slideshow videos.
It is at times this I am glad that I invested in Camtasia.
Not the cheapest video editing tool on the market I must admit, but well worth the investment I have to say.
From my point of view I consider it an investment in my business.
The problem with many people is that they look at everything as a cost and don’t take into account that investing in tools can save them both time and money in the long run.
I totally understand though that some people might not have the budget available to purchase all of these tools.
However, I would certainly say that in this case they should make some money online first and then use the profits to
re-invest into their business. After all, an online business is still a business.
Yes you can start an online business for a lot less up front investment than a traditional brick and mortar business…
and that is exactly the reason you should be willing to invest a little to start off.
If you think it is a lot, then just think about how much it would cost to start a traditional business or even a franchise.
I am fortunate in so far as when I started this coaching with Andy and Richie, I already had most of what I needed in terms
of web hosting, domains an autoresponder and page builders and lots of other tools I don’t even need yet 🙂
That is a result though of me being a buyer in this market and not seller.
This is one of the first things the guys tried to hammer home to me. They said …
Donal …..STOP BUYING STUFF !!! …And start creating and selling.
Become a VENDOR and not a BUYER !!
This is exactly what they have been guiding me to do over the last 2 months or so and finally I am at this point with all of the content for my funnel created.
I will be the first to admit that it wasn’t easy at times and I procrastinated and they had to give me a kick
up the behind on a number of occasions but finally I made it and am both relieved and happy to have it all complete.
The next part of the process now it to setup my Squeeze Page and the rest of the funnel behind it.
I finished the first draft of the Squeeze Page this evening just before starting on this Blog post.
Again, as I have a number of Page Builders, it makes this process a little easier but there is still the copywriting aspect to it and ….
I am definitely not a copywriter LOL.
But Andy is confident that he can get me to create reasonably effective pages for my funnel….lets see if his confidence sticks around 🙂
My autoresponder sequence is half complete and I also started loading emails I had already written into it this evening, so I am getting there slowly but surely.
As I have said a number of times before, it is important to stick to it even if one doesn’t really feel in the mood.
Mind you …the prospect of Richie sending me endless messages asking me where my Squeeze Page is also helps LOL.
Annnnyywaaaaay….that is my progress report for this week.
Stay tuned to see how my crash course in page building and copywriting goes 🙂
Until next week….All the Best!!
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
From my point of view I consider it an investment in my business.
The problem with many people is that they look at everything as a cost and don’t take into account that investing in tools can save them both time and money in the long run.
I totally understand though that some people might not have the budget available to purchase all of these tools.
However, I would certainly say that in this case they should make some money online first and then use the profits to
re-invest into their business. After all, an online business is still a business.
Yes you can start an online business for a lot less up front investment than a traditional brick and mortar business…
and that is exactly the reason you should be willing to invest a little to start off.
If you think it is a lot, then just think about how much it would cost to start a traditional business or even a franchise.
I am fortunate in so far as when I started this coaching with Andy and Richie, I already had most of what I needed in terms
of web hosting, domains an autoresponder and page builders and lots of other tools I don’t even need yet 🙂
That is a result though of me being a buyer in this market and not seller.
This is one of the first things the guys tried to hammer home to me. They said …
Donal …..STOP BUYING STUFF !!! …And start creating and selling.
Become a VENDOR and not a BUYER !!
This is exactly what they have been guiding me to do over the last 2 months or so and finally I am at this point with all of the content for my funnel created.
I will be the first to admit that it wasn’t easy at times and I procrastinated and they had to give me a kick
up the behind on a number of occasions but finally I made it and am both relieved and happy to have it all complete.
The next part of the process now it to setup my Squeeze Page and the rest of the funnel behind it.
I finished the first draft of the Squeeze Page this evening just before starting on this Blog post.
Again, as I have a number of Page Builders, it makes this process a little easier but there is still the copywriting aspect to it and ….
I am definitely not a copywriter LOL.
But Andy is confident that he can get me to create reasonably effective pages for my funnel….lets see if his confidence sticks around 🙂
My autoresponder sequence is half complete and I also started loading emails I had already written into it this evening, so I am getting there slowly but surely.
As I have said a number of times before, it is important to stick to it even if one doesn’t really feel in the mood.
Mind you …the prospect of Richie sending me endless messages asking me where my Squeeze Page is also helps LOL.
Annnnyywaaaaay….that is my progress report for this week.
Stay tuned to see how my crash course in page building and copywriting goes 🙂
Until next week….All the Best!!
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Progressing Slowly But Surely ….
Hey there,
I hope you have had a great week!!
Well, here we are again, Sunday evening this week..the blog posts are getting later and later every week 🙂
It has been a lazy weekend for me, not helped by a late session on the IM Pub on Friday night.
You see, it starts at 9pm UK time on a Friday night but I don’t live in the UK or anywhere near it for that matter.
IM Pub last Friday night (before I joined)
The IM Pub starts at 3am on a Saturday for me so I eventually went to sleep at 10am Saturday morning.
Another great IM Pub with lots of great knowledge being shared but it completely wiped out my Saturday.
Damn.. I have to start skipping it some weeks, although I have been saying that for week now LOL.
So…what have I been at for the last week?
Well, arriving back from my break in Bangkok shortened my week this past week so I have been mainly focused on finishing the content for the various courses in my funnel….almost there now 🙂
Once the content is finished I just have to create the squeeze page and other pages in the funnel and then its time to start sending traffic to see how things work out.
I must admit there are times when I think it is taking me a long time to get to this stage, but as Andy and Richie pointed out on our call this week, I have a lot more to show now than I did less than 2 months when I started on this journey.
I guess the important thing to keep in mind, and what I have been trying to do, it to keep my mind on the final goal and my WHY behind doing all of this.
There are times I feel demotivated or just plain lethargic and end up procrastinating, but when I keep in mind that this is just the beginning and there is learning curve involved and things will get easier as I keep at it, my motivation increases again.
As I have said before too, the accountability factor is also a huge help as I do not want to get on a call with them at the end of a week and say I have not achieved anything.
Another thing you hear a lot in the Online Marketing space is that you have to GRIND and there is no doubt that there are times when you will have to do that, but it is also important to keep in mind that you should also have some quiet time for yourself.
If you do nothing else but continually GRIND, you will just burn yourself out and actually in addition, you won’t be very productive with all those extra hours you are working anyway. You will also get tired and demotivated.
I had great plans regarding what I was going to achieve this weekend but in the end I ended up taking some time out for myself to just relax.
The weekend is not over yet though so I am still getting through some of that to-do list, a little more relaxed now 🙂
So basically I think the lesson to take away from this is to find a balance.
There is no point eventually reaching the success you have been striving for only to find out you have lost your health.
Just my 2 cents worth and feel free to disagree if you like 🙂
So ….I have my next call with the guys on Wednesday by which time I have promised to have all of the content completed for my funnel and also have a squeeze page or two created for the front end.
With that being said I am going to get back to work and wish you a great week ahead.
Until then…
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
IM Pub last Friday night (before I joined)
The IM Pub starts at 3am on a Saturday for me so I eventually went to sleep at 10am Saturday morning.
Another great IM Pub with lots of great knowledge being shared but it completely wiped out my Saturday.
Damn.. I have to start skipping it some weeks, although I have been saying that for week now LOL.
So…what have I been at for the last week?
Well, arriving back from my break in Bangkok shortened my week this past week so I have been mainly focused on finishing the content for the various courses in my funnel….almost there now 🙂
Once the content is finished I just have to create the squeeze page and other pages in the funnel and then its time to start sending traffic to see how things work out.
I must admit there are times when I think it is taking me a long time to get to this stage, but as Andy and Richie pointed out on our call this week, I have a lot more to show now than I did less than 2 months when I started on this journey.
I guess the important thing to keep in mind, and what I have been trying to do, it to keep my mind on the final goal and my WHY behind doing all of this.
There are times I feel demotivated or just plain lethargic and end up procrastinating, but when I keep in mind that this is just the beginning and there is learning curve involved and things will get easier as I keep at it, my motivation increases again.
As I have said before too, the accountability factor is also a huge help as I do not want to get on a call with them at the end of a week and say I have not achieved anything.
Another thing you hear a lot in the Online Marketing space is that you have to GRIND and there is no doubt that there are times when you will have to do that, but it is also important to keep in mind that you should also have some quiet time for yourself.
If you do nothing else but continually GRIND, you will just burn yourself out and actually in addition, you won’t be very productive with all those extra hours you are working anyway. You will also get tired and demotivated.
I had great plans regarding what I was going to achieve this weekend but in the end I ended up taking some time out for myself to just relax.
The weekend is not over yet though so I am still getting through some of that to-do list, a little more relaxed now 🙂
So basically I think the lesson to take away from this is to find a balance.
There is no point eventually reaching the success you have been striving for only to find out you have lost your health.
Just my 2 cents worth and feel free to disagree if you like 🙂
So ….I have my next call with the guys on Wednesday by which time I have promised to have all of the content completed for my funnel and also have a squeeze page or two created for the front end.
With that being said I am going to get back to work and wish you a great week ahead.
Until then…
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Sometimes You Just Need to Take a Break
Hey There,
Another week gone by and I am a little late with my blog post for this week so apologies for that.
I have been very busy with many things recently and ending up worn out.
Therefore I decided it was time to take a timeout and relax and rejuvenate….
I am writing this blog post sitting in my hotel room in Bangkok so it will probably be a shorter post this week.
Its damn humid here at the moment and there are plenty of thunder storms around, but it is nice to just get away for a while and relax.
Chris Hitman made a very good point last Friday night on the IM Pub.
He said that the nature of the work we do causes us to spend long periods of time sitting in front of our computers and this is actually a totally unnatural environment for us. Continuing this for long periods of time is unhealthy and can eventually lead to all sorts or issues so you should get away from your computer for at least an hour or two a day and also take a few days off now and then.
I have found more and more over the last couple of weeks that I was finding it harder to keep my focus and also finding it more difficult to be creative because I was getting tired. That is why I decided to take a break for a few days and will hopefully be all refreshed and eager to go again next week.
incidentally Chris did an interview with my friend Gareth Daine last night which I recommend you check out here.
Chris gives away and ton of valuable free advise in the interview relevant to people at all levels.
So….
What did I accomplish this week if anything??
Well…I did get some of my over the shoulder videos finished.
Up to now I had only created videos with Powerpoint presentations.
Over the shoulder videos take a bit more planning and preparation.
So I ended up behind schedule a little this week as a result.
Also, when you plan to show someone how to use a piece of software or a plugin, remember that you need to spend a bit of time to learn it yourself 🙂
Sounds obvious I know but I did forget to factor in the time during this past week.
Anyway…. I plan to get the rest of those videos finished before my call with Andy next week.
I might even have a landing page put together too 🙂
My main goal over the next few days though is relax time so that takes priority right now.
And on that note I shall say goodbye for this week and go out on the town for a while.
Until next week ,,,
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Chris Hitman made a very good point last Friday night on the IM Pub.
He said that the nature of the work we do causes us to spend long periods of time sitting in front of our computers and this is actually a totally unnatural environment for us. Continuing this for long periods of time is unhealthy and can eventually lead to all sorts or issues so you should get away from your computer for at least an hour or two a day and also take a few days off now and then.
I have found more and more over the last couple of weeks that I was finding it harder to keep my focus and also finding it more difficult to be creative because I was getting tired. That is why I decided to take a break for a few days and will hopefully be all refreshed and eager to go again next week.
incidentally Chris did an interview with my friend Gareth Daine last night which I recommend you check out here.
Chris gives away and ton of valuable free advise in the interview relevant to people at all levels.
So….
What did I accomplish this week if anything??
Well…I did get some of my over the shoulder videos finished.
Up to now I had only created videos with Powerpoint presentations.
Over the shoulder videos take a bit more planning and preparation.
So I ended up behind schedule a little this week as a result.
Also, when you plan to show someone how to use a piece of software or a plugin, remember that you need to spend a bit of time to learn it yourself 🙂
Sounds obvious I know but I did forget to factor in the time during this past week.
Anyway…. I plan to get the rest of those videos finished before my call with Andy next week.
I might even have a landing page put together too 🙂
My main goal over the next few days though is relax time so that takes priority right now.
And on that note I shall say goodbye for this week and go out on the town for a while.
Until next week ,,,
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
Wow, What a Difference a Week Makes !!
Hey there,
Wow, another week gone by. Feels like WARP speed these days.
It has been a crazy busy week for me working silly hours and going to bed when everyone else is getting up but…..
In fairness it has been a pretty productive week and I have achieved quite a bit and have a few tips and lessons to bring you this week.
On the creating the videos for my course front, I actually managed to get all the videos finished, believe it of not.
I was a bit slow to start with. I must admit I struggled a little creating the slides for all of the modules and I think Andy and Richie were thinking I was slacking out again.
But….
Once I got got the slides finished I was determined to just get those damn videos done.
10 minutes each I thought to myself….7 videos …. an hour and a bit … and then I am done … Fantastic.
And then I procrastinated again. i start playing around with something I will get to in a minute.
Eventually I started the 2nd video for the course I was supposed to create…and you know what…
Its wasn’t that bad.
I recorded it from beginning to end and I didn’t even edit it afterwards. It was ok as it was.
Andy and Richie both told me that they could see I was a bit of a perfectionist and that I should just do it….no editing too…just get it done Donal !!
Forget about the Ummms and the Ahhhhs because in the end of the day nobody really cares.
Well, that suited me fine…means I don’t have to edit them. Soooo….
2nd video 15 minutes…Really ?!?!?…Did I really manage to talk for that long?
Ok, so I can do this then..onto the 3rd video and then the 4th and 5th….
Damn…..they are are all turning out to be 15 minutes long and then the rendering time too….there goes the hour and a bit estimate out the window 🙂
Crap…Getting late now…or early (depending how you look at it)
6am and getting pretty bright outside and I am starting the 6th video…almost there and then ….
That damn neighbors dog who always insists on barking his head off at 7 in the evening and 6 in the morning stuck to his usual schedule.
After 2 attempts and now 7am in the morning I gave up and decided to get some much needed sleep.
To cut a long story short I finished the rest of the videos the next evening (after the neighbors dog allotted barking time) and uploaded the last videos to Dropbox for review from the guys.
To say I was surprised by their reaction would be an understatement….You see….
I had expected some criticism and pointers on how to improve the videos …but no…nothing…except…
They are fantastic Donal…Is that really you ??!?!?
Well I was really happy although I don’t take praise easily (which Richie noticed on my coaching call on Wednesday and slagged me off about a bit).
So…1st takeaway this week…..is….. We all tend to be hard on ourselves and also be perfectionists and that stops us from doing stuff.
We are our own worst critics, and stuff we do that we think isn’t good enough, is actually good enough….and more….and other people will think is absolutely fantastic….so
STOP listening to those stupid inner voices telling you that you are not good enough…YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH…and BETTER than good enough.
The other thing they told me was that it doesn’t matter if you are making a course that 1000 people have made before….
Your course will still be unique because it was made by YOU, nobody else….only YOU and you will bring your own character and angle to that training and people will love the course for that.
Will everyone love the content you create? Hell no. Does that matter? Hell no.
Like I said before, not everyone is going to like you, but you will build a following of people who will, and they are the people you should care about, not the ones who don’t.
Damn, I am going on a bit now so I have a feeling this is going to be a bit of a long one …Sorry.
So what was I playing with when I should have been shooting training videos you may ask??
Well…..
I have gotten more interested in playing around with video recently.
And there is a guy I have been following for a long time, Mark Thompson (The English one), and recently he has been doing a lot of free training videos in his Facebook group, The Lifestyle Marketer, about doing video.
He had posted some great videos about doing Green Screen videos which I had heard about before but always thought took lots of expensive equipment…. Seems it doesn’t.
For those who don’t know you will have no doubt seen Green Screen videos before. It allow you to be in front of any image or video you choose in the background, even if you just choose the background to be plain white or whatever color you want (except green maybe LOL).
So.. I realized that with a piece of green material, which is what I set up with the help of my wife, and some free software, I could do the same with my webcam. And the results for a total cost of $15 dollars spend on the material (and something to hang it up behind me)….well see for yourself..(Not perfect because I need some brighter lights but not bad eh ??!?!)
Video is becoming really big these days and it is only going to get bigger so I encourage you to give it a try even if you don’t do live video….I have not built up the courage to do that yet myself either, but who knows what might happen in the near future :).
A few of my fellow Society 11 members such as Phillip Lopez and Gareth Daine (Gareths site is under construction right now so depending on when you read this it may not be available yet) are doing a lot of live video on Facebook and giving great value for free to build their audiences and it has also got me thinking about giving it a go.
But like I said, just start getting comfortable with even just recording videos yourself and looking back over the recordings to start getting used to it. It will make a big difference as you progress with your business.
Ok…I know…I am harping on a bit too much this week but I am excited about getting those videos done with such great feedback and also learning that Green Screen videos are not that hard or expensive to do.
Onwards and Upwards we go…..
I look forward to checking in next week with my next update….
Until then..
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
But….
Once I got got the slides finished I was determined to just get those damn videos done.
10 minutes each I thought to myself….7 videos …. an hour and a bit … and then I am done … Fantastic.
And then I procrastinated again. i start playing around with something I will get to in a minute.
Eventually I started the 2nd video for the course I was supposed to create…and you know what…
Its wasn’t that bad.
I recorded it from beginning to end and I didn’t even edit it afterwards. It was ok as it was.
Andy and Richie both told me that they could see I was a bit of a perfectionist and that I should just do it….no editing too…just get it done Donal !!
Forget about the Ummms and the Ahhhhs because in the end of the day nobody really cares.
Well, that suited me fine…means I don’t have to edit them. Soooo….
2nd video 15 minutes…Really ?!?!?…Did I really manage to talk for that long?
Ok, so I can do this then..onto the 3rd video and then the 4th and 5th….
Damn…..they are are all turning out to be 15 minutes long and then the rendering time too….there goes the hour and a bit estimate out the window 🙂
Crap…Getting late now…or early (depending how you look at it)
6am and getting pretty bright outside and I am starting the 6th video…almost there and then ….
That damn neighbors dog who always insists on barking his head off at 7 in the evening and 6 in the morning stuck to his usual schedule.
After 2 attempts and now 7am in the morning I gave up and decided to get some much needed sleep.
To cut a long story short I finished the rest of the videos the next evening (after the neighbors dog allotted barking time) and uploaded the last videos to Dropbox for review from the guys.
To say I was surprised by their reaction would be an understatement….You see….
I had expected some criticism and pointers on how to improve the videos …but no…nothing…except…
They are fantastic Donal…Is that really you ??!?!?
Well I was really happy although I don’t take praise easily (which Richie noticed on my coaching call on Wednesday and slagged me off about a bit).
So…1st takeaway this week…..is….. We all tend to be hard on ourselves and also be perfectionists and that stops us from doing stuff.
We are our own worst critics, and stuff we do that we think isn’t good enough, is actually good enough….and more….and other people will think is absolutely fantastic….so
STOP listening to those stupid inner voices telling you that you are not good enough…YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH…and BETTER than good enough.
The other thing they told me was that it doesn’t matter if you are making a course that 1000 people have made before….
Your course will still be unique because it was made by YOU, nobody else….only YOU and you will bring your own character and angle to that training and people will love the course for that.
Will everyone love the content you create? Hell no. Does that matter? Hell no.
Like I said before, not everyone is going to like you, but you will build a following of people who will, and they are the people you should care about, not the ones who don’t.
Damn, I am going on a bit now so I have a feeling this is going to be a bit of a long one …Sorry.
So what was I playing with when I should have been shooting training videos you may ask??
Well…..
I have gotten more interested in playing around with video recently.
And there is a guy I have been following for a long time, Mark Thompson (The English one), and recently he has been doing a lot of free training videos in his Facebook group, The Lifestyle Marketer, about doing video.
He had posted some great videos about doing Green Screen videos which I had heard about before but always thought took lots of expensive equipment…. Seems it doesn’t.
For those who don’t know you will have no doubt seen Green Screen videos before. It allow you to be in front of any image or video you choose in the background, even if you just choose the background to be plain white or whatever color you want (except green maybe LOL).
So.. I realized that with a piece of green material, which is what I set up with the help of my wife, and some free software, I could do the same with my webcam. And the results for a total cost of $15 dollars spend on the material (and something to hang it up behind me)….well see for yourself..(Not perfect because I need some brighter lights but not bad eh ??!?!)
Video is becoming really big these days and it is only going to get bigger so I encourage you to give it a try even if you don’t do live video….I have not built up the courage to do that yet myself either, but who knows what might happen in the near future :).
A few of my fellow Society 11 members such as Phillip Lopez and Gareth Daine (Gareths site is under construction right now so depending on when you read this it may not be available yet) are doing a lot of live video on Facebook and giving great value for free to build their audiences and it has also got me thinking about giving it a go.
But like I said, just start getting comfortable with even just recording videos yourself and looking back over the recordings to start getting used to it. It will make a big difference as you progress with your business.
Ok…I know…I am harping on a bit too much this week but I am excited about getting those videos done with such great feedback and also learning that Green Screen videos are not that hard or expensive to do.
Onwards and Upwards we go…..
I look forward to checking in next week with my next update….
Until then..
Peace, Love and Success,
Donal
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