The Millionaire Mind Support Network™

Millionaire Minds Are Entrepreneurial

Many of us left the Millionaire Mind Intensive weekend, KNOWING, that we had to find ways to monetize our existing enterprises, or if we didn’t already own a business, start one. T. Harv Eker and the Peak Potentials trainers all stress the importance of reviewing and using, our personal and profession experiences and expertise, looking for opportunities to solve problems and sell the solutions. For many of us, writing and distributing self published e-Books or printed material based on our passion and purpose seemed like a good first step. Many of you have contacted Nick or myself asking for advise about how to publish your work, so I thought I’d summarize the Author Entrepreneur process in a series of Millionaire Mind Support Network™ Blog entries.

Step 1

Determining the market for your book

If you are moved to consider self-publishing, you are most likely dealing with a book of your heart … a book that you believe in. That makes it harder to step back and consider its position in the market place objectively.

Some are some points to consider in that process.

1. Who are the customers for your book?

2. What is the potential market (how many buyers) for your book?

3. Where are they? How will you reach them? (Internet marketing and website Search Engine Optimization, social networking, print media advertisements, direct mail campaigns, trades shows)

4. How will your publishing project meet the needs of your targeted customers?

5. How will it benefit them?

6. How is your book better than your competition’s…how do you maintain your edge?

7. Will emerging or changing technology affecting your publishing enterprise? How?

8. Have you budgeted for both time and money to market your publication project? Social and viral networks are two specific marketing trends that are being used successfully by Author Entrepreneurs. Both are inexpensive options, however the trade off is a significant investment of time and single-minded purpose. Our good friend and “Peer Mentor” Chris Sherrod is one of the best examples of success through focused intent and a complete commitment to the use of both social and viral networks to promote his work. Are you willing and able to commit the time needed to leverage social networks effectively to market your publications?

The next Millionaire Mind Support Network™ Blog will address Step Two of the Author Entrepreneur Process: Develop a clear description of your author entrepreneur enterprise.

YouPublish is Mark Victor Hansen’s Latest Publishing Innovation

Last night’s Peak Potentials Ambassador program teleconference was lead by Manny Goldman. It was OUTSTANDING! At the beginning of the call he mentioned that all the suggestions he intended to discuss would be applicable to any business venture. Manny referred listeners to several social networking sites as a way to expand our professional networks. He mentioned a site that Mark Victor Hanson had developed, YouPublish, went live on May 11, 2008. As soon as the Ambassador Talk was finished I reviewed the YouPublish site.

WOW!!

“What a gift to the technically timid! I LOVE the clarity of the instructions, the visual simplicity of the site, the ease of posting, and the flexibility to change things, whenever. I first posted my ebook for sale and then changed it to free — and now will unabashedly invite my list to check out YouPublish.”

— Esther Jantzen, YouPublish Customer Comment

You publish.com lets you publish any file, so you can upload books, music, videos, photos, spreadsheets, CG files, seminar packages, software… whatever! And you can sell your creations — or share them for free. It’s up to you!

You can even do combinations of files, like a book and audio together. Just select both files when you upload. When you join YouPublish, (IT IS FREE TO JOIN!) you’ll get your own URL (web address) and a public profile page to showcase your works and creations—and every file you publish has its own URL too! You’ll also get a referral link to send to all your friends.

My referral link is:
youpublish.com/referredby/millionairemind

The site is VERY user friendly. Click the instructional video. It will guide you through the registration and publishing process. This site really addresses the issues setting up a shopping cart, accepting payment; download capability, all of the ecommerce stuff that usually stops would-be authors at the starting gate. In just a few minutes you will be able to:

* Publish any file, in any format.
* Create your own public profile page to showcase your works.
* Join a community of users from 26 countries (and growing!).
* Sell your creations or share them for free.
* Find useful files and download them at your convenience.
* Get paid for referring your friends.
* Dead simple and wicked fast.

There is no fee for setting up an account on YouPublish and no fee for posting your publications (e-books, audio, videos, photos, software, seminar packages, and the like).

The largest file YouPublish accepts right now is 100MB. This will improve this as site develops.

When you sell products on YouPublish, you get 50% of the revenue, and they get 50%. (Traditional publishers pay 7% to 10% to authors, and last time we checked, Amazon was paying 35% to its e-book publishers.)

You will also receive 7.5% of publication sales from user accounts registered using your Personal Referral Link. This will expire in two years. You can’t get paid for referring yourself or somebody else in the same household.

To keep things efficient, YouPublish will only make payments when there is $100 or more owing to your account.

Payments are made monthly.

The first time YouPublish pays you, they will ask you for all the information they need to get the job done. You need to claim money owing to you within one year.

You are responsible for paying your own taxes (guess we all are).

The stuff you publish can either be free or you may require a payment for downloading. If you set a price for your stuff, it needs to be at least $1.00. (The credit card companies won’t process anything less.)

You get to keep all the rights to the stuff you publish through the YouPublish site. You give YouPublish the right to store the stuff their servers, make back up copies, and do all the other stuff they need to do to provide their services. You also give the other users on the site the right to download, print for their own use, and generally use the stuff they download.

There is much more information on the YouPublish site. Spend some time looking around; sign up as part of the community.

This site is ONLY FIVE DAYS OLD…

and with Mark Victor Hansen behind it — you know YouPublish will be HUGE!

When you go the site please use my reference link —
youpublish.com/referredby/millionairemind

I’m really focusing on my “Lucrative opportunities always come my way,” and Being an EXCELLENT Receiver” Attitudes of Wealth.

I’m ready to receive “Lots of Link-Love!”

Live Well, Publish and Prosper,

Sandi

From Our Friends at Internet Marketing Center

The jury is in.

After January 24th, 2008, making money on the Internet will never be the same.

A bold statement, I know, so let me back up for a second…

I’ve just received a private press release from Derek Gehl
and the folks at The Internet Marketing Center, and I’m
absolutely ITCHING to tell you what it says…

But I can’t!

The door to this groundbreaking announcement isn’t cracking open
to the public until January 24th at 10am.

But I CAN tell you this:

On this day, prepare for the unveiling of a full-on revolution
that will finally level the playing field for regular people
who want to escape the rat race, strike a clean slate in 2008, and make REAL money online.

I’ll reveal more closer to the date as information trickles out of
The Internet Marketing Center…

For now, watch a short video and get yourself
a sneak peak here:

To your success in 2008,

Your Viral eBook Campaign

There are two key “pieces” missing from nearly all viral eBook campaigns… and if YOUR eBook is missing either of these, you’ll be settling for a fraction of the results you could be getting!

Here’s the problem: Most marketers who write viral eBooks format these as text files, Microsoft Word documents, Adobe Acrobat PDFs, and in other common formats. These formats are pretty universal, so most people will be able to read them… but they’re missing two HUGELY important features:

Track the number of copies distributed: Once you start letting people share a text file, Word document, or PDF you’ve created, you’ve got no idea whether it’s been read by 10 people or 10 million people!

This might be acceptable under the name of “branding” if you’re a big-name company like Coca Cola or Nike — but if you’re a small business owner, you’re looking for hard proof of results! That means that you’ll want to know EXACTLY how many people have downloaded and registered a copy of your eBook.

Capture reader contact information: Say someone downloads your eBook “101 Resources for Customizing Your Golf Cart” as a Word document or PDF. They really enjoy the eBook and would definitely be open to hearing from you with related offers or information, such as a limited-time discount on golf cart accessories.

Your eBook has just won you a highly targeted potential customer for your products and services… but you’ve got no way to know who they are, so you can’t follow up with them! And unless they happen to see your other marketing efforts, they’ll probably never make a purchase from you!

When you think about it, distributing a viral eBook that doesn’t (1) track the number of copies distributed and (2) capture reader contact information is like going to a party and introducing yourself to lots of new people… but not listening when they tell you their names!

So when we added viral technology to the latest version of eBook Pro, we made sure to include features specifically designed to fill in these “missing pieces” in any viral marketing campaign.

When you create a viral eBook using eBook Pro, you can specify exactly what contact information your readers will be required to enter before they can “unlock” their copy of your eBook. If you want to keep things simple, you can request just their name and e-mail address, or if you prefer, you can request their postal address, phone number, or other information as well.

This information is automatically stored on the eBook Pro web server, where it’s available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even if someone registers their copy at two in the morning, their contact information will be available to you instantly. At any time, you can see exactly how many people have registered your eBook — and view contact information for each reader.

Armed with a growing “opt-in” list of contact information, you’ll be able to get in touch with your readers at any time to let them know about other products and services you may offer that are related to the content of your eBook. And if they enjoyed reading your eBook, there’s a very good chance they’ll be receptive to any other offers you send them!

And you may be surprised to learn that collecting contact information can actually result in an eBook that’s far MORE likely to be shared!

Think about it: If your eBook DOESN’T collect reader contact information, your only hope for getting your readers to take action is by including a sales pitch right in the body of the eBook. This can work — but in the end, readers are far less likely to share it with friends if it looks like a sales pitch.

By using eBook Pro to collect contact information up front, you take away the pressure of having to get your readers to take action right away. This lets you skip the sales pitch in your eBook and focus on simply providing quality information.

Your readers will appreciate not getting a “hard sell” in your eBook… and as a result, they’ll be far more likely to pass it on to a friend! Then, since you have the name and e-mail address of everyone who downloads your eBook, you can easily follow up with a product offer later!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to start profitable Internet businesses that make $100,000 to $2.5 Million (or more) per year. To get instant access to all his most profitable marketing campaigns, strategies, tools, and resources that he’s used to grow $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit:Internet Marketing Center’s Marketing Tips

Information — in the form of eBooks —

is THE best thing to sell when you are starting an Internet business

After all, when you sell an eBook you can make countless duplications of it at NO additional cost. Your manufacturing, stocking, packaging AND delivery costs are non-existent.

That means your profit margin is 100%!

But did you know that you can multiply the profits of an existing business by giving an eBook away — for FREE?

“How can you make money by giving something away for free?” you ask?

It’s simple… you create a free eBook stuffed with tons of valuable information, and then use it as a VIRAL marketing tool, encouraging people to download it, read it, and share it with their friends.

Once people see the value you’re giving away for free, they’ll want to pass it on to their friends - and word about you and your business will spread like wildfire through the online community.

Done right, this strategy can give you a strong personal AND professional reputation online, while creating plenty of visibility for you and your business.

And it can drive a ton of new visitors to your website… resulting in a huge increase in sales of your product!

(In fact, you can even use a free viral eBook to promote the eBook you’re selling. The quality of the information you offer in your viral eBook will go a long way to persuading potential customers that your main eBook is well worth the price.)

Best of all, a viral eBook is a FREE advertising tool.

You don’t need to pay to get it in front of potential customers, because they’ll already be sharing it with each other. They’ll email their friends a copy… or send a copy to a coworker through instant messaging… or post it on a blog or forum… and your message will spread across the Internet while you sit back and watch.

Your viral eBook will help you gain a “sales force” of thousands of
enthusiastic people who recommend your eBook to everyone they meet…
helping you build a rock-solid reputation for yourself.

And you can bet that when these potential customers are in the mood to make a purchase that’s related to the subject of your eBook, you’re one of the first sources they’ll think of!

Okay, so you’re excited about using a viral eBook as a marketing tool, but you still have one main question:

… What on earth can you write about???

Here are seven proven ideas you can use to get started creating your own free viral eBook today:

Idea #1: Industry update report

If major changes have recently happened in your industry — or if there are any major developments on the horizon — an industry update report can be a great way to get your name associated with these hot new trends and developments.

This is a great way to make a name for yourself within your industry. And when the trend heats up, you can bet that the number of people reading and sharing your eBook will skyrocket, too.

Idea #2: Industry resource guide

A resource guide can be really helpful to people who are just getting started in your industry, or who are looking for new contacts, ideas, or opportunities.

By writing this type of guide, you can develop a strong reputation for yourself as a reliable “industry insider” whom people can approach when they’re looking for resources. And when the time comes for them to buy a product or service, you can bet that YOU will be the first person they turn to.

Idea #3: Interviews with industry experts

Everyone loves to hear what the leaders in their industry are doing. After all, one of the best — and fastest — ways to become successful is to follow in the footsteps of those who’ve already achieved incredible success.

It’s easy to create an eBook that’s made up of a collection of interviews. All you have to do is send out a few emails to people in your field and ask them to share their experiences with you. People love to talk about what they do.

Plus, with this type of eBook, you’ll have 100% exclusive, original content - which is sure to appeal to your potential readers!

Idea #4: Special tips from industry insiders

This variation on Idea #3 can be another great source of valuable content. Instead of interviewing experts, you simply contact them and ask for their tips on how to solve common problems and overcome obstacles in your field. Then, group the tips by topic and you’ll have a book of “insider tips” that’s sure to be a hit.

Idea #5: “How-to” instruction guides

Of course, if you’re something of an expert yourself, there’s no need to consult with other experts to create your eBook! Go ahead and write your own eBook that teaches people a hard-to-learn skill or helps them get started in your field of expertise.

Idea #6: User manuals for hard-to-use products

If you have expert knowledge or lots of experience with a product that’s hard to use, you could create a start-to-finish user manual or beginner’s guide that helps new users get up and running with the product. If it’s a product that’s just starting to grow in popularity, your eBook will be sure to create a buzz.

Another variation on this idea is to create an eBook that lists alternate uses for common products and explains how people can start using them in new ways. For example, you might write a guide that lists 10 little-known uses for iPods, or 10 creative ways to recycle your old computer equipment.

Idea #7: Reviews of industry products

Product reviews are becoming indispensable resources in the online shopping community. People love to read reviews of products before they buy them - so if you’ve tried out some popular products that would appeal to your market, you’ve got some great information to include in your eBook.

So there are some ideas to get you started… Choose the one that appeals to you most and run with it!

Just remember that when you create your eBook, you’ll want to use software that allows you to…

1. Track the number of copies distributed

– and –

2. Capture reader contact information

After all, you’re going to want to know how popular it is with your audience, and how many people end up sharing it with others.

And of course, you’ll want to stay in contact with the people who have downloaded it. They’ve demonstrated an interest in the information you have to offer — and that means they’ve just identified themselves as great potential customers!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to start profitable Internet businesses that make $100,000 to $2.5 Million (or more) per year. To get instant access to all his most profitable marketing campaigns, strategies, tools, and resources that he’s used to grow $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: Internet Marketing Tips

If you’re currently running a business —

whether it’s online, offline, or both you’re definitely aware of the costs of letting potential customers know about your business.

Maybe you simply purchase advertising space in the Yellow Pages every year. Or maybe you print flyers to distribute, or take out ads in newspapers or magazines that are read by your target market.

If you’re marketing your business online, you might be placing ads on relevant web sites or in e-zines… or purchasing pay-per-click advertising on major search engines… or paying a search engine optimization (SEO) company to bring your web site closer to the top of the search engine results pages…

Whatever strategies you’re using, one thing is for certain — if you’re serious about growing your business, a substantial portion of your budget is probably going toward advertising!

The concept behind viral eBooks requires a bit of a shift in thinking from more traditional advertising models. (It’s definitely worth the effort to grasp the concept, because it could easily save you thousands of dollars in advertising expenses while generating just as many — or even MORE — new customers for your business!)

Here’s the difference:

• With traditional advertising, you create an ad, then pay to put it in front of potential customers, with the goal of getting them excited about your product or service so they’ll visit your web site or offline business and make a purchase.

• With a viral eBook, you create a free, information-rich product that’s packed with value, then encourage people to download it, read it, and share it with their friends. When these people see the value you’re giving away for free, they naturally tell their friends about this great resource — and word about you and your business spreads like wildfire through the online community!

Done right, this strategy can give you a strong personal AND professional reputation online, while creating plenty of visibility for you and your business. By creating a message so compelling that people actually WANT to pass it on to their friends and associates, you’ll create a lasting impression as a valuable source of information, entertainment, or whatever else you decide to give away.

And after you’ve created your viral eBook, your “advertising” is FREE! You won’t need to pay to get it in front of potential customers, because they’ll already be sharing it with each other. They’ll e-mail their friends a copy… or send a copy to a coworker through instant messaging… or post it on a blog or forum… and your message will spread across the Internet while you sit back and watch!

How powerful can viral marketing be when combined with the ease of use and instant “shareability” of eBooks?

Here’s an example: In September 2001, Internet marketer Seth Godin published an eBook called Unleashing the Ideavirus, which detailed a new marketing paradigm. In the eBook, Godin gave away plenty of great, useful insider information about the marketing industry and new online trends.

Godin invited readers to send free copies to their friends… download more copies from his web page… print out as many copies as they liked… and if they wished, buy a hardcover version of the eBook. In the end, Unleashing the Ideavirus was downloaded by more than 1,000,000 people!

The success of the Ideavirus eBook illustrates the “contagious” power of valuable information on the Internet. This eBook wasn’t a long sales pitch for another product, and Godin wasn’t interrupting readers every two minutes to remind them to pass a copy along to a friend. Readers were compelled to share this eBook for one simple reason: It was filled with useful information that readers felt compelled to share with people they knew.

In other words, if you’re going to use viral eBooks as a marketing tool for your business, you can’t approach writing them the same way you would approach writing an ad. You’ll need to give readers a lot of value up front to gain their attention, rather than tease them with promises of what they’ll get when they buy another product.

By creating an eBook that’s packed with information that your potential customers are looking for, you’ll not only gain a “sales force” of thousands of enthusiastic people who recommend your eBook to everyone they meet… you’ll also build a rock-solid reputation for yourself.

And you can bet that when these potential customers are in the mood to make a purchase that’s related to the subject of your eBook, you’re one of the first sources they’ll think of!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to start profitable Internet businesses that make $100,000 to $2.5 Million (or more) per year. To get instant access to all his most profitable marketing campaigns, strategies, tools, and resources that he’s used to grow $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: Marketing Tips

You Are Destined to Be One of Them!

A recent LA Times’ article documents the ascendancy of alternative business models in Hollywood. Successful filmmakers — Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, John Lasseter, George Lucas—have worked outside the traditional studio system, starting their own companies and producing great movies while avoiding meddling studio bosses.

The “Hook-up” between venture capital and Hollywood’s ‘creative class’, is allowing an increasing number of creative types to bypass the vaunted studio system and get direct funding for their creative projects. It is widely acknowledged that using the Internet to market and distribute independent films is low cost and incredibly effective. Internet buzz and ingenious use of viral marketing contributed to the phenomenal success of The Secret earlier this year.

Securing direct funding gives independent filmmakers and writers creative control of their projects. This process challenges the established studio system. The independent producer paradigm parallels the Silicon Valley’s startup culture. Writers are keeping control of their intellectual property and producing their projects independently with venture capital. The Silicon Valley’s influence extends beyond an active and enthusiastic venture funding pool. The other prime driver of the independent producer movement is affordable and increasingly more assessable technology. Technological change always affects the existing business model. Historically, those enterprises that can’t adapt, or won’t compete just go away — think buggy whips and button hooks.

The Internet is being used to successfully market and distribute films like ‘The Secret’ and other original songs, books, business products. As the ‘Cluetrain Manifesto’ predicted, it is easier to identify and reach a market that is passionate about a specific product and are willing to support it online or ‘In Real Life’. By skillful use of the Internet, early-adapter entrepreneurs are challenging traditional business models and marketing their products directly to their eager target market.

Most successful online businesses sell information in one form or another — books, reports, training courses, entertainment products. Facilitating access to information and entertainment, by bypassing the traditional gatekeepers, is the philosophy behind the Cluetrain Manifesto. The crucial component to consistent online profitability is maintaining an unwavering focus on your user, visitor and reader. Do that and all the rest — the Search Engine Optimization, web design that maximizes Return On Investment, fall into place as a natural consequence. It is all about the customer, the end-user and adding value. Profit, business success, financial freedom all rest on the value added to products and services.

What’s In It For Me!

Many of the Millionaire Mind Intensive Graduates are looking for ways to either monetize aspects of an existing businesses or investigating various passive income stream opportunities. I want to encourage you to carefully examine your own “Big Ideas” those wishes, dreams, secrete aspirations as possible seeds for your financial freedom tree. Each of us has unique knowledge that can help other people. Start by doing some online research, Google your field of interest, study what is already out there, look for ways you can “Add Value” to the market. There is no limit to how the Web can be utilized — even raising investor capital has become easier by using sources like www.prosper.com

Knowledge workers, writers, musicians, artists, business and life coaches can all sell their intellectual property directly to their customers online. The future belongs to a tantalizing new hyphenate — the writer-entrepreneur, artists-turned-business professionals. Folks just like you, who start their business enterprises to market their Big Idea and incidentally become financially independent by creating a business paradigm operates under a radically different set of rules.

Here Are A Few Inspiration Seeds for Your Financial Freedom Tree

After barely a year in existence, YouTube was bought by Google for $1.65 billion.
On the Internet, good ideas travel fast.

“The world is about to change. Anyone with an Apple computer can make a movie now — it’s never been a more democratic medium. The studios should be very afraid. Once the independent financiers start going directly to writers, things could change really fast. I ask myself every week — why aren’t we all working with them?
Look at the movies they’ve made. They are the new Medicis.”

—Scott Frank,
Writer “Minority Report” and Director “The Woodsman”

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!

What’s In It For Us?

The My Millionaire Mind site visitors and Blog readers are primarily small and emerging business owners. A large number are home-based businesses enterprises. As a retired SBDC counselor and as a business blogger I often am asked to respond to variations of the following statement, “I’m just a small home-based start-up, how can studying a book like, Winning or Success Principles help me with my business issues. For over 20-years my answer has been the same— there is always some insight or business process that you can extrapolate and apply to your own enterprise. One of T. Harv Eker’s primary Wealth Principles states, “Model Rich and Successful People” There is no faster way to do that then read business books that describe not only the successes, but those that offer a cautionary tale. I have a personal fondness for business and technical books that describe future trends and business and product cycles. One of the best in that gender is The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual.

Written by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls and David Weinberger, The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, is a 190-page paperback that was first published by Perseus Books Group in January of 2001. Back then, some traditional business publication reviewers and captains of industry wrote off the book as more science fiction than business publication.

Today, The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, is a frequently referenced source document for those who wish to understand and take advantage of the changing paradigms of business, social networking culture, web marketing and E-commerce.

The book begins with the salutation, “People of Earth…” and takes direct aim at the very heart of corporate America. The authors show how the Internet is turning business upside down. They proclaim that, thanks to conversations taking place on Web sites and message boards, and in e-mail and chat rooms, employees and customers alike have found voices that undermine the traditional command-and-control hierarchy that organizes most corporate marketing groups. “Markets are conversations,” the authors write, and those conversations are “getting smarter faster than most companies.” In their view, the lowly customer service rep wields far more power and influence in today’s marketplace than the well-oiled front office PR machine.

The Cluetrain Manifesto began as a Web site (www.cluetrain.com) in 1999 when the authors, who have worked variously at IBM, Sun Microsystems, the Linux Journal, and NPR, posted 95 theses that pronounced what they felt was the new reality of the networked marketplace. For example, thesis no. 2: “Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors”; thesis no. 20: “Companies need to realize their markets are often laughing. At them”; thesis no. 62: “Markets do not want to talk to flacks and hucksters. They want to participate in the conversations going on behind the corporate firewall”; thesis no. 74: “We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.”

The Cluetrain Manifesto book enlarges on these themes through seven essays filled with dozens of stories and observations about how business gets done in America and how the Internet will change it all. While Cluetrain will strike some as strident, the message itself remains quite relevant and unique.

Reading this book today is just as inspiring today as it was in 2001. In fact, based on the importance of social networking sites and viral marketing to small businesses it should be considered required reading. To put the information shared in the Cluetrain Manifesto in context, these are just some of the “start-ups” that became million and billion dollar market giants that changed how business is done, just as The Cluetrain Manifesto predicted: Wikipedia — launched Feb. 2001; PayPal — launched Oct. 2002; MySpace — launched Feb. 2004; Facebook — launched Feb. 2004; Digg — Launched Dec. 2004 and YouTube — launched Feb. 2005.

This book is for anyone interested in the Internet and e-commerce, and is especially important for those businesses struggling to navigate the topography of the wired marketplace.

Copyright © Millionaire Minds, LLC 2007
All writings here are copyrighted. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts. And remember, You Have a Millionaire Mind!

Internet Marketing

My original inspiration to pursue Internet Marketing as a passive and residual income stream opportunity came from listening to The Millionaire File Live CDs. Several of the Millionaires T. Harv Interviewed had started highly profitable Internet-based business. Alex Mandossian’s story was inspiring —he lacked technical knowledge and still developed an innovated a new approach to web sales that has made himself and others millionaires. Another Millionaire Files Live contributor, multi-millionaire Greg Habstritt, started several very profitable Internet ventures.

Several months after we completed the Millionaire Mind Intensive, Nick and I attended the Internet Marketing Center two-day “Internet Wealth-Building Boot Camp”. Those that know me well would describe me as parsimonious. It is not an easy thing to part me from my money. Before I registered and paid for the “Internet Wealth-Building Boot Camp”, I initiated hundreds of hours of very structured research, I defined one of the requirements as, “find an internet marketing training source that best matches my personal style”

My Personal Money Blueprint programming states, “I’m currently uncomfortable with very hard sell, aggressive sales techniques.” To be successful NOW I have honor where I’m at NOW. My preference is a measured, information-based marketing approach, sometimes referred to as Counselor selling — relating, discovering, supporting, advocating, and collaborating. Based on my personal financial blueprint, choosing a hard-sell guru wouldn’t work—for me, at this time. However, for another person whose financial blue print is OK with high-energy sales, the vendors I dismissed based on personal preference might be a perfect choice.

During my research, I sought successful Internet entrepreneurs to model and Internet marketing companies to mentor and educate me. I studied thousands of pages of web copy, e-Zines, newsletters, emails and internet marketing training manuals, I’ve read all anyone would ever want to know about Google AdSense, Wordtracker, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I’ve sat in on Teleconferences and Webinares and participated in online training sessions.

I’ve organized all the data, reviewed, recorded conclusions and made my decision, developed an internet-marketing education budget and an internet business startup plan, budget and project timeline.

Based on my search requirements, my research yielded four Internet marketing education and mentoring firms that I considered legitimate businesses — physical locations, employees that answer phones, D&B ratings etc. All their training information was equivalent, but with slightly different emphasis or approach.

After investing months in research and study, the Internet Marketing Center is the source of Internet marketing training that best matches my personal style and business model. The self-paced independent study, live workshop training and individual mentoring approach is the self-education solution I need to be successful.

Decision made, budget committed, time allocated — internet marketing project green lighted. I’m happy to report that the training session was worth every cent and in the months since, I have developed several information products and I’m in the process of developing sites to market them. A recent Internet Marketing Center ezine featured an article I thought would be helpful to those Millionaire Mind Intensive grads who are considering various passive income opportunities.

Editorial: Have YOU been sucked in by a scam? Here’s how to tell

By Derek Gehl Derek

Last week I wrote an editorial warning people away from the so-called “business in a box.”

Since then I’ve received a FLOOD of emails from people who say they’ve just spent big money on a complete “online cash machine” package… and now they’re worried they may have wasted their savings on something that’s never going to make them a dime!

A lot of these people have asked me to do some research on the product they’ve bought and tell them whether I think it’s a good money-making opportunity or not.

I’m really sorry, but as CEO of a $60-million dollar business, I simply don’t have the time to check out hundreds of different products and tell you which ones are decent and which ones you should avoid like the plague.

But I CAN offer you something even better than that…

… I can empower you by giving you the information you need to decide for YOURSELF whether a business opportunity is the “real deal” or not.

Today I’m going to educate you on how to filter the REAL money-making opportunities from all the B.S. out there, with my “Scam Detector Check List”!

Whenever you come across a possible business opportunity, simply consult this handy checklist. It’ll help you discover if it is a real opportunity — or a real waste of money.

Scam Warning #1: The company can’t prove a successful track record

If you’ve never heard of the company before — and they can’t offer solid proof they’ve got a successful track record — then how can you trust them to help YOU make money?

Be skeptical. Ask questions. If they say they’re a successful company, ask for proof!

Scam Warning #2: You can’t talk to a company representative in person

Before you make a significant investment in a business opportunity, give the vendors a call. Talk to them in person. Ask them hard questions.

If they don’t make it easy for you to them in person, then don’t do business with them!

Scam Warning #3: Former customers have lousy things to say about the product

A little bit of research goes a long way. Try typing “the name of the program + scam” or “the name of the program + customer review” into Google and see what results you get.

If the majority of the results are from former customers saying the product is a scam or a waste of money, then whatever you do, don’t make the same mistake THEY did!

Scam Warning #4: Thousands of other people are selling the EXACT same thing

If your “business in a box” package includes a product for you to sell, do a search on the name of the product in Google and go through the results. How many people are selling the exact same product? Say hello to your competition!

(And how many of them are using the exact same website the company is trying to get YOU to buy?)

If a lot of people are selling that product — and you can’t see any way to offer a unique selling proposition that makes your offer stand out from the crowd — then quite frankly, you’re going to find it extremely difficult to make any money at all.

Scam Warning #5: They can’t show you legitimate testimonials — from recent customers

If you are making a significant investment in a business opportunity, the company you are purchasing from should be willing to put you in contact with other successful customers. We get this request all of the time, and have numerous successful customers who are happy to give us a personal reference at a moment’s notice.

(If you’d like to take a look at how we use those testimonials on our salesletters, please visit: www.marketingtips.com/tipsltr.html.)

Look for testimonials that names, photographs, and URLs, if possible. The more information that proves the testimonial giver is a real person, the better.

If the testimonial has a URL, go to that person’s website and check it out. Does it look like the website of someone who’s making good money? Look for the contact info on the site and then email that person to ask him or her directly about the product you’re thinking about buying.

If the person says yes, it really is a good deal, and is still experiencing good results with that product, then chances are it’s the real deal.

However, be on the watch for DATED testimonials. If people were able to make money using this package two years ago — but the profits have long since dried up — then the product’s not going to do you much good now, is it?

Scam Warning #6: The company is charging YOU money to sell THEIR products

Ask yourself this: If a company is making a product that millions of people are going to want to buy, why wouldn’t they simply sell it themselves — instead of making other people pay for the opportunity to sell it for them?

The truth is, companies like this KNOW their “affiliates” aren’t going to generate any sales. That’s why they need to get your money up front!

Take it from someone who has been running a highly successful affiliate program for years. If someone wants to become an IMC affiliate and sell my products for me, I’d never make them pay. Why should they? They’re doing me a favor!

Scam Warning #7: The company makes outrageous income claims, without backing them up with proof

If a company says their product will have you earning tens of thousands of dollars within a matter of weeks, BE SKEPTICAL. There is no magic bullet on the Internet that can promise a five-figure income in 30 days or less.

The truth is, building a profitable business takes TIME. Sure, you can have a profitable business in less than a month… but you’ll probably have to wait a few more months before the money really starts pouring in.

So whenever you see outrageous income claims, ask yourself — where’s the proof?

Look for testimonials that back up these claims. If someone claims to have made incredible money from using this system, track them down via their URL and ask them if it’s really true.

And be sure to listen to your “inner radar” to determine whether the person is genuine or not.

Above all, do your research and ask lots of questions. If you follow these guidelines, chances are you will make the right decisions and pursue the right opportunities.

When it comes to online success, there is no magic pill. If you want to start a real business on the Internet you need to be prepared to put in the time and effort to build it.

My team and I can give you all of the strategies you need to make that happen. And we can break them down into easy-to-follow instructions. But the rest is up to you!

Until next time…

Derek Gehl

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to start profitable Internet businesses that make $100,000 to $2.5 Million (or more) per year. To get instant access to all his most profitable marketing campaigns, strategies, tools, and resources that he’s used to grow $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/922526