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moSt SuCCeSSFul internet entrepreneurS in tHe Country. ColleCtively
tHey Have developed tHouSandS oF weBSiteS and Generated millionS in
online SaleS every year. now, in one plaCe, you Can diSCover all oF
tHeir SeCretS and learn How to Create your own internet empire.”
i n
t H iS
B ook
y ou
w i ll
di SCo ver...
4 Dozens of different strategies to make serious money online
4 The fastest and easiest way to build a low-cost website that sells
4 Insider tips to reach the top of any search engine and generate serious web traffic
4 How to master pay per click advertising and tap into large overseas markets
4 The latest advancements in technology to fully automate email campaigns
4 How to generate free exposure through the magic of viral marketing
4 The future of the internet and how to ride the next big wave
F e a t u r i n G
wr i t t e n
m a t e r i a l
B y. . .
S a n dy F or St e r (WildlyWealthy.com) ´ J aS o n Ham (Uniforms.com.au)
ma tt F r e e dman (Redback Solutions) ´ a manda ClarkS o n (eBay Expert)
d a ni el tu r n e r an d mar C l i n dSa y (SEO Experts) ´ mitCHell Harper and
e d d i e m aC H a al a n i (Interspire.com) ´ andrew and d aryl G rant (E-book Experts)
wi l l S wa y n e (Marketing Consultant) ´ SaSCHa G riFFin (Pinklily.com.au)
a ndr e w Cl aCy (Affiliate Marketer) ´ mike rHo deS (WebSavvy.com.au)
a d a m da vi S (Pay Per Click Specialist) ´ J o Hn B erto ne (Conversion Strategist)
ar i Gal p e r (ChatWise.com)
The ‘Secrets Exposed’ Series is proudly published by
Dream Express Publishing. A division of
Dream Express International Pty Ltd www.SecretsExposed.com.au
ISBN: 978-0-9803087-0-9
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dream
express
SeCretS oF internet entrepreneurS eXpoSed!
“tHiS Book takeS you up-CloSe and perSonal witH Seventeen oF tHe
dream
express
SeCretS oF
internet
entrepreneurS
eXpoSed!
$881
OF FREE
BONUS*
GIFTS
Featuring Amanda Clarkson Ari Galper Matt Freedman
Andrew & Daryl Grant Sascha Griffin Will Swayne & more
dale Beaumont
witH SHaun StenninG & Foreword By Brett mCFall
11/9/07 11:45:19 AM
Praise from readers of the ‘Secrets Exposed!’ series
“We’ve all heard the saying, ‘Surround yourself with successful people’. A
big thank you to Dale and the ‘Secrets Exposed!’ team for doing all the
legwork and interviewing these successful entrepreneurs. The ‘Secrets
Exposed!’ series has given me the opportunity to surround myself with
these winners at my own pace, in my own time.”
TC Lam – Strategic Investment Consultant
“I have always been sceptical of any self help, motivational type of book,
but when I came across your book Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs Exposed!
I was so intrigued that I had to buy it. I devoured the book in an afternoon
and re-read several of the inspirational stories four or five times. The
book is beyond exceptional! If this doesn’t awaken the inner entrepreneur
nothing else will!”
Deanne Kemp
“These ‘Secrets Exposed’ books have truly had an impact on my business
and personal life since reading them. I found the format so easy to follow,
and I learnt something new from every contributor. I have recommended
these books to many of my friends and I am looking forward to future
titles as I believe they will all hold secrets that will benefit me.”
Sophie Kelsey – Budding businesswoman
“The ‘Secrets Exposed’ series has become my bible. A secret Rolodex to all
the most successful business minds. To be connected instantly to people
who are doing and have done what you dream and strive to become is
uplifting, inspiring and insightful.”
Tania Menzies – Jelli Beanz International Nannies
“Huge congratulations on an absolutely fabulous read. I couldn’t stop
at one book, I had to go out and get the entire ‘Secrets Exposed’ series.
These books are such an inspirational and practical read that I am telling
everyone I know to get them. If you want to create anything you would
love in your life, go out and get one. They won’t just sit on your shelf,
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you’ll turn to them regularly for ideas, insights, and inspiration to create
your own life dreams too. A small investment to make to have a wealth of
information at your fingertips.”
Alison Nancye – The Mermaid Project
“This series were the first self-help books I ever read – before that I didn’t
even know there was a ‘self-help’ section in the book store! They inspired
me and opened my eyes to all the things I can be. I now achieve many
goals – from not biting my fingernails to getting my Black Belt.”
Kerstin Oberprieler – Student and 2nd Dan Taekwondo Black Belt
“I have read all four of the current ‘Secrets Exposed’ series, and can’t wait
for the next editions. I find these books inspiring and insightful. Dale
has created something unique with all the wonderful ‘added value’ gifts
throughout the books, which I have enjoyed receiving and benefiting
from.”
Lee Clark – Customer Love
“The ‘Secrets Exposed’ series has been instrumental in allowing me to
make a major mental shift about my business and sales. Each chapter is
a separate inspiration and a clear reminder of the simple, daily action and
persistence required to achieve success.”
Nicole Seagren – VISION Finance Australia
“These ‘Secrets Exposed ‘books have taught me a lot more than I learnt
during my studies. The practical information and tips have opened my
eyes to new ways of doing things. In addition to the books, receiving the
free downloads was like continuing that education. I am amazed at how
much I have learnt!”
Brook York – Professional Athlete
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SECRETS OF
INTERNET
ENTREPRENEURS
EXPOSED!
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Bh1399M-PressProofs.indb iv
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$881
OF FREE
BONUS*
GIFTS
SECRETS OF
INTERNET
ENTREPRENEURS
EXPOSED!
DALE BEAUMONT
WITH SHAUN STENNING & FOREWORD BY BRETT MCFALL
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Disclaimer
All the information, techniques, skills and concepts contained within this
publication are of the nature of general comment only, and are not in any way
recommended as individual advice. The intent is to offer a variety of information
to provide a wider range of choices now and in the future, recognising that we
all have widely diverse circumstances and viewpoints. Should any reader choose
to make use of the information contained herein, this is their decision, and
the contributors (and their companies), authors and publishers do not assume
any responsibilities whatsoever under any conditions or circumstances. It is
recommended that the reader obtain their own independent advice.
FIRST EDITION 2007
Copyright © 2007 Dream Express International Pty Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission from the publisher.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Beaumont, Dale.
Secrets of internet entrepreneurs exposed.
1st ed.
ISBN 9780980308709 (pbk.).
1. Entrepreneurship - Anecdotes. 2. Electronic industries Planning. I. Title. (Series : Secrets exposed).
658.421
Published by Dream Express Publishing
A division of Dream Express International Pty Ltd
PO Box 567, Crows Nest, NSW 1585 Australia
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.SecretsExposed.com.au
Distributed in Australia by Gary Allen
For further information about orders:
Phone: +61 2 9725 2933
Editing by Simone Tregeagle [[email protected]]
Layout and typesetting by Bookhouse [www.bookhouse.com.au]
Cover design by Jay Beaumont [www.thecreativehouse.com]
Illustrations by Grant Tulloch [www.tullytoons.com.au]
Printed and bound by McPhersons Printing [www.mcphersonsprinting.com.au]
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To my great friend, Brent Williams. It has been an amazing sevenyear journey working with you. Thanks for teaching me so many
lessons and for holding things together when I needed it the
most.
Dale Beaumont
To my fiancée, best friend and business partner Stephanie for
her endless support and great inspiration.
Shaun Stenning
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Acknowledgments
As with any major project, there are a number of very special people
who contributed to making this book happen, so we’d like to take a
short moment to say, ‘Thank You’.
To the 17 internet entrepreneurs featured in this book, the biggest
THANK YOU for accepting our invitation to be a part of this exciting
project. It has been wonderful to learn from each of you and discover
how you have each built your online businesses.
Next, a huge thanks to Emma Lyons, our very special project
manager who worked tirelessly to pull together all the material for
this book. You have done such an excellent job!
To the wonderful Simone Tregeagle and Kerrin Medenyak (from
Ink Communications) and Neil Murphy, our great editors – thank you
so much for your ongoing support. Sharon Witt, your efforts are also
greatly appreciated.
To Jay Beaumont (Dale’s brother) for designing the book covers, to
Bookhouse in Sydney who continue to do such excellent typesetting
and to Robert Stapelfeldt – thanks for everything you do to bring all
of the ‘Secrets Exposed!’ books to life.
Next, to the team at Sure Fire Marketing. Thanks for all your efforts
with the ongoing development of the ‘Secrets Exposed!’ website.
We really value your work and thank you for the many emails after
midnight.
Thanks to all the staff at Gary Allen (our wonderful distributors)
and each and every sales rep who has helped to get these books into
stores – we greatly appreciate the work you do.
And finally, to tens of thousands of readers who have supported
the ‘Secrets Exposed!’ series – a very heartfelt thanks. May the words
from our books continue to inspire and guide your way!
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CONTENTS
PREFACE
1
FOREWORD
7
INTRODUCTION
9
SANDY FORSTER
AT TRACTING ABUNDANCE
13
JASON HAM
ONLINE TO RETAIL
33
SASCHA GRIFFIN
MARKETING VISION
51
WILL SWAYNE
TEST AND OPTIMISE
71
AMANDA CLARKSON
eBAY RULES
89
MITCHELL HARPER &
EDDIE MACHAALANI
SOFT WARE SOLUTIONS
111
MATT FREEDMAN
STICKY GROW TH
131
ANDREW AND DARYL GRANT
OUTSOURCE AND AUTOMATE
153
ARI GALPER
SELLING WITH TRUST
173
DANIEL TURNER AND
MARC LINDSAY
GROW YOUR CONTENT
189
JOHN BERTONE
SIMPLE CHANGES
207
ADAM DAVIS
POWER OF ADWORDS
223
MIKE RHODES
FOCUS MAT TERS
247
ANDREW CLACY
AFFILIATE MARKETING
271
FINAL THOUGHTS
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287
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P R E FA C E
If I were in your position right now I’d be wondering if I really needed to
read this section. However, if this is the first ‘Secrets Exposed!’ book that
you’ve read, could I ask you to please resist the temptation to skip ahead,
as I’d like to briefly share with you why this book has been created and
how you can best use it to impact your life.
When I was growing up I heard somewhere that there are two ways to live
your life: the first is through ‘trial and error’ and the second is through
‘other people’s experience’. At the time I dismissed it as just another one of
those sayings that sounds good, but doesn’t make much sense. Then, like
most teenagers I finished school with stars in my eyes thinking, ‘This is
great! My education is over – no more books, no more lectures, no more
people telling me what to do’. How wrong I was. After a few months of
bouncing around, not quite sure of what to do next, I stumbled across the
idea of personal development and started to hear concepts such as:
•
•
•
•
•
Formal education will earn you a living, but self-education will make
you a fortune.
Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
You will be the same person five years from now, except for the people
you meet and the books you read.
Don’t wish that your job were easier, wish that you were better.
You are your own greatest asset, so you must invest in yourself.
Since November 2000, I have been totally committed to becoming my own
most valuable asset. After attending hundreds of seminars, listening to
thousands of hours of CDs and reading shelves of books, I have discovered
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2
P R E FA C E
that the people who truly succeed aren’t any smarter, better looking or
harder working than anyone else – they just think differently and have
learnt to incorporate different values into their lives.
I am now in the very fortunate position of being able to travel internationally to present personal development seminars to teenagers and I am
often asked, ‘What is the one thing you need to know to be successful?’ My
answer is always the same: ‘The one thing that you need to know is that
there is not one thing that you need to know to be successful’. I’ve learnt
that success is multifaceted and that mastering one principle of success or
area of your life isn’t going to take you to the top – the more you master,
the more successful you will become. But if I did have to identify one of the
most important success strategies, it would be this: ‘Find out what successful
people do and do the same thing until you get the same results’.
That’s what this book is all about. The only difference is, instead of you
going out and finding successful people, we’ve brought them to you.
You see, whatever you want in life, whatever you are shooting for, chances
are that someone else is already living it. They have already invested years
of their life and probably hundreds of thousands of dollars, they’ve made
lots of mistakes, learnt from them and eventually succeeded. So why would
you want to waste your own time, money and effort through ‘trial and
error’ when you can fast-track your success by learning from ‘someone
else’s experience’? As Sir Isaac Newton said, ‘If I have seen further it is
because I have been standing on the shoulders of giants’.
Every time you pick up a book, attend a seminar or interview a successful
person, you are compressing years of life experience into a few hours.
With any of the ‘Secrets Exposed’ books, you can multiply that by between
twelve and seventeen people and you’re looking at around 250+ years of
experience and wisdom ready and waiting for you. It won’t prevent you
from making mistakes of your own, far from it, but it will help you to
make more calculated and purposeful decisions, rather than big, misguided
and ignorant ones.
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3
P R E FA C E
There is no shortage of information about how to achieve proficiency
or even greatness in any area of life these days. Go to any bookstore or
library and you’ll find the shelves sagging with titles from experts, all with
their own theories and ways of doing things. But what I have discovered
is lacking in almost all of these books is INSPIRATION. What’s missing
is role models and mentors – the stories of people we can all look up to.
People who started out exactly like you – with a dream in their hearts and
with all the same fears and insecurities. Given the choice between reading
a textbook or a dozen success stories about people who have actually
done something, I’d take the success stories any day of the week. I’m not
saying that theoretical information isn’t important, of course it is, but
having presented hundreds of talks to all different types of audiences, I
can confidently say that it’s always the stories that move people. It’s the
whole, “If he or she did it, then so can I” that gets inside people’s hearts.
When we’re inspired we get motivated and then we take positive action
which leads to results.
The ‘Secrets Exposed’ books are not intended to be a one-stop-shop. They
are an introduction to the wealth of knowledge available to you and to
some of the real success stories of people who have reached the top in their
chosen field of endeavour. That’s why at the back of each book you will find
most of the contributors’ contact details and some of their other products
and services that are available to help you continue your journey.
So, how did the whole idea for the ‘Secrets Exposed’ books come about?
Well, in 1998, when I was around seventeen, my nan gave me a copy of a
book titled Collective Wisdom, by Brett Kelly. In it were transcripts of faceto-face interviews with a whole lot of prominent Australian personalities.
And it was a fantastic read. Since then I have seen a handful of random
‘success story’ books, but the challenge I find with most of them is that they
are either transcripts of interviews, that never really make complete sense in
the printed form, or they are written by writers who paraphrase someone
else’s story. The result tends to be a diluted message that doesn’t really allow
you to get a sense of the individual’s personality or character.
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4
P R E FA C E
In around 2001 I read my first Chicken Soup for the Soul book and realised that there were dozens and dozens of related titles designed to
meet the needs of different people’s areas of interest. I thought that was
pretty neat.
It wasn’t until January 2004 that the ‘Secrets Exposed’ idea boiled over.
I was in my hotel room in Singapore relaxing after six straight days of
presenting to hundreds of teenagers. I was reflecting on the ideas that had
been shared with them. One of the most important was to seek out those
who have already achieved what you want and ask them lots of questions.
I was plagued by the thought that only a small percentage would act on
that very valuable advice and that most would never take the step due to
a lack of confidence, fear of rejection or an inability to contact the people
they needed.
That’s when it hit me…‘What if I could find the people and put together
a number of books covering a range of different areas?’ I knew it would
take a lot of effort, so for the next three days, I sat in my hotel room and
developed the basis of an entire system to make it happen.
Based on my experience with other books, I decided that these books
had to be non-time specific and be written (not spoken) by the people
themselves. This way the answers would be planned and well thought-out,
providing richer content and more interesting reading. I also wanted to
make sure that there was an even balance between practical ‘how to’ information and inspirational stories that gave an insight into the highs and
lows of people’s real journeys. I also wanted to ensure that a percentage
of every book sold was donated to a charity relating to the nature of that
particular book.
When I arrived home I got into action. However, between working out
of a tiny one-bedroom flat and trying to manage two other demanding
businesses, my plans were a little slow in the beginning and I had to be
resourceful. So I bought a plastic tub and turned the boot of my car into a
mobile office! Anytime I could find a spare hour or two, I’d park myself at
the gym or a nearby coffee shop and make calls from my mobile phone.
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P R E FA C E
5
Putting these books together has been both time-consuming and demanding,
but it has also been a real privilege for me to have the opportunity to work
with each of the people involved in the various books. Thank you, to each
of you, for making it possible!
Well, I think you’ve heard enough from me. Now it’s time for you to
discover for yourself the wonderful wisdom contained in these pages. I
hope that you enjoy the read as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together.
And who knows, maybe one day we will be reading your story?
Dream Big!
Dale Beaumont
Creator of the ‘Secrets Exposed’ Series
Sydney, Australia
D OWN LOAD YOUR FR E E AU DI O G I FT
Exclusive to readers of the
'Secrets Exposed' series…
In this 1 hour 43 minute recorded interview, author
Dale Beaumont intimately shares the inner workings
of the 'Secrets Exposed' series. Discover in greater
details how he came up with the idea, how he
managed to secure personal interviews with over
200 of the countries most successful people and what
he believes are some of the most important business and
life principles from each of the books in the series.
Simply visit the web page below and follow the directions to listen to or
download the entire interview direct to your Notebook or PC.
www.SecretsExposed.com.au
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FOREWORD
Question: What’s this book really all about?
Answer: Hope.
Like it or not, the internet is coming. And fast. You can either choose to
use the momentum of the internet like a surfer rides a wave, or let the
wave wash over you. I suggest you learn to surf.
Here’s why…
All around you people who previously didn’t know how to, couldn’t afford
to or just didn’t have the opportunity to are starting businesses because
the internet makes it all possible.
This is the new world. And what you are about to read is a fascinating
collection of the best and most cutting-edge advice about how to start,
run and market a business online.
The internet allowed me to leave my boring 9-to-5 job and replace it with
a $500,000 a year autopilot income working from home with no employees
(and I holiday every eight weeks somewhere new in the world).
This then allowed me to take the message to others. In fact, after teaching
over 10,000 people in 13 countries how to do the same thing that I have,
I know you need to know this stuff.
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8
FOREWORD
Ordinary people who were last year stuck in a dead-end job are today
earning over $100,000 a year from home, and letting the internet do most
of the work for them.
I want you to read about Amanda Clarkson and how she created a $50,000
a month business on eBay without any prior experience.
Write down copious notes from Andrew and Daryl Grant as you learn
how they created a business from scratch and earned $US250,000 in their
first year.
Discover how to send masses of people to your site using the secrets of
Adam Davis.
This is the edge you need. And this is just scratching the surface. Every
chapter has a new way for you to look at the future.
So if you want to create similar results in your life, you are holding the
right book in your hands. Prepare to be amazed, intrigued and inspired.
Hope is back for the budding entrepreneur. And it’s riding a wave.
You can do this too.
Brett McFall
Creator of over 11 internet businesses and co-creator of World Internet
Summit (the world’s biggest internet business event).
www.brettmcfall.com
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INTRODUCTION
The internet…
What comes to mind when you hear these words? Is it sending emails
to loved ones on the other side of the globe, searching Google for footy
scores and movie times, or a convenient way to pay another one of those
dismal parking fines?
For the people in this book, it’s a business vehicle more powerful than any
other. Trillions of dollars flow through this medium every day and as one
of our contributors said to us, ‘All you need to do is stick up a pipe and
suck down as much money as you like’.
Of course there are some who would say nothing is that easy. But then there
are others who invested the time to learn the skills and have successfully
put them into action. For these people it really is that easy.
If you don’t agree with this sentiment now, you will by the time you have
finished this book. You’ll discover that there are literally millions of people
around the world that make a full-time living using the internet. Plus,
you’ll learn about a new breed of entrepreneurs who are going after big
ideas and experiencing exponential growth.
Apart from the lure of fame and fortune, what else about an internet
business is so appealing?
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10
INTRODUCTION
There is no need for a degree – you could be a school dropout or a 70year-old pensioner and still be up and running in your internet business
within a matter of weeks.
There is no start-up capital required – as long as you have an internet connection you can get started and grow your internet business organically.
There is no need for staff – you can choose to do it all yourself if you wish or,
as you will soon learn, expand by outsourcing jobs to virtual assistants.
Access to a global market – latest statistics say that there are now 1.55 billion
people online and that number is constantly growing. This is a hungry
market for literally anything you can think of selling.
Freedom and flexibility – you can choose your time and place of work, and
your business is completely mobile.
Now that you are feeling a sense of excitement, you might also be
wondering, ‘Have I missed the boat?’ or ‘Is there still a chance for me?’
Are you kidding? Of course there is! But don’t take our word for it, turn
to page 205 and start reading paragraph three.
Seriously, there is more opportunity now than ever before! And for every
benefit and opportunity the internet presents, there are just as many
potential strategies or paths one can follow. Which brings us to the people
in this book.
In Secrets of Internet Entrepreneurs Exposed! we’ve assembled an amazing
group of 17 achievers, who are eager to share their experiences and pass
on what they’ve learnt. Each provides invaluable insights into their own
business journey and loads of ‘how-to’ advice.
As for the content, this book covers market research, product creation,
business planning, website development, search engine optimisation, pay
per click advertising, affiliate marketing, traffic generation, how to increase
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INTRODUCTION
11
conversion rates, e-commerce, split testing, software development, business
automation, extension products and much, much more.
It is also worth mentioning that the material in this book will greatly assist
both the beginner looking to make their start through the internet, and
the seasoned entrepreneur looking to dramatically increase their online
profitability.
To further assist you in your own endeavours, a number of contributors
have also very generously offered valuable gifts to all of our readers. To
receive them, all you need to do is visit the specified website provided and
then follow the steps to download the bonus gifts – absolutely free.
At the back of the book we have included the contact websites of every
contributor. You’ll discover that a number of them have their own books
and educational materials, which we strongly endorse and encourage you
to investigate further.
Finally, as we say at the end of every ‘Secrets Exposed!’ introduction …
remember it’s what you do after you read this book that is going to determine its real value to you. So, go out there, apply what you’ve learnt and
when you reach a goal – no matter how big or small – let us know so we
can share your success story.
ENJOY!
Dale Beaumont and Shaun Stenning
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AT T R A C T I N G A B U N D A N C E
Attracting Abundance
SANDY FORSTER
I o n l y l a u n c h e d w w w. W i l d l y We a l t hy. co m i n
2 0 0 4 , a n d t wo ye a r s p r i o r to t h a t I w a s re ce i v i n g
we l f a re f ro m t h e g ove r n m e n t . S o to h ave j u s t
one month mak e me more than I had made in
the last 20 years combined was
min d- blow ing.
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PROFILE
SANDY FORSTER
Sandy Forster was born in Melbourne in 1959, and grew up spending
her summers camping along the Victorian coast. When she was 15, her
parents took the family travelling around the world for almost a year,
before returning to Australia and settling on the Sunshine Coast.
Sandy left school in Year 11, and soon decided that teaching aerobics
was much more fun than working nine to five. When she found
it difficult to buy suitable leotards, Sandy began designing and
manufacturing her own.
After ten years and a divorce, Sandy found herself $100,000 in debt,
with two small children and a $15,000 a year government benefit.
When she increased her income to over $150,000 she thought her
money worries were over, but a lack of money management skills and
the right mind-set meant that she once again lost everything. This
led Sandy on a tireless search to understand money, prosperity and
abundance, and how to make it flow, grow and multiply.
Sandy created www.WildlyWealthy.com to share her secrets of
attracting wealth through the power of the subconscious mind. This
was followed by www.WildlyWealthyWebSecrets.com where she
shares her secrets to internet success. Sandy currently has almost
80,000 people from over 88 countries learning her success strategies
through live teleseminars, workshops, events and her international
best-selling book How to Be Wildly Wealthy FAST.
Sandy has written or contributed to six books, shared the stage with
such giants of personal development as Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken
Soup for the Soul), been featured in a number of Dr Wayne Dyer’s books
and audio programs, appeared on national television, and speaks to
audiences around the world.
Sandy lives on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast where she loves watching
sunrises, early morning walks, relaxing with her children and having
fun with friends.
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15
When did you first discover you had entrepreneurial talent?
When I was about 22, I quit my first full-time job at the local library to
start my own business teaching aerobic classes, which was the latest craze
to hit Australia. My parents were shocked when I threw in a perfectly
good job to do something that had an uncertain future. Since then I
have always loved the freedom of working for myself. However, being
my own boss has not always been hugely profitable and I have had to
take on numerous casual jobs – from night packing in supermarkets to
spraying suntan oil on people at Mooloolaba Beach – to keep the money
flowing in. My long-term goal was to stop working for other people and
to only work for myself.
With aerobics being so new in Australia it was a real challenge to buy leotards
in anything other than basic black. I used to sew on the weekends and so
I bought some lycra to make my own gym wear. Then, a friend asked me
if I could make a copy of a bikini she loved. The next thing I knew I was
designing and manufacturing swimwear and gym wear. It was fun at the
start, I was married and it was more of a hobby business that gave me some
extra spending money. But it turned into a nightmare after I divorced and
was trying to raise a six-month-old baby and three-year-old toddler while
running a business that wasn’t making much money to live on.
Ten years later and $100,000 in debt, I closed the doors and walked away.
I had the creative side down pat, but the business side of things was a
disaster. The money was never a deciding factor when working for myself
(which was lucky because it took me nearly 15 years to discover that I
could make a decent profit on the internet), it was the freedom of being
my own boss that appealed to me – and it still does.
At one stage on your wealth journey, you were $100,000 in debt.
What were you thinking at the time and how did you fix it?
When I was $100,000 in debt, I was receiving around $15,000 per year
from the sole parent’s benefit – to say I was totally stressed about money
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16
S A N DY F O R S T E R
was an understatement. At the time I
was working in a traditional business –
I k new I had to get
designing and manufacturing swimwear
and surf wear – and had a retail clothing
o u t b u t I h a d n o i dea
store that was open seven days a week.
When I wasn’t working I was thinking
what I could do.
about it. The bigger the business grew
the more debt I got into. I knew I had
to get out but I had no idea what I could do.
In 1999, I heard an audio program that said, ‘Write down your ideal
day’. So I did.
‘I would like to get up in the morning and meditate. Do some yoga
stretches. I would like to go for a walk or a run along the beach or take a
swim in my pool. I would come home, take the kids to school and then go
to the gym for a workout. Read – I would read inspiring and motivating
books for growth and to become a better person. Listen – I would listen
to personal development tapes and hopefully I would be able to share
with others what I have learnt. I would like to make a difference.’
I remember writing all of this down and saying to a friend, ‘If I was living
my ideal day, I’d never have time to make any money’.
Now, fast-forward six months later. I was attending a seminar for a new
business I was building and the first day was ‘business training’ held by
some of the leaders in the company. We were told to plan our days over the
course of this seminar. Now, how exactly did I spend my time? Well, first,
I got up in the morning and meditated. Then I did some yoga and…
As you can imagine, at this point I was getting chills down my spine and
I’m having a total ‘ah-ha!’ moment. I remembered writing an identical list
months earlier and thinking it was an impossible life to live. But here I
was, not only living it, but making around $10,000 a month at the same
time. Not that long ago I was making that amount over an entire year!
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17
Discovering that business was a turning point in my life and has led me,
step-by-step, to where I am today.
You believe that your financial situation improved as a result of
changing the way you thought. Can you explain what you mean?
What you focus on consistently – your words and your thoughts – become
the seeds you plant for your future. It’s based on the Law of Attraction
(a concept that has grown in popularity since the release of The Secret).
If you focus on what you lack, money challenges or the things that are
going wrong, then this is what your future will become. So why not
focus your attention on everything wonderful in your life? (If there
isn’t anything, then make it up.) By doing this, you plant the seeds for
wonderful things to happen.
I wrote How to Be Wildly Wealthy FAST because I wanted to share dozens
of different ways to attract prosperity and abundance, which derive from
the Law of Attraction. Yes, it is simple, but it is also very powerful. By
changing the thoughts and images in your mind to those of riches, wealth,
prosperity and abundance you will find that your world will change.
Why did you decide to become a prosperity mentor?
I was at an Anthony Robbins seminar when the organisers mentioned they
were looking for additional coaches to work with them on a part-time
basis from home – ‘Go and see our trainer in the break if you want to
know more’. Well, I like to know everything, so along I went. Even though
they didn’t actually need any Australian coaches, I decided it would be a
great way to make additional money and scoured the internet for coach
training academies in Australia.
Rather than being what I call a ‘generic life coach’, I decided very early on
to focus on my passion – creating prosperity and a life you love. When
I started as a prosperity mentor I felt so alive when I passed secrets, tips
and strategies on to my students. Sometimes I would be asked questions
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18
that I didn’t even know the answer to, and from somewhere, this amazing
answer would come out of my mouth.
But although I had found my calling, I was still struggling to pay off the
$100,000 I owed. At the time I was far from prosperous. I was a prosperity
mentor who couldn’t pay her bills – what a joke! I felt like such a fraud,
but I knew the principles I taught worked because I was always receiving
emails from my students telling me of the amazing difference I made in
their lives, of the prosperity flowing in, the cheques being received and
the increase in customers.
So I stuck with it because I knew this was my purpose in life. I began
applying everything I was teaching (there’s an enormous difference between
knowing something and applying it) and bit-by-bit my circumstances
changed. Before I knew it, I was a prosperous prosperity mentor!
In retrospect, I am so very glad that changing my financial situation was
initially a struggle. Now when I have clients who say, it won’t work, I
know I can push them harder because I know what they are feeling. At
the end of the day, some people tap into the abundance stream instantly
and learn the secrets; for others, like me, it takes a little longer (sometimes
a lot longer). But I guarantee it works for everyone.
Why did you decide to take your venture online?
I wanted to build an international business from day one, mainly because
I felt the North American market was more open to the concept of
coaches and mentors at that time. The internet was the only way that was
going to happen – plus it was the cheapest option. I’ve built my internet
business using either no, or very little, money. Why spend it if you can
do it for nothing?
Also, at the time I charged clients in US dollars (because they were all
in the US or Canada) and when I charged them $150 for a month I
would get back three hundred Aussie dollars. So I was earning double
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19
the money for the same amount of work, which was very handy (and I
just love American accents).
Before starting your online business, did you have any experience
with websites?
None whatsoever. The first website I had, back in 2001, was really just a
two-page online brochure, however it wasn’t the easy ‘type and click save’
site I have now. I had to actually learn html codes, which is like a foreign
language only ten times worse. Every time I wanted to do something as
simple as change one sentence, I’d have to psyche myself up for hours.
To me it was like doing the worst possible algebra equation (and I’m
mathematically challenged). So it really was horrendous and totally shut
down my creative side.
How did you build your first website and gain the knowledge
required to succeed online?
In the beginning I was lacking every single skill needed to build an
internet business. Back then, the internet was such a new industry and
I had only just got my computer. I really didn’t know anything. Having
no cash flow, I couldn’t afford to pay anyone to do it for me so I just
got out there and learnt.
It wasn’t like it is today, where you have people who can show you
step-by-step how to create success. It was really a matter of everyone
trying everything and hoping it would
work. I would listen to this teleseminar
To me it was lik e
to learn about email, read that book to
learn about marketing and go to that
d oing t he wor st
event to learn about production creation.
p o s s i b l e a l g e b ra
It was all a bit of a mishmash and you
had to just kind of sort it out for yourself.
equation…
That’s one of the reasons I developed
www.WildlyWealthyWebSecrets.com – so
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20
budding internet entrepreneurs could have a proven system to make
money online, rather than having to spend ages trying to work through
the maze of internet information like I had to.
Why did you create www.WildlyWealthy.com after writing your
first book?
I built www.WildlyWealthy.com because I’d written How to Be Wildly
Wealthy FAST and the next step was to market it. I used my other website,
www.MillionaireMoneyGame.com, to virally build my database and then
began pre-selling to this database before the book was published. I believe
writing my book was one of the best career choices I’ve ever made. As one
of my mentors said, ‘Your book is just a big business card’ and I totally
agree with him. My book has opened more doors and presented me with
more opportunities than anything else I’ve ever done.
Publishing a book has allowed some wonderful things to happen. I have
been approached by various magazines, newspapers and television stations,
asked to speak at events around the world, selected by Rhonda Byrne
(producer of The Secret) to be filmed for the next Secret DVD, and have
also been contacted by the ‘Oprah’ of Asia – a television show host who
airs to 44 million viewers – who wants to do a story on me. All this came
about from being a published author and that’s why I’m so passionate
about teaching others how to write, publish and, more importantly, sell
their own book.
Can you tell us about the various websites you have?
My online business is very different from when it started just a few short
years ago. My main site is www.WildlyWealthy.com, and I have other sites
that I then feed people into. I offer a lot of free stuff, which I love to do.
However I also understand that once people find a source of valuable
information they just want to buy more, so as well as lots of freebies I
offer a variety of great products and courses, which means people can
learn about how I created my success and then create their own.
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21
www.WildlyWealthy.com – this is my most-loved site. It’s gone from around
35,000 people at the start of 2007 to around 80,000 in just six months.
This is mainly due to the free teleseminars I hold, which people just love
to tell others about. Word of mouth and viral marketing has played a big
part in the site’s growth.
www.MillionaireMoneyGame.com – this is one of my viral sites. It’s a free
game that people sign up for in return for weekly amounts of virtual
money. The amount of money gets larger and larger, until on the last
day of the game I send them $1 million. The game lasts for eight weeks
and I get around 1,200 to 3,000 people sign up per game. It’s one of my
viral marketing tools to build my database.
www.SecretMastermind.com – this is a membership site I have created,
which has around 400 members. It’s specifically created for entrepreneurs
and small business owners who want to use my ‘Millionaire Mindset’
secrets and practical strategies to build their businesses. People only find
out about this site if they’re already on my database. It’s great because
it’s a monthly membership program, or what they call on the internet a
continuity program, so income keeps flowing in month after month.
www.WildlyWealthyWebSecrets.com and www.MillionaireAuthorSecrets.com
– these sites have specific products that teach people to either build a
successful internet business or build a profitable business around their
book. Both of them started with a live event, which I then recorded
and turned into a home-study course. My plan is to eventually add a
membership portion to these sites, where people will have ongoing access
to experts, information and resources to continually support and mentor
them toward their success.
www.WildlyWealthyWomen.com – this is a mentoring program I co-created
in 2003, which became extremely successful very quickly. We have around
400 members join each year and we’re about to launch in the US – so
we expect even bigger and better things there.
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22
What do you love most about being
in an internet-based business?
I am so grateful
There is so many things I love about the
internet. There is so much to learn (I’m
a bit of a learning junkie) and you don’t
because it has
need too much planning to be successful.
allowed me to create
I love that my internet business can make
money for me while I am trekking the
a l ife s t y l e…
Inca Trail, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro,
watching the wildebeest migrate across
the African plains or swimming with dolphins in Hawaii. I love the
freedom and the unlimited opportunity the internet offers.
fo r t h e i n tern et
I also think it’s so cool that I connect with like-minded people from around
the world. Currently, I have almost 80,000 people on my database from
over 88 countries. I remember watching the sun rise one morning when
I was living on the river at Mooloolaba. I decided to quickly check my
emails and saw that I had an order from Finland. I don’t usually email
people who order (I get hundreds, thousands, of orders each week), but I
couldn’t help myself. I rushed outside, took a photo of the sunrise through
the palm trees and across the river, uploaded it to my computer and said:
‘Thanks for the order! I’m just about to go for a walk along the beach
– take a look at the sunrise here. What’s it like there?’ Within minutes I
had a reply: ‘Nothing like that!’
An internet-based business allows me to work while gazing out across my
two-acres of manicured lawn with kangaroos lazing around my springfed dam – I am just seven minutes from my favourite beach. I am so
grateful for the internet because it has allowed me to create a lifestyle
that I absolutely love.
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Is it true that one of your websites recently made $430,000 in just
one month?
Yes, that was a very exciting month! For about a year or so, www.
WildlyWealthy.com had been steadily growing, and through a combination
of things – selling different products and holding numerous promotions
– we eventually had our record-breaking month.
I had to pinch myself! I only launched www.WildlyWealthy.com in 2004,
and two years prior to that I was receiving welfare from the government.
So to have just one month make me more than I had made in the last
20 years combined was mind-blowing. I took my staff (three lovely girls
who were working out of my garage) in a white stretch limo to a local
café to celebrate and gave them all a cash bonus.
People think that you need to have masses of staff and enormous resources
to create wealth. I’m here to tell you that you don’t! The internet allows
you to keep it simple – low overheads and maintenance and high cash
flow. I love it!
Why do you believe that creating a database is so important for
succeeding on the internet?
Your database is your gold. At any one time, only a certain percentage
will buy what you are offering, so the larger your database the more sales
you will make.
I am very protective of my list as well. I am always getting approached
by people to sell their products to my list, however I know that if anyone
on my list gets an email from me that isn’t totally aligned with what I
stand for, then they could unsubscribe in a heartbeat. I would never be
able to contact them again.
The same is true for sending too many sales pitches in emails. I prefer
to offer my database a variety of fabulous free information – either in
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24
audios or live teleseminars – and they’re so excited by the tips and ideas
I share with them that they’re ready to buy whatever I have.
Some people believe that if you give too many things away for
free people will never buy from you. Do you agree?
I believe one of the reasons I have created so much prosperity in my
life is because I am continually giving away prosperity tips, ideas and
strategies. The more you give, the more you get. It’s a universal law. Plus,
I just love to give – it’s fun!
Do you view everyone on your database equally, whether they
buy from you or not?
Absolutely! I see everyone as the same. As long as they keep coming back,
learning more, applying what they learn and transforming their life, then
I’m happy. Making money is wonderful, but transforming people’s lives
is even better!
A large percentage of your database comes from America. Does
this affect your business in any way?
The only difference it has made is that sometimes I sound American! I
do so much business with people in the States that I seem to have picked
up the accent for certain words. Seriously though, I think the major
effect is my email blasts. There is a certain time of day they say is best
to send your emails, and because my list is not segmented into various
countries I have to decide whether to send the email out at 8.00am US
time or 8.00am Australian time. In the end, I just do it when it’s written
and hope for the best.
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25
Over the last few years, what traffic generation strategies have
you used to grow your database?
All of my traffic generation techniques are free, with the exception of
Google AdWords, which I’ve just started testing in the last year. The
strategies I use are viral marketing, free publicity, articles, teleseminars
and my book (I refer to my websites dozens of times in my book).
I believe that one of the most under-estimated viral techniques is putting
your website address on everything you send out. Whether it’s my product
or someone else’s, I always have my website prominently displayed. I print
my website on the spine of all my products, and when selling someone
else’s I put a sticker on the product giving my website address and a free
offer. You never know how many people are going to read, listen or watch
the products you send out and it’s a wonderful way to spread the word
without costing a cent.
You regard teleseminars as a great traffic generation strategy. Can
you explain why?
I love teleseminars. Every couple of weeks I hold a free teleseminar, which
is a 60 to 90-minute event over the phone. Instead of organising a venue
and having everyone have to drive there, I just have people phone a certain
number at a certain time and we all listen in together.
I have the ability to mute everyone out of the call, so only I, or my guest
speaker, can be heard. I spend about 45 minutes or more sharing ideas,
tips and strategies so people can create more prosperity in their lives. I
then un-mute the call and people can ask
questions to fully understand what they’ve
The more you give,
learnt and integrate the information at a
much deeper level.
t he more you get . I t ’s
a univer sal law.
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26
Teleseminars are a lot of fun and I usually have around 1,000 or more
people on the live calls. As I pack them with so much great information,
people tell other people to listen in. Plus, I record the calls and upload
them as an mp3 to my site for those who can’t make the live call. The
only way they can listen to the live call or the recording is to register their
name and email at my www.WildlyWealthy.com site. It’s a great traffic
generator and it has helped build my list very quickly.
Are teleseminars only designed for internet businesses that sell
information products?
Realistically, teleseminars can work for any product. It’s really just an hour
packed with great information, tips and ideas. I just happen to sometimes
mention a product at the end of the call that I think those people may
be interested in. For instance, my daughter, Danielle, designs and creates
an exquisite range called Abundance Beads. She combines beautiful beads
sourced from around the world with semi-precious stones and crystals
that have particular healing and attracting properties. During one of my
teleseminars, when I was sharing the principles of prosperity with listeners,
I happened to say she had these exclusive beads, which are able to naturally
attract prosperity, abundance and success into your life through energy.
From just those words alone she sold over $1,800 of her Abundance Beads
in just a couple of days. Not bad for a 19-year-old who didn’t even have
her website finished at the time! It was what I call a ‘non-promotion’, I
just mentioned a product in passing and people wanted to buy.
Now if someone expands on that principle – simply sharing information
about a great product or service that their participants may be interested in
– then the potential to make money selling anything through teleseminars
is endless. You just have to make sure the product you are promoting is
in alignment with the topic you are sharing information on.
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27
What is the most important thing you have learnt about
Like any business, you must be willing to learn from every opportunity
presented to you. This is particularly true of online businesses because
the internet changes so rapidly. One of the single best things you could
possibly do for yourself is find a mentor or network of like-minded
people. This will cut your learning curve and give you a kick-start toward
success. Why spend time making mistakes and wasting valuable hours and
money when you can utilise someone else’s knowledge to catapult yourself
forward? I have had dozens of mentors, not necessarily one-on-one, but
mastermind and mentoring groups that have allowed me to create a level
of success that I would never have achieved by learning on my own.
Who are the mentors that have inspired you? What important
lessons have you learnt from them?
Two of my mentors, Mike Litman and Jason Oman, authors of Conversations
with Millionaires, told me that many entrepreneurs today suffer from
‘The Idea Avalanche’ – meaning they come up with a brilliant idea, get
all excited, take steps toward turning it from an idea into reality and
before they get anywhere, they come up with another brilliant idea, so
they drop the first one and move on to the next. They do the same thing
over and over again and wonder why they never achieve the success they
desire. Looking back, that was my biggest mistake. I am a very creative
person, so I am constantly coming up with new ideas. I have spent years
starting and stoping so many ventures that I never stuck with anything
long enough to make it successful.
So that I don’t suffer from a brain overload, I now write down my ideas,
choose one or two to focus on and forget about the rest for the time
being.
The other person who has had a massive influence on my life is Mark
Victor Hansen, co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup For The Soul
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28
He is one of the
wo r l d ’s b i g g e s t
t h i n k e r s a n d so meo n e
wh o k nows n o
li m it .
series (with over 100 million books
sold!). I have been blessed to spend time
with Mark in Hawaii, around the US
and on safari in Africa. He is one of the
world’s biggest thinkers and someone
who knows no limit. He taught me to
go beyond anything I dared to dream
before – ‘Shoot for the moon, even if you
miss, you’ll land among the stars’.
What are the most common mistakes made by new business
owners?
Spending money they don’t have, particularly on things like advertising.
There are so many ways you can tap into the media (which is always
looking for newsworthy stories) and generate publicity that won’t cost
you a cent: invite them to do an article on your business or successful
Sandy and Mark Victor Hansen in Hawaii.
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29
clients or new products or something relevant to a current event or topic.
With the internet there are also plenty of opportunities for new business
owners to create thousands of customers for absolutely nothing – email,
viral marketing and a number of other no-cost strategies.
Some businesses also become very focused on one thing, which can
be good, although it’s important to diversify at the same time. This is
especially easy with the internet. For example, I wrote my book, How to
Be Wildly Wealthy FAST, then I turned it into an audio book, then taught
a 12-week teleseminar (phone coaching series) where we worked through
the book and discussed each chapter, then recorded the teleseminar and
turned it into a home-study program, then offered one-day events based
on the concepts in the book, and then I launched an ongoing membership
program. I started with a $27.00 book and turned it into a multimilliondollar business.
This is the power of the internet. It allows you to take one simple product
and expand it into multiple streams of income. Most business owners can
do that. If you can’t create additional products yourself, find a product or
service lacking in the marketplace, buy it at wholesale and then on-sell
to clients for a profit. There is so much out there for your clients and
customers to spend their money on. Why not increase your own bottom
line by giving them more options to purchase from you?
What do you say to people who think it is too late to become
involved with the internet and fear they have missed the boat?
There are so many opportunities for people if only they took off their
blinkers and opened themselves to the limitless possibilities. That said,
there was a time when I thought my opportunity for success had been
and gone. I now feel that I’m just getting started and that the next ten
to 30 years will see me grow and develop even further. Then I can share
that growth with my clients and customers because that is what I love
to do. Through www.WildlyWealthyWebSecrets.com I’ve been able to
help so many other people create their own internet success – you just
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30
have to know the steps. The exciting thing about the internet is that
it’s continually changing, expanding and improving. The right time for
everyone is NOW!
If you had to start again with nothing, what would you do?
Step one: write a book – from my experience, I can say that writing a book
opens doors and creates opportunities that will otherwise simply pass you
by. When you become a published author you are suddenly seen as an
‘expert’ in your field. It puts you head and shoulders above everyone else.
The secret is, you don’t even have to be the expert, you can interview the
expert. The second secret is, you don’t even have to write the book, you
can get someone else to write it!
There are so many opportunities that are missed because people think
they have to do it all themselves. There are other ways to make millions
and it doesn’t have to be through your own expertise. One of the things
I used to do was interview millionaires and then share their secrets with
others.
Step two: create an internet business based on your book – you can build
an entire information empire by basing an internet business on your
book. I love the whole concept of becoming an information marketer or
‘infopreneur’. At www.MillionaireAuthorSecrets.com I show others how
to take their information or expertise (or someone else’s) and create a
business that brings in multiple streams of income for life.
Even if I had to start again with nothing, I know I could just duplicate
the steps I now teach others and make it all happen again – after all, I
started my first internet business with nothing, so I’m an expert at it!
Is there a significant quote or saying which you live your life by?
‘Be Realistic – Expect a Miracle’ is something that I live my life by and
something my business is based on. When I first heard it I thought it was
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31
one of those quaint little positive quotes. Now I know better. Realistically,
we create the situations that occur in our lives, we create our future and
we create our destiny. Day by day, we can create the most amazing events
and circumstances in our lives. I used to think that if something amazing
happened, it was just a coincidence or luck. Now I know that by tapping
into the subconscious mind and utilising universal laws, we can make
miracles occur on a daily basis.
My other favourite is ‘Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away’. I love this quote because
this is the essence of how we should live our lives. It’s not about how long
you live, but how you’ve lived. It’s about being grateful on a daily basis
for just being here and taking pleasure in all life has to offer.
Where do you see www.WildlyWealthy.com in five years from
now?
It has really taken on a life of its own. I believe that although we all start
our database with zero people, once it grows to a certain point it just
expands exponentially – people tell other people who tell other people.
That’s where I am now.
I will continue creating inspiring audios and courses that teach others
how to attract the prosperity and abundance they desire. However,
I’m finding that more and more people want to know the ‘how’ of my
success – they want to follow my steps. So my plan is to expand www.
WildlyWealthyWebSecrets.com and www.MillionaireAuthorSecrets.com
to allow anyone to follow a step-by-step strategy to create their own
success on the internet or as an author. When I was just starting out,
I would have loved to have had a mentor who gave me the exact steps
and said, ‘There you go, follow this plan and it HAS to work!’ So sharing
my success strategies, both practical and mind-set, is something that I’ll
continue to do.
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32
I’m also about to launch www.InspiredSpiritRadio.com which will be
a weekly internet radio show with worldwide audio or ‘podcasts’ that
inspire others – personally and professionally – to achieve great things.
This will serve as a massive marketing tool because podcasts allow people
to download to their iPod, computer, phone, car and even television. It
is going to be huge! I’m currently talking with someone, who has over
seven million hits per year, about having my podcasts on her site – that’s
a lot of exposure!
Plus, I’m really excited about a new project which is connecting online
women world wide - WildlyWealthyWebWomen.com which will be a
resource offering lots of free information specifically for women who
want to learn how to create an online business.
When it comes to the internet, it’s all a numbers game. The more people
who see you, know you and visit your site, the larger your circle of
influence and then, just by natural progression, the more sales and money
you make. I believe the more you can help other people achieve success,
the more success will flow back to you. I’m a perfect example.
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
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31/8/07 8:28:00 PM
O N L I N E T O R E TA I L
Online To Retail
JASON HAM
Just as ret ail s to res are g o ing o nline, I
believe that online businesses need to consider
turning to bricks and mor tar if they truly want to
mak e an impac t in their indu s tr y.
31/8/07 8:28:01 PM
PROFILE
JASON HAM
Jason Ham was born in Geelong, Victoria, in 1971 and is the eldest
of three children.
During his childhood and teen years, he moved around a lot and by
the time he completed Year 12 he had been to seven different high
schools.
After high school, Jason went to Tabor College to study Christian
counselling. At the end of his degree he wrote an in-depth article
about paedophilia and its classifications. It was a study that left Jason
feeling burnt out; he decided against proceeding with a counselling
career and he began managing bars and clubs instead.
After several years of managing bars, Jason noticed how hard it was to
get quality uniforms for his staff. He accepted a management position
with a leading embroidery business in Melbourne so that he could
learn more about the uniform industry. Three years later, he built his
own uniform supply website and started selling online. As his business
grew, so did his website and product range. His efforts to build the
best uniform website in Australia were recognised in 2003, when his
website was awarded a World’s Best Website nomination.
Jason’s business continues to grow from strength to strength, and he
plans to launch the business as a franchise before the end of the year.
Together with his wife he has ensured that the business has grown
by over 100 per cent each year for the past four years.
Jason has just become a first-time father to a beautiful baby girl,
Sienna. This has greatly changed his focus from spending long hours
at work to more hours at home. When he is not working he enjoys
racing his go-kart and riding his dirt bike.
31/8/07 8:28:01 PM
35
I was raised in a family of entrepreneurs. My grandfather owned a milk
bar and my parents also owned various milk bars, fast food outlets, a
renovations company and a wood machine sales business. So I guess that
it was only natural that I would follow in their footsteps.
The earliest indication of my entrepreneurial talent was at the age of
11. I remember charging the kids in my neighbourhood to attend my
Playground Circus. Basically, the kids paid me 50 cents to watch me do
tricks and any dare they wanted me to do on the play equipment at the
local park.
Where did the inspiration for starting your current business come
from?
The inspiration to start my own business primarily came from my
parents. They have always owned small businesses and have provided
me with insights into both the good and bad experiences of operating
a business.
The good experiences include the fact that my parents have always been
in a position to teach me how to run a business. I used to love going to
work with my parents during the school holidays and learning about the
business and the value of working hard.
However, there were also bad experiences, all of which have driven me
to build a business that is successful. I remember holding my mother as
she cried herself to sleep two nights before Christmas. The business was
struggling and she did not have enough money to buy presents for her
children. This experience left an immediate imprint upon me. I could see
and feel the hurt that my mother was experiencing, and at that moment
I promised to make any business that I started successful.
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36
JASON HAM
… towa rd th e en d
o f 1999, th e ow n er o f
C M D i n fo r m e d m e
I have been very fortunate to have had
such influential and loving parents.
They have encouraged me to build a
successful business and provided me
with the inspiration to get the most from
myself.
that she was firing
m e.
How did you support yourself
financially while getting the
business off the ground?
The single greatest reason that people tend to not start their own business
is because of the initial financial strain that it causes. When I first started
I was working part-time as an office manager at CMD Australia, a leading
embroidery business in Melbourne. I would work until 3.00pm and then
head home to continue building my own business. This part-time income
eased the financial strain.
In fact, working part time at CMD Australia proved to be extremely
beneficial. I gained extensive experience in the industry by servicing
uniform companies and learning how they operated, what they sold and
what worked and didn’t work. Then, toward the end of 1999, the owner
of CMD informed me that she was firing me. She thought it was time
that I focused more on building my own business.
In the early days, what were some of the skills you lacked and how
did you make up for them?
In the early days I lacked most skills necessary to build a successful online
business. I didn’t even have a clue about how to build a website or a
customer base. All I knew was that I wanted to build an online business
selling uniforms and that it had to be the best website in Australia.
I have always regarded the desire to achieve as being far more rewarding
than simply accepting the cards that you have been dealt. Even though I
31/8/07 8:28:01 PM
37
had no idea how to build an online business I did not let that stop me.
In fact, I used it as motivation to simply give it a go. I remember getting
my flatmate to teach me the basic skills for using software to start my
business. From there, I simply sat in front of my computer for hours on
end teaching myself how to use the programs. I quickly learnt that you
can build a successful internet business with only Adobe Photoshop and
Microsoft FrontPage!
How did you build your first website?
After I learnt the basics of website design, I spent $800 on a computer
and the necessary software. I built my first website in six months. I first
researched what the industry leaders were offering, and then compiled a
list of ways to offer my customers a better website experience.
With your business containing tens of thousands of individual
items, was it difficult to develop your website further?
Once I had launched the first website, I was already planning on having it
revamped or even rebuilt by a professional. I remember calling a couple
of web developers in early 2000 to request quotes and was stunned to
learn that what I had in mind could not be built. The reasons stated were
that I had a product range that was too large with too many options that
could be applied to each item.
For instance, one polo shirt has a SKU code, however, that polo comes in
15 different colour options with numerous sizes for both men and women,
but can also include different forms of branding, colours, branding
positions … the list goes on! This means that one item could possibly
have hundreds of options and therefore hundreds of SKU codes! Not to
mention that I also wanted to include a price structure to allow for bulk
discounts. Is it any wonder that I was continually turned away?
It was not until 2005, when I was attending a business breakfast meeting,
that I met Andrew Mouawad from Earthlink Design. As soon as the
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38
JASON HAM
meeting ended, I had Andrew bailed up in a corner and started throwing
all my ideas for a website at him. I remember Andrew just standing there,
saying yes to every idea that I had for my new website! It was such a relief
to finally find someone who could not only build the website I had in my
head, but surpass it! From that initial meeting and a lot of conversations,
Andrew delivered my new website in less than two months! The amazing
thing about the site was that within less than a month of going live, I
had recouped the cost of building it.
Can you share the story of how you secured www.uniforms.com.
au as your domain?
One night I was having a brainstorming session on building the business.
The thought came to me to look up the domain name www.uniforms.
com.au. I was surprised to find a site that had minimal products and was
poorly constructed. After viewing the ‘About Us’ page, I contacted the
owner to see if they were interested in selling the domain name.
The owner of the site was Executive Uniforms and it specialised in
Australian-made dental and medical coats. I introduced myself and
explained what my business did and that I would be interested in
purchasing the domain name if they were willing to sell it. The owner
explained to me that in Australia you are not permitted to sell domain
names. He also told me that he had several offers of substantial amounts
for it and had turned everyone down, as he was not prepared to sell the
domain or the business. As we spoke more, I learnt that he had a lot of
experience in the apparel industry. So although he was not prepared to
sell his domain name, I asked if I could still call him from time to time
to learn from him.
About 12 months later, we were out having lunch together when he said
that he would be prepared to sell his business, including the domain name.
The only condition was that he wanted to continue manufacturing his
range and that I would become the selling branch for it. Of course I agreed.
31/8/07 8:28:01 PM
39
It not only meant that I was supporting an Australian manufacturer, but
I would also own his business and domain name.
What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in business and
what did you learn from it?
The majority of my big mistakes have been based upon trust. I tend to
trust that people are primarily good and will therefore do the right thing.
However, in business this seems to not always be the case.
The biggest mistake I made had me seriously considering ending the
business. I was supplying products to two men employed by one of the
AFL clubs in Victoria. They were obviously running their own business
on the side and using the club’s contracts to further their own interests.
I guess I should have trusted my gut feeling, especially when they were
getting me to deliver their orders to them in an underground car park
(perhaps so they didn’t get caught).
At the time, my business was still young and to gain a customer willing
to place orders that equated to six months’ sales was too much to pass up.
For one of their orders I needed external financing to fulfil it. I borrowed
several thousand dollars from a friend and my mother. However, once the
order was delivered they refused to pay me the full amount and only paid
half of it. This meant that I could not repay my mother or my friend.
This was by far the lowest that I have ever felt. The only thing I could
think of was that I was going to lose my
business because I trusted them.
The b iggest
Since that experience I have learnt that
almost all of my customers are good
people who can be trusted. However, I
have also learnt that there are always some
customers who are only looking after
themselves, at any cost to my business.
No matter how good the offer is, if your
mist ak e I mad e had
me seriously
co n s i d e r i n g e n d i n g
t he b usiness.
31/8/07 8:28:02 PM
40
JASON HAM
gut feeling says that the customer can’t be trusted then don’t trust them!
This does not mean that you shouldn’t serve them, but put in measures
to protect your own interests.
At what point did you broaden your business to include a wider
range of buyers?
When I first launched The Uniform Super Store, I only sold sporting and
hospitality uniforms. I believe that when you are building a business, start
with what you know best and then expand according to the demand.
The amazing thing about having an online store is that you can revamp
your entire stock in a matter of minutes or hours. Unlike retail outlets,
online stores can completely change direction with minimal fuss or expense,
depending on the customers’ needs. When I first started I only advertised
sporting apparel. As customers requested different apparel ranges I would
simply add them to the website. Now our website specialises in corporate
apparel, but also has sporting uniforms, school wear, hospitality uniforms,
medical uniforms, work wear, custom-made apparel and promotional
products.
What lessons did you have to learn when dealing with overseas
suppliers?
Purchasing stock from overseas suppliers is not something that I would
recommend, unless you have the right contacts in that country to ensure
that the correct stock is sent and that the items being sent are quality
tested.
More and more Australian businesses are buying manufactured goods
offshore simply because the price is cheaper than in Australia. However,
at the end of the day, price shopping only guarantees one thing – you get
what you pay for. We have had to learn this the hard way: saving money
31/8/07 8:28:02 PM
41
on the buy price of an item does not necessarily save you money in the
long run. As I like to say, buying cheap really does cost more.
The first problem is that offshore manufacturers will produce a sample
that is of high quality, but once the sample is approved they will deliver
a container load of stock that is inferior in construction or materials. I
have had this happen to me. It proves that buying cheap really does cost
more in the end. The second problem is that in order to produce cheap
products, the manufacturer will buy the cheapest parts or materials to
produce the item at the lowest cost possible. In the early days we lost
thousands of dollars because we imported on price rather than quality.
When did you know that it was time to take on your first full-time
staff member?
Taking on a full-time staff member can be extremely scary. It means that
you actually have to hand over some control and responsibility for your
business to someone else!
I remember discussing when we should get a full-time staff member with
my wife, Kirsty. At the time we were working flat out trying to keep up
with orders; we were pretty much working 12 hours a day, seven days
a week.
After reading The E-myth by Michael Gerber I soon realised that I had
bought myself a job – and a very poorly paid job when you considered
how many hours we were doing. The problem was, we were selling our
stock so cheaply that we did not make enough profit to pay ourselves a
wage equal to the hours we were putting in! We decided that enough was
enough! If our business was going to grow we needed to increase our prices
to be equal to the rest of the market. We increased our prices marginally
and, much to our amazement, the orders kept coming. We were now in
a position where we could afford a full-time staff member!
31/8/07 8:28:02 PM
42
JASON HAM
Fo r o n l i n e sto res
Why do you believe that online
branding is more important than the
actual web content?
yo u h ave l ess th a n
Read any number of business development
books and they will all stress the
ten seconds to entice
importance of a good brand image and
them to the nex t
message. I believe that this importance is
multiplied for online businesses as they
p ag e.
do not have the luxury of having a great
impact upon a potential customer during
their shopping experience. Retail stores have the benefit of being able to
influence customers in a positive way when they are out shopping. In
our western culture, shopping is actually a way of life, a lifestyle! People
do not go out shopping online together for the day!
Online stores are at a massive disadvantage as we are not able to relate
to a customer on a physical level as retail shops can. This is why I have
a major emphasis on our brand and trademark. Online branding has to
be extremely directive. It must say to the online shopper exactly what it
is you do and what it is you are offering, plus it must deliver it better
than your opposition. We have trademarked the term ‘The Uniform Super
Store’ as it says exactly what we do and also acts as a statement about
who we are.
For retail stores you have between 30 to 60 seconds to entice your customer
to enter your doors. For online stores you have less than ten seconds to
entice them to the next page. This is why I believe that without a fantastic
online brand, your web content (no matter how good) will simply never
be viewed to its full potential.
Why do you believe that going offline will increase the growth of
your business?
Business coaches have asked me why, if our website business model is
successful, would I want the extra expense that comes with opening and
31/8/07 8:28:02 PM
43
running a retail outlet. The answer is simple: I want to build the best
uniform business in Australia.
Although the business services a large range of customers across Australia
online, we were actually missing a majority of customers (especially those
who did not wish to buy uniforms) because they couldn’t actually go
into our store.
In 2004, I decided that to really grow the business on a national scale
I would need a public presence. This meant opening our first uniform
superstore. Looking back at the decision now, it only seems practical
because every retail store has a website which also allows them to sell
online. Therefore it is only natural that to become the best and the biggest,
we needed to not only be better than everyone in our industry we had
to have the best website and the best retail outlets.
Can internet-based businesses compete with bricks and mortar
businesses?
There are definitely challenges experienced by internet businesses that
bricks and mortar businesses do not have to face. For example, customers
cannot touch your product or get the same level of service because you
lack the face-to-face interaction. However, there are obviously some very
distinct advantages. Retail shops:
•
can only service the local community; online businesses can service
the entire country – even the world
•
are restricted to selling what a buyer views as selling items; online stores
can change their stock in minutes to suit the needs of the buyer
•
do not spell out who they are or what they stand for; online businesses
can use their ‘About Us’ page to make a personal connection with
customers and explain exactly what they offer
31/8/07 8:28:02 PM
44
•
JASON HAM
have set trading hours; online stores are open 24 hours a day, every
day of the year.
There are pros and cons for both sides, however, I honestly believe that
online stores not only compete with retail outlets, but actually make them
improve the services and prices that they offer. Before online shopping
became a major force, retail stores could charge high prices because their
only competitor was the other retail store in the next suburb. Now, thanks
to online stores, retail outlets have had to lower their prices. They are now
competing against stores from all around Australia that are prepared to
deliver the same product, at cheaper prices, simply because they do not
have the same overheads.
On the other hand, I do not view retail outlets as a waste of money,
nor do I see a doomed future for them. Both online stores and retails
stores have markets to target. The true measure of success will be when
a business can operate retail outlets and an online store simultaneously
and profitably. Just as retail stores are going online, I believe that online
businesses need to consider turning to bricks and mortar if they truly
want to make an impact in their industry.
What do you love most about having an internet business?
I am often asked why would I ever want the headaches of owning my own
business. The truth is, I could never imagine myself working for someone
else. I love creating something from nothing and always want to see how
far I can take a business. With the internet and a little know-how, a person
can create an extremely successful business with little outlay. From there,
with a bit of determination and a massive dream, you can grow from the
internet to an actual retail outlet.
Another thing I love about internet-based businesses is the cash flow.
When people shop online they expect to pay for the items before they
receive them. In any industry where you deal with other businesses, your
customers will always want credit or trading terms. Even though we do
31/8/07 8:28:02 PM
45
offer trading terms to our larger customers, almost 95 per cent of our
customers pre-pay. Having your customer pay for the order before it is
actually manufactured or supplied can take an immense amount of strain
off the business and its cash flow.
Were there any times that you wanted to give up? What got you
through?
Six months ago, the business had continued to grow at an almost
uncontrollable rate. Our expenses were getting out of hand. We had
suppliers demanding payment, staff that I had to pay and a bank overdraft
that just kept getting bigger. I had my house on the line, and the continual
stress of having to juggle cash flow and payments was becoming a strain.
One night my wife and I simply said, ‘Enough’. We agreed to sell the
business and move on. That night as we discussed selling the business,
I suggested that I get a part-time job at a bar or delivering pizzas so
that we could at least continue to pay our staff and see if we could drag
ourselves out of this mess. It was at this point that we realised we valued
our business too much to just let it go.
Owning a business will be hard, sometimes very hard. You may lose just
about everything you own, it will age you and it will test you – it will
make you want to give up! But through all the stress that comes with
owning a business, there is no greater reward than saying at the end of
the day, ‘I built that business’.
Is there a significant quote or saying
which you live your life by?
I t was at this
point that we realised
‘To inspire, not aspire to.’ – Jason Ham
Most business owners want to build a
successful business because they have
worked in the industry long enough to
know how it works, have a new product
we valued our
b usiness to o muc h to
just let it go.
31/8/07 8:28:03 PM
46
JASON HAM
or have the right contacts to grow a business. Ultimately, their driving
reason for having a business is that it will give them freedom from a boss,
more money and more time.
As such, many new business owners look at current successful businesses in
their industry and strive to be like them. I believe that a true entrepreneur
does not aspire to be like the opposition, but rather they strive to inspire
the opposition!
Can you explain your simple business philosophy?
When I first set out to start The Uniform Super Store, I not only wanted
to compete against the industry leaders, but to actually beat them. I wanted
to inspire them to the point where they would make me an offer to buy
me out at a later stage.
The philosophy that can help a person to rewrite their outlook, and even
their experiences, is:
A+B=C
A stands for ‘action’ – this is the action or event that has occurred.
B stands for ‘belief ’ – this is your belief about the action.
C stands for ‘consequences’ – this is what happens when the action is
interpreted by your belief.
So, action plus belief equals consequences. This simple philosophy can
be applied to any aspect of your life, not just business, and you will be
amazed at what can be accomplished when you do.
For instance, I used this simple philosophy during the lowest point of
my business. Granted, it took me about a year to apply it fully, but I
did get there. If I describe the ‘action’ as a customer ripping me off
31/8/07 8:28:03 PM
47
and almost leaving me bankrupt, and then add my ‘belief ’ at the time
– what a low-life that customer was and that I didn’t deserve it – then my
‘consequence’ would be a feeling of self-pity and extreme anger toward
that customer.
While I can never change the actions that occur, I can change my belief
about them. So, if I left the ‘action’ as the same, but changed my ‘belief ’
– that which does not kill me can only make me stronger – then the
‘consequence’ becomes one of determination and strength to never allow
myself to be caught in that situation again.
What are some of your plans or goals for the next five to ten
years?
The next five to ten years are going to be extremely exciting!
One of the first questions that a new business owner must answer with
regard to their future is this: are you building a business so that you can
sell out or buy out? Although the greatest payday for any business owner
is the day they sell their business, from the outset I have been building
a business that will be strong enough to buy out other businesses in the
industry. This is not an act of arrogance, but rather a part of my growth
plan. I once heard someone say, if your business is not going forward
then it is going backward.
As part of my growth plan, I see us having franchised retail stores
throughout Australia. We believe this move into the retail industry is
vital for growing public awareness of the business and its brand. I have
always said that I want to own the generic thought in the public mind
for ‘uniforms’. For example, when you ask someone to name a phone
company, most people say Telstra, or if they name an mp3 player it’s iPod.
But when you ask someone to name a uniform company, most people
draw a blank. I want to insert my business into that blank and believe
that one avenue for achieving that is by expanding into retail.
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48
JASON HAM
I o nce h ea rd
s o m e o n e say, i f yo u r
b u s in e ss i s n o t go i n g
fo r ward th en i t i s
going back ward.
The second part of our plan is to release
our own range of apparel. Already this
year we have released our corporate range
of suiting and knitwear under the label
of Executive Corporate. By designing and
manufacturing our own unique range we
are able to offer our customers the latest
styles and trends that suit their buying
habits. We are planning to increase our
range before the end of the year and
release shirts, polo shirts and school
wear.
31/8/07 8:28:03 PM
49
Another major goal for the end of the year is to also set the business up
as a franchise. We have built a successful business that can be operated
from anywhere in Australia, either online or as a retail outlet.
If you are planning on going into business for yourself – online or
otherwise – it is important to set goals and build them into a structured
plan. I also believe that it is important to not be afraid of setting goals
that may seem a little unbelievable. I believe it is better to shoot for the
stars and land on Mars than it is to have your feet stuck on Earth. That
way, even if you do not reach Mars you are bound to go a lot further
and achieve more than what you set in your ‘realistic’ business plan.
Remember, you dream it then achieve it.
31/8/07 8:28:03 PM
31/8/07 8:28:03 PM
MARKETING VISION
Marketing Vision
SASCHA GRIFFIN
Fro m d ay o n e I h ave u s e d my B l a c k B e r r y to
constantly stay in touch with absolutely
ever ything. Having a business on the internet
also gives me the flexibilit y to be a mummy. M y
daughter is eight years old, and being able to
pick her up from school ever y day is
wo n der f u l.
31/8/07 8:28:03 PM
PROFILE
SASCHA GRIFFIN
Sascha Griffin was born in Sydney in 1972. Growing up in the suburb
of Drummoyne, Sascha was the youngest of three children. She was
born and bred into the commercial equipment business – with the
whole family working for their company, Snowmaster.
After completing Year 12, Sascha dived into the retail fashion industry
– in particular the management of chain stores like Esprit, Sportsgirl,
and Just Jeans, even owning her own boutique, STARZ.
One day she was called into her father’s business to answer the phone
and she remained there for 10 years eventually becoming the general
manager/director.
In the back of her mind, Sascha knew there was much more out there
for her, both personally and professionally. She embarked on her
new venture – pinklily – creating a glamorous mail order company
specialising in her ‘launch’ product – the clear shoebox. She could
never have imagined the success that she has experienced in just
the first two years – including an enormous clientele, staff, and a
globally recognised brand.
Her most important role to date has been as mother to Georgia.
pinklily has created a wonderful fairytale for them both – enabling
them to own their own home very quickly, enjoy trips to Disneyland
and Fiji, as well as many other luxuries not often possible for single
parents.
Sascha hopes to one day play a major role in inspiring young women
to visualise and work in their dream job. She hopes pinklily will expand
to even more countries, and be instrumental in creating many more
innovative products to help women in their everyday lives.
31/8/07 8:28:04 PM
53
MARKETING VISION
Can you describe how you started your business career in the
family business?
My family has always had a company called Snowmaster. My grandfather
started it 65 years ago and my father has sold pre-owned restaurant
equipment since he was 13 years of age. Both of my brothers have also
worked in the family business since finishing school and now have their
own successful commercial kitchen businesses. Basically, we have all
lived and breathed two-door fridges, fryers and toasters for most of our
lives.
I have worked in management of retail fashion stores – like Esprit, Just
Jeans and Sportsgirl – and on the front desk of the Regent Hotel. Twelve
years ago one of the reception staff at Snowmaster left and Dad called
me in to answer the phone – I stayed for ten years before leaving to
create pinklily.
Snowmaster is the largest supplier of second-hand catering equipment to
the restaurant industry. My father is still there today selling equipment
– this is where my work ethic comes from (and my 5am starts!) I can
also thank him for the gift of the gab!
What was your very first business venture and what did you learn
from it?
My family has owned and operated its own businesses for two generations.
From my earliest memory I remember the talk was always about business,
buying and selling, customer deliveries and so on. I guess looking back
I had my heart set on owning my own business.
In 1995, my mum and I started a fashion boutique business called STARZ.
It was a great-looking store with all the right labels – Marcs, Lisa Ho and
so on. The only problem was I got bored. Sitting there waiting for clients
to walk in – I didn’t have enough to do (not to mention the amount of
buying trips Mum and I did just for ourselves!). If we owned a restaurant
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
I k new i t wo u l d
wo r k , e s p e c i a l l y
we would have been eating the profits
– at STARZ we wore them! It was a great
experience at a young age – it taught me
that there was a lot to making business
a real success.
because I k new that
wo m e n n o l o n ger
h ad e n o u gh ti me
What made you decide to start your
current internet business?
I knew that running my family business
wasn’t my passion – it was my family’s
passion. I wanted to have my own
successful business – to run it the way I wanted to run it, to sell the
products I loved and to surround myself with people who shared my
vision and passion.
to s h o p.
Working in the family business also didn’t leave much time for me to do
the things I love – like shopping (something all women love to do but
never have enough time for). I used to buy a lot through mail order in
the US. It was so easy – jump on a website, flick through a catalogue,
pick, pay and it is delivered. But the worst part was the delivery time. So
I set about starting a glamorous mail order company that would have
gorgeous products which you couldn’t buy retail, glamorous packaging
and immediate delivery. It didn’t matter what the product was as long
as those three elements were in place. I knew it would work, especially
because I knew that women no longer had enough time to shop.
In the beginning, what were some skills you lacked and what did
you do about it?
After I left school I went straight into fashion retail management, and so
I didn’t have any marketing experience. Prior to commencing pinklily, I
hired a business coach who made some great business recommendations
and provided me with a list of inspirational marketing books. Every
morning on the treadmill for an hour I read and read. What I gained from
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MARKETING VISION
55
this helped me enormously, and in less than six months I had consumed
some of the world’s best marketing and management strategies. I also
have a couple of selected business associates/advisors who I can turn to
for any advice. You simply cannot go past having someone in your corner
who has the wisdom and the experience that you don’t. Don’t ever be
afraid to ask.
The most valuable thing I have learnt though is that you cannot learn
passion and enthusiasm – that I can thank my mum and dad for. In the
beginning I spoke to each and every customer and this gave me the real
feedback, by the minute. You can’t underestimate learning from your
customers.
Can you describe the early days of pinklily?
I decided on a mail order business because I found that women were
running out of time to shop. I also knew that I could find and create
products that women needed or would love to have.
I wanted an image and brand that was immediately recognisable and
something that I could personally look at and love. I chose pinklily for
two reasons; first, I have had an absolute obsession with hot pink since
I was a very little girl, second, lilies have always been my favourite flower
because of their divine scent. I knew that I would create ranges around
my logo, such as t-shirts, perfume and products where my logo would
feature predominantly. So it had to be appealing and instantly mean
something. Since starting the business I have had an amazing reaction
to my logo. Women love the pink and are proud to have the logo on the
products they buy.
When starting up, I did all the groundwork three months ahead of the
launch date – from contracts with couriers, to sourcing suppliers and my
legal team. Everything was ready to go from day one!
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
Websites that sell multiple products need a significant amount of
back-end software and coding. How were you able to do this with
your limited technical experience?
I was fortunate to have found Tony Griffen (no relation) from GrifGraf.
He has an excellent understanding about websites and understood how
limited my experience was! I am sure that there are many days when I don’t
make any sense at all and yet he was still able to translate my ideas into
a completely new custom-built site that I am constantly making changes
to, and thanks to Tony, I can now apply some of those changes myself.
What are your top tips for dealing with website builders and
software developers?
•
Build a great relationship with your website developer. It needs to be
a relationship built on respect, loyalty and trust. And a great sense of
humour truly helps.
•
Your website developer needs to completely understand your vision.
It is also very important that they understand your limitations and
can still comprehend what you are trying to create.
•
Honesty is critical – you need to be able to communicate exactly how
you feel and exactly what you want. You need to be comfortable with
absolutely anything you want to say to your website developer so that
the end result is exactly the way you had envisaged it.
•
You need to completely plan out what you want to happen and then
give them every single alteration that needs to be made. Alterations
can be the most costly part of a web business, so you want to ensure
that everything is complete. (If Tony reads this, I bet he will be saying,
‘If only she practised what she preached!’).
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MARKETING VISION
How did you come up with the idea for adding clear shoeboxes to
your range?
The shoeboxes were originally a packing solution to the sandals that I
designed for my first range. In discussing the packaging for the box, people
suggested that it should be hot pink or a shoe bag, but Mum suggested
clear shoeboxes that she had seen in Los Angeles 12 years before. So I
phoned the company and had them send me a sample. There were other
similar products on the markets in Europe and Asia as well. I bought
them all and then put them together and worked out the pros and cons
of each design. I then created my own pinklily box, which closes very
easily, like an envelope!
Once you designed your shoebox, what was your launch and
marketing strategy for the product?
Once I had designed the box, paid for the tooling and so forth, it quickly
became evident that it would also serve as a solution for women to store
their shoes. I had to let as many people know as quickly as possible how
fabulous it was. Luckily, within my first few weeks, it was mentioned in
the Sunday newspapers and from there it absolutely exploded!
Can you explain the steps in how you have used email to
accelerate the growth of your business?
Because my business was growing at an
extremely accelerated rate, I was able
to create a good-sized database. This
database was made up of clients who had
bought the product (and friends they had
referred who also bought the product),
loved the glamorous packaging and the
immediate delivery. So whenever I had a
new product or a special offer I would
email them to let them know. The clients
I then created my
ow n p i n k l i l y b ox ,
whic h c loses ver y
easily, lik e an
e nve l o p e !
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
responded well to the emails and as a result bought more product and/or
referred more clients to me.
We understand that you actually ask new customers to help
spread the word. How do you do this and what effect do you
believe it has had on your business?
When clients receive their invoice (via email) there is a question attached.
It asks them to keep the pinklily promise of telling five girlfriends about
the company. I constantly receive emails from my clients letting me
know that they not only told five girlfriends, but also their family, work
colleagues and all of their girlfriends! It has been a really successful passive
referral system.
What are some of your online methods for driving traffic to your
website?
Every now and then pinklily will offer previous clients a special offer.
They in turn pass this offer on to friends and associates creating an
enormous amount of traffic. The power of the media is incredible – once
it is mentioned in a magazine or newspaper the hits on your website
practically double.
What are some of the offline marketing initiatives that you have
implemented?
I truly believe that it is not enough to just have online campaigns. Every
day there are new people signing up for the internet, but they don’t know
you exist. There needs to be print media campaigns to complement the
online ones. I also have billboards that promote pinklily and a smart car,
which is always driving around Sydney.
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MARKETING VISION
The pinklily smart car attracts lots of attention on the streets!
How have you been able to generate over $100,000 worth of free
media exposure?
I was fortunate to launch pinklily with a new product that no one had
seen before. It created a great amount of excitement and interest from the
media who wanted the pinklily box featured in their magazines. I have
given away thousands of boxes to ensure that every media outlet got to see
the product. In doing so, it was also important that they, like my clients,
received the pinklily experience – branding, packaging and service.
With all of the exposure you generated, how do you know which
strategies worked?
Every single campaign I put in place is measured. On my order form there
is a mandatory field that my clients have to fill in when purchasing. This
information tells me how people found out about the company. I am then
able to run reports on each referral so I can immediately determine the
success of each campaign.
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
What are your top tips for dealing
with the media?
A ver y impor tant
A very important tip is that the media is
extremely powerful – they can make or
break you. Therefore, media professionals
is ex tremely power ful
who are bombarded with hundreds of
– they can mak e or
similar press releases, products and
presentations every day will appreciate
b re ak yo u.
a professional, respectful and original
approach. You need to completely think
outside the box when approaching the media to catch their attention and
interest. You also need to be completely reliable. Often they are working
on incredible deadlines and need a product, its description and high res
image NOW. The benefits to a small business like mine mean I make sure
that I am always completely ready when any media calls!
tip is that the media
When did you start making decent money from your internet
business and how did this impact your life?
I was fortunate enough to make money very quickly. I have always worked
hard since leaving school because I wanted to create a great lifestyle for
my daughter, Georgia, and myself – I’ve always loved a bit of luxury, and
pinklily has enabled me to have that lifestyle. More importantly, it has
allowed me the cash flow to create new products and pay for large-scale
campaigns that have helped me in building a recognisable brand.
How do you currently manage your stock levels?
All inventory is managed through MYOB, with stocktakes performed
quarterly by my staff. Accuracy is imperative as an enormous campaign can
deplete stocks instantly. I am always very up to date with these figures.
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MARKETING VISION
61
Did you face any problems when you began to expand
internationally?
Freight is always the major problem because we don’t have cheap enough
freight prices to justify the sales. It is a constant negotiation with my
freight company to purchase enough pre-paid consignments to justify
each charge to each international client. Australia Post is unfortunately
still extremely expensive and slow.
What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome on your
journey to achieving your personal and business goals?
The biggest challenge for me was understanding the technology and the
errors or meltdowns that can happen with the internet. When something
crashes it is like a department store having their front doors locked at
Christmas. Email is the only way we can communicate with suppliers,
clients and businesses. It’s not like your audience is at the end of the
phone waiting to call you to ask for the next product! Deep breathing
through these episodes often helps.
My biggest mistake was thinking that women across Australia would love
to buy my Starfish Bath Water Alarm. Associates told me to buy a few and
test them. I bought 1,000 and they are now considered my family pets.
Another mistake that I constantly make is with my excitement for new
and wonderful products. I allow myself to get sidetracked and I always
have three or four new ideas on the go at any one time. I need to pull
myself back to the boxes as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and
I should be dedicating 100 per cent of my time and energy to it so that
I can deliver its full potential. It is a critical mistake to divert any of my
attention to anything else, no matter how good it might seem.
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
through?
There has never been one day that I wanted to give up. It has been an
amazing journey of excitement and a continual learning experience.
There are two people who constantly inspire me: my father and mother,
whom I am extremely close to. I have inherited my father’s work ethic
and hopefully some of his enormous personality.
I learnt a very powerful work ethic from my father which he demonstrates
by example every day in how he runs his business. If my relationship with
my daughter can be as wonderful as mine is with my mother I will be
very lucky (that would be a real success). My mother’s style and attention
to detail have clearly been infectious and have led me to execute similar
qualities in my business. My mother has always encouraged me to love
work and be independent. Both my parents have had a profound influence
on me – they are a never-ending source of encouragement and positive
feedback. Above all they have taught me that humour is the very best
tonic and not to take myself too seriously – I really do laugh a lot and
enjoy the whole journey.
There are actually two quotes that I live my life by:
‘If you want to make an omelette, you have to crack some eggs’ – Sascha
Griffin. I say this to myself every day. If I see something that I think pinklily
should be involved in – a newspaper, magazine, promotion or television
show – I will do what I can to achieve it. Clearly that has worked!
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MARKETING VISION
63
‘Your diamonds are in your backyard’ – Sascha Griffin. My clients are very
loyal. I believe that it costs a lot of money to reach new clients and so I
always try to look after my existing ones. I do this because these clients
will continually refer and purchase again.
In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes new
business owners make?
Failure to think through every single step of how their business will operate
– you might have one good idea to kick-start the business, but it won’t
last forever. You have to continually think of new media campaigns and
ways of reinventing that first idea in order to survive.
Not being organised – when initiating a marketing campaign you need to
be prepared. If the campaign works, you will only have a day, perhaps
a few hours, to process, pack and deliver every sale that you make. It is
always better to be very ‘over’ organised than to be caught out and miss
potential sales.
Playing safe – in any business you have to take risks; some will pay off,
others may not. However, with every campaign and every decision you
make, you will find that the good ones will outweigh the bad ones, in
fact, the bad ones will soon be forgotten!
Hiring the wrong staff – I have been so fortunate that I employed Francine
from day one (we actually went to the
same school). Francine is my operations
…you might have
manager and coordinates all sales. It is
so important to employ staff who share
o n e g o o d i d e a to
the same vision, are extremely efficient
and whom you respect. Staff relationships
k ic k-st ar t t he
are crucial for creating harmony within a
b usiness, b ut it won’t
company. I am always spoiling my staff
because they are the people who keep the
last forever.
motor running in the engine room.
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
What do you think holds people back from becoming a successful
internet entrepreneur?
I think that people are held back because they don’t think they can do
it. If you commit time, passion and common sense you will succeed at
almost anything. I believe that changing decisions halfway through or
not devoting every second to a new project will lead to a decrease in
enthusiasm and fresh ideas that could have otherwise led to something
that may have turned out to be really rewarding and exciting.
It is never too late. If my father could learn to use a computer at 65
– anyone can! There is nothing like the flexibility of running your business
from anywhere in the world and having access to it instantly.
What is one of the funniest things that has ever happened to you
in your business career?
I have a large perspex shoebox, which sits on top of my hot pink smart
car. The day that the top blew off, while going over the Harbour Bridge,
is hysterical now but was not so funny at the time.
What’s one of the best business deals you’ve ever done and why
did it work so well?
An opportunity was presented to me to market pinklily on a billboard
space in Surry Hills, Sydney. It was such a successful campaign for pinklily
that I then turned it into another business venture. This space is now
rented out by pinklily to clients, corporate identities and national car
dealing franchises.
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MARKETING VISION
65
What do you love most about being in an internet-based
business?
The flexibility that the internet gives me is incredible. I love the immediate
results. I love that it is my choice about the hours that I work or choose
not to work. Nothing is standard. The entire world is at my fingertips and
hopefully my clients are too! From day one I have used my BlackBerry
to constantly stay in touch with absolutely everything going on in my
company – from seeing each sale made, to how clients found pinklily, to
accepting advertising opportunities, to responding immediately to many
daily enquiries. Imagine if I had to return clients’ phone calls when
my business can receive up to 85 emails each day! It has completely
revolutionised time management and efficiency. I can be overseas or
shopping in Coles and still know all of these things instantly. Having a
business on the internet also gives me the flexibility to be a mummy. My
daughter is eight years old, and being able to pick her up from school
every day is wonderful.
Did you ever think pinklily would grow into what it has become
today?
There is no possible way that I could have written a description of a
business, a day-to-day working life and a lifestyle that is as good as I
have today. And it’s all because of pinklily. Two years ago I could never
have dreamed that I would have an enormous database, international
clients, my own home and television appearances. What’s even better is
that every day improves. Of course there are challenges that I face with
my business, but if I was to look at my business and personal life as a
whole I know that it is truly incredible and exciting. I have achieved my
business and personal goals and now it is time to create new ones. Who
knows what the future will hold?
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
Th e 24- h o u r-a -day
You say that your entire business is
run off your BlackBerry. Why was it
important for you to do this?
acce s s i s a ddi c ti ve –
Most of my friends will answer this
question for me by saying, ‘So she can
b u t I l ove i t!
be in the movies or at lunch and know
how many boxes she has sold’. From a
business point of view, that’s exactly right. My BlackBerry can instantly
inform me of sales, enquiries and opportunities. I can be in my car or
just about to go to sleep and be completely up to the minute with my
business. My BlackBerry allows my entire business to operate instantly
without delay. Is there a negative? The 24-hour-a-day access is addictive
– but I love it!
Are you fazed by others who try to copy your business ideas?
Initially I was. It was frustrating, but then I came to realise that if my
competitors are copying me then I know that I am doing something
right. pinklily has been the first with many marketing tips and advertising
initiatives, and now I find it flattering when my competitors copy me.
Let’s face it, your competitors are only going to copy you when your
company is booming. I have changed my outlook and now find it less
frightening when they are emulating me. I know I would much rather
be a leader than a follower.
Over the next ten to 20 years what do you see as the major
opportunities with the internet?
Every day the world becomes a smaller place. This has mainly been the
result of the internet. I only hope freight companies catch on to this soon
– it’s the only thing that limits businesses like mine from succeeding in
exporting. I have enquiries every day from all parts of the world, but
unfortunately it is the freight element that limits pinklily’s potential. So
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MARKETING VISION
67
with the world at your feet and your market tripling every minute, the
internet offers endless opportunities.
What recommendations would you make to an aspiring
entrepreneur who wants to get started in an internet-based
business of their own?
Do your homework – I spend an enormous amount of hours researching
and trying to be as efficient as humanly possible. Yes, it does require
time but the benefit of thorough research will prove itself later down
the track.
Visualise – you need to visualise exactly how you want your company to
be – what will it sell and how will you sell it? What will the customer
see? What will the customer receive? Ultimately, you will have a vision
of what impact your business will have on your client. Hold on to that
vision and work toward it.
Implement processes and systems – to turn your exact visualisation into
a reality requires processes and systems. It is just not enough to create
a website and then sit back and wait for the sales to start rolling in – it
won’t work! There needs to be marketing campaigns and strategies in
place to tell the world that you exist.
How can people decide what type of internet business to start?
There should not have to be a decision as to what business to start. Your
passion in life should make that decision for you. I really believe that you
should want to create a business from your passion. There’s no point
starting a financial consulting business if that is your current job and
you hate working in it. Instead, if you love tennis, you might think about
designing a new range of tennis bags and accessories that you can market
to every tennis centre in the country. I strongly believe that if you want
to live, eat and breathe it, you will succeed – it’s your passion!
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
Why did you choose an internet business and not a retail
business?
Running a business and being a single mum is certainly a juggle. If I were
to have a retail business or a company that I had to go to Monday to
Friday (possibly weekends as well) I would never have been home. Having
an internet business allows me the flexibility to work and spend time with
my daughter. I am able to start work at 5am each day and usually have
a lot done before Georgia even wakes up. The same applies once she is
tucked into bed (although many nights she does stay up later than me).
My daughter is my priority – I needed to create a business around her
so I could be there at the Easter hat parades and make her play lunch,
while also running my own successful company.
What are your top tips for running a successful internet business?
It doesn’t matter what type of business you are in or what type of product
you sell – it’s how you sell it. If you are going to be successful it all comes
down to your product, service and relationship with your customer. In
today’s world people have very little time and so many choices – if you
are going to prosper you have to make each and every transaction a truly
positive one. Every click is a potential client.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Your business needs to be set up with organised systems in place.
If your business explodes and becomes manically busy (as mine
has on many occasions), all areas need to be able to cope under the
pressure.
You must constantly have the latest software and technology at hand,
and be ready to adapt to the changing marketplace.
You need to dedicate enormous amounts of time to test and trial
different applications to suit your clients’ needs, while still running a
successful business.
Make sure you bring a WOW service philosophy to every single thing
that you do.
People can get what you or I sell 98 per cent somewhere else.
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MARKETING VISION
•
69
Consistently evaluate your entire sales and service process and make
certain you build in the WOW factor so that your service, products
and company are loved – anything else won’t make it in today’s everchanging business environment
years?
Personally, I couldn’t be happier. pinklily has allowed me, as a single
mother, to purchase a home for my daughter and myself, and allows me
to fulfil my love of travelling all over Australia and the world.
I have so many ideas for pinklily. By the end of the year my business model
will have actually done a full circle and I will start recruiting enthusiastic
women who would love to earn great money selling an exciting and
glamorous product. The range is now large enough and the branding
strong enough for the business to evolve in this way.
I would like to improve and increase pinklily in every area, including my
number of clients and range of products. So far I have been absolutely
exhilarated by the amount we have grown and never imagined it would
be this successful. The opportunities are endless for pinklily and so the
future is very exciting. Is there a chance that I will sell it? I would never
say never! Am I building a company so that my daughter can one day
take over? Well, that is where the problem lies – she doesn’t like pink!
(Can you blame her?)
…p ink lily has
What do you think are the essential
qualities or attributes of a successful
The most important quality of an
entrepreneur is to have a go! Get out there
allowed me, as a
single mot her, to
p urc hase a
hom e…
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SASCHA GRIFFIN
and promote yourself and your business – to be really successful you
must put yourself out there.
Entrepreneurs are the ones who make it happen. They are able to see
how things can get done and what is possible. I have always believed
that I could make pinklily happen from the very beginning. I want to be
remembered for what I achieved – not for what I didn’t!
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TEST AND OPTIMISE
Test And Optimise
W I L L S WAY N E
I f yo u r we b s i te i s n o t p e r fo r m i n g, t h e re a re
t wo p o s s i b i l i t i e s : s o m e t h i n g’s n o t r i g h t a t t h e
strategic level (your offering, positioning,
t arget in g o r b usin e s s m o del) o r yo u are no t
executing traffic generation and conversion
optimally at the tac tical level.
31/8/07 8:28:07 PM
PROFILE
W I L L S WAY N E
Will Swayne was born in Sydney in 1976, and attended high school
and university in Auckland, New Zealand. By the time he left school he
had good grades, but no idea what he wanted to do with his life.
At university he experimented with different courses before emerging
with the rather unusual combination of a Bachelor of Arts with a
double major in statistics and English literature.
At age 22 he travelled to Japan and landed a job with a fast-growing
mail order company, Jimos Corporation. For the next four years he
mastered online and offline marketing strategies as the company’s
annual revenues grew exponentially to more than $100 million. In
addition to successfully launching several new products in Japan, Will
got a taste for the internet while working on web-based promotions.
During this time he developed a skill for transforming customer data
into improved sales results.
Soon after returning to Australia in early 2003, he founded Marketing
Results. His vision was to leverage the successful concepts of direct
marketing, along with emerging internet technologies, to create more
efficient marketing processes for traditional offline businesses.
He now specialises in establishing sophisticated web-based lead
generation programs for corporate clients that want to expand their
reach and achieve greater marketing impact. Some of his clients are
market-leading corporations that have increased their sales and lead
generation pipelines by over 1,100 per cent in less than 12 months
– without employing a single additional member of staff.
In addition to consulting, Will operates several internet-based
businesses. He is also directs several internet business mentoring
programs, helping members optimise their online businesses.
When he’s not working, Will enjoys reading, hiking, rock climbing
and martial arts.
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TEST AND OPTIMISE
73
Can you describe your early career?
My academic background is in statistics and English literature. During,
and immediately after university I worked on a number of projects related
to statistics and Total Quality Management (TQM) before securing a
marketing job in Japan, where I had previously lived for a year.
The company I joined, Jimos Corporation, was full of smart people
who weren’t afraid of hard work. It took the company less than seven
years to grow its sales from zero to around $100 million. I had various
responsibilities during my time at Jimos, including international sales
and marketing, campaign planning, internet marketing and database
analysis.
What were some of the key principles or lessons you learnt during
your time at Jimos Corporation?
In the area of direct marketing I learnt a lot about product creation,
positioning, offer design, testing and back-end marketing. With the
company performing well and maintaining a strong cash flow, I was
also able to test and learn from many different business approaches. It
was basically a chance to generate a lot of useful experience over a short
period of time.
What attracted you to the internet and how did you adapt your
direct marketing experience to internet marketing?
In early 2000, I was working on online commerce promotions via the
popular Rakuten online shopping mall. Although the reporting and testing
tools back then were fairly primitive by today’s standards, I was able to
get a feel for what worked and what didn’t.
At the same time, I started reading the marketing newsletters and websites
of marketing and internet experts like Jay Abraham, Mark Joyner and
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W I L L S WAY N E
… my f i rst do l l a r
c a m e f ro m s e l l i n g my
copy writing ser vices
ove r t h e web.
Jim Daniels. These influences stimulated
my thinking and pushed me toward my
current direction.
Making the transition from direct
marketing to internet marketing was easy.
I really believe that internet marketing is
simply a subset of direct marketing, just
delivered via a different medium.
Early in your career, who were some of the people that you
modelled?
Apart from ‘virtual mentors’ such as Jay Abraham, I was also mentored
by some very successful people at Jimos. In particular the CEO, Mr Fujio
Komura, taught me a lot about the importance of thinking well ahead
of current market conditions, and building and nurturing business and
personal relationships proactively. He was a master at building strong
teams and leading them toward a vision.
Can you share with us the story of how you made your first dollar
online?
I have made money using a number of methods on the internet, including
AdSense (Google’s program for advertisement publishers), selling
advertising, affiliate marketing and information products. However, my
first dollar came from selling my copywriting services over the web.
Today, the bulk of my income comes from setting up lead generation and
conversion programs for companies and optimising the performance of
online sales channels using an analytics-based approach.
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There are a seemingly unlimited number of ways to make money
on the internet. What are some of the major ones?
The internet is just a medium – how you use it to create value is up to
you. Some of the more popular ways for making money on the internet
are:
•
Selling advertising – publishing advertisements on your website either
through an established platform (for example, Google AdSense) or
by selling links or banners. This can be very lucrative for high-traffic
websites.
•
Affiliate marketing – earning a commission on sales or sales leads that
you generate for others. An example of this is the Amazon Associate
program.
•
Selling information – the internet is a superb medium for delivering
information. Common delivery models include newsletter subscriptions,
downloadable audio and video programs, e-books and membership
websites.
•
Selling physical products – offering physical products that you can
ship to the consumer or have shipped for you through a fulfilment
service.
•
Lead generation – generating enquiries for products and services for
conversion into appointments and/or sales offline. This is the area in
which I specialise.
What made you decide to start your current internet business?
My professional background is in mail order direct marketing. I’ve always
enjoyed the data-driven feedback process that allows you to see what’s
working in the real world and what’s not. The internet takes that to
another level, providing you with the ability to see exactly how users are
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interacting with a website and insights into how to optimise the process.
So I feel that internet business is a good match for my skills and abilities.
It’s also exciting to be a part of a rapidly evolving field that is influencing
the way we live our lives every day.
For people who have a website that is not performing, what are
your top tips for dramatically increasing its performance?
Although this question is very broad, there are a few core strategies I
recommend for increasing the results of any online sales process.
If your website is not performing, there are two possibilities: something’s
not right at the strategic level (your offering, positioning, targeting or
business model) or you are not executing traffic generation and conversion
optimally at the tactical level.
The following three ideas relate more to improving your sales process at
the tactical level:
•
Track your marketing spend properly – if you use Google AdWords
to generate traffic, ensure that conversion tracking is installed and
functioning correctly. Then look at how your individual advertisements,
keywords and landing pages are performing in terms of cost per
conversion. Cull your lowest performing advertisements and optimise
what’s working. If you advertise with other services such as the online
Yellow Pages, True Local, banner advertisements or e-zines, use the
‘cross channel tracking’ tool within the Google Adwords interface to
monitor your progress.
•
Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – I recommend that you
keep track of a range of KPIs including:
• site traffic from different sources (search engines, paid searches,
referrals, traffic from other websites, and direct ‘type in’ traffic)
• conversion rates for key conversion goals (newsletter signups, white
paper downloads, enquiry forms or shopping cart sales)
• usage patterns (one page visits).
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Just keeping track of the numbers on a regular basis gets you thinking
about how to improve each area. The free Google Analytics system can
be used to do all of the above.
•
Identify sticking points and focus your efforts – different websites under
perform for different reasons. Many people assume that getting more
traffic via search engine optimisation (SEO) is the most effective way
to improve the performance of their site. In fact, the problem may be
that many users are leaving your site immediately because they aren’t
seeing what they came for. In this case, the ‘low hanging fruit’ may be
to optimise your site content to engage more visitors.
You now do a lot of work with website analytics. Can you explain
what this is?
Website analytics are systems that allow you to track and analyse how
users are engaging with your website. We work extensively with a number
of web analytics tools, including Google Analytics and Google Website
Optimizer, which perform testing, tracking, segmenting and reporting
functions.
Tracking what’s happening is only the first step. You also have to make
sense of what the data is telling you and convert it into more profitable
outcomes. For example, if you can see how different traffic sources,
referring websites or advertisements contribute to your desired outcomes,
you can multiply what’s working and de-emphasise what’s not.
Another common application of website
analytics is pinpointing problem areas,
such as pages with high abandonment
rates. If 90 per cent of users are
abandoning your checkout process, then
taking steps to decrease that number can
produce rapid sales improvements.
You also have to
mak e sense of what
the data is telling
you…
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By implementing this ‘Track – Analyse – Test – Repeat’ cycle in a structured
way, we aim to increase the return on investment of any online marketing
process by 50 to 100 per cent within three months or less.
Why are you a strong believer in split testing and what key areas
do you regularly split test?
Split testing is a core technique of direct marketing in which different
approaches are scientifically tested against each other in a ‘live’ situation.
Even the most experienced marketers are notoriously bad at picking
what approaches will sell more effectively, which is why we put it to the
market to decide.
Online split testing is done by serving multiple content versions to
different users and then tracking the sales or lead generation results back
to the content version viewed by each user. Most split testing systems set
a cookie on users’ systems in order to temporarily ‘set’ the version they
see, even if they leave the page and come back later.
We use split testing heavily because it’s an extremely reliable way to boost
the sales results of a website. It’s common to see one headline outperform
another by 30 to 50 per cent. I have seen one headline beat the control
by more than 400 per cent – that’s leverage.
You can also test other factors besides headlines. The six most important
areas of a website after the headline are: the offer, opening paragraph,
guarantee, photos or graphics, price and ‘PS’ statements.
You also like to use a tool called Crazy Egg. Can you explain what it
is and how it works?
Crazy Egg (www.crazyegg.com) is a data visualisation tool that converts
user activity on your website into a heat map that shows exactly where
users are clicking. Knowing this information allows you to tweak your
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content to suit users better and encourage a higher proportion of visitors
to click deeper into your website.
The visual output provided by Crazy Egg is also easier to digest for many
people than screeds of reports and tables. This can be particularly useful
for resolving turf battles that sometimes arise when different departments
of an organisation want to justify their presence on the homepage of a
corporate website. Everyone can see what’s happening and decisions can
be made based on facts rather than politics or guesswork.
A visual of one of the functions of Crazy Egg.
What are some high-impact ways to increase search engine
rankings?
Improving search engine rankings tends to be a relatively slow, incremental
process, which is why we recommend focusing on other areas (such as
conversion optimisation) at the same time as SEO. However, there is no
doubt that high natural search engine rankings can produce a significant
return on investment.
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Here are some quick tips for some of the important concepts in SEO:
1. Keyword research – know what keywords to aim for. You want to rank
well for keywords that have sufficient traffic volume, a high conversion
rate and the potential to rank well within six to 12 months. You can use
Google AdWords to identify keyword-specific volume and conversion
data to assist in choosing the right keywords.
2. On-page SEO – this refers to the appropriate use of keywords within
your webpages. The most important places to include your target
keywords are in the title, description, metatags, headlines, link text
and text content.
3. Off-page SEO – this involves generating or attracting incoming links
to your website. Article writing, press releases and features in news
websites are three ways to generate incoming links. Another more
sophisticated strategy is called link-baiting – offering a resource such
as an article, tool or calculator with the specific purpose of attracting
links from other websites.
The brevity of the above tips is like condensing an encyclopaedia into
a few paragraphs, but it’s important to keep in mind that all successful
SEO efforts incorporate each of these three areas.
Why do emails still play an integral role in internet marketing and
how can people use them effectively?
While email marketing is becoming more challenging because of the
volume of worthless spam you have to compete with, regular contact to an
opt-in email list of prospects or clients is still a core promotional technique
of online marketing, especially in lead generation for complex sales, in
which you may be nurturing leads through a multi-step ‘information
and education’ process with the aim of producing highly-qualified leads
for a sales team.
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My top five tips for effective email marketing are:
1. Deliverability – make sure your emails get delivered by asking users
to ‘whitelist’ your email address, format emails correctly and avoid
‘spam’ language, such as ‘FREE’.
2. Automation – use auto-responders to send a sequence of emails to
subscribers, according to a pre-determined schedule that you set. This
is much more effective than an occasional email broadcast because it
leads subscribers through a step-by-step process instead of throwing
them in mid-way through.
3. Test – split-test different subject lines and/or email content. Different
subject lines can produce dramatically different open rates and sales
results.
4. Track – monitor your open, click-through and unsubscribe rates so
you know what’s working.
5. Add value – regular value-added email communications are the best
way to keep subscribers interested and nurture sales leads. Too many
corporate emails are sterile, boring and self-serving.
What does your research tell you about plain text versus HTML
emails?
The jury is still out on this one. Personally, I use plain text emails because
they are quicker to write, easier to format, treated more leniently by spam
filters and more conversational in look and feel.
In the HTML versus plain text email split tests I have conducted, the
results have either been marginal or plain text has come out in front.
However, HTML email also offers some advantages – precise tracking
of open rates and click-through rates, additional formatting options and
greater scope for branding.
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It’s interesting to note that none of the top internet marketers use HTML
email regularly, but many corporate marketers swear by it. My advice is
to test both approaches with your audience and make a decision based
on the results.
What advice can you offer people to ensure that a greater number
of their emails are opened?
Deliverability is one of the most important factors in the success or failure
of your email marketing campaigns. If 30 per cent of your emails are
getting blocked, you can assume that your response is being depressed
by a similar margin.
While deliverability is a challenge, the good news is that there are many
things you can do to ensure your deliverability remains high.
•
Use a reputable email system – I recommend that you use an email
service that can demonstrate a high deliverability rate. Some commercial
email services enforce ‘best practices’ by their users, which ensure that
your emails are treated preferentially by most of the large internet
service providers (ISPs).
•
Avoid ‘spam’ language – vigorous sales copy and formatting in emails
will tend to trip spam filters. Many useful guidelines can be found by
doing an internet search for ‘Spam Assassin FAQ’.
•
Use clean formatting – ensure that your email has a valid sender, not
just [email protected]. If you send HTML emails, make sure
that the code is correctly formatted. Don’t use any invisible text or
deceptive formatting.
•
Ask users to ‘whitelist’ your email address – if you have an email
newsletter or something similar, ask users to flag your sending email
address as friendly by whitelisting it in their email program.
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One of the concepts you talk about is ‘sales funnel optimisation’
– can you explain more about what that is?
Sales funnel optimisation is improving the efficiency of your website’s ability
to convert a new visitor into a client. The metaphor of the sales funnel is
no doubt familiar to most readers, and online it’s no different.
At the top of your online marketing funnel you have your traffic. Below
that you might have a newsletter or white paper opt-in, then you might
invite subscribers to attend a teleconference or webinar, or invite them
to register for a workshop.
So online sales funnel optimisation is simply deciding what your conversion
steps should be before working to improve each step in the process in
order to advance prospects on to the next stage.
Can websites be used to sell complex products or services?
Yes, websites and online marketing can be used to sell anything, provided
that you follow an appropriate strategy. You wouldn’t sell luxury cars
or complex financial products using a shopping cart and credit card
processing facility. For complex products or services, the most effective
strategy would probably be to use your website as a lead generation
tool. In this situation, the key is ‘lead
nurturing’. Most online lead generation
The met ap hor of
processes are sub-optimal because they
tend to clog up your sales team’s inboxes
t he sales funnel is no
with unqualified or premature enquiries
rather than properly qualified, ready-tod oub t familiar to
buy leads which is the stage at which your
m ost read er s, and
sales team can add the most value.
Lead nurturing is a process for having
multiple conversations with prospects at
different stages in the buying cycle. At
online it ’s no
different.
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each stage, your primary objective should be to advance leads on to the
next stage rather than generating an enquiry prematurely. Some of the
‘tools’ you can use to have these conversations are PDF reports, white
papers, emails, spreadsheets, templates, calculators, audio-visual content,
surveys, audits, webinars, information sessions and workshops.
Ideally, the process should be as automated as possible, using IT systems
to do much of the heavy lifting, freeing up your people to add value
at the critical moments. Systems like these have the advantage of being
massively scaleable without losing the personal touch.
How do you help businesses get better results from their online
marketing efforts?
Most of the work we do is aimed at multiplying the results of an existing
online lead generation process or establishing additional lead generation
channels. The key areas that we address as part of our process are:
•
Strategic planning – gaining clarity on the client’s desired outcome
and devising a strategy to make it a reality in the shortest possible
timeframe.
•
Conversion process – designing the specific process for converting a new
visitor into a client. This often involves breaking up the conversion
process into bite-sized steps and/or delivering more value up front
in order to attract, engage and nurture more prospects through the
marketing funnel.
•
Tracking – setting up appropriate tracking and KPIs to monitor results.
As a minimum, this usually includes set up and customisation of
Google Analytics plus tracking of any paid search activities.
•
Traffic generation – optimising existing traffic generation activities
and identifying additional traffic sources to test. The core traffic
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generation methods we used are natural SEO, paid search and strategic
partnerships with other websites or list owners.
•
Conversion – identifying key pages in the conversion process and
setting up appropriate testing and tracking to plug leaks and clear
bottlenecks.
•
Refinement – testing and validating new approaches on an ongoing
basis – as one bottleneck is cleared, a new one is created.
Can you share some success stories of how you have helped other
businesses improve their results on the internet?
Here are three examples from different industries that use slightly different
methodologies.
We worked with Fuji Xerox Australia (www.fujixerox.com.au) to optimise
its paid search and online lead generation activities. We started setting
up several campaigns and testing multiple advertisements, landing pages
and keywords. The client was able to double online lead volume with 60
per cent lower paid search cost within 90 days.
With boutique mortgage broker, Loans Approved (www.loansapproved.
com.au), we designed a lead generation process that uses offline marketing
promotions to drive traffic to the website, capture email addresses, educate
prospects and convert them into highly-qualified sales leads. This has
created a scaleable lead generation process, which has helped it become
the pre-eminent investor-focused mortgage broker in Australia in fewer
than four years.
We have also been working with Jay Abraham Asia Pacific (www.
jayabrahamasiapacific.com.au) deploying its web-based lead-generation
strategy. This includes landing page and autoresponder systems that
drive event attendance during the year, in anticipation of the ‘main event’
– the Jay Abraham Business Building Bootcamp. This process has enabled
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…a reliable way to
achieve greate r
s u cce s s o n l i n e i s to
te s t an d tra ck u si n g
re l i a b l e m e t r i c s.
the client to scale massively and boost
event attendance by 50 per cent within 12
months without adding a single member
of staff.
What is the most important thing
you have learnt about succeeding on
the internet?
Two things come to mind.
1. The importance of correct strategy – a sound strategy (positioning,
targeting, conversion process and so on) can be executed imperfectly,
yet still sell much more than a site that executes a poor strategy
brilliantly. The technical skills required to put up a website and
manipulate code are widely available, but strategic insight is much
more rare. I aim to add value at the strategic level.
2. Knowing your metrics is vital – a reliable way to achieve greater success
online is to test and track using reliable metrics. In other words,
management by fact rather than management based on gut feel or
hunches.
I would buy, renovate and sell websites. Initially, I would work out deals
with investors who have money but not time, and then parlay any profits
into my own projects moving forward.
Websites can be looked at in exactly the same way as traditional real estate.
The investment goals of cash flow and growth are very similar and the
price-earnings multiples are very attractive for buyers at the moment.
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Over the next ten to 20 years what do you see as the major
opportunities on the internet?
Ten to 20 years is a very long time on the internet, especially when you
consider that the World Wide Web has been around for less than 20 years.
Some key opportunities that come to mind are:
•
A very hot market for virtual real estate. Currently, you can buy many
websites for around 12 times your monthly earnings. In five years
time, I believe earnings multiples will be much higher and we will
very likely see a speculative bubble.
•
Wholesale migration of many offline business processes (for example,
call centres, support, account management and so on) to the web.
This will spawn whole industries of professionals and service staff to
handle the demand, with many of them operating remotely.
•
Ubiquitous computing – an exponential increase in connected devices
and ways to plug them into our lives. For example, a mobile phone
equipped with a barcode or RFID tag reader will generate an instant
price comparison on any item in any shop within seconds.
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D
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e B AY R U L E S
eBay Rules
AMANDA CLARKSON
Perso n ally, M at t and I aim to reac h aro u nd
$100,000 a month in sales (we are not far off!).
B y t h e t i m e we re a c h t h i s g o a l , o u r e B ay
busin ess will o nly be a year o ld.
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PROFILE
AMANDA CLARKSON
Amanda Clarkson was born in Launceston, Tasmania, in 1965. From the
age of nine, she knew that she wanted to be in business and would
often sell homemade cookies, jams and sweets to her neighbours.
Amanda worked in a customer service position at Coles part-time
before leaving school in year ten to work full-time. She has since
had 33 different jobs and started ten different businesses, including
food, beauty, video rentals, business consulting, personal training,
business licensing and internet marketing. Her experiences have
led to her current businesses on eBay, which she founded with her
husband, Matt.
Discovering the power of eBay in early 2006, Amanda dove in headfirst,
immersing herself in the subject of eBay and soon mastering the
powerful online retail platform, becoming a Platinum Power Seller
within nine months of starting.
As she grew her business, Amanda documented everything she did in
an effort to create systems. Realising the power of her eBay business
system, she set out to create an education program to teach people
advanced, yet simple, eBay business skills. This became the basis for
her second business, You Won The Bid Ltd, which currently delivers
eBay courses all over the world.
Amanda is an accomplished entrepreneur who loves being able to
combine her passions for travel, business and running. Living on the
Gold Coast, she makes sure that her schedule always allows her to fit in
her daily ten-kilometre run before she opens her laptop! As a leading
eBay education specialist, Amanda enjoys speaking at seminars all
over the world, teaching people from all walks of life how to start
and run a successful and profitable business on eBay.
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While growing up, were you always a bit of a go-getter?
I grew up in a family of seven, and from an early age we all had to pitch
in and do tonnes of chores every day. We had a hobby farm with plenty
of pets so there was never a dull moment. Not only that, my whole family
was very athletic so we were heavily into sport from around the age of
four. Mum was a runner and Dad was a cyclist, so I had a good head start!
I truly believe my strict country upbringing and sporting background is
the main reason I have so much drive and have been a ‘go-getter’ from
a very young age.
Is it true that you have worked 33 jobs and started ten different
businesses?
Yes, it’s true. I think the reason for this is because I could never find
anything that held my interest for very long. I would get bored very
quickly and move on to the next adventure. Sometimes I’d only stay in
a job for a day or a week before I realised it wasn’t for me. If I wasn’t
happy or fulfilled I never felt obliged to stay, so I kept changing jobs in
search of the right one.
After working a variety of jobs, I started various businesses, from mobile
food vans to beauty and manicuring, a video store, business coaching,
personal training, internet marketing, business licensing – and finally
– eBay. I enjoyed most of them and still love and do some of them. In
the beginning, I used to think that there was something wrong with me
because I used to jump from one business to another. But that was before
I realised that none of my businesses, prior to eBay, were fulfilling all my
needs. I know for certain that my future will always involve eBay, be it
making money or showing other people how to do the same. Thankfully,
when I decided that eBay was for me, I invested heavily in mentors and
the right education, and it has paid off in so many ways. Finally, after
some 33 jobs and ten businesses, I have found that my two eBay businesses
completely satisfy me and make me content.
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AMANDA CLARKSON
O n e o f th e
What was your first significant
business venture and what did you
learn from it?
p o s i t i ve s f ro m t h i s
My first significant business venture was
when I decided that running a mobile
experience was that I
food van would be fun, entertaining and a
m e t my h u sba n d,
great way to meet new people. What was I
thinking? I ended up working long, hard,
M at t …
sweaty 14-hour days – cooking, cleaning
and driving in busy traffic – without a
break. Talk about stressful! I was running myself into the ground and I
certainly wasn’t enjoying the experience. Ironically, the last thing on my
mind was socialising!
I learnt many hard lessons about running a business that had not been
well thought out or planned from the beginning. I realised very quickly,
and after reading The E-Myth by Michael Gerber, that if I was going to
be successful in business I had to employ good people. That is, I needed
quality people to carry out the daily tasks so that I could work on my
business instead of in it.
Unfortunately, by the time I learnt these lessons I was well and truly over
the business. I sold it as quickly as I could. One of the positives from this
experience was that I met my husband, Matt, during this time. So for me,
the lessons and the experience were definitely worth it.
From your many years of business experience, what valuable
lessons have you learnt?
One of the most valuable lessons I learnt was that it is okay to change
direction if you are not excited about what you are doing every single
day – and don’t worry about what others might think of your decisions.
Sometimes this can be hard, but at the end of the day if you are not
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following your dreams, then it is going to be hard to fly out of bed each
morning feeling excited and ready to take on challenges.
Another valuable lesson I learnt was to surround myself with mentors who
have already achieved what I want to achieve. I never ask the opinion of
someone who does not have the result I’m after – they’re not qualified.
Some people cringe at the thought of paying for qualified mentors, but
I know that having mentors is the main reason I found instant success
with my eBay businesses. One of my current mentors has a saying when
it comes to investing in yourself and your future: ‘Pay once, cry once’.
In addition to investing in mentors I also think that you need to invest in
ongoing education in the form of books, DVDs, seminars and so forth.
This type of education has had a massive impact on where I am today
in terms of knowledge, income and direction. Every day I try to learn
something new and useful, and then, most importantly, I implement it
straight away.
Why did you decide to investigate the internet as a business
opportunity?
It was definitely because of the lifestyle that came with this type of
business. I wanted to be able to start each day with a run on the beach
or a session at the gym, have a long breakfast with Matt and then start
work at around 10am.
Both Matt and I were tired of having to be somewhere every morning
at a certain time and spending our days with people we had to be with
instead of people we wanted to be with. We both love travelling and our
freedom, so we figured that having an internet business would be the
vehicle that would give us our dream life.
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AMANDA CLARKSON
How did you start to learn about the internet and acquire your
knowledge base?
Initially, we didn’t really know too much about how to make money
on the net, so we immediately surrounded ourselves with mentors and
people who did. We were so serious and dedicated that we actually flew
to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend our very first internet seminar.
Since then, we have learnt many lessons, some hard, some life-changing,
but all necessary. The internet was challenging in many ways for me,
especially because I had always owned bricks and mortar businesses. And
truthfully, there were tonnes of times I wanted to throw in the towel, but
something kept me going this time.
What internet strategies did you try in the beginning?
In the early days we tried many different strategies in our quest to make
money; some failed miserably while others earned us a great income.
When it comes to making money on the internet there are simply so
many strategies, you just have to try them all to see what is going to work
best for you. The internet is constantly changing, so you really have to
keep up with the latest and greatest information if you want to stay on
top of your game.
After a number of years working on the internet, why did you
become frustrated?
I was never satisfied with the monthly cheques coming in because I never
knew exactly how much money there was going to be. This uncertainty
made it hard to plan ahead. I don’t know if it’s just me (I have a sneaking
suspicion that it’s not), but I like to know how much money is coming in
each week so I can think about the future and plan well in advance.
I was sitting in our home office (spare bedroom) one morning, complaining
about my feelings of uncertainty and Matt suggested that I look into selling
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on eBay. I hadn’t thought about it up until that point, but it certainly
sparked an interest. I spent a couple of hours researching the website and
quickly realised that millions of people were making a great living selling
stuff to people all over the world!
One of the things I love most about eBay is that it’s a public company,
so all the stats are right there for you to look at. You know very quickly
how many people are registered, how many sellers are making a full or
part-time income, how much money is being spent and so on.
Basically, there was enough information for me to come to the conclusion
that I wanted to become part of the action.
What made you decide to start your current internet businesses?
I own two businesses right now:
1. An eBay business – where I get to sell things online to people all over
the world, from the comfort of my own home.
2. An eBay education company – where Matt and I teach people our
courses (based on our own experiences and successes) about how to
make unlimited money on eBay.
I started my education business after
experiencing instant success selling all
kinds of things. After only eight months
we were bringing in more than $50,000 a
month. Naturally, people around me were
intrigued as to how I was able to make so
much money in such a short period of
time (and while only working part-time).
It was at this point that I decided to fill a
gap in the marketplace by showing people
how to have a profitable eBay business by
following our simple step-by-step systems.
The inter net is
constantly changing,
so you really have to
k eep up wit h t he
latest and greatest
infor mat ion…
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AMANDA CLARKSON
My aim was for anyone, no matter what their background, to generate
high profits while only working part-time.
What was the first product you sold on eBay?
In April 2006, I sold my first item. It was a CD-set of an internet seminar
I had attended in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2004.
Up until this point, I had spent a fortune on private eBay tuition and had
been learning from some of the top eBay sellers in the world – I knew
what I was doing. Well, I thought I knew what I was doing! Basically,
what happened is this:
When you sell an item on eBay you must have a ‘title description’. This
simply means that when a buyer goes to search for an item they’re
interested in, they type the keyword or keywords into the ‘search box’.
For example:
As the seller, it’s super important that you choose the right words in your
description so that buyers easily find you among the hundreds of other
listings on eBay.
Well, Little Miss Know-it-all (me) actually spelled one of the keywords in my
title description wrong! My description was: ‘World Intenet Summit 2004
DVD set, CDs’! Can you believe I spelled the word internet wrong?
Due to my spelling mistake, my item did not show up in the search results
page, which meant that buyers had a hard time finding it. I didn’t even
realise I’d done this until it was too late. By the last day of my auction,
the bidding was only sitting on $1.24. How disappointing!
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To cut a long story short, I flicked on my computer screen long after
the auction had finished. To my surprise, the CDs sold for $133.50! I
couldn’t believe it. You could honestly hear me screaming, like I’d won
the lotto, all the way down the hall of our building. I was overwhelmed
with excitement because at that moment, I knew without a doubt that
anyone can make money on eBay – even if they make a few mistakes
along the way!
How long did it take you to earn a full-time living from eBay? How
many hours did you need to work every day?
It was very quick, which was lucky, because in the beginning all I did
was sell everything that wasn’t nailed down – self-development books,
DVDs, CDs, cassettes, videos, clothing and accessories, and household
electronics. After I ran out of things to sell, I contacted friends and
colleagues and started selling things they didn’t want anymore. They
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AMANDA CLARKSON
I was so craz y
a b o u t s e l l i n g o n e B ay
that I wanted to share
were more than happy to help me out in
my new venture and probably thought I
was mad! I even had a few people laugh
about my new ‘hobby’; little did they
know that I was on my way to generating
over $50,000 a month in sales within the
first few months!
my k n ow l edge…
I was able to do this because while I
was selling my household wares, I was
diligently researching untapped markets on eBay to sell into and sourcing
products that I could sell long term. During this research phase, I was on
my computer around six hours a day. To tell you the truth, I was addicted
to looking at how much money other sellers were making!
After just eight months, once our income had hit the $50,000 a month
mark, both Matt and I were only working around two to three hours a
day each. This was possible because 85 per cent of what we were doing
was automated. This gave us extra free time to start planning the next
phase of our business: to help others start a profitable eBay business. I
was so crazy about selling on eBay that I wanted to share my knowledge
with everyone who could only dream about their ideal lifestyle.
At what point did you realise that eBay was going to be the vehicle
for achieving your goals?
The realisation came when I began conducting research on some of the
50,000-plus categories available on eBay. I also saw the vast amounts of
money being made by some of the top sellers. I knew if I had the right
coaching and information, I could very easily join the percentage of eBay
sellers who were making big money. Right from the start I felt really
excited – and it was different from any of my previous businesses.
I also had a strong self-taught background in direct marketing and sales,
so I believed that I could utilise my skills in many ways on the eBay
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platform. With these skills I knew I could go on to dominate different
categories that I chose to sell into. I believed this because eBay sellers are
predominantly mums, dads and everyday people who originally started
selling to earn an extra income. Not long after that, some savvy marketers
and big retail companies moved to eBay to sell overstocked items and
the like. Research shows that a very large portion of eBay sellers today
are not educated in marketing and sales, therefore a vast majority of
sellers simply copy each other, never knowing if they’re doing the right
or wrong things.
This gave me a huge advantage and I immediately saw a massive gap
in the market. Not only could I sell goods on eBay and earn a fantastic
income, but I could also teach other people the right way to sell as well.
With my skills, experience and passion for sharing my knowledge, I
knew that anyone with the right information could maximise their profit
potential selling on eBay.
What is the one thing you love the most about eBay?
I love the fact that eBay allows me to automate up to 85 per cent of my
business. There are many tasks that you’re able to automate by using very
simple software programs embedded in your eBay business. This simple
benefit allows me to spend more time working on the business rather
than in it. In fact, Matt was automating our business so much that at one
stage I told him to stop doing it – I had nothing to do!
Are there many people making serious money through eBay?
Recent statistics show that there are now a massive 1.3 million people
all over the world, in 33 different countries, who make either a full or
part-time income selling on eBay. Around 17,500 of these people are
Australians! As you can see, there’s a massive opportunity for anyone
to start a business on eBay, considering there are around 222 million
registered users.
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AMANDA CLARKSON
People now spend over $1 billion a week exchanging goods on eBay – that
equates to over $141 million a day! Men and women from all walks of life
are making millions of dollars and you’d never know it. Many of them
are keeping quiet, working from home, literally making a fortune.
Matt and I have personally met many sellers who are turning over many
millions of dollars a year. And to tell you the truth, once you know exactly
what you’re doing, it’s very possible to replicate those kinds of results.
The sky (or your mind-set) really is the limit when it comes to selling
on eBay, simply because of the massive amounts of online traffic and the
fact that you have a worldwide audience.
What advice would you give to someone just getting started on
eBay?
Education is the key to success.
Did you know that around 54 per cent of items on eBay don’t sell, and
some don’t even get a single bid? This is because most eBay sellers don’t
really know or understand what they are doing. They simply dive into
the deep end and copy everyone else. Like too many business owners,
they just hope for the best!
For me, it’s not a hobby, it’s a business. It must support my husband and
me and give us the lifestyle we desire. It is therefore imperative that we
have all the steps in place to ensure that we make the most profit possible,
working the least amount of hours. My favourite saying is you can always
get more money, but you can never get more time!
After getting the right education, how does someone go about
finding the right products to sell?
Once you have the right knowledge about selling on eBay, researching
new opportunities and finding the right products to sell will come easily.
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In fact, I have a little blue leather book with over 250 product ideas that
I know for certain would make me a lot of money (maybe I should sell
it on eBay!).
When it comes to making money on eBay, we follow an exact formula that
works. Just as with geometry and algebra, it’s impossible to fail when this
formula is carried out with precision. There is nothing scarier in business
than not understanding what you are doing or why you are doing it. But
if you have the knowledge and know for certain that what you are doing
will work, finding products to sell on eBay is the easy part. It’s the ‘how’
that is the most important ingredient of all.
When it comes to speaking with suppliers and sourcing products, all
you’ve got to remember is that you’re dealing with everyday people like
yourself. From my experience, I know that this whole process can be
daunting for some new sellers, but once you start chatting with suppliers,
you’ll see that they’re just as excited about doing business with you as
you are with them.
There are many product resources available to sellers. In fact, there are
companies in America whose entire focus is finding wholesalers, drop
shippers and manufacturers who are ready to start dealing with eBay
sellers immediately.
My advice is to get on the phone and personally speak to potential
suppliers if you can. I believe that emailing back and forth can be a waste
of precious time and this is especially
true if you’re dealing with people from
There is not hing
other countries. Sometimes things you
say in an email can be misconstrued and
scarier in business
will end up costing you time and money.
t han not
This is often the case if you also have
cultural and language differences thrown
understanding what
into the mix.
you are d oing…
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AMANDA CLARKSON
Do you believe that eBay sellers should leave the fulfilment to the
suppliers or should they purchase the stock and do the shipping
themselves?
It depends on exactly what you want to achieve from your eBay business.
Knowing what you are good at, and what you want to do yourself, will
help determine whether or not you will ship your own products or leave
the fulfilment to someone else. There are certainly pros and cons for
doing both.
Frankly, I prefer to make sure that my customers are getting exactly
what they order, so I like to have all my stock on hand and ship myself.
Other eBay sellers have very successful businesses and never handle a
single product. It comes down to testing and measuring these things and
deciding what’s going to work best for you and your business profitability
in the long term.
With millions of products on eBay at any one time, what are your
top tips for making your products stand out from the crowd?
1. Make sure you use the right keywords in your ‘listing/description title’
so that buyers or bidders can easily find you.
2. Make sure your product is listed in the right category. You won’t
believe the amount of sellers who get this wrong.
3. Make sure you point out all of the benefits of your product and not
just the features.
4. Remember, you’re in the business of story-telling when you sell on
eBay. If you can wrap a good story around your product and yourself,
you’re far more likely to get more bids. People relate to stories.
5. Become an expert in your category. People love to buy from sellers
who really know and understand the products they’re selling. If you do
this right, you’ll stand head and shoulders above your competition.
6. Understand that buyers are looking for an experience when they shop
on eBay. Don’t copy what 95 per cent of sellers are doing. They’re not
necessarily right!
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7. Remember: the sale only begins when you’ve made the sale. It’s the
after sale service that will make or break your business.
Do you think that people should tap into international markets or
should they remain domestic?
eBay is a worldwide marketplace, so you would be mad not to take
advantage of the number of people shopping worldwide. If you are able
to ship your products to other countries easily, then you should definitely
do it.
When I started selling on eBay, I listed everything on eBay.com so that
people from all over the world could see what we had to offer. It didn’t
take much to ship products to the US and even places like Slovenia! I
think it is very important to never assume that people will not pay big
shipping costs to get an item that they have their heart set on.
So yes, open your business to the world and you’ll certainly make a lot
more sales and possibly higher profit margins.
Can you share a couple of success stories about some of the
people you have helped make money on eBay?
Since launching our eBay Magic course in February 2007, we’ve had many
people come on board who want an eBay business that can give them the
lifestyle they desire. While it is still early days, we have had testimonials
from many of them who share their stories of success.
Some of them are already on their way to doing business with suppliers
from other countries like America and China! Others, like husband and
wife team Jeff and Nancie, have made over $3,000 within two weeks of
starting the course. Another gentleman, Jeff, actually made over $22,000
in the first 14 days after learning our strategies. He told me he was on
track to making millions with his two new eBay businesses (sorry, but
he didn’t reveal his source of stock!).
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AMANDA CLARKSON
Some of our clients measure success
in ways other than money. One of my
I f t h e s e a re e a r l y
favourites, Danielle (who knew absolutely
nothing about eBay) began importing
days for these eBay
goods from China one month after
finishing the course. Her whole reason for
s e l le rs, i ma gi n e th ei r
starting an eBay business was so she and
s to r i e s by t h i s t i m e
her husband could spend time working
together and with their three little boys.
nex t year?
Another young lady, Jennifer, who was
very unhappy working in a butcher shop,
found success from buying products off eBay and then reselling them for
huge profits. Her life has completely changed and she and her hubby are
planning on starting a family because she can now be a full-time mum
and still work.
And this is just the beginning! If these are early days for these eBay sellers,
imagine their stories by this time next year?
What is your personal goal for generating income via your eBay
business?
Personally, Matt and I aim to reach around $100,000 a month in sales
(we are not far off!). By the time we reach this goal, our eBay business
will only be a year old. I know this sounds incredible, but when you get
to our stage – where your business is 85 per cent automated and you
are continually educating yourself – cranking up your eBay business to
this level is quite easy.
To tell you the truth, we could easily get it to the point where it turns
over $500,000 a month. Crazy, I know, but possible. However, the question
we ask ourselves is this: what is our outcome? How much money do we
really want to make selling stuff on eBay? Our main concern is that with
growth comes other factors like logistics, warehousing and staff. Do we
want to spend our time dealing with these things?
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At the end of the day, our heart is in educating other people about making
money with an eBay business. We both come from a teaching and business
background, so it is a very natural progression for us. That said, I don’t
see a time anywhere in the future where we wouldn’t continue with our
eBay business. It’s just too easy and too profitable to give up.
How soon after starting your eBay course can people expect to
make money?
It has been suggested on eBay that nearly every household in Australia has
at least $2,200 worth of ‘stuff ’ sitting around that they no longer want,
use or need. If you start listing your items for sale immediately, and do
it right, you can expect to make money almost instantly.
Can people who have never sold anything on the internet, or who
have never operated a business before, make money through
eBay?
Absolutely anyone, no matter what their education or business background,
can successfully make a living on eBay. All they have to do is learn the
must-do steps!
Just like any business there is a learning process, and making money on
eBay is no different. The beauty with eBay is that it’s very user friendly
and once you have the know-how the growth of your business is only
limited by your mind-set.
Is it a good idea to run an eBay business with a spouse or partner?
When I first looked at selling on eBay, I planned to do it all by myself.
However, after getting started I soon realised if my husband joined me,
not only could we spend our days hanging out together, we could also
grow our business much faster.
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AMANDA CLARKSON
Matt and I have distinct roles within our business. We work very happily
in harmony because each of us knows exactly what our tasks are. In the
early days, my role was to research hot untapped markets and to contact
suppliers. I also answered customer questions and took care of any
product-related issues. Matt’s role was to list our products, take care of the
ordering process with our suppliers and ship the products each day. These
days we have a part-time assistant who runs our business in less than 15
hours a week and we now concentrate on our education business.
I think eBay is the perfect vehicle for anyone who’s considering having a
home-based business with their partner or spouse. I speak to a massive
amount of people who’d love nothing more than to be able to earn a
very good living from the comfort of their own home. Men in particular
like the idea of being home if they have children – so many of them
miss out on the important years of their kids’ lives because they’re out
earning money.
What types of people are suited to running an eBay business?
If you yearn to earn money freely, without having a limit attached as
you do in a job, then you are suited to running an eBay business. Right
now as you read this book, there are mums and dads, university students,
savvy businesspeople, Baby Boomers, people with disabilities, and even
young children making money on eBay – it’s a level playing field which
allows absolutely anyone to earn money.
What is the future for eBay and other online shopping
experiences?
There are unlimited opportunities – eBay is only 11 years old in the US
and just five years old in Australia. With over 50,000 categories available
to sell into, there is no possible way that this opportunity could ever get
flooded with too many sellers.
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e B AY R U L E S
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Every day more and more shoppers are turning to the internet to buy
things they want. Many savvy eBay sellers are also branching out to other
websites to sell their wares and increase their profit margins. The key
is to know what other sellers don’t do and stay on top of your game.
This comes from education and can literally make you a fortune if you
implement all the necessary steps.
What do you love most about being in business?
I love the exciting lifestyle it allows me and my husband to have. For
instance, I am writing this chapter in a Starbucks coffee shop on 9th
Avenue, Manhattan, New York City! I’m here for the annual eBay live
convention and absolutely love having total control of my destiny. I love
being able to enjoy new experiences and have fun with my husband while
we are still young. Even now, as I sit here, I am making money on the
internet. It doesn’t get any better than this!
What is the biggest mistake you’ve made in business and what did
you learn from it?
The biggest mistake I’ve ever made in business was to chase someone
else’s idea of a dream business instead of following my own. When you
work your tail off, but your heart is simply not in it, it can be a very
long and hard journey that leaves you feeling empty and frustrated. I’ve
been down this road twice now, and will never make the same mistake
again. I now own my dream business and the feeling is one of fulfilment
and excitement 24/7!
I believe that so many new business owners simply do not plan, research
or think their business through in detail before diving in headfirst. Worse
still, too many are not prepared to invest in mentors and further education
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AMANDA CLARKSON
that will help them better understand the marketplace. It’s little wonder
that so many people fail in business.
Just about everyone who starts a business does so to ensure a better lifestyle
or a secure future. What often happens is that they either end up going
broke and losing everything (including their confidence) or working up
to 60 to 100 hours a week running themselves ragged and with no idea
how to get out of the mess they are in. In many cases, they would have
been financially better off staying in a job.
Many people feel they would like to work for themselves and at one
point in their life need to give it a try. Unfortunately, they just don’t
do it properly and end up in a much worse situation than when they
started.
What are your top tips for becoming a great internet
entrepreneur?
1. Sell what people want to buy, not what you want to sell them. Leave
your personal opinions out of it.
2. Never assume that you know what people will spend their money
on.
3. Always do your market research before you try to sell anything.
4. Know your product or service so well that you are perceived as the
industry expert.
5. Provide outstanding customer service so that your customers become
evangelists and grow your business for you through word of mouth!
6. Never assume that the sale is over simply because you have banked
the money.
7. Surround yourself with mentors who already have the result that
you’re looking for. This will save you time, money and possibly your
sanity!
31/8/07 8:28:13 PM
D
F REE B ON US G I FT
Amanda Clarkson has kindly offered a FREE BONUS GIFT valued at $37.00
to all readers of this book…
How To Think And Plan Your Way To eBay Success – Whether you want
to make a part-time income or millions of dollars a year selling on eBay, you
must plan exactly how this is going to happen. In this special e-book, Amanda
shows you how to create the type of eBay business you want by outlining the
importance of knowing your outcome and how to move forward with a clear
and precise plan.
31/8/07 8:28:13 PM
31/8/07 8:28:13 PM
S O F T WA R E S O L U T I O N S
Software Solutions
MITCHELL HARPER &
EDDIE MACHAALANI
Ver y rarely do we s end pro m o tio nal em ails to
our subscribers… we prefer to educate our
s u b s c r i b e r s i n s te a d o f p u t t i n g t h e h a rd s e l l o n
them. I think that ’s how we’ve managed to get
o u r s u b s c r i b e r l i s t c l o s e to 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e.
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PROFILE
M I TC H E L L H A R P E R &
EDDIE MACHAALANI
Mitchell has been developing software for over ten years. A self-taught
programmer, his fascination with computers started in 1994 when
he built his first application – a poker game. Since finishing school
in 1999 he has started three technology-related companies. He has
a passion for software design, internet marketing, copywriting and
usability, and writes weekly articles on related topics which are read
by over 100,000 people.
Eddie has over eight years’ experience starting and running profitable
businesses. He has completed a degree in computer science at the
University of Technology Sydney and worked as a web consultant in
the finance, technology and retail industries. A self-taught marketing,
business growth and people management expert, Eddie has an
uncanny knack for finding and nurturing ideas and talent.
Mitchell and Eddie first met in an online chat room, discussing software.
After learning more about each other and their strengths, they joined
forces in 2003 to build what would become Interspire Pty Ltd, an
internet software company that develops content management and
email marketing solutions for small businesses. The company has over
5,000 customers worldwide and employs over a dozen people.
Mitchell doesn’t get much free time, but when he does he’s a keen
reader of business and marketing books. He likes to relax by training
at the gym and spending time with his family, friends and girlfriend.
He lives in Sydney and likes to travel when time permits.
Eddie spends a great deal of time studying and learning business
growth, marketing and management skills outside of work hours.
He enjoys a number of sports including Muay Thai, weight training,
swimming, basketball and soccer. He’s also studying to become a
personal trainer.
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113
from it?
[Mitchell] My first significant business venture was a website, Dev Articles,
which I created in 2001 and sold two years later. It was a website with
articles about web design, development and programming. At the time I
was very interested in learning how to create websites and web applications,
so I would simply learn something and then post an article on Dev Articles
about what I’d learnt.
Dev Articles taught me that I liked to write, and based on the popularity
of the site (20,000 people a day were reading my articles) it appeared
that I was also skilled at it. Today I would estimate I spend half of my
time writing – whether it is content for our website, email newsletters
or direct response mail pieces – so writing is one of the most important
skills I have taught myself.
The process of writing content-rich articles later became the foundation
for growing our visitors at Interspire. Almost every day we write articles
that our customers and website visitors can use to better themselves
or their businesses. We write about topics including email marketing,
search engine optimisation, website design and copywriting, and all of
these articles are freely available to anyone who visits our site at www.
interspire.com/content.
The internet isn’t a one-way advertising medium like television or radio,
so anything you do to promote your business online is two-way – and
you might not even be involved. For example, if someone blogs about
your website or product, other people can leave comments on that blog
expressing their opinions of you (a blog is an online journal where people
and companies can talk about and discuss anything and everything).
If you’re a savvy marketer you can also leave a comment on the blog
– and even respond to other people’s comments about your website or
product. It’s free and it’s a great way to gain credibility and trust. Blogging
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MITCHELL HARPER & EDDIE MACHAALANI
I ac tu a l l y h a d a
is just one of the many ways you can
use writing to promote your products
online for free.
h an d in l a u n ch i n g
q u ite a few
Mitchell, what was your first online
business venture?
b u s in e sses by th e
I actually had a hand in launching quite
a few businesses by the time I finished
high school in 1999, but my first online
school…
business venture was Dev Articles. When
I sold it in 2003 to an American company
it wasn’t making any money, however the site was attracting many people
and had hundreds of articles that I had created in the two years that I had
it. The buyers saw the value of the intellectual property and the potential
to monetise its traffic with advertising sales.
t im e I f i n i sh ed h i gh
I ran Dev Articles purely for fun, but I was putting in 18-hour days
writing articles for the site in the months leading up to the sale. I didn’t
really have any idea about how to make money from a website at the
time, but the sale taught me a lot. I learnt that as long as you have a
solid idea there’s always someone out there willing to either fund or buy
the idea from you because they are too lazy or don’t have the resources
to do it themselves.
Although I didn’t learn how to make money when I was running Dev
Articles, I did learn how to get traffic to a website, and at that time it
was simply by asking the site’s visitors what they wanted me to write
articles about. I would then research the topic and write the best articles
I could, listening to their feedback so that other articles I wrote could
be even better.
The internet is actually a very small place and word spreads quickly
about a popular product, service or resource. I think that’s exactly what
happened with Dev Articles. The bubble is still alive and well today, and
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115
you can read stories about small start-up companies selling for millions
of dollars without even making a single dollar of profit on sites like www.
techcrunch.com.
What made you ultimately decide to sell that website?
When I sold Dev Articles I had already verbally agreed to sell 50 per cent
of the site to Eddie. I was in a bit of a bad financial position and needed
some money to take care of debts and get back on my feet.
As luck would have it, after I agreed to sell 50 per cent to Eddie, the
American company came along and gobbled up the site from me. Being
a man of my word, I happily gave Eddie 50 per cent of the profit and we
started working together on the products that we now sell today.
Aside from needing the money, I also felt that I’d hit a ceiling with Dev
Articles. I was tired of spending so many hours writing articles for the
site and as Eddie and I had started working together I wanted to focus
more of my time on building software. I guess in the end it was a winwin situation for everyone involved.
Eddie, can you explain why you and Mitch decided to enter a
partnership and start your current business?
Our current business is a culmination of my previous business (which
developed WebEdit, the first Interspire product) and Mitch’s previous
business (which developed internet software that inspired ArticleLive).
Basically, it is a culmination of different skills and capacity. Mitch is a
great developer (to me anyway) and I’m not. I am great at coming up with
ideas, but Mitch is the implementation machine. I am good at forming
partnerships and generally dealing with people, Mitch is good at taking
a project from start to finish.
We complement each other’s weaknesses and at most times are total
opposites in our strengths. We know we can trust each other to focus
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on what we do best, knowing without doubt that the outcome will be
extremely positive.
I was fortunate to have failed early on in my business career. It was
a computer and mobile phone retail outlet that left all four partners
involved financially and emotionally drained. I learnt a few lessons and
one of those was that business partnerships can work, but partners must
complement each other and have similar goals.
Mitch and I have the same desires and goals for our business: to create
a strong, profitable and sustainable internet business that delivers worldclass software to thousands of people worldwide, and to create a fun
and relaxed atmosphere for our staff to make work an enjoyable place
to be. Having the same goals keeps us focused and working together as
a team.
In the beginning, what were some skills you lacked and what did
you do about it?
[Mitchell] When we started I was very narrow-minded, and to some
extent chose to remain that way in certain situations. When it comes to
dealing with a big puzzle (such as software) you can’t afford to let stress
or worry get the better of you. You have to shift your way of thinking
– from working on one big and complex puzzle to working on 50 different
smaller puzzles that all interconnect. For example, when we create a new
product I know we have a massive road ahead of us. We have to build the
product up to our high standards, test it, design online collateral (website
text, images, videos), market the product and so on.
Instead of looking at the big picture I specifically choose to break everything
down into bite-sized chunks and focus 110 per cent of my attention on
the small chunks for which I am responsible. After the small chunks have
been attended to, I can stand back, look at the final picture and see the
result as a single product.
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This also comes back to systemising everything. When we started, Eddie
and I were responsible for almost everything. We now have a great team
in place so we focus mainly on usability and marketing while our team
focuses on building the software – which is what they do best.
[Eddie] In the beginning I think I lacked every essential business skill
– sales and marketing, project management, public relations, bookkeeping,
finance…
It was easy for me though to figure out that starting and running a business
is not about skills. It’s about meeting a demand in the marketplace. It’s
about creating a product or service that people want and need. The
skills can and will be learnt along the way. You don’t have a choice but
to learn, hire or hope.
I know many people who don’t start a business or take a plunge into an
endeavour for fear that they don’t have the required skills. Sometimes
you don’t need all the skills, and you’ll find that you’ll learn them a lot
faster than you ever expected.
How much capital did you need to get your business off the
ground and where did it come from?
[Eddie] We started off on a very tight shoestring budget. We were lucky
enough that the popularity of our first few products and the low cost of
doing business on the internet meant we
didn’t need start-up capital. We are both
Having t he sam e
advocates of reinvesting profits back into
the business and have therefore chosen
goals k eep s us
the so-called ‘slower’ road to growth,
using generated cash flow to run and
fo c u s e d a n d wor k i n g
expand our business rather than raise
to get her as a
capital using traditional means, such as
investors or banks.
team.
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We borrowed office space, phone lines and internet access from a good
friend of mine and used the resources we had available to us. We were
both relatively skilled in technology and building websites and had a
strong passion for learning whatever was needed to expand and grow.
This passion meant we spent hours learning the skills we needed and had
a very hands-on approach initially, which kept costs down and allowed
us to grow organically.
What research did you do in order to come up with the concept
behind your first product?
[Eddie] I believe that opportunity creates opportunity. The very first
Interspire product, WebEdit Pro (as it was called then), was a result of
a different venture entirely. I was in the early stages of building a web
design firm that specialised in quick-to-market website packages for small
businesses and needed do-it-yourself software to help our clients keep
their websites updated. I quickly found that this software didn’t exist
and got to work creating it. In time, the software actually proved more
popular than the website services and I preferred wearing sports shoes
to suits and ties in the office – Interspire was born.
Mitch had a similar experience. While building his website Dev Articles
he also built a content management system to help keep the content fresh
and to allow authors to submit articles and content on his behalf. He
soon found a niche in the market and began selling that same content
management system to a global audience. It has been a similar experience
for all other Interspire products, ‘success by demand’ as we like to call
it. Give the customer what they want and listen carefully to what they
say or don’t say.
When did you know that it was time to shift your focus and begin
to develop other products?
We initially started off with a single product, and now our product line
comprises seven different applications with more in the works.
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There were different reasons for developing different products. Most were
purely a result of customer demand. Existing customers would love the
way we did business, the way our products functioned, our user interface
design and so on, so their first point of contact when needing solutions
would be us. As our customer base grew, we continually received emails
and phone calls asking us to enter new markets and build new products.
It’s how we decided on building the majority of our products and forms
a strong decision-making basis for any new products we build.
It goes to show that if you do something really well and focus on your
customer, your business will flourish.
Can you list the different ways that you market and drive traffic to
your website?
Initially, we drove a lot of traffic to our website by listing in niche-specific
directories. For example, if you have a software product, then you list
your product on www.download.com (a Yellow Pages-type website for
downloadable products). Any online business has a niche directory that
it can be listed in. Listings are usually free, with paid advertisements
displayed at higher positions on these websites.
In time we learnt more about search engine optimisation and began
improving our website by adding more content and focusing on keywords
people would search for to find it. We have written tutorials for beginners
on improving search engine results, which you can read at www.interspire.
com/content/articles/13/ and www.interspire.com/content/articles/67/.
Pay per click was our next step forward. By advertising directly on search
engines (particularly Google), we could reach people searching for our
products instantly. We could also measure each click-to-sales ratio and
track down to the dollar exactly which advertisements made money and
which we lost money on.
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Next, we built a list of newsletter
subscribers. We added an opt-in
We k eep a k een
subscription box on our website to collect
the email addresses of people interested in
eye on many internet
our software. We found that gradually this
list grew and became a large asset to our
mark eting strategies,
company. These were people who opted
ac t i ve ly testi n g
to specifically receive more information
about our products. We followed up by
id e as …
sending out a monthly newsletter, which
eventually became so popular that we
now plan on sending it out on a weekly basis. Our emphasis has changed
from being purely product-focused to being knowledge-focused. We now
use our newsletter to educate and inspire our subscribers rather than
just to inform.
We found email an extremely effective marketing tool because it is
relatively cost-free, easy to implement and easy to send and we began
using auto-responders as a way to keep in constant communication with
our subscribers and customers.
Auto-responders are basically emails that you write once but are sent
out at predetermined intervals. Let’s say for example, someone signs up
to your newsletter through your website. Your first auto-responder email
might welcome them to your newsletter and provide some information
about your company. In two weeks, another email is sent out automatically
giving them more information. Then a month later an email is sent out,
once again automatically, asking if they had any questions. The limit to
the number of auto-responder emails you can write is endless. We use
this strategy to provide mini email courses to educate our customers
and prospects. We drip information via email in an easily digestible
format with succinct tips and strategies on using email more effectively,
running profitable websites and more. We feel that an educated customer
is a better customer and email is the perfect medium to educate our
customers. Email marketing has formed the basis of our most popular
product now, SendStudio.
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We keep a keen eye on many internet marketing strategies, actively
testing ideas and keeping what works. We like to automate much of our
marketing activity, which frees us up to work on different ideas and
keeps costs down.
We’re also starting to use offline marketing methods to drive traffic
and sales, such as direct mail, public relations, postcards and so forth.
The combination of offline and online marketing works extremely well,
especially when done in unison. For example, we send out an email
promotion, followed by a direct mail piece to the same list.
Your business now has a database of 95,000 people. How do you
keep in touch with these people and how often do you try to
market to them?
[Mitchell] Both Eddie and I strongly believe that for someone to buy from
you they first have to trust you. So every month we send out a newsletter
to our 95,000-plus subscribers. Each issue includes two articles we have
written about a range of topics, such as how to use email marketing to
grow your business, how to get better search engine rankings for your
website and so on. Our articles are pure content and they don’t include
a sales pitch of any kind because that’s not what we’re about – we want
our products to sell themselves.
Very rarely do we send promotional emails to our subscribers (I can
count the number of times we have on one hand). I think a lot of other
business owners are tempted to constantly send special deals and discounts
to their subscribers, but as I mentioned above, we prefer to educate our
subscribers instead of putting the hard sell on them. I think that’s how
we’ve managed to get our subscriber list close to 100,000 people.
Soon we’ll be sending out our newsletter weekly, but it will simply include
one useful detailed article, instead of cramming in two or more. We’ll be
doing this to increase the frequency with which we communicate with
our subscribers.
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We’re also in the process of putting together a series of educational direct
mail campaigns that will be sent out to both new and existing customers,
teaching them how to better use tools such as email marketing to grow
their businesses.
Did challenging times place a strain on your personal relationship
or did it make you both more determined to succeed?
[Eddie] Mitch and I both know that in business, as well as in life, challenges
will always arise. The old cliché is true: every cloud has a silver lining;
sometimes I like to add, ‘And a rainbow to match’. I believe that with every
challenge comes an opportunity to learn and grow. Sometimes you really
need to squint to see that opportunity, but it’s always there.
[Mitchell] One of the most important things I’ve learnt is that you really
need a great product if you’re starting out small and have no money
behind you (like we did). I say that because we couldn’t initially spend
thousands of dollars on marketing, we had to let the quality of our
products speak for themselves.
Over time we kept adding features to our software based on what our small
group of customers would tell us they wanted. Eventually, by listening to
our customers and only adding features that a lot of people requested,
our products became the best, which in turn attracted people to our site.
When they arrived at our site they would try the online demos of our
products, read the sales copy and then buy.
Our products contained a lot of useful features, and so they did the
marketing for us. This was the only option we had because we didn’t
want outside funding and we were initially reinvesting our profits into
hiring new staff instead of mass marketing.
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Today we advertise in a lot of places and market aggressively. But back
in 2003, when we started, it was purely the features of our products that
helped us grow to the level we needed to be at to hire more staff, rent a
bigger office and eventually engage in different marketing activities.
What advice would you give to someone reading this who is keen
to develop a software product?
[Mitchell] Learning how to make great software takes years of hard work.
I’m an average programmer, but when we started there was no option but
for Eddie and I to sit down and build the first version of our products
using trial, error and a lot of research.
Truth be told, unless you’re building enterprise-level software, you don’t
need to be the best programmer. The main thing to focus on is the
usability – someone who’s never used your software needs to be able to
sit down, without an instruction manual, and figure everything out in
five minutes without asking any questions.
The team we’ve hired in the last few years are the best at what they do,
so they take our ideas and concepts and turn them into scalable, tested
and reliable software. We try to cultivate an open environment where our
staff (and customers) can contribute ideas and features. They continue
to amaze Eddie and me with what they can do every day, and we’re very
grateful for the hard work they put in.
Having said that, if you’re not a software
developer and you want to develop
software, your best bet would be to
outsource your idea to someone who
builds software for a living. Sites like
www.elance.com and www.rentacoder.
com are great places to start.
S o m e t i m e s yo u
really need to squint
to see that
o p p o r t u n i t y, b u t i t ’s
always there.
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124
As I mentioned earlier, you should find out what you’re best at, stick with
it and outsource or employ people to handle everything else. That’s the
simple formula we’ve used and it’s worked really well so far.
What is the most common mistake made by new internet
entrepreneurs when building their website?
[Eddie] I see, build and critique websites all day long. It’s what I do
and one of my strange passions. I was recently helping a friend critique
his company’s website and what seemed obvious to me was the lack of
credibility being portrayed. When a first-time visitor visits your website,
they need to decide – usually in less than three seconds – whether or
not your website is:
1. run by a real company and not a fly-by-night operation
2. trustworthy – a company that’s not going to take their money and
run.
Many entrepreneurs assume that people visiting their website already
understand and value their business as much as they do. In reality the
opposite is true. A website visitor only needs to make a single click and
voilà, you’ve lost them forever. No amount of marketing, public relations
and website traffic will result in strong revenue if your website doesn’t
portray credibility.
So ask yourself these questions:
•
•
•
•
Does my website look credible? How does it compare, in terms of
design, to my direct competitors and other professional websites?
Am I too involved in the look and feel of my website and not trusting
my graphic designer’s instincts enough?
What is the main aim of my website? Is it to educate? Is it to result
in a sale? How are my competitors accomplishing this goal?
Do I publish easy-to-find contact information, including a phone
number and physical address?
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•
•
•
125
Do I make sure my website is constantly updated and relevant?
Does my website work on various operating systems, like Windows
or Mac, and on different web browsers, such as Internet Explorer or
Firefox?
How do I show that there’s a real organisation behind my website?
Do I publish photos of the staff? A photo of the office maybe? Do I
have memberships to various organisations, such as the chamber of
commerce? Am I listing and showing off these memberships?
Mitchell, Eddie and their team, no doubt watching a funny video.
•
Has my website been honestly critiqued by someone I don’t know?
There are website forums that let you post your website URL and
people will comment on what they like and don’t like about it.
What would you say is the one thing aspiring entrepreneurs
should focus on to run a great internet business?
Quality, quality and quality. If you focus on delivering and over-delivering
products or services that are of the highest quality, you’ll quickly earn a
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126
I f we’re n o t
co m fo r ta bl e to a
point that we’d use
reputation as being the best. Being the
best is a great place to be. We have a policy
to build our products with ourselves in
mind. If we’re not comfortable to a point
that we’d use the software ourselves then
we won’t sell it. Simple!
t h e s o f tw a re
The internet is a small place, especially
in different niche markets. By focusing
o u rs e l ves th en we
on quality your product or service will
wo n’t s el l i t.
naturally rise to the top. People will talk,
blog and post about you. The more they
do, the busier you’ll get and the easier
it becomes to take short cuts. This is where it’s extremely important to
maintain and always try to increase the level of quality your customers
have come to expect. You’ll be able to cross-sell them additional products
and services, and the word-of-mouth referrals you receive alone will be
worth more than any form of advertising.
[Eddie] My household was a daily inspiration. My parents are two of the
world’s greatest business mentors (whether they know it or not). They
first arrived in Australia as immigrants over 30 years ago with nothing
more than the clothes on their backs. They raised a family, grew a business
and prospered in a once foreign culture. They worked hard (and smart)
together and focused on upholding their strong Christian values, which
they’ve passed on to their three sons.
They are two of the hardest working people I know, who had a clear
vision of what they wanted in life and the steps to achieve their desires.
They taught me the value of teamwork, independence, hard work, honesty,
simplicity, integrity and treating people with respect.
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These are some of the qualities that Mitch and I hoped to capture as
part of our business.
What do you think are the essential qualities or attributes of a
successful internet entrepreneur?
[Mitchell] I think focus is the most important attribute of a successful
internet entrepreneur. You can have all the ideas in the world, but if you
can’t sit down, focus and turn that idea into a reality then your ideas
are wasted.
I also think the ability to recognise your weaknesses and to outsource are
critical attributes as well. When we started Interspire we did absolutely
everything, but as time has progressed we’ve stayed focused on our
strengths and outsourced everything else.
I stick to writing copy for our website and other marketing-related activities,
such as writing reports, email courses and product demonstration videos.
Eddie manages the team (we have eight employees in our Sydney office,
two in our Nashville office and four others scattered in various countries),
the books and also works on marketing ideas with me.
I think the final quality you need as an entrepreneur is the ability to change
directions when you need to. The software we sell through Interspire is
downloadable – you upload it to your website. However, in the last few
months we’ve launched a hosted email marketing service here in Australia
called Big Response as a way to compete in the ‘software as a service’
(SaaS) space for email marketing.
[Eddie] For me, the essential qualities are being able to recognise and
formulate a great team; people who are great at what they do and
complement your own weaknesses. Without great people around you,
an idea can only go so far.
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Tell us about your next major initiative called Big Response. What
is it and what’s the vision for its expansion?
Big Response is our first solution launched specifically for the Australian
market. Here’s the official description from the Big Response website at
www.bigresponse.com.au:
‘Big Response is the fast, profitable and easy way to send special promotions
and newsletters straight to your prospects via email. Attract new customers,
skyrocket your profits and build indestructible customer loyalty with
Australia’s #1 email marketing solution.’
Basically, it’s an email marketing service that small businesses can use to
attract new customers and repeat buyers using email marketing. We’ve
seen first-hand how email marketing can drive an enormous amount
of sales. Big Response is the platform we’re using to give Australian
small businesses everything they need to start and run their own email
marketing campaigns.
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When a small business owner comes to the site, we give them everything
they need to build an email subscriber list (such as sign-up forms to
place on counters in retail stores) and send out and track the results of
promotional and event-related emails. We also give them articles and
courses that teach them about email marketing and how it can be used
effectively to drive sales to their business.
For every campaign sent, they can see who opens their email and also
which links they click (if they have a website). It’s a great way for small
businesses to attract new customers and build better relationships because
these days everyone has an email account. Big Response is the only email
marketing solution designed from the ground up with Australian small
businesses in mind.
Our development team built the Big Response application in-house and
so far the response has been incredible. We are aggressively marketing
both online and offline and will soon be launching a white label partner
program so some of Australia’s biggest internet providers can offer a
branded version of Big Response to their customers
[Mitchell] One quote always comes to mind when I think about how we
do things, and that is ‘Knowledge is pointless without action’. It’s a quote
I came up with and one that we both live by. You can have a billiondollar idea, but if you don’t do anything with it then it’s just another
idea. Everyone has ideas, but those who build sustainable businesses and
wealth for future generations take action and risks, and are determined
to make that idea work hard for them.
[Eddie] The French philosopher, Henri Bergson, wrote: ‘Think like a man
of action, act like a man of thought.’
In order to run an effective business as well as live a successful and happy
life, these are the words we need to live by.
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‘Think like a man of action…’ – our industry revolves around great ideas,
but these ideas will amount to nothing without action. Every day we’re
reminded of this simple quote to take action and move closer to our
goals and aspirations.
‘…act like a man of thought’ – integrity in business and in life is our biggest
asset. We try to be thoughtful in everything we do – the products we
release, the newsletters we distribute and so on. How will our customers
benefit by a new product we create? How will a change in the office
affect our team? By thinking before acting, we can maintain the balance
of getting things done while maintaining a high level of integrity.
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STICKY GROWTH
Sticky Growth
M AT T F R E E D M A N
When promoting your business on the
internet you have to understand what motivates
people. Are they look ing for information? Are
t h e y l o o k i n g fo r p ro d u c t s ? M o s t p e o p l e a re
lo o k in g fo r so lut ions to their pro blem s.
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PROFILE
Matt Freedman was born in 1973 and grew up in Newcastle, enjoying
a coastal lifestyle and a love of all water sports. At the age of 12, he
started his first business mowing lawns with his brother, Tim. They
reinvested the profits into the business until they were able to buy
a 16-foot catamaran, which they sailed for many years.
Matt earned his electrical engineering degree while working at one of
Australia’s leading railway manufacturing companies where he gained
experience in engineering, project management, tender writing and
marketing. In the last year of his degree, Matt studied on a scholarship
in the Netherlands for three months.
In 1997 Matt took on the role of business development executive at
a high-tech process control software company and spent the next
two years growing the business and developing his sales, business
and marketing skills.
Two years later, he co-founded Redback Solutions and has built the
business into an e-marketing, web development and digital agency
with offices in Sydney and Newcastle. Redback has worked with over
200 clients, helping them market their businesses online.
In 2007, Matt and two other entrepreneurs launched Sticky Tickets,
an online business that allows anyone to promote an event and sell
tickets to it. This business has been received extremely well in the
market and is growing rapidly. Matt is an experienced keynote speaker
and speaks to various groups on the topics of marketing, internet,
technology and small business.
Matt enjoys fitness and has run the Gold Coast Marathon, as well
as many half marathons and triathlons. In August 2007, he met the
challenge of the Oxfam Trailwalker, a 100-kilometre bushwalk from
Sydney Harbour to the Hawkesbury River in under 48 hours.
He lives in Sydney with his wife, Rebecca.
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STICKY GROWTH
133
At what point did you decide that you wanted to go into business
for yourself, and how did Redback Solutions come about?
When I left school I got a job as a cadet electrical engineer at Goninan, an
international company with a head office in Newcastle, which manufactured
locomotives, passenger trains and freight trains. It is now called United
Group Rail. I worked there as an undergraduate engineer for six years while
completing my degree part-time. It was a fantastic experience because
every six months they rotated us through the various departments of
the company. I got a great exposure to manufacturing, engineering, sales,
tender writing, project management and marketing. When I finished my
degree I was placed in a project management role, which I really loved,
but I missed the variety of working in the other areas of the business.
I wanted to start my own engineering consulting company, but I had no
experience in small business or consulting, so I thought it would be great
to work in a small engineering company first. The company I wanted
to work for, CICS Automation, didn’t have any positions available for
engineers, but was looking for someone to fill a business development role.
I applied for the job and got it, and this was when I started to develop
my sales skills and an interest in marketing.
In 1998 I built the company’s website with the help of a graphic designer
and soon became interested in using the website as a marketing tool. I saw
the need to combine good graphic design principles with the technical
implementation of the website to make it successful. At that time there
were hardly any service providers taking a balanced approach to website
development. They were either advertising agencies that were more
interested in design than usability, or IT companies that would build
fast and functional sites that looked terrible. So after many discussions
and some planning, the graphic designer who had designed the CICS
Automation website and I decided to form a partnership. We started
Redback Solutions.
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134
…no surprises as
In the early days, how did you
differentiate yourself from other
web development companies?
to why they were
In the beginning all we had was an
idea. I started telling people that I had
w i l l i n g to t a k e a r i s k
started a website development company,
o n u s.
and within a couple of days we had our
first phone call. It was from a company
that had a chain of 15 quick-service
restaurants with dine-in and take-away. We worked out what they needed
and then provided them with a quote, which they accepted straight away.
We now know that the number we quoted was about half the price our
opposition was charging, so no surprises as to why they were willing to
take a risk on us. In the first year, we built our entire business on word
of mouth until we had enough of a budget to implement a marketing
plan.
Right from day one we strategically differentiated ourselves with:
•
Project management – having a background in project management, I
always made sure our projects, no matter how small, ran to a plan.
•
Big picture – I like to really get in and understand how a client’s
business works. If I can understand what they are trying to achieve
in their entire business it’s easy to see how their website and internet
marketing can contribute to it. A client really appreciates that you
are willing to take the time and effort to see where they are coming
from.
•
Perception – I place great emphasis on how our company is perceived in
the marketplace – how you are perceived is your customers’ reality.
•
Quality – we take great pride in the quality of our work. Every now
and then something slips through, but as soon as this happens we
work out how and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
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STICKY GROWTH
135
Your business today has a strong focus on e-marketing. Can you
list the various ways that you help businesses market online?
When we help businesses to market online, we first look at the strategy and
then work toward achieving that strategy. We like to categorise the people
that we are marketing to based on their relationship with the business. I
like the concept and terminology that permission guru, Seth Godin, uses
for these categories: strangers, friends, customers and advocates.
•
•
•
•
Strangers are a market that has never heard of you before.
Friends know about your business – usually through brand awareness
or word of mouth – but haven’t purchased from you yet.
Customers have purchased from you recently.
Advocates may be customers, suppliers or partners that actively promote
your business for you because they believe in what you do.
The strategy is to attract strangers to your business and engage them
enough so that they will interact with your business and become friends.
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136
Regularly communicate with these friends until you can build trust with
them. They will then want to do business with you and, when the timing
is right, they will become customers. Good customers who value what you
do and feel that they are loved and respected will become advocates.
To realise this strategy your website has to be the core of your e-marketing.
To attract strangers to your website you need to pick the right combination
of tools and media options, depending on your business and your market.
There are many ways of attracting strangers but the main ones are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Offline marketing including advertising, public relations, direct mail,
functions and promotions.
Search engines.
Pay per click advertising, such as Google AdWords, Yahoo! Overture
or banner advertisements.
Competitions that give participants an incentive to tell their friends
about you.
Social networks, such as MySpace, Flickr, YouTube or LinkedIn.
Viral campaigns and word of mouth.
Once strangers have visited your website, you need to provide them
with clear, relevant information so they know exactly what products and
services you provide and, more importantly, what problems you can solve.
You then need to engage them by asking them to sign-up to a newsletter,
request a quote, make an enquiry, enter a competition, download an ebook, attend a seminar or any other activity whereby they are going to
give you their name and email address in return for gaining something
of value from you. This is when a friendship has formed.
You then need to regularly communicate with your friends to build the
relationship. This can be done by sending out a regular email newsletter
that contains valuable information in your area of expertise (such
newsletters should only offer a very small amount of product or company
information). Another way to communicate with your friends is to run
regular seminars or workshops.
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STICKY GROWTH
Over time, the relationship and trust of the friendship grows until they
become a customer. Timing is an important factor in converting a friend
into a customer. By continually communicating with them, they will think
of you first when they are ready to buy your product or service. In the
meantime, they will provide word-of-mouth referrals to others who are
looking for your products or services.
When marketing to your customers, you need to look at ways that you
can provide value above and beyond what they get as a friend. In an emarketing sense, this can be done by providing a client access to a private
section of your website where they can order products with special pricing,
interact with their account manager, pay their bills or get expert advice,
articles and FAQs. When thinking of what to put in your client access
area, ask the question: what would make my customers’ lives easier, more
fun and more profitable?
When considering advocates, it is important to identify who they are.
Look through your client list regularly and determine who spends with
you frequently, who buys the highest margin products, who values what
you offer and who refers you to others. You should also look outside your
client list for advocates. There may be suppliers or partners that don’t
actually buy from you, but do refer you to many other people. Keep your
advocate list up to date, and keep in constant contact with them through
email, phone and personal visits.
What are your top tips for using blogs to generate exposure and
traffic?
Blogs are an essential part of the emarketing mix for most businesses. They
allow you to provide more in-depth and
valuable information to your market than
your website (which should be more
commercially focused). A blog allows
you to demonstrate your expertise and
B l o g s a re a n
essential par t of the
e - m a r k e t i n g m i x fo r
m ost b usinesses.
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differentiate yourself from your competitors. As blogs have a lot of content
rich in keywords that relate to your business, they are very search enginefriendly. When creating your blog you should:
•
Post articles regularly – once a week is the minimum, but you should
try to post something new every couple of days. If your blog is updated
regularly people will keep coming back to read the new articles. If it
hasn’t changed, they will stop checking it.
•
Post articles that have information that is useful and relevant to your
target market. While you don’t want to give all your secrets away,
share what you can, because people who want to do it themselves are
probably the clients you want anyway.
•
Get your own domain name for the blog. This will be easier for
people to remember and will remain the same if you decide to use a
different blog platform in the future. For example, my blog is www.
mattfreedman.com.au. However, you could have a domain name that
relates to the subject matter, for example, www.makingwidgets.com.
au.
•
Contact blog authors with complementary topics and cross-link with
their blog.
•
Submit your blog to blog search engines, such as Technorati.
•
Once a fortnight or once a month send an email to your database
(friends and customers). The first few lines should contain the
beginning of your most recent blog post and should link them back
to the blog for more details.
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MySpace is a site that continues to expand its reach throughout
the world. What are your tips for making the best use of sites like
this?
MySpace is by far the largest and most well known online social network
out there. But there are many others, and new ones are being created
every day.
When looking at making the best use of such sites, it is important to look
at your target market and identify the social networks that they are likely to
use. If you are marketing to consumers between 13 and 30, then MySpace
or YouTube are great places to start; if you are marketing to travellers,
then a site like Flickr might be more appropriate; if you are marketing to
businesspeople, then LinkedIn or ecademy are worth looking at.
From a marketing sense, the power of social networks lies in the
relationships developed between users; users who are very well connected
and have lots of active friends and become centres of influence in the
network. If you can identify who the centres of influence are for a
particular topic you can use this to your advantage. You can send them
samples of your product or point them toward your website and ask them
for a review. A word of advice though, beware of these centres as they do
carry influence and what they have to say may not always be positive. It’s
important to manage this communication, and a good public relations
consultant with online experience can help you do this.
Your latest business venture is called Sticky Tickets. What is it and
how did it come about?
Sticky Tickets is a website that allows anybody to list and market an event
that they are organising and then have people buy tickets to the event
using a credit card. Sticky Tickets handles the entire payment process
and then deposits the proceeds, less a small booking fee, into the event
organiser’s bank account.
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The initial idea came from Jay Gaibisso.
During the FIFA World Cup, Jay thought
He hired the IMAX,
it would be a great idea to get some friends
together to watch Australia play Brazil at
let his friends and
the IMAX Theatre in Sydney. He hired
the IMAX, let his friends and colleagues
co ll e agu es k n ow
know about it and started selling tickets.
a b o u t i t a n d s t a r te d
Before he knew it he had sold 500 tickets,
however the administration of selling
s e l li n g ti ck ets.
them was a nightmare. He was handling a
lot of cash and some people were paying
money direct into his bank account, which was hard to reconcile.
The event was a huge success and Jay thought that if he ever did it again
it would be great to have a website where people could just pay by credit
card. Jay shared the idea with businessman, Dany Gruosso, and they
started developing a business plan for Sticky Tickets.
In October 2006, Jay and Dany came to me with the idea. I immediately
saw the potential in it, as it had all the core factors of a great online
business:
•
•
•
•
•
•
There were no current competitors in the Australian market.
It was totally scalable, in that it could be easily expanded from a local
level to a national or global level.
It was free for people to use, which meant that take-up could be quite
quick.
The income stream was derived from transactions. That is, people
didn’t have to subscribe to the website, they just had to use it.
The concept of multiple event organisers and multiple ticket buyers
meant the site would generate large amounts of traffic, which would
in turn create a possible advertising stream of income.
It genuinely provided a valuable useful tool to its users and would
have strong word-of-mouth properties.
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141
Over the next couple of months Jay, Dany and I refined the business plan,
specified the functionality of the site and developed a marketing plan.
In early 2007, I became an equal shareholder and the Sticky Tickets site
was launched in mid 2007.
How hard was it to build the software behind Sticky Tickets?
From the initial idea to the launch, the website took around 11 months.
Although this time could have been accelerated, it was a comfortable
timeframe for us and allowed us to spend a lot of time planning the
business, determining the current and future functionality of the site, and
developing an initial interest from both clients and investors. The actual
development of the site was completed in the last three months.
Jay, Dany and I met for around three to five hours a week during this time
and spent countless hours of our own time and many phone calls as well.
Redback Solutions contributed over 500 hours of design, development
and marketing resources to get Sticky Tickets off the ground.
A screen capture of the recently-launched Sticky Tickets website.
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What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs looking to
engage the services of a software or web development company
as a means to turn their ideas into reality?
If you want to create an online business then you are going to need
help building it in the first place. Then you will need ongoing help in
supporting and continuing to evolve it. This is why it’s important to
find a company that you can build a long-term relationship with. When
looking for a company:
•
Use a company that is passionate, but constructively critical, about
your idea. If they don’t believe in your idea then they are not going
to do a great job. But be careful if they blindly love your idea, because
they may be faking enthusiasm to win the work.
•
Use someone you feel comfortable with because you will want to build
a long-term relationship with them. If you don’t feel at ease with them
now, you won’t in the future.
•
Ask to see examples of their work in similar fields and for projects of
similar size and complexity.
•
Speak to their clients and ask questions about how the initial project
went. Was it on time and on budget? How was the project managed?
What was the quality of the end product like? How was the support
and follow up after the site was launched?
•
Don’t choose the cheapest solution. We are talking about your online
business here. You are better off delaying your plans and raising the
extra funds than sacrificing quality and the success of your idea.
•
Look for companies that have strong technical and marketing skills.
•
Avoid sole traders and micro-businesses. Sole traders tend to be ‘flat
out’ working on someone else’s project when you need them. Your
website is your business and you need your development resources
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143
to be available when you need them. Over the years we have taken
over many websites that were started by a one-man-band but never
finished.
E-commerce is a term that we don’t hear about as much these
days. Why do you think this is?
I think e-commerce in the sense of online shopping has lost a lot of its
buzz. I think it promised a lot and delivered little in the late 1990s and
early 2000s. This was due mainly to online retailers forgetting that people
actually like shopping in person. They like going to shopping centres,
meeting friends, trying clothes on, holding and touching products and
then buying what they like.
Online shops that succeed either sell products that are commodities – like
books, music and electronic goods – where the consumer knows exactly
what the product is and is often looking for the cheapest place to buy it;
or products that are not easily found in everyday shops that the consumer
is willing to search far and wide for.
I also think that we don’t hear a lot about e-commerce now because
e-commerce in the true sense is about transacting commercially using
electronic means such as the internet. It has become so integrated into the
everyday use of the internet that it is no longer spoken about separately. A
lot of everyday tasks, such as paying bills, renewing your car registration,
buying tickets to a show or the movies are now carried out online without
a second thought.
Almost every internet business at some stage needs to be able to
take and process payments online. What does one need to do this?
To accept payments online you can use PayPal and/or set up a credit card
facility to accept Visa, Mastercard and, optionally, American Express and
Diners Club.
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If you want to receive payments using PayPal, you can go to www.paypal.
com, set up an account and then start receiving payments from other
PayPal users. While you can set up PayPal to receive payment from credit
cards, you will generally pay higher transaction fees than if you set up
your own credit card facility.
To set up your own credit card facility you need to have a payment
gateway and a merchant facility. The payment gateway is the interface
between the website and the banks. When you are in a website and ready
to pay for your transaction, the website passes your credit card details, a
transaction ID and the transaction amount to the payment gateway. The
payment gateway then checks this data with the bank’s merchant facility
and sends back ‘approve’ or ‘deny’ to the website.
While many banks have their own payment gateways, I would always
suggest using a reputable third-party gateway so you can change the bank’s
merchant facility at any time without having to change your website.
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Can you tell us about the launch strategy for Sticky Tickets?
The forecast growth from when it was launched was exponential growth,
that is, slow starting then fast growing. For this reason it was important
to initially gain a core of organisers that were already running events on a
regular basis and could provide a base while the concept of Sticky Tickets
was growing. We chose business groups such as chambers, enterprise
centres, networking groups, speakers and trainers. This market segment
was easy to identify (they actively promote themselves) and regularly ran
breakfasts, lunches, functions, seminars and workshops and could start
using Sticky Tickets straight away.
During the development phase of the website we started to create a
database of organisations and people in this market segment. Two weeks
before the launch of the site we emailed everyone on the database to
introduce them to Sticky Tickets and offered an incentive if they registered
with the site before it launched. We also sponsored a business breakfast
that had Dr John Demartini as the guest speaker, as all attendees at this
function were in our target market.
When the site was launched we had a soft launch, where we personally
contacted the people who had registered and helped them list their
upcoming events on the site. From the day the site launched we used
Google AdWords to drive traffic to the site and began to implement an
integrated strategy of online and offline marketing activities.
Where do you see Sticky Tickets in two years’ time?
We have a three-phase plan for Sticky Tickets:
1. Development and stabilisation – we have just come out of this phase,
which was all about building the business and the software, and
bringing in enough income to break even.
2. Growth – this phase is about continuing to grow the business while
keeping an entrepreneurial mind-set and lean cost structures.
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146
3. Corporatisation – this phase is about preparing to go public by bringing
on board an executive team that have public company experience, and
to evolve the entrepreneurial mind-set into a corporate mind-set.
In two years’ time we will still be in the growth phase of the company,
introducing complementary products to the Sticky Tickets system and
expanding it into New Zealand and Asia. In three to five years time we
will enter the corporatisation phase.
Redback Solutions was founded in Newcastle and from day one we had
work coming out of the Sydney market. I usually drove down to Sydney
each week or fortnight to look after our clients. We kept expanding our
Sydney client base until it reached the limit of my available time.
I wanted to keep expanding into the Sydney market and so I decided
to employ an account manager to win new business and manage these
projects. I chose someone who interviewed very well and appeared to have
superior sales skills to me and I gave him a lot of autonomy because I
thought he could sell better than I could. After five months he had sold
next to nothing. Luckily, before we had to let him go he found another
job (not in sales). This was a very costly mistake that wiped out most
of our profit for that year and put our growth back 18 months. I learnt
some really valuable lessons from this:
•
People who sell need to have a low base salary and very generous
incentives. That is, the incentives have to be lucrative enough to keep
them motivated. Sales is one of those roles where it is very easy to
procrastinate and make excuses if you are comfortable with your base.
A salesperson who can exceed their targets should be rewarded very
generously.
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•
Redback Solutions has a very strong culture and it is very hard to
replicate this in a satellite office where the employee has limited contact
with the other team members.
•
Have faith in your own selling ability. I didn’t have enough confidence
in my selling skills and gave too much autonomy to an employee who
I thought knew better in this area. I should have realised that I was a
much better salesperson and spent more time teaching and mentoring
instead of leaving him to his own devices.
Eighteen months later, I moved down to Sydney to establish the local office
and employed a new account manager. Having learnt from my previous
mistakes, it has now been a huge success. I ended up hiring a person
who was a better fit for the job and who was willing to be mentored and
grow. They regularly visit the Newcastle office and have built a strong
relationship with the team. Working mainly out of the Sydney office, I
have been able to establish the same culture across both offices.
What were some of the challenges you had to overcome on your
At the same time that we were having problems establishing the Sydney
office, I had devoted significant resources to developing some software
products in anticipation of the extra sales from Sydney. This investment
in research and development, combined with the lack of sales coming in
from Sydney, meant that we sustained a significant bottom line loss over
a five-month period. This created an enormous amount of stress and
had an impact on my entire life. With
support from my wife, the commitment
We we nt on to
of my team, and sheer perseverance and
determination we continued and traded
record our most
out of the loss. We went on to record our
p rofit ab le year t he
most profitable year the following year.
following year.
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Personally, I owe everything to my wife, Rebecca Doyle. Bec has supported
and believed in me since I first began thinking about starting my own
business. Her interesting input has been invaluable and has made me
consider options that I would not have contemplated otherwise. In times
of self-doubt she lifts me up, but also brings me down to earth if I begin
to think that I am unstoppable. Bec is also a human resource director
and helps me when it comes to employing and retaining staff.
I was also greatly inspired by my grandfather, Doug Colman, who fought
in the Second World War and was a prisoner of war after Singapore
fell. He spent some time at Changi before being moved to work on the
Thai-Burma Railway, where he remained until the end of the war. My
grandfather was one of the fortunate ones. Although he suffered from
malnutrition, malaria and a tropical ulcer, he did return home and his
spirit was not broken. Many of his friends did not return and, of the few
who did, many died not long after the war from health-related issues. I’m
very grateful that I got to spend time with him before he died. He would
tell me many stories about the war, always focusing on the friendships and
how they helped each other to not dwell on the horrific memories. He
was a man who woke up every morning knowing that it was a blessing.
My grandfather died when I was 14.
The two most important lessons I learnt from my grandfather were:
1. Attitude is the most important thing in life – my grandfather always
had a bright and positive attitude. The cup was always half full and
he always paid attention to the beautiful things in life.
2. Go out of your way to help others – my grandfather was the most
generous person I have ever met. He was the type of man who would
give you the shirt off his back. The only people who survived the ThaiBurma Railway were the ones who stuck together and helped each
other. This sense of teamwork is something he valued in his life.
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In 2000 I went to Thailand and visited Kanchanaburi and the River
Kwai, where he had been a prisoner of war. Seeing these places put my
grandfather’s stories into context. Over 100,000 Asian labourers and 16,000
prisoners of war died on the Thai-Burma Railway. It was truly a moving
experience to visit this place and one I will never forget.
From a business perspective, I gained a lot of inspiration from business
wizard, Julian Campbell, who has coached me over the last seven
years. Just like every elite athlete needs a coach, so does every rising
entrepreneur. Julian is able to analyse my performance objectively and
hold me accountable. He always provides valuable feedback and alternative
viewpoints to my ideas.
I believe that learning is a lifelong process and so I read a lot of books
and listen to a lot of business CDs and podcasts. I find it hard to walk
past a bookshop without buying a business book – I try to read a chapter
a day. There are many great authors and teachers, but if I had to pick my
favourites, they would be Dr Denis Waitley and Dr John Demartini. I have
had the pleasure of meeting both of these gentlemen and find constant
inspiration from them. Denis Waitley is a truly wise man and has devoted
his life to helping others succeed. Listening to the Psychology of Winning
always brings me back to the fundamentals needed to succeed. Dr John
Demartini is a visionary who has also devoted his life to helping others
succeed. His ideas on saving and investing help take the emotion out of
money and encourage people to get on with creating wealth.
Unless you are a computer programmer, graphic artist, marketing expert
and entrepreneur all rolled into one (I’d love to meet you if you are), you
are going to need the help of a range of professionals. You can choose to
contract or employ these skills on an individual basis, or find an integrated
e-marketing and web development company. Individual contractors or
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150
employees may save you some money, but you will have to have strong
project management skills and a big picture understanding of each of
these disciplines to pull it all together. An integrated company will work
with you to determine what your end goals are, develop the solutions
and then project manage the development process.
Most aspiring internet entrepreneurs have big ideas, which is fantastic
and a requirement for making big bucks. But big ideas often come with
big budgets. Unfortunately, I come across a lot of people with big ideas
and limited budgets. So they dip their toe in the water with their idea,
making little impact, and never reach the critical mass required for the
business to survive and thrive. They then think the idea was a failure,
whereas the real failure was in the implementation.
To determine an adequate budget, get a quote from two or three companies
with a proven track record and proven case studies for developing online
businesses. Double the price of the quote – the best value quote, not the
cheapest – for any changes, additions and improvements that may be
needed as you start to see your idea come to fruition. Allow at least this
much again for marketing and promoting the site. I believe that you are
better off waiting to raise the funds than compromising the development
or marketing of your business.
What are the most important things you have learnt about
When promoting your business on the internet you have to understand
what motivates people. Are they looking for information? Are they looking
for products? Most people are looking for solutions to their problems. If
your website can address a problem then you have a much better chance
of success. People want answers quickly, so your website needs to look
good and create a fantastic initial impression. It needs to be easy to get
around, have concise information and an easy way for the user to request
more information or contact you.
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Don’t get carried away with get-rich-quick schemes. Online businesses take
time, and usually more than you allow for. The businesses that succeed
have the persistence and resources to hang in there until they make it.
An online business is no different to any other business. It just involves a
different medium for communicating and selling to your market. Yes, it is
a different game with different rules, but the same business fundamentals
still apply:
•
•
•
You have to provide something of value.
The more value you provide, the more money you make.
Your income needs to exceed your costs.
These attributes are absolutely necessary for success:
•
The need to achieve – you need to continually drive yourself to meet
your goals. You should set a high standard for yourself and ensure
you meet it.
•
Follow through – many people can come up with great ideas, however
successful entrepreneurs take the actions to follow through. This will
usually mean creating a team that you can delegate to.
•
Determination and persistence – it will almost always take longer than
you think. Even overnight successes on the internet rode a plateau for
some time before experiencing explosive growth.
•
Sales and communication – successful internet entrepreneurs spend
most of their life selling. You have to sell your products and services
to the market. You have to sell your ideas and visions to business
partners, investors and your staff.
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In 1940, Albert Einstein was quoted in the New York Times as saying:
‘Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds’.
As an entrepreneur, you often see things a different way from the people
leading a ‘normal’ life. These people often find it hard to understand your
vision, let alone share it. The history books are full of entrepreneurs who
were told that it couldn’t be done. If you really believe in it, ignore the
mediocre minds. Where would we be if Thomas Edison had given up
on the light bulb?
What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to other people
looking to develop an online business?
Benchmark other successful online businesses and have a good look at how
they got started. Look at their business model to see how they generate
income and how they market their sites. Remember, innovation is often
a combination of old ideas put together in a different way!
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
Matt Freedman has kindly offered a FREE BONUS GIFT valued at $99.00
to all readers of this book…
Going BIG On The Web – In this special MP3 audio interview, hear internet
entrepreneur Matt Freedman talk about coming up with ideas for an online
business and taking it to the market. Learn about the different business models
and their pros and cons, why many online businesses fail and how to make
sure yours succeeds. A ‘must read’ for anyone contemplating starting an online
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O U T S O U R C E A N D A U T O M AT E
Outsource And Automate
ANDREW AND
DARYL GRANT
Technology on the internet is fantastic and is
a great reason for star ting an internet-based
business. And while people are buying, receiving
custo mer ser vice an d fo llow u ps, we are u s u ally
sleepin g – we love it!
Bh1399M08-Text.indd 153
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PROFILE
ANDREW AND
DARYL GRANT
Andrew was born in Junee in rural New South Wales in 1967. He was
the youngest child of four and attended 13 different schools around
Australia by the time he was 15.
After dropping out of school at 16, Andrew joined the Australian Army
as a paratrooper. He completed 52 parachute jumps before deciding
it was time to move on. Shortly after leaving the army he met Daryl
at a personal development course. He later went on to complete a
law degree and finished in the top five per cent of his class.
Daryl was born in a small town in New Zealand in 1960. She excelled at
school and went on to study chemistry at university. In 1983 she won
a PhD scholarship at the Australian National University in Canberra.
She met Andrew as she neared the completion of her PhD.
In 1989, Andrew and Daryl married and moved to Brisbane. After
three years of post-doctoral work, Daryl decided she’d had enough
of staring down test tubes and joined Andrew in his budding
financial planning business. Shortly after, they both joined a niche
management consulting firm and worked with one-person operations
to multimillion-dollar companies. Based on their consulting success,
they found themselves working seven days a week and travelling all
over Australia. In 1997 they became directors of the company.
In 2000, the couple had their first child and decided to reduce their time
commitment to their consulting business. They set a goal to replace their
income with passive sources by 2005. After trying numerous strategies,
they achieved their goal when they built an internet business.
Today, Andrew and Daryl share their time between their Brisbane and
Gold Coast homes. They spend as much time as they want with their
two young children and travel extensively.
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155
Having already established a successful consultancy business,
what made you decide to set up your current internet business?
[Andrew] The main reason we chose the internet as a form of doing
business was that it provided us with a vehicle for developing passive
income, which was a main goal for us at the time. Although we were
making money from our consultancy business and it was operating
successfully, we found ourselves attracted to the systems and opportunities
on the internet.
[Daryl] For the last 15 years we had been working seven days a week
in our consultancy business. When we had children we decided that we
wanted to change that. We tried different ways to create passive income
– including property and share trading – and while they worked well for
us, we found that they weren’t really passive. It wasn’t until we discovered
how to make money on the internet that we really found our answer.
What do you love most about being involved in an internet
business?
[Andrew] For me, being involved in an internet business is all about the
freedom it provides and the ability to do business with anyone in the
world. I also love the fact that I can run the business from anywhere.
We literally have customers on every continent in the world (except for
Antarctica of course!) and to run the business all I need is my laptop and
an internet connection. To me that is a truly global business.
I also believe that the internet is a real leveller. It takes away some of the
traditional biases and prejudices that are present in conventional business.
You can be a single person working in your garage and still have the
opportunity to deal with businesses on any level around the world.
[Daryl] There are so many opportunities to grow the business on the
internet. We have more opportunities these days than we ever had with
our consultancy business and to me that is exciting. It also means that
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156
We pa ck a ge th e
information into a
the business can grow really quickly and
in so many directions. In fact, one of the
key challenges we face is controlling the
growth of our business because there are
endless opportunities out there.
fo r m a t – e - b o o k ,
au d i o o r v i deo …
Can you explain how you make
money online?
We primarily sell information online. We do this by identifying hot
markets where there are people interested in specific subjects, determining
precisely what those people are after and developing products to meet their
needs and desires. We package the information into a format – e-book,
audio or video (usually any format that can be delivered electronically)
– and then sell it.
In the beginning, why did you choose the strategy that you did?
Our first strategy was to identify a niche, provide information to that
niche and then make a one-off sale. The reason we chose this strategy
was because it was simple. It didn’t require a lot of information about
technology or any complex software. We didn’t need to build the Taj
Mahal from scratch, we just needed something simple. I think that is
one of the problems that a lot of people face when setting up an internet
business – they try to make it too complex. Being absolute newbies in
the beginning, we decided to do something that was really quick, really
simple and certain to build us an income in a short period of time.
How did your income grow over the first 12 months and how
much time were you investing every week?
In the first 12 months we made around $US250,000. We really didn’t have
to do too much after we had our strategy in place, and it was actually
the first time in 15 years that we had the time and freedom to do what
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we wanted. At that stage we had two young children and so it was just
wonderful to be able to take the time off and spend it with them.
It took three months to implement our strategy in a way that would
generate passive income. After that it took about an hour a day to
monitor, finetune and manage those sites. The majority of that hour
involved replying to emails from clients about particular products that
we had. While it is possible to set up a system where you do not have to
personally answer those emails, we actually enjoyed responding.
What are the advantages of selling e-books as opposed to selling
physical products?
One of the most obvious advantages with e-books is that they are
downloadable and so we never have to ship products or worry about
packaging or holding inventory. In fact, the majority of our sales are
made while we are asleep. So people find our website, read through our
marketing material, decide to buy a product, click the ‘buy now’ button
and are taken to a site that processes their credit card. From there they are
taken to another site where they can download our information products.
It all happens without us really having to do anything at all.
What are the six steps you follow when developing a new
product?
Our process is a little counterintuitive; we don’t start by asking ourselves
what we know about or what can we write a book about. Instead, we
start by looking at where the market is.
1. Identify potential niches – when writing a new e-book we generally start
by identifying 20 potential topics that will be of interest to a large group
of people and who are currently looking for that information.
2. Test the topic for profitability – we have a fairly accurate system that
determines how much money a particular topic will generate. From
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the original 20 topics we identify, we usually find that one will be
really profitable. By profitable, we mean that initially it will make us
about $US100 a day. We know that if we can find a topic where the
numbers stack up to that level, then we can generally grow it from
there and generate more money.
3. Develop the product – once we have identified a profitable topic, we start
looking at ways to develop it into a downloadable product. As we are
driven by the market, and not by what we know, we tend to get other
people to create the product and we use sites like www.RentACoder.
com to source experts who can write the product for us.
4. Create the marketing material – while the product is being written,
we turn our attention to the marketing. This includes the sales letter
that goes on the website and encourages people to buy the product.
5. Build the website – as our technological skills are limited we have
someone else build the website for us. This is especially important
because there are specific elements of a website that make it
successful.
6. Monitor and finetune the site – after a few weeks or a month of
monitoring and finetuning, we usually find that the websites are
running optimally and bringing in a decent income.
How important is it to research your market before creating a
product?
The most important part of creating information products is to research
the market first. Most people make the mistake of creating a product first
and then trying to find ways of selling it. They come up with a great
idea, develop the product and then go into the marketplace and convince
people that they really need it. We do the opposite. We talk to the market
and ask them what they really want to know, and then provide them with
the information they asked for.
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To achieve this we use a number of different tools that can be found
on the internet. These tools analyse people’s behaviours when using the
net and can provide an insight into what people are searching for, how
many people are searching for a particular topic and what keywords they
are using. One of the main tools we use is www.pixelfast.com/overture
and on our website, www.andrewanddaryl.com we have a list of some
of the other tools we also use. From this information we can determine
whether a particular topic is worth pursuing further. If it is, we will put
out a number of basic surveys on the net to provide us with feedback
about that particular subject.
In summary, our process for researching a market is:
1. Look for topics that people are hungry to know about and that plenty
of people are searching for information about.
2. Identify competitors – products that you cannot differentiate yourself
from or free information that is of value.
3. Narrow down a list of 20 potential topics to five, and put up survey
sites to test those five topics.
After you have identified a topic and a market, why do you test the
profitability of the potential product?
There are two factors that need to be right in order to have a profitable
e-book: psychology and maths.
The psychology involves research and
determining whether there is a market
for a particular information product.
However, there is no point having a
hungry audience if the product is going
to cost us too much – this is the maths.
So, to test for profitability we put up a
little survey site. This is a simple onepage website (a template can be found
…there is no point
having a hungr y
aud ience if t he
p ro d u c t i s g o i n g to
cost us to o muc h…
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on our website) that basically tells people that we’re putting together a
product about a particular topic and asks them to contribute by telling
us what type of information they want to know about. Based on the
number of visitors we get, what it actually costs us to get those visitors
and the number of people who leave responses, we can determine whether
a product will be worth taking through to full production. The target we
aim for is 500 visitors a day and the process we use to drive those visitors
is Google AdWords. We pay no more than ten cents a click. If five per
cent of visitors leave feedback, then we feel that people are interested in
the topic and we will proceed with the product.
Another great advantage of using survey sites is that the feedback is very
useful for the final product and for inclusion in the marketing material.
On our website we have an income calculator that allows people to punch
in the numbers and determine, quite accurately, how much money a site
is likely to make should they take it through to full production.
By the time we produce a product, a lot of the risk has been removed
because we have asked the market what they wanted. We are confident that
our products will sell because we give the market what they ask for.
What were some of the challenges you had to overcome on the
When we first started we were really new to the internet, particularly
doing business on it. We had Googled things before and surfed around a
bit, but we definitely had no experience working online. Even though we
had been management consultants for a while and had some computing
knowledge, we found the internet to be a challenge and really had no
concept about doing things like putting up websites. Daryl often jokes
about how she hardly knew how to open up her emails back then. So
our knowledge was slim when it came to understanding how to operate
and manage technology and I suppose that was our first big challenge
to overcome.
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What we soon realised though, was that it wasn’t really a major problem
at all. We discovered how to access those services at a very cheap rate and
how to manage people who had the skills that we needed. We quickly
came to the conclusion that it requires specific skills to design graphics or
put up websites, and it wasn’t something that we really wanted to learn.
So we decided to hire the skills at a surprisingly affordable rate and were
able to access people from all over the world to help us with the work.
Even today, Andrew cannot put up a website.
Can you provide an example of how you find experts to help you
create your products?
When creating a product you do not really need to know everything
about the topic. There are lots of experts out there who are willing to
help you, and the internet is a great medium for finding them. Websites
like www.RentACoder.com and www.Elance.com are designed to help
you find these people. In fact, these experts will actually bid against each
other to compete for your job.
We once created a product about how to get a baby to sleep. This product
came about because our own child was having trouble sleeping at a time
when we were running a seven-day consultancy business. It was a pretty
stressful time for us. So after realising that perhaps there were other
parents experiencing similar problems, we tested the topic and found
that there were definitely enough people out there who wanted to know
more about it. We also found that there was a lot of competition as well,
so we had to find a way to differentiate our product.
Knowing that there were two basic theories for getting a baby to sleep
(neither of them working for our son) we decided to find an alternative
solution. We decided to find experts in natural methods for getting babies
to sleep and we did this by hiring someone for $10 an hour to search
the internet and compile a list of people who were experts in their field
about getting babies to sleep, including a dietician, chiropractor, holistic
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We h ave pa i d
a ny w h e re b e t we e n
$150 an d $500,
wh ich is i n credi bl y
inexpensive…
paediatrician, child psychologist,
hypnotist, kinesiologist and the author
of an industry-related publication.
We explained to these experts what we
were doing and asked if we could do an
interview with them. The final product
was a series of 40-minute audio interviews
with some really accurate, valuable and
cutting-edge information about alternative
ways to get a child to sleep.
The wonderful thing about finding experts through the internet is that
they are usually willing to help because they can promote their own
business at the same time. Anyone with marketing savvy will know that
contributing information to a product is a way of creating publicity and
further exposure for their business.
Can you explain how RentACoder works?
RentACoder is a website that you can visit to get books or products built
for you. Over 100,000 people from around the world bid for jobs posted
on the site, so when you post a job you end up with quotes from across
the globe. The site works like a reverse-auction. For example, on the first
day you might receive a quote of $800, then the next day you might get
a quote of $500 and then $300. By the end of the week you can end up
with quotes of $30 or $40.
RentACoder is a cheap way to have a quality book written. We have paid
anywhere between $150 and $500, which is incredibly inexpensive when
you consider the time and effort that goes into putting together a good
e-book.
The site can also have products delivered in a variety of formats. They
have a wide range of services – you can have software written for you,
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movies edited, corrupted sound files reconstituted, audio files transcribed
and many other things.
The site also has a great rating system that allows you to look at the
history of any bidders and view feedback and ratings received for previous
jobs.
What are your top tips for using services like RentACoder?
•
•
•
•
Don’t always choose the cheapest bid because the results may not be
good quality.
Provide clear and specific instructions about your expectations.
Manage your writer really well. Don’t give them a job, leave them
for three or four weeks and expect that the final job will meet your
requirements. We always ask for a first draft of the first couple of pages,
make the necessary changes and inform the writer why we made them,
ask them to write the next couple of pages based on our feedback,
and then review it again. It is a gradual process of refinement, but
one that results in a quality product.
Once you find someone good, it is worth looking after them – be
professional, pay on time, give bonuses for quality work. We highly
recommend developing good relationships with these people because
having someone who is punctual and competent is an asset for future
work.
When developing your websites have you found graphics to be a
very important element to include?
We have some websites that a lot of people would consider ‘ugly’. However,
our sites are the way they are because they work. If we have a graphic on
our site it is because it has been tested and measured and it works. The
key is to test and measure everything. If you choose to use graphics, or
even audio, make sure you use them because they add to the sales results
and not because they are nice to have.
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One thing to be wary of is web designers who have been trained in a
certain way about how a website should look and feel, and what it should
do. Unfortunately, this is not always consistent with what actually works
and sells in the real world. If ugly sells – be ugly!
Once the site is launched, what techniques or strategies do you
use to drive traffic to it?
In the initial stages we primarily use Google AdWords or pay per click.
The reason we use AdWords is because it is the quickest way we know to
get traffic to a website. Almost instantaneously we can have people visiting
our site for just a few cents per visitor. AdWords also allows you to test and
measure aspects of your sites, such as whether the sales letter is converting
visitors. Some people believe that AdWords is unnecessary and that internet
entrepreneurs should focus on search engine optimisation (SEO). However,
there is no point optimising a site if it is not making sales.
Once we have our AdWords strategy up and working, we then use other
strategies to drive traffic to our site, including affiliate programs, joint
ventures and SEO.
In short, our primary strategy initially is to drive traffic to our site quickly
using Google AdWords, which then starts to generate an income that
gives us the cash flow and the time to work on other more advanced
strategies.
One of the challenges faced by online business owners concerns
how to take payments. What are some of the available options?
A lot of the payment processing systems are not designed for people living
in Australia. Most are for people who have American companies with
American bank accounts. We found that the easiest way to take payments
in the short term is to use ClickBank. Another easy payment solution for
people living in Australia is PayPal. There are also other options, such as
setting up your own online merchant account.
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When we started out we were faced with some negative attitudes about
accepting payments online, especially from our banks. But as the internet
opens up to more people every day, these attitudes are starting to
change.
Why did you decide to use ClickBank?
We found that ClickBank was a good way to start selling e-books. ClickBank
is the internet’s largest seller of e-books and will process credit cards and
only take a small percentage. Every two weeks it sends you a cheque or
transfers the money directly into your account.
Being a large organisation, it is generally recognised on the internet. This
means that people tend to trust it, whereas if we were to take credit card
details directly people may be more hesitant because they don’t know
who we are.
The home page of ClickBank – one of the world’s largest sellers of digital products.
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ClickBank also has a built-in affiliate program. What that means is
that our e-books are advertised on ClickBank’s marketplace and other
people can come along and promote our e-books and earn a percentage
commission for doing so.
ClickBank also handles the GST processing. This is something that you do
need to speak to your accountant about, but basically needs considering
if you plan on selling in Australia and overseas.
Why are you big fans of automating your online business and how
have you achieved this?
We start with the end in mind. One of our main goals is to have businesses
that are as automated as possible. This is also one of our criteria when
we are looking at starting a business on the internet. We often ask, ‘Can
this be automated?’ If the answer is no then we usually knock back the
business opportunity or concept. Even if the opportunity could potentially
be really lucrative, if the work needs to be done by exchanging time for
dollars we’ll turn it down.
There are two ways that we automate a business: technology and staff.
The majority of our businesses are automated through technology. For
example, when a customer hits ‘order’ on our sales page it goes to
ClickBank, which handles the payment details. The delivery of our
products is also done in an automated fashion through auto-responders.
These tell the customers how to download their product and within a
minute or two they can have the product on their computer. We also use
auto-responders to inform customers about other products.
Technology on the internet is fantastic and is a great reason for starting an
internet-based business. And while people are buying, receiving customer
service and follow ups, we are usually sleeping – we love it!
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How has your business grown over the last few years?
One of the things we have done along with building our e-book business
is build membership or subscription sites. Membership sites are similar
to e-books in that they provide downloadable information products. But
instead of providing a one-off product like an e-book, membership sites
provide information on an ongoing basis. That means you make the
sale once and earn an income from that customer each month that they
remain a member with you. They are very powerful sites in that they
generate good passive income and they are also very effective because you
can build a great relationship with your customers. Unlike e-book sites,
where you have little in the way of relationships (people come to your site
once, buy a book from you and then go away and read it), membership
sites really build a community. As a result you become a trusted friend
and respected advisor in that particular topic area, and people will often
go on and buy other products from you.
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As a resu l t o u r
t im e d ecrea sed a n d
o u r li fest y l e
s u f fe re d.
The other thing we have done is broaden
the media we use for promotions. We
have spent some time travelling around
Australia speaking at events about how
we make money on the internet. The
majority of our income still comes from
other topics, but we have had so many
people ask us how we do what we do that
it has been a natural evolution for us to
tell people about it and provide coaching
on some of our processes.
There are three key elements for succeeding on the internet, which we
refer to as our success triangle.
1. Mental knowledge – a particular level of knowledge on the techniques
and what to do on the internet.
2. Physical capacity – you need to have a computer with access to the
internet; time to complete projects (especially when you are first
starting) or staff and contractors to help you develop projects; and
money to fund research and product development.
3. Emotional beliefs – you need to ensure that the subconscious beliefs
or programs you have about money will lead you to success. Many
people have subconscious programs about money that lead them to
self-sabotage. Negative subconscious emotional programs or blockages
often surface as emotions such as fear, guilt or dislike for the people
or processes that could bring in money.
When we started our online business we realised that we had been
successful in a number of different areas prior to the internet, but our
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169
success was limited by our ability to make money through active means.
We had a consultancy business where we traded our hours for dollars
and although it was very successful, we knew that we only had so many
hours in a day. So while we were charging a high hourly rate, at the end
of the day there was only so much we could earn.
We tried other ways of making passive income, mainly property investing
and commodities trading. Although they did make us money, we found
that they were also taking up a lot of our time. As a result our time
decreased and our lifestyle suffered.
When we started with the internet, the thing that we did that made a
difference and allowed us to turn it into a passive income was addressing
the emotional side of the triangle. We asked ourselves, ‘What subconscious
blocks do we have that are stopping us from creating passive income?’
After working with coaches Paul and Mary Blackburn, we were able to
identify the blockages that were stopping us. They were only minor things,
but on a subconscious level that was enough.
Whenever you find yourself in a conflict between your conscious and
subconscious desires, nine times out of ten your subconscious will win.
When this happens you’ll be surprised at how you will sabotage your
potential success without even realising it. So, having subconscious beliefs
that don’t serve your purpose is one of the main things that holds people
back from being successful.
You believe that at one stage in your business career you were
holding yourself back from further success. Can you explain why?
[Daryl] I use to have a subconscious belief that making money required
hard work. It was a belief that had been drummed into me from an early
age from parents who had a strong work ethic and it was a value I held
very dearly – you work hard and you earn money. I always believed that
and always followed that philosophy. The result was that I worked hard
and earned a lot of money.
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This is a belief that Andrew held as well, and when we started trying to
make passive income that subconscious belief did not serve our goal. All
of a sudden there was a conflict between our conscious and subconscious
goals and it was something that held us back. Once we addressed this issue
and a few other subconscious blockages we were both able to generate
passive income.
business?
[Andrew] Have great systems to follow. You don’t need to reinvent the
wheel, you just need to find something that is working and copy someone
else’s great system. There are lots of people out there who are willing
to train you in their system, so get out there and talk with successful
people.
I also think aspiring entrepreneurs need to understand that most people
fail on the internet for two main reasons. First, they don’t start. There are
plenty of people who think an online business is a great idea and learn
about it, but don’t actually do anything. At the end of the day they don’t
actually put up a website or commit themselves. I am a firm believer that a
bad website is better than the best website that was never put up. Second,
most people fail because they give up too early. They may run into a little
hurdle or face some adversity and then just pack up and go home.
If you want to experience online success then start something, constantly
test and measure it, and then never give up!
[Daryl] A key thing for me was having great mentors – people who I could
ask questions, who had been there and done it before, had a proven track
record, made mistakes and were people I could learn from. Andrew and
I have been very fortunate to have had some wonderful mentors helping
us on our internet journey.
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171
years?
One of our biggest goals has been to travel with our children and having
an internet business has certainly allowed us to do that. Basically, the
business is portable and passive and so we have the flexibility and the
freedom to fulfil that desire. For instance, last year we took our children
overseas for three months and had an exciting time. When we returned
home we had more money in the bank than when we left. That was a
nice feeling!
The other goal we have is to build a series of internet businesses that
provide multiple streams of passive income. Given the characteristics of
an internet business, this means that we can diversify quite easily and set
up a number of businesses in various areas. We are now well on the way
to achieving this, and helping a lot of other people along the way.
31/8/07 8:28:23 PM
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
Andrew and Daryl Grant have kindly offered a FREE BONUS GIFT valued
at $47.00 to all readers of this book…
How To Identify And Eliminate Your Subconscious Blockages – In this
special audio, you can discover step-by-step instructions for the techniques
Andrew and Daryl used to overcome their subconscious blockages to earning
passive income.
31/8/07 8:28:23 PM
SELLING WITH TRUST
Selling With Trust
ARI GALPER
Fo rce d s e l l i n g m ay wo r k o n s o m e p e o p l e, b u t
i t t u r n s o f f t h e m a j o r i t y. M y a d v i ce i s to to n e
down your pitch and refo cus your copy so that it
so lves yo ur vi s ito r s’ pro blem s.
31/8/07 8:28:23 PM
PROFILE
ARI GALPER
Ari Galper was born in San Diego, California, in the USA. He grew
up in a very close family with a father who was a psychologist. His
father’s warm and empathetic ways helped Ari nurture his ability to
listen and understand other people’s concerns.
At age 18, Ari began a career in sales when he went from door-to-door
selling mobile phones to businesses. He quickly discovered he had a
knack for selling when he became the youngest and most successful
salesperson out of the 20 other salespeople in his region.
After earning enough to put himself through the University of
California, he entered a specialised two-year advanced master’s degree
at San Diego State University in instructional design. After completing
his degree, he worked in high-level sales training positions for large
US corporations, including UPS and Qualcomm. He then went out on
his own and created an entirely new sales mind-set and methodology
called Unlock The Game®.
Since establishing his online business, Ari has grown it by primarily
using live chat to improve his sales conversion rate. He has taken live
chat, an old, boring ‘back office’ online communication channel, and
transformed it into a powerful and exciting sales tool. By applying
his Unlock The Game® sales approach to live chat, he has made a
breakthrough in cracking the code of online conversion. At the same
time, he has also managed to add the ‘human touch’ to the online
world. His live chat online training program is called ChatWise™.
Ari is very happy having made Australia his home and now lives
in Sydney with his wife, Michelle, and their two sons, Toby and
Nathan.
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SELLING WITH TRUST
175
How did you begin your career in business?
My career began when I was developing sales training material for large
groups of salespeople. I was never the trainer, I just wrote and designed
the programs. In that role I saw a lot of flaws in traditional selling, which
woke me up to a whole new sales mind-set.
During your early corporate career you had an experience that
changed your personal sales philosophy. Can you describe what
happened?
Six years ago, after spending several years studying the popular sales gurus,
designing sales training for UPS, Qualcomm and other major companies,
and finishing my master’s degree in instructional design (which focused
on studying how people learn), I experienced a life-changing event that
changed my sales mind-set forever.
One afternoon, I was on the phone doing an online demonstration with
the top executives of a software company. It was going well – extremely
well. Everything was going to script, they were interested and asking me
tons of questions, and I had all the answers at my fingertips. At the end
of the call they thanked me profusely for my time. I still remember the
vice president’s final words: ‘We’ll definitely be getting back to you’.
I was so proud of how well things had gone that I could almost feel my
head swell as I started to hang up the phone. But by accident, I hit the
phone’s mute button instead of the off button. I heard them continue
their conversation on the other end – they had not hung up, but obviously
thought I had. I listened to the vice president talk to the other executives
about our ‘oh-so-promising’ phone conversation – ‘Okay, so we’re definitely
not going to go with him. But keep stringing him along, so we can get
more information and strike a better deal with another company’.
I was devastated!
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176
ARI GALPER
My first feeling was outrage – they had
lied to me! I felt hurt and used, but the
B u t t h i s b u ye r a n d
waves of rejection that swept over me were
even worse. ‘I’m a good guy’, I told myself.
seller conflic t, battle,
‘I did everything right. I’ve studied all the
best sales programs in the world. I didn’t
whatever you want to
cut any corners. Why are they treating
c a l l i t, j u s t fe l t s o
me this way?’ Then I remembered all
the other times that I had gotten a gut
wro n g.
feeling that something was ‘off ’ about
how a prospect was reacting to me. I
could never put my finger on it, yet at some level I knew that everything
I had learnt was incomplete. I’d ignored that nagging discomfort and kept
on doing what I had been doing, until that wake-up call.
A lot of today’s sales programs would analyse that call and conclude that
if a prospect lies to you, then it’s okay to lie back; if they’re aggressive to
you, it’s okay to be aggressive in return (because that’s how you control
the situation); if they try to box you in, it’s okay to force them into a
commitment. But this buyer and seller conflict, battle, whatever you
want to call it, just felt so wrong. It took me a long time to figure out
one basic truth that none of those ‘fight back’ sales programs ever talked
about – my sales approach was all wrong!
There was something fundamentally wrong with how I was approaching
selling – I needed to change. It was at this point that I was finally able
to let go of the outrage and rejection and take responsibility for having
tried to sell the ‘wrong’ way. I realised that the old ways of selling had
everything backwards, and this freed me to think about other approaches,
which eventually became Unlock The Game®.
What are the fundamentals behind Unlock The Game® and why do
you think it has been received so well?
There are three fundamentals behind Unlock The Game:
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SELLING WITH TRUST
177
1. Defuse sales pressure.
2. Become a problem solver.
3. Get to the truth of whether the sale exists or not.
If you flick through the pages of business magazines and sales training
material, you will find a constant flow of messages like, ‘focus on closing
the sale’; ‘overcome objections’; ‘be relentless’; ‘accept rejection as a normal
part of selling’; ‘use persuasion to get useful information about your
prospects’; and ‘chase the sale’. In short, get the sale at the expense of the
human relationship. For the customer, this approach is transparent and
all too familiar. Crossing social boundaries and adding pressure to the
sales process makes sales a gut-wrenching and painful process. There is
a much better way to succeed in selling – move away from the hidden
agenda of focusing on making the sale. When you do this, a new world
opens up. In other words, when salespeople stop selling and start building
authentic relationships based on trust, authenticity and integrity, the
possibilities are endless.
Sales techniques contradict everything we know about what it takes to
build relationships. But isn’t selling just another human relationship – a
business relationship? No one likes to be pushed and no one wants to talk
to someone who is only out there to get something. By focusing not on the
sale but on building trust, the salesperson can eliminate angst, negativity
and frustration, and capture the essence of succeeding in business.
You say that trust is the most important element of Unlock The
Game. Can you explain why?
When I think about the online demonstration I presented to the executives,
I realised that they knew I had an agenda for that call – to make them
buy what I had to sell. I did it by the script, dealt with their objections,
pushed subtly to move things forward, you know the drill. As it turned
out, they were playing along. While at first I took the rejection personally,
I later realised that the problem wasn’t me, it was the whole dynamic of
trying to make the sale.
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Did it ever occur to me to think about the ways I could develop a
relationship of trust with the customer so that we could explore what
issues and problems they were trying to solve? No. Did I ever contemplate
that by not knowing more about their issues and problems, I didn’t know
whether I could help them? No. Did it ever occur to me to ask them,
‘Where do you want to go from here?’ No. I was on that call to make a
sale, and the implicit sales pressure I was exerting with every word I spoke
made them feel it was okay to lead me on and even lie to me. Think about
it: would they have lied to me if they trusted that I would not exert sales
pressure on them, regardless of their decision? Probably not.
So that’s really the day that Unlock The Game started to come into
existence. It took me several years to develop all the principles and ideas
that are now in the Mastery Program – the mind-set and what it means,
and how to express these principles in language and behaviour that is
gracious, low-key, respectful, and above all, focused on the prospect rather
than the person selling.
Although my most profound rejection was the most painful, I have to
say that I’m grateful that it happened. If it hadn’t, I would still probably
be selling the old way, instead of working with so many people to release
the pain of selling and move to a place of trust and open communication
with their prospects.
Having studied Aikido, what similarities have you noticed
between this form of martial art and Unlock The Game?
Imagine being in a crowded concert or bar, when all of a sudden a fight
breaks out between two men who’ve had too much to drink. You are a
few steps away when one of the men turns and looks as if he’s going to
take a swing at you. What’s your first instinct? Most of us will do one
of two things: try to step away or raise our arms to deflect him and
fight back (which can result in harm to you or your attacker). However,
if you were trained in Aikido, the Japanese martial art that focuses on
diverting an attacker’s energy, you could quickly defuse the situation by
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immobilising him without harming him in any way. In essence, you’re
neutralising the energy that he’s using to attack you in a way that takes
the conflict out of the situation.
Traditional selling focuses on closing by presenting or, in many cases,
pushing solutions onto prospects. But when you focus only on making
the sale before discussing the prospect’s problems first, something happens
– they feel as if you are attacking them. After all, you’re a stranger to
them, and when you start talking about yourself and your solution rather
than about them and their specific issues, you immediately trigger their
suspicion and cause them to start ‘pushing’ back. This pushback is the
resistance or energy that Unlock The Game teaches you to defuse. When
you get rid of this pressure you can then open a natural dialogue that
will determine whether it makes sense for you to work together.
What was the first product you sold online and how did your
internet strategy evolve over time?
My interest in the internet began when I decided to leave the company
I was working for and go out on my own. I had a new selling concept
and I thought that if I wrote an e-book on my ideas, I could just create
a website and sell it from there. And that’s what I did. I wrote a 20-page
e-book on cold-calling and sold it for $20.00 at the time. That e-book
eventually evolved into a comprehensive sales program that now sells for
over $1,000. After the first few sales started coming in, I got hooked on
the potential of the internet as a selling
and distribution medium.
I got hooked on
Once I realised that people were willing
to buy products online, I started thinking
of ways in which I could create an online
sales process similar to an offline sales
process. For example, create a lead, have
a follow-up system, call back the lead and
continually refine the process.
the potential of the
inter net as a selling
and distribution
m ed ium.
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ARI GALPER
To convert visitors into sales, I realised that you really had to have a welldefined selling process on your website. I also discovered that if you can’t
break down the selling process into micro-steps, then you really don’t have
a sales process. And that means you really can’t grow your sales online.
Why do you believe that having a great product is not the answer
to succeeding on the internet?
Having a great product is only a small part of making a successful sale.
There are also other variables that you have to line up correctly. For
example, have you targeted the right market? Is there a consistent lead
generation source? Do you have a free teaser item to spark interest and
initiate contact? Does your conversion process ensure leads become visitors
who become customers?
If you only have a great product and nothing else, then you don’t have
a business. The key is to understand the need to create a system that is
imbedded in your website and automatically moves a visitor along your
sales process.
What are the ways to minimise scepticism when selling on the
internet?
The key is to create real trust with the visitors on your website. You have
to assume that most visitors are sceptical and aren’t going to completely
trust what you are saying. One way to create trust online is through the
human touch. That is, have a real human available to interact live with
your visitors.
Why should people treat their internet businesses like a
traditional store?
This is a major shift in thinking for most internet entrepreneurs because
we have been taught to think that all visitors are comfortable buying from
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us without any human interaction. The reality is, only one or two visitors
out of 100 are actually buying. This means that at least 98 people visit
your site and leave without buying. That is not a good thing!
I view our website like a real store open 24/7 and believe it is critical to
have a real human talking to as many of our visitors as possible. So we
added a live chat and a live talk system to our site, as well as using our
own Unlock The Internet Game selling methodology, which immediately
boosted our conversion rates. We actually find that many of our visitors buy
our programs right after a brief chat with our staff through live chat.
I think it is important to realise that your website is like a real store. If
you leave that store empty and do not provide anyone to interact with
your visitors, then you are missing out on a tremendous amount of
opportunity.
Can you explain how people can use live chat?
Live chat is nothing new, it has been used for years as a back-office tool
for providing tech support. But if you incorporate live chat into your
sales process then you can convert more visitors into buyers.
View the right hand panel for an example of live chat in action.
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I regard live chat
as a critical business
to ol that ever y online
entrepreneur should
u s e.
What you do is place a chat box in the top
right-hand corner of all your webpages.
This notifies your visitors that you are
there to help them and allows you to
chat with them in real time and watch
their movements from page-to-page (this
is very useful for identifying which pages
lose people and what you need to do to
improve your site). I regard live chat as
a critical business tool that every online
entrepreneur should use.
Should live chat be available 24/7?
You have complete control over how much time you spend on chat. Even
an hour or two each day can give you great results because you’ll be
connecting with your visitors live, observing their movements and looking
for holes in your sales process. The chat software tool has an online and
offline mode, so you can log on and off whenever you like. When you’re
logged off, your visitors can email you from the chat box.
What you’ll find is that after you use chat for a while you can create a
system for selling via this medium. You can then easily hire a virtual
person to handle the live chat selling for you. That’s what I’ve done. I
have a couple of people who handle the chat for me and I get online
whenever I want to stay connected with my visitors.
Can you tell us why you created ChatWise™, your live chat sales
training?
Having mastered the use of live chat to improve online sales conversion,
we created a training program to teach other online entrepreneurs how
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to connect live with their visitors, converse in a way that builds trust,
and find holes within their online selling process. Live chat is a very
sensitive medium and the biggest mistake online entrepreneurs make is
to think that all they have to do is throw up a live chat box on their site
and start selling. That’s a recipe for disaster. The key is knowing all the
subtle elements that turn live chat into a new profit centre.
Other than live chat, how else can you personalise online
businesses?
A great and simple way to personalise the experience for your visitors
is to remove any hype from your website copy. For example, big bold
highlighted headlines, over-dramatic promises and sales pressure imbedded
in the copy to persuade someone to buy. Forced selling may work on some
people, but it turns off the majority. My advice is to tone down your
pitch and refocus your copy so that it solves your visitors’ problems. By
doing this, you’ll create a more personal experience for your visitors and
instil trust in them.
Do you believe that salespeople should be careful with the words
they use in the sales process?
There are many common sales lines that have become so ‘salesy’ that they
help in losing a sale at the very beginning of the process. They sound
innocent enough, but because prospects are so tired of feeling manipulated
by salespeople, they hear those tired old phrases and run the other way.
Lines like, ‘would you be interested’ or ‘explore’ or ‘follow-up’ have now
become pressure triggers for prospects. Regardless of your intentions,
these words portray you as the negative ‘salesperson’ stereotype, even if
you truly want to help the prospect. This is why I teach a whole new sales
mind-set with natural language, so that trust can be built with prospects
instead of pressure.
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ARI GALPER
It is not uncommon for entrepreneurs to use a long one-page
website format to sell products or services. Do you think this is the
best way to sell online?
The long sales letter will always be with us, but I believe many visitors
are tired of seeing a sales pitch the minute they land on a website. Our
clients have told us that when they monitor the timing of their visitors,
the majority will leave the site within three minutes when they land on
a long sales page.
I believe there are people who are conditioned to buy through long
sales letters, but others are looking to buy from someone who doesn’t
immediately present them with a sales pitch.
We have found that sometimes the best way to sell online is to write your
website in a way that addresses the problems your visitors are having. If
you give them samples of how you can help solve their problems, say in
an article format, then people have a chance to connect with what you do,
read some of your free material and then gradually head over to your sales
page. Since visitors are ready to buy after they have experienced a sample
of your offer, your sales page can be a lot shorter and more digestible.
What headlines should entrepreneurs use on their websites?
The key to an effective headline is to address the exact problem that
led visitors to find you. If you can clearly articulate how your visitors
are feeling before they come to you, or what core problem they are
experiencing, then that is what your headline should be.
For instance, on our www.UnlockTheGame.com site, our target market is
people who find selling over the phone painful. Our headline is: ‘Selling
Doesn’t Have to be Painful’.
For our www.UnlockTheInternetGame.com site, our target market is
online entrepreneurs who are frustrated with their low conversion rate.
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Our headline is: ‘At This Very Moment People Are Leaving Your Website
Without Buying A Thing – And There’s Not Much You Can Do About
It. Until Now’.
Do you believe that graphics and photographs should be used on
webpages?
Yes, I believe using graphics and photographs is an effective strategy
to avoid having to write long sales letters. People are very visual and
sometimes one photograph can say much more than ten pages of text.
I like to use appropriate graphics to represent certain concepts and that
someone can easily look at and absorb quickly as they are scanning one
of our pages.
The key is to use graphics that aren’t overdone – images that are oversized or that don’t match the tone and message of your site. We call our
graphics ‘icons’ because they are images that are conveying a message. We
also use text around the graphics for people who prefer to read instead
of absorbing ideas through pictures.
How important is it for internet entrepreneurs to use testimonials
on their websites?
Testimonials are crucial for any website
that aims to build trust and credibility
with visitors. Testimonials should focus
on how your solution helped solve
someone’s problem or how your solution
changed their life. It is also a great idea
to have a photograph or audio message
with the text of the person’s testimonial.
This makes it more personal.
The k ey to an
effec t ive head line is
to address the exac t
problem that led
visitor s to find
yo u.
The best way to collect testimonials is to
contact your customers when they are
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ARI GALPER
at their happiest with your solution. This is usually when they have just
ordered or started using your solution. You simply ask, ‘Would you be
open to sharing your success story with others on our website?’ That
question seems to work almost every time for me.
I believe that internet entrepreneurs need to focus on their customers’
needs and not get distracted by other opportunities. With the internet,
there is a syndrome called the ‘Bright Shiny Object Syndrome’. This is
when you’re working on implementing something, when all of a sudden
you get an email or phone call stating that there is a new and important
breakthrough that you need to buy to be successful. Almost every week
I have people who are extremely ‘educated’ about internet marketing call
me, but they are yet to make a dollar on their own websites. The key is to
stay focused on the fundamental projects that immediately impact your
customers or target market.
Fear of failure and success.
I think that fear will always be a part of being an entrepreneur, but it can
be minimised if you think less and take more action. This means that you
need to become comfortable with not having all the answers immediately
and not doing what everyone else is doing. It’s about finding your zone
and solving your customers’ problems through your online business.
From there, it gets easier.
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through?
My definition of ‘giving up’ means getting a normal job. There were many
times when I thought about doing that. Even to this day, when I’m facing
multiple challenges, I think to myself, ‘It would be a lot easier if I had a
normal job where I went to work, came home and that was it’. But then I
shake my head and realise that the life of an entrepreneur will always have
stresses and challenges. Those stresses and challenges are purposely designed
to build resilience, and personal resilience is how you conquer future
challenges. So, the key is to not fight challenges, but to welcome them.
The biggest mistake I made was waiting four years before finding a mentor to
guide me toward building a stable and profitable online business. I thought
I was smart enough to do it myself. I thought, ‘Why not? I am ambitious,
know what a website should look like and can study material about creating
an online business’. But that’s not enough! You need to find someone who
already has a successful business and is willing to mentor you. And that
person isn’t easy to find because they are busy growing their own business.
Beware of the ‘consultants’ who want to teach you how to build an online
business when all they have is a website that looks like a brochure.
If I had to start again, I’d be really clear in my mind that there is a big
difference between a website and a web-based business. A website is
flat – it has no sales funnel or prospect capturing device and it has no
follow-up system. A web-based business has all of that and more. For
example, it has a sales system that can be broken down into micro-steps
so if the sales slow down and there is a need to increase them, you can
go back to the micro-steps and decide which ones need to be removed
or developed.
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ARI GALPER
What do you love most about being involved with an internetbased business?
•
•
•
•
•
Creating something new and backing it up with a system.
Watching the hard work of implementing something turn into a sale
at the other end.
Being free to make my own decisions.
Embracing the endless possibilities that the internet provides.
Working from home so I can spend time with my kids.
involved with the internet and fear they’ve missed the boat?
It’s never too late and you’ll never miss the boat if you stick with
the fundamentals of business: research your market, understand your
customers’ problems and test your solution until it’s a perfect fit.
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
Ari Galper has kindly offered a FREE BONUS GIFT valued at $97.00 to all
readers of this book…
10 Secrets Of Online Conversion Even The Gurus Don’t Know! – Learn
how to create trust with your visitors and make more sales. Find out how to
humanise your website so your visitors aren’t sceptical about buying from you.
And discover how to fine-tune your website to remove the “roadblocks” within
your sales process.
31/8/07 8:28:26 PM
G R O W YO U R CO N T E N T
Grow Your Content
DANIEL TURNER
A N D M A R C L I N D S AY
The dot-com bust was the greatest thing for
the little guy because it meant that big
corporate companies got burnt. While they ’ve
been recoverin g, t he little g u y s have had f ree
reign over the playg ro u nd.
31/8/07 8:28:26 PM
PROFILE
DANIEL TURNER
A N D M A R C L I N D S AY
Daniel Turner has nine years’ experience as an entrepreneur and has
had businesses that were both extremely successful and huge learning
experiences, from a café, to herbal supplement stores, to retail and
services businesses. Daniel has spent over $250,000 on his business
education and credits much of this knowledge to his success so far.
Marc Lindsay started his career in the navy, where he honed his
work ethic and mastered his leadership skills. Marc has always had
a passion and a natural skill for computers and technology so after
leaving the navy he started his own business. At the same time he
began focusing on his search engine optimisation (SEO) skills and
has since become a leading expert in the field.
With Daniel’s extensive business experience and Marc’s expert
knowledge of SEO and technical skills, the pair have become a
powerful team. They focus and pride themselves on satisfying and
over-delivering on all their customers’ needs and never letting a
customer’s problem go unsolved.
Marc and Daniel are constantly learning in order to remain at the
forefront of the online and business worlds. They expect and receive
only the best and highest quality of work from all their team members,
as they do from themselves, and promote a fun and enjoyable
workplace. They are also very encouraging and like to help others
strive to be the best they can be.
Both Marc and Daniel are married, and when they are not working
incredibly hard in their business they are spending time with their
families.
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[Daniel] As far back as I can remember I have always wanted to own
and run my own business. I think I was about six years old when I first
started looking at all the different professions and people around me. I
realised that people who owned their own businesses had more in life
and affected the world on a larger scale.
[Marc] When I was young I knew my parents were not wealthy. We were
considered lower-class citizens. If I wanted food on the table, clothes on
my back and a roof over my head I knew that I had to earn it. This is
where my action-oriented approach to life developed from and why I was
earning an income from around the age of 13.
During this time I learnt one of the most valuable lessons of my life: the
only way I was going to get ahead was by doing it myself. I knew there
was not going to be any handouts, nothing to inherit, just the lessons
learnt from my parents and my uncle whom I regarded as a very successful
business owner.
It wasn’t until many years later that I took my first real steps towards my
entrepreneurial goals. I was 19 and had been in the navy for two years. I
was at sea on HMAS Tobruk, and had just finished a 12-hour shift when
my good friend and fellow shift-keeper told me about a book she had
just read. It was called Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
I borrowed the book and after reading it I set my first entrepreneurial
goal – to be financially free by age 30. I then spent three years making
mistakes and learning, until I achieved the success I have today.
What made you decide to start your current internet business?
[Daniel] To be totally honest – necessity. At 22 I had two successful
offline businesses and it went to my head – you could probably call it
the epitome of self-sabotage.
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D A N I E L T U R N E R A N D M A R C L I N D S AY
While I was doing
re as o n abl y wel l
online, I was not
m ovin g f a st en o u gh
in t h e r i gh t
It was a brilliant lesson and two things
kept me going: never giving up and
knowing that a very large percentage of
the world’s richest people have failed at
least once. I met some great people while
in those businesses, and one of them just
happened to be doing exceptionally well
online. When things turned for the worse,
he steered me in the right direction from
an online perspective.
d i re c t i on .
[Marc] When you have a very defined
vision of what your goal and destination
is, then you know when you are on the right track and when you are not
doing enough to reach that goal.
While I was doing reasonably well online, I was not moving fast enough
in the right direction. I could have coasted along very happily and made
a very nice income from what I was doing, but I felt something was
missing.
Through a business contact I found that missing piece – a business partner
who shared the same goals, aspirations and dreams that I did. I realised
I needed someone else to help propel me to the next level.
It took two meetings with Daniel for me to know that we were destined
to do some very large projects together. At the time, Daniel was in a state
of desperation and necessity, but failure was not in his vocabulary. I like
that. We set out to turn things around for him and expand what I was
doing through a proper plan and system. This led to us becoming business
partners. The rest, as they say, is history and we continue to grow rapidly
today, only 18 months after officially starting business together.
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Daniel, why do you think you and Marc work well together in an
online business?
[Daniel] Our relationship is symbiotic, my strengths are his weaknesses,
and my weaknesses are his strengths. My view is that when you are in
partnership with someone, you need to make sure that you both bring
different skill sets to the table or you’ll clash. I know for a fact, that had
Marc and I not teamed up together, we would not have had the success
that we’ve had.
This is an important point not only online, but for offline business
start-ups as well. If you are partnering with someone, make sure that
you have a strong bond and work ethic, and that your skills complement
one another.
What strategy did you implement first to make money online?
When we teamed up, we started building a lot of sites and ended up
with something like 109 affiliate and advertising sites. This involved three
months of very hard work and long hours, but it set the foundation for us
to keep building and growing. These sites weren’t that crash hot – some
of them were downright ugly – but it’s better to have something that is
ugly up and running than nothing at all.
How has your online strategy changed over time and what do you
do today?
When we first started creating sites we didn’t really provide a great deal
of value to the person viewing or reading them. However they only cost
us about $20.00 to build, which at the time was advantageous because
we wanted to keep costs down.
Now we focus on the end user and creating value for them. We spend
up to $US1,000 or more just in the set-up phase and then $US400 to
$US1,000 a month on content creation and search engine optimisation
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194
(SEO). The reason we do this is because we want the site to grow, but
we don’t have the time to build each one ourselves. We now outsource to
teams all over the world to do the grunt work that we used to do.
Our strategy has changed over time because we started at the bottom
with very little cash, but compensated by putting in extra time. This is no
longer the case. We’ve changed our strategy so that we don’t have to put
in as many hours and can focus on creating value for the customer.
What is affiliate marketing and why should internet entrepreneurs
learn about it?
Affiliate marketing involves selling other people’s products and getting a
commission for it. This commission can range anywhere from three to
100 per cent of a product’s price.
The obvious reason to get involved with affiliate marketing is that, other
than your own time, the set-up costs are basically next to nothing. It also
serves as a great learning ground too. That is, you get to learn about the
basic processes and skills required to sell your own product and promote
your own site. Another reason for learning about affiliate marketing is
that it allows you to grow to the next stage.
At what point should people stop promoting other people’s
products and begin developing their own?
It depends on what stage of the game they want to get into. If they have
some capital behind them or a product all ready to go, then it’s probably
a good idea to go straight into selling their own product. The only real
problem is that they will have to go through the same learning curves of
promoting their site (generating traffic, getting into search engines and
so on). Site promotion is the most important part of being online.
The alternative is to progress a site – build it as an affiliate and advertising
site and move into a product (either physical or digital) site. As for when
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you want to progress a site, it really depends on the niche. If you’re
selling water tanks then coordinating the changeover to selling those
physically, as opposed to recommending places to buy them and making a
commission, is going to be a little more difficult. But if you’re just selling
or recommending dog training e-books then getting your own product
written and selling it is going to be a lot easier.
If you are looking for a rule of thumb, we will usually look at building
a product when the site starts to produce around $400 a month as an
affiliate or advertising site, or when we get first page results in the search
engines for our main keywords.
Do you believe people should stick to their local market or
venture overseas?
It really depends on what you are looking to do. If you are building
something like an e-commerce store, then we’d highly recommend you
stay in Australia. (By e-commerce we mean something that sells multiple
physical products.) Once you’ve proven to be successful in Australia, then
you can look at going international.
If you are doing affiliate marketing or anything related to digital products
then look at the international market.
You are both highly skilled at
identifying online opportunities or
‘niches’. Why is it so important to
choose the right niche?
Choosing the right niche at the outset
is less important if you are building an
army of sites. However, if you just want
to build one or two sites and grow them
massively then niche selection becomes
extremely important.
Choosing the right
niche at the outset is
less impor tant if you
a re b u i l d i n g a n a r my
of sites.
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196
There are two schools of thought here:
1. Choose what you love to do or find something you are passionate about
and build a site around it. The only problem with this school of
thought is that often people are passionate about something that has
no monetary value whatsoever or is hard to monetise.
2. Look for niches that people are making money in. The biggest thing
here is to look for people who are already doing okay. Look at the
competition. Are there quite a few people in the industry? Are they
spending money on advertising? Is there a lot of search traffic for that
particular niche?
Our approach now is to find markets that already have a significant
amount of competition and a large user base and to simply tap into them.
We don’t look to reinvent the wheel or create a market out of nothing.
We believe that it is far easier in business to find a market that has a lot
of demand and then find a way to cater to that market and/or market
to it more effectively.
What do you love about being involved in an internet-based
business?
•
Anything is possible! The internet is one of the most unique mediums
that has ever been around and has levelled the playing field. Now
everyone can come and play. If you can dream it, you can make it
happen!
•
It is one of the only places where your previous qualifications do not
matter (unless they are in business). You could be a doctor, lawyer,
insurance broker – it doesn’t matter. On the internet everyone is equal
and what you do online is your choice and not based on a qualification
you hold in your hand.
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•
The internet has brought possibilities to the entire world that have
not been available in any other era or generation.
•
Never before have you been able to set up a viable business for under
a thousand dollars. Sure you can spend more, but if I had to I could
start a new business online for a thousand dollars or less.
Today many companies engage your expertise to help improve
the online aspects of their businesses. Other than more profit,
what else do they want to achieve?
Once the initial romance period of starting an online business fades and
owners already know they have a profitable company, it is time to start
looking beyond what they are currently doing.
Many companies are looking for much more than just profit; they are
looking to build a brand or authority within their marketplace. This is a
bit more difficult than just turning a profit from a product, and is usually
an area where we find ourselves helping other businesses.
Building a brand and connecting with your market is extremely important,
as is identifying upcoming trends and hot topics. It is no longer just about
turning a profit but how you can take your company to a higher level
and make sure you are always ahead of your competition.
The top questions we receive are:
•
•
•
•
How do I know what my future customers want?
How do I get repeat business from my customers?
What can I do to bring in more customers?
I want to become the authority in my market, how do I do that?
We work with clients on an individual basis to help them answer these
questions and provide the solutions they are looking for.
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Th e i n tern et i s
s t il l i n i ts i n f a n c y,
You believe that many business
owners lack the fundamentals of a
successful online strategy. Can you
explain what you mean?
b u t it ’s grow i n g
[Daniel] When people set up a business
online, they forget that it is still a business.
u p q u ick l y.
This may sound simple, but people seem
to forget about systems, marketing, hiring
strategies and all the other things involved
in running a successful company. Just because you can work from home
in your shorts doesn’t mean you are not building a business.
In a few years time, as the major companies begin to re-emerge as
powerhouses on the internet, it’s going to be far harder for the Average
Joes to carve out a niche for themselves. The internet is still in its infancy,
but it’s growing up quickly. The security issues and fears that consumers
legitimately had a few years ago are now, for the most part, not valid or
non-existent, which means consumers are now happy to purchase and
order online.
Over the coming years it’s still going to be possible for the little guy to
take on powerhouse companies online and win their piece of the pie
– it’s just going to be much harder. And the business owners who will
do this are the ones with a solid business foundation and the smarts to
make it happen.
Marc, most people understand the importance of search engine
optimisation (SEO) but do not know how it works. Can you tell us
about SEO?
[Marc] There is so much to say about SEO that I could fill this entire book
with information about this important aspect of an online business.
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In Australia, more than anywhere else, there is a massive lack of SEO
awareness and from what I have seen there are very few companies other
than our own that do it correctly. If a company is charging you $300 a
year and claiming to do SEO for your site, they are telling you lies and
will get you nowhere.
SEO is a process whereby you modify factors on your site pages (called
on-site optimisation) and do certain activities off-site, usually link-building
(called off-site optimisation) that will affect your page’s search engine
rankings. This is a very simple explanation, however I do go into more
detail on our site www.itseo.com.au.
When it comes to SEO, you get what you pay for. After seeing quite a
few friends get severely let down after taking on SEO companies, Daniel
and I decided to start our own.
Our average SEO plan is between $1,000 and $2,500 per month per site,
depending on how competitive the industry is. We have a very large list
of well-ranked sites in competitive industries. Basically we know what
we are doing. It’s how we make a living and we are now helping others
to do the same.
Why can unattractive websites with little content still rank high on
search engines?
[Marc] I know exactly what you are talking about! I have seen some very
ugly sites ranking extremely well in competitive industries. The reason for
this is that most of your rankings will come from the off-site optimisation
that you do for your website. Very little of what you do to your actual
site counts. It still has an effect, but not as great an effect as building up
your off-site optimisation. Also, attractiveness has nothing or very little
to do with your rankings. Google and other search engines are machines
– they read things in source code and do not comprehend beauty (yet).
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There are also over 100 factors that Google and other search engines
take into account and no one knows what all of these are. For example,
one such factor is simply the length of time your domain is registered
for. If you are considered a permanent business then you are going to be
registered for more then five years, which goes in your favour.
What are your top tips for improving search engine rankings?
1. Know your target market well. If you do not know what you are
targeting, trying to SEO for something unknown will not get you
anywhere.
2. Develop high quality content on your topic or niche, because if you
have great information then it will keep your visitors coming back.
If visitors keep coming back and talking about your site, then others
will link to your site naturally (this is called natural SEO).
3. Create each page individually with a separate topic in mind because
every page has a chance to rank for its own set of keywords or key
phrases.
4. Consult an SEO company when you start building your site. There is
nothing worse than having your site developed incorrectly. This will
also make it easier for you if you decide to hire someone to do your
SEO.
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5. Implement a plan to keep your site updated with the most recent
information in your industry. Keep your pages fresh and up to date.
6. Find other sites in your industry that would like to link to you. In
other words, start a linking campaign.
7. Write more content for your site – the more content you have, the
more potential traffic doorways you have.
8. Hire someone to do it for you if you don’t have the time to learn it
yourself.
Once you have your site set up, it really comes down to how much quality
content you can produce and how many quality links you can drive to
your site with the correct anchor text (keywords).
We’ve been doing this for over three years now, since the ‘glory times’
when you could achieve front-page rankings in less then three weeks.
These days it takes substantially longer and the methods have changed.
Based on your experience, how important is a website’s URL and
title?
There are three top things to look at when doing on-page optimisation.
They are:
1. Title tags
2. H1 (Header 1) tags
3. URL structure
The title tags of your site need to match
what that page is trying to tell your visitor
about. You don’t want to have ‘Joe’s Pet
Store’ on every one of your title tags.
If your page is talking about natural
dog food, then your title tag should be
something like ‘Natural Dog Food’.
…t he more
co ntent you have, the
more potential traffic
door ways you
have.
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Header 1 tags (as seen in html <h1> and </h1>) should contain the title
of your content. It is like a paragraph title. You should use cascading style
sheets (CSS) to change the display of H1 tags, otherwise they will end up
large and black which will usually throw your page design off.
The URL structure should follow the same principles as creating title
tags. The name of your pages should represent what they are about,
but only if they are not too long, for example, www.joespetfood.com.
au/dogs/natural-dog-food.html.
Links to your website can increase your search engine ranking.
Does it matter what type of links they are?
Three years ago it did not matter who linked to you, every link counted
toward your ranking. But things have changed over time, including search
engine algorithms.
It is best if you can find one-way links to your site for industry, or topicrelated sites that are recognised as an authority and have been around for
a while. For example, if you wanted to know about hardware and you went
to Woolworths and asked them a question, then went to Bunnings and
asked them the same question, and got two different answers, who would
you trust the most? Bunnings, as they are the authority in hardware.
The same concept applies to your site. Search engines see a one-way link
from another site in your industry as much more valuable than a link
from a non-related site.
With search engines changing their algorithms all the time, what
do you see for the future of SEO?
[Marc] I believe over time, as the artificial intelligence of search engines
improves, you will find that the content you write has a greater play in
how you rank. The same also goes for consumer reaction to a site. I believe
that Google is already tracking how long you stay on a site for and how
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203
often you visit a site using its search engine. I believe they will take more
notice of that data in determining the quality of a site. It would also be
great to see sites ranked on how correct their data is rather than who
has the largest budget.
With algorithms always changing, the only thing you can do is keep a
close eye on the industry and try to keep up to date.
[Marc] The biggest challenge I had was myself. I know its cliché to say,
but the truth is I was limited by my mind-set, self-doubt, and lack of
confidence and conviction. Once I learnt to trust my knowledge and
decisions I was able to break through and see success.
It was like a Catch-22. I knew I needed to action my ideas, but I didn’t
have the guts. I was scared of failure, wondered what people would think of
me and what I would do without job security. I later learnt that you have
to take action in order to have the courage to overcome these doubts.
At the end of the day you have two choices:
1. Kick it in and give up!
2. Suck it up and make it happen!
When you choose to make it happen then you will experience amazing
growth and change in your life.
through?
[Daniel] Absolutely, and to say otherwise would mean that I was not
human. My rock was my (now) wife. When we were eating rice and twominute noodles for basically every meal and everything had fallen down,
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204
Having control
is s u e s i n yo u r
b u s in e ss i s o n e o f th e
wo rs t an d mo st
d e t rim en ta l
p ro b l e ms…
she was the one who supported us. For
a good 12 months she worked two or
three jobs until I figured myself out and
got back on my feet.
What recommendations would you
make to an aspiring entrepreneur
who wants to get started in an
internet-based business of their
own?
Just do it! It is normal to procrastinate
and come up with excuses or listen to people who tell you that it is too
risky or won’t work. But that is why you just have to do it! You won’t
know whether it will work or not until you get out there and actually
do something.
I also think you should learn about traffic generation, such as SEO and
pay per click marketing. Internet businesses are nothing without traffic
– it’s like the engine that drives the car.
Failure to plan for the future – most people do not have a plan when they
start a business. Usually, new business owners are running away from
something (bad bosses or nine-to-five jobs) and so usually they forget
to plan. As a result, ten years down the track they are no further ahead
than when they started.
Working in a business – if you own a business you should not work in
the business forever. Yes, you might have to work 100-hour weeks for the
first six months or four years, but you should be aiming to hire other
people to do the technical work so that you can step out of the roles that
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205
consume the majority of your time. When your business is profitable
enough for you to stop doing the technical work, you should step out
and focus on building the business.
Not letting go – this is something that I personally have issues with all
the time, mainly because of my history. Having control issues in your
business is one of the worst and most detrimental problems you can
have. The belief that ‘no one can do it as good as I can’ is one that you
must simply destroy. If you don’t, you’ll struggle in your business and
continually go through an expand and retract process until your business
dies or you give up in frustration.
involved with the internet and fear they’ve missed the boat?
Two words – it’s not!
The internet is still in the Wild West days, which means there is opportunity
in virtually every market. The internet is an anomaly, a marketing medium
like nothing we’ve ever seen before. The dot-com bust was the greatest
thing for the little guy because it meant that big corporate companies got
burnt. While they’ve been recovering, the little guys have had free reign
over the playground.
In two to five years that is all going to change and it’s starting to happen
already. Companies are now seeing the value of the internet, from both
a monetary and branding point of view, and with security at an all time
high and consumers’ risk perception at an all time low, we’re going to see
an influx in spending and investment into virtually all online markets.
[Marc] For many years I did not understand when people told me to
stop reading and take action. I thought by reading or buying the latest
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206
technique that I was doing something, I was learning. Then a good friend,
who was doing extremely well online, told me that I just needed to do
it. I had to stop planning and thinking about what could go wrong and
embark on the journey of getting something started. It was when I took
that kind of action that everything started to slot into place, and even
more so when I learnt what focused action could enable you to do.
Having served in the navy for almost seven years I was blessed with being
forced to learn many of the qualities that I now expect in the people
working around us – leadership, mateship, trust and integrity. These few
qualities have helped craft me into the person I am today. Without just
one of these values my outcome could have been very different.
Your ability to lead and inspire others to fulfil their own goals and take
control over what it is they want to achieve will always benefit you in
more ways than you could imagine. The most important thing is to get
started somewhere. Take a step into the unknown, grab hold of your
fear and embrace it, because it will force you to grow beyond your fears
and restrictions.
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
Daniel Turner and Marc Lindsay have kindly offered a FREE BONUS GIFT
valued at $197.00 to all readers of this book…
Search Engine Optimisation For Branding And ROI Tele-Audio – In this
special audio, learn how Search Engine Optimisation and ranking in Google
is going to impact on your company, from both a branding and returning on
investment perspective in today’s market. You will see why it is important to be
moving on this now, and the steps you can take to get your company ranking
in your market.
31/8/07 8:28:29 PM
SIMPLE CHANGES
Simple Changes
JOHN BERTONE
The trick is to test ever ything and never
assume that you k now or think you k now. Let the
internet sur fers tell you what they lik e to
respond to by consistently testing.
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PROFILE
JOHN BERTONE
John Bertone was born in Sydney in 1968. While growing up he helped
his parents in their Italian restaurant, and so from the age of six was
exposed to dealing with the public and serving people.
During his teenage years, John developed strong communication
skills and a drive for entrepreneurial success. However, by the time
he finished school, he still didn’t really know what he wanted to do
and decided to continue working in his parents’ restaurant.
After five years, John decided to study computer programming. From
there he landed a job as a computer operator and then went on to
work as a computer programmer before realising that it was time
for a new challenge.
In 1992, John opened his own retail store selling mobile
communications, which became one of the major mobile phone
retail stores in Sydney. John sold the store in 1998 and decided to take
a break while he worked out the next step in his life. It was during
this time that he started to seriously investigate the internet. With his
computing background and experience in marketing (through the
family restaurant and his retail store), he started a career in internet
marketing.
John has spent over four years as an internet marketing consultant,
helping clients generate tens of thousands of leads and subscribers,
as well as millions of dollars in online sales. He now has a strong
presence in Australia as a leading online marketing specialist and is
the founder of the Internet Marketing Institute. He is a regular speaker
on the topic of internet marketing at seminars and events.
When he is not working, John enjoys going to the gym, power walking,
swimming – in fact, anything outdoors!
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209
Can you tell us about your first experience in business?
I was exposed to business at the early age of six, when I used to help my
parents in their Italian restaurant. I found it difficult at times (especially
because I was young) but I also found it exciting. Plus, being able to eat
great Italian food at any time was a bonus! What I quickly learnt was
that if you get your business working well – no matter what business you
have – it’s possible to really do well financially.
After finishing school what career options did you pursue?
After school I worked in my father’s restaurant for many years before
taking a break to study computer programming. I then worked as a
computer operator and later as a programmer for a few years, until I
decided that I wanted to do something else.
I ended up opening a mobile phone retail store in Miranda, Sydney. It was
an extremely competitive industry but I wanted to do well in it. During
this time I learnt that some customers can become good friends, whereas
others will be unsatisfied no matter what you do for them. Some of the
valuable skills I learnt were how to manage staff, control inventory and,
most importantly, marketing.
Why did you decide to sell mobile phones?
I decided to start a mobile phone business after speaking with an interesting
English guy. As we chatted, we spoke about the mobile phone industry and
I couldn’t help but notice how excited he was about it. He recommended
I talk to his boss, who was a major player in the Australian mobile phone
retail market at the time. Things just progressed from there.
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JOHN BERTONE
Over eight years you grew your store into one of the most popular
phone stores in your area. How were you able to do this?
I believe there were three key points that made my store so popular in
the Sutherland area of Sydney:
1. My staff and I genuinely cared about helping customers (many of
whom were totally confused about mobile phone options).
2. We developed an incredible rapport with consumers in the area, which
naturally led to successful referrals and repeat business.
3. I experimented with my marketing and looked at what worked and
what did not work when trying to draw new customers into my
store.
Why did you decide to sell your mobile phone business?
Although the margins were getting smaller over time, the main reason I
left was because of a lack of trust. Over the years it seemed that no matter
which mobile phone carrier or provider I would connect consumers to,
most seemed to be untrustworthy in some way or another.
When paying independent retailers, like myself, the providers always seemed
to be late with their payments or hopeless at reconciling commissions.
This not only made my hours longer and my work twice as hard, it also
made it consistently difficult to pay my staff, rent and whatever else
needed paying.
Being an ethical business owner, I felt the industry in general was either
too new and needed ironing out, or simply didn’t care enough about its
retail dealers. So, even though I developed a lot of know-how about the
industry and its workings, I still felt it was best that I left. Based on my
inside knowledge about the mobile phone industry, I decided to create a
website – www.MobilePhoneSecrets.com.au – that aimed to help mobile
phone users reduce their bills.
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211
How did you become involved with the internet?
One of the things I learnt about my mobile phone business was that
once you got it right (meaning your business was working well), you
could really make some good money! However, what I found was that
my direction was subconsciously heading to marketing rather than sales.
Even when a regular customer came into my retail store, I found that
selling was boring and marketing was way more exciting, especially when
you got it right!
That’s when I was exposed to the sales letter on the internet. I thought,
‘Wow – now I can have a full-time salesperson selling for me 24/7 without
having to do it myself ’. It was the perfect business, having internet pages
sell for me while I focused on marketing.
How did you acquire knowledge about the internet?
Well, when I started I had a great advantage – I had a computer
programming background. However, this is not required to become
successful on the internet. If anything, you want to move away from the
technical side of websites so that you can just focus on marketing.
I guess I really learnt my internet secrets from overseas. Some of the best
internet marketers in the world come from the US, Canada, the UK and
even countries you have probably never heard of. I have reached a point
where I have immersed myself in so much information about the internet
that I have now spent six years, thousands of hours and tens of thousands
of dollars researching the topic and acquiring the right knowledge to be
a professional internet marketer.
What was the first online business that you created?
I guess I wouldn’t call my early online work a business. I basically sold
a few top-level domain names and worked on some affiliate marketing,
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JOHN BERTONE
which is basically just selling other people’s products to visitors on the
internet and getting paid a cut of the action!
In your opinion, what are the similarities between a traditional
offline business and an online business?
At the end of the day, business is business – consumers will always be
consumers and people will be people! We have different personalities and
different wants and needs. It is the job of business owners to give people
what they want and not what you think they need. In the end, people
like to buy off people they like and trust. It applies to both online and
offline businesses, no matter what you are trying to sell as a product or
service.
What do you believe are the main differences between offline and
online businesses?
When a visitor views your website, you essentially have around five
seconds to impress them, otherwise you’ve lost them. Even if your website
is profitable, making small changes to your webpages can really make a
difference to your bottom line.
For example, I met with an already successful online business owner and
after viewing his website I told him that he was leaving too much cash
on the table. I recommended that he make some urgent changes to his
site. The result: after spending an hour explaining and recommending
alterations to this owner, the changes he made have added over $102,000
per year to his online business. It took him about ten minutes to make
the changes – not bad!
The issue of security is a bigger concern online than offline. As just
about anyone can own and run a website, consumers on the internet are
extremely wary. Therefore, trusting someone online can be harder than
trusting a person standing in front of you.
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213
In the online world, people who surf the internet are usually expecting to
get items for free. Understanding this, and not trying to work against it,
will give you a massive advantage over offline businesses. As such, using
the internet to gain leads can be very successful and a lot quicker than
trying to duplicate the process offline.
What do you love most about operating an internet business?
One thing that I love very much is that I never have a dispute or argument
with my boss because I am the boss! More specifically, an enjoyable
aspect about being in business for myself is that, in most cases, I am in
total control of my time. I love that I can go for a swim or head down
to the gym when everyone else is at work – it makes owning my own
business wonderful!
But what makes an internet business even better is that most of the time
all you need is your notebook computer and an internet connection. You
can literally run your business from anywhere in the world. Within an
internet business you are able to market and sell products and services
from the comfort of your own home if you choose to. It’s something
that most people forget. Talk about saving time travelling to work – no
more frustrating traffic jams!
entrepreneur who wants to get
started in an internet-based business
of their own?
…t he c hanges he
This is simple – look at all the things
you love! Then look at the problems
involved in those topics and try to provide
solutions. In doing this you might be
quite surprised that people will be willing
to pay for a clear solution to a problem.
For example, if you love to grow tomatoes
mad e have ad d ed
ove r $ 1 0 2 , 0 0 0 p e r
year to his online
b usiness.
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JOHN BERTONE
and have excellent tips that may be of use to other people who also enjoy
growing tomatoes, chances are you can gain an income from those tips.
But remember, never assume! Investigate beforehand and always do your
research.
One of the most common mistakes made by new business owners is
that they design and create a website before educating themselves about
internet marketing. This often leads to a website that is architecturally
constructed in the wrong way! As result, the website often fails miserably
and serves to be a frustrating and costly experience.
The solution is quite simple – learn and understand how the internet
works by spending some time educating yourself in the area of online
marketing. This is why I created my internet marketing video training
program at www.InternetMarketingInstitute.com.au. It aims to help
website and business owners get straight to the point – vital internet
marketing education – and helps them stay on top of the internet world
and gain more profits from internet users.
What are some of the websites that you have worked with?
I have worked with some great people in helping them create websites. One
notable example is Hans Jakobi and his Real Estate Secrets website.
Hans has been a close friend for many years and his Real Estate Secrets
website has been a success from day one. It is now classed as one of the
leading real estate investing information websites in Australia. It often
holds a top ten position with major search engines and gains thousands
of visitors each month.
Another great website that I assisted in creating and making a success
was www.dLook.com.au.
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215
It has also been classed as one of the top ten business directories in
Australia. Its website traffic volumes are huge and can provide cheap
alternative online advertising options for business owners in Australia.
While I write this chapter, www.dLook.com.au is ranked as the 78th most
visited website in Australia.
You say that it doesn’t matter how much traffic you get, it’s what
you do with it. What do you mean by this?
I think that website traffic should be scaled – by that I mean there are
definitely better types of traffic than others. So first, getting the right
type of traffic is critical, as is having the website visitor in the right frame
of mind. I learnt this from a conversation I had with a gentleman who
eventually ended up purchasing my mobile phone retail store. He had
asked me, ‘How do you do so much business from a 26-square-metre
store? I have three stores and spend thousands of dollars in newspaper
advertisements every month and still can’t achieve so much business’.
The answer was clear – referrals. We had developed a good relationship
with our customers and they would often return, bringing their friends
as well. Referral marketing brings in better qualified prospects than
newspaper advertising, which is a colder type of sale. The same principle
applies online. If your website visitor is warm to your offer before they
arrive, you will do a lot better with the website traffic that you get. Then
all you need to do is lift the conversion of the website. In other words,
if you have 100 visitors arriving, work on improving your webpages so
that you increase your conversion rate. The trick is to test everything and
never assume that you know or think you know. Let the internet surfers
tell you what they like to respond to by consistently testing.
What is the most important element of creating a homepage?
Your homepage should be clean. That means it should be clear, uncluttered
and consistent. I always say that if you provide a person or website visitor
with too many options, they are likely to do nothing!
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JOHN BERTONE
Some of those
s u r p r i s e s h ave b e e n
the opposite of what I
The most critical part of any webpage, be
it a homepage or not, is the first viewable
part – the very top section of the page
(before you start scrolling down). This
is also known as ‘above the fold’ and if
you mess this up it’s all over before you
start.
was expec ting.
The reason is obvious. When a person
arrives at your website they will land
directly at this point, unless of course you have coded it to not land this
way. But in 99 per cent of cases, getting the ‘above the fold’ part of a
webpage right is vital.
What is the right and wrong time to use audio and video on a
website?
This is a good question and one that prompts many discussions. When this
question is asked I like to remind people that the website visitor is used
to being in control. Therefore, making audio and video play automatically
when a person arrives at your site can be a mistake.
Visitors are accustomed to being in control and if they don’t like the
look or feel of a site they leave. So if you have audio and video playing
automatically on your site you run the risk of losing them because they
may not have requested it. For example, a web visitor may be browsing
while on a break at work. They click on a site and all of a sudden you
have this audio and video message blasting out of the speakers in front
of any other people in the room. Embarrassing to say the least, and of
course they leave the site almost immediately.
The simple rule is to give the visitor control, but if you are going to
break this rule then remember to test. If you find that playing an audio
or video message automatically on your site provides more leads or sales,
then go for your life. Otherwise, stick to the rule!
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Podcasting is quickly gaining momentum in the online
community. Do you think it should be a major part of an online
business?
Podcasting has its uses, and if you look at the trend you will find that it
is increasing. So, I think that it should be a part of your overall internet
marketing strategy, but it should not be your only strategy.
Many marketers talk about testing and measuring. How important
is this to an online business?
It’s an absolute must! If you really want to be successful online then you
cannot regard testing and measuring as a chore.
Testing and measuring can increase your profits dramatically! That’s
why internet marketers test and measure all the time. The results can be
spectacular and often surprising. Some of those surprises have been the
opposite of what I was expecting. So don’t ever assume – test it!
What are the key elements of a website that should be tested and
measured?
Website traffic – you should be continually working on bringing more
traffic to your site and it should be good, targeted traffic. My tip here is
to make sure you gain traffic from multiple sources, not just one (like
from a single search engine).
Conversion rate – how many visitors arrive at your website and actually
do what you want them to do – buy or leave their details? By working
on your conversion rates you will always be financially rewarded.
Subscriber rate – you should always monitor and try to increase the sign-up
rate to your website. A great way to do this is by having a free offer!
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JOHN BERTONE
Website position – from time to time you should monitor your position
in search engines. Don’t get obsessed with this task, but every month
or so you should see if you are climbing the ranking for targeted key
phrases. Your goal should be to gain a top ten position for all major
search engines.
Revenue – you should always monitor overall revenue generated by your
website on a monthly or quarterly basis. It is vital that you lift your overall
profits each month or quarter. One of the fastest ways to achieve this is
by forming joint venture deals with industry-related companies or openminded people by using email, podcasts, videos or offline marketing to
access each other’s customers and prospects.
What is a purchase survey and why do believe it is a valuable
marketing tool?
Do you know the main reason someone purchased from you? The answer
to this question is gold and should be asked every time someone purchases
from you. It is called a purchase survey and the answer will help you tweak
your sales message and modify your marketing in an effort to increase
your sales and conversion rate.
I believe that the best way to use a purchase survey is in an internet
environment. I say this because online is way less intrusive than doing it
in person. Imagine if a customer came to your retail store and straight
after they bought from you, you tapped them on the shoulder as they
were leaving and asked, ‘Hey, just curious, what was the main reason
you decided to buy from me?’ It would be a bit odd and maybe a bit
uncomfortable for the customer! However, when online you can ask
the question while you are thanking them for buying from you. That
is, directly after they buy from you, the thank you page should pop up.
This page should say a quick thank you, and then go straight into a key
question (which should be in larger text) that says something like: ‘So
we can serve our customers better in the future, please let us know what
the main reason for purchasing from us was’.
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You’ll be surprised at how many people respond. And there are three
reasons why:
1. When online, you are not in front of other people so the possibility of
being embarrassed by being asked the question is almost completely
removed.
2. The buyer doesn’t have to explain their reason verbally. They can punch
in a few keywords in the box provided on the thank you page.
3. In most cases, the buyer is presented with the purchase survey in a
comfortable environment, for example, their home.
As a result, you can gather a good collection of replies that can provide an
accurate insight into your customers. The goal is to find patterns within
these responses and use them to your advantage.
What types of businesses survive on the internet?
I believe that the businesses that survive and prosper on the internet are
the ones that become authorities within their industries. In other words,
websites that become important in a chosen industry. So how do you
become an authority?
•
•
•
Consistently provide quality information. After all, the internet is all
about information.
Add fresh content to your website so that visitors are interested and
traffic is funnelled to your site.
Partner with related websites and
Consistently
link to sites that can provide further
information for your visitors. But
p rovid e q ualit y
make sure it is relevant. For example, if
you have a website on digital cameras
infor mat ion. Af ter all,
don’t link to a dating site – linking to
t he inter net is all
a digital camera manufacturer might
be a better option!
a b o u t i n fo r m a t i o n .
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JOHN BERTONE
If you truly want to create a successful and profitable internet business
that does not become lost in the internet world, one of the fastest ways is
to access all the internet marketing secrets. Over the past six years, I have
accumulated these secrets in a training package that has helped clients
sell millions of dollars in products and services via the internet.
through?
There were definitely times when I wanted to give up, but it was my passion
that got me through. When you are passionate about the work you do, it
makes even a bad day not so bad. That’s why I strongly recommend that
people wanting to start an internet business write down their passions
and hobbies when choosing a business to run. Even the unusual ones
can be a profitable surprise when it comes to creating a website on that
topic and developing an income from it! Can you imagine replacing your
current income with a website that is also a hobby you love? Well let me
tell you, it’s happening all over the world right now, to the point where
people are even exceeding their current incomes with their websites in
areas of their passion. My advice is to go for it!
entrepreneur?
•
Make sure you do your research before going ahead with an online
business. That way you will give the consumer what they want and
not what you think they need.
•
Once you decide to go ahead with an online business, stay focused
and follow through with the business until it starts to make a profit.
I always say to people, ‘There are many good ideas, but few profitable
good ideas’.
•
If you start making a profit on the internet, don’t ever assume that
you know it all when it comes to internet marketing. Chances are you
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don’t! Removing a know-it-all mind-set will put more money in your
bank account.
•
Always look for ways to increase traffic to your website, but make
sure you are receiving good quality traffic. Don’t just get traffic from
anywhere and expect them to buy from you!
•
Look at increasing the conversion rate of your website. If you are
looking to gain leads then constantly test the visitor to lead ratio of
your site. If you are attempting to increase sales focus on your visitor
to sales ratio.
•
Don’t make your website too hard for visitors to use. If they have to
click too many times you will lose them. Always remember, on the
internet the website surfer is king. They have so many choices and no
problem with leaving your site.
I would say to rethink that conclusion. The internet covers a massive
amount of topics and areas of interest, so there will almost always be an
area where you can enter a market online and be successful. If you really
think it’s too late, the first thing I truly recommend is to reprogram your
mind! When you think negatively you avoid putting in the required effort
– you literally fail before you start! Don’t think about missing the boat,
start focusing on how and what market you can enter and profit from
– it is a much better mind-set to have.
31/8/07 8:28:31 PM
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
John Bertone has kindly offered a FREE BONUS GIFT valued at $97.00 to
The Eight Fundamental Secrets To Internet Success – In this downloadable
video series, you can discover the explanation of the eight fundamentals of
internet success from John – who is more than qualified to help you.
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POWER OF ADWORDS
Power Of Adwords
A D A M D AV I S
The most impor tant point when it comes to
k ey wo rd research is to no t o nly think o f yo u r
produc t or ser vice as what it i s but what
pro blem it s o l ve s .
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PROFILE
A D A M D AV I S
Adam Davis was born in 1986 and grew up in the most isolated city
in the world – Perth, Western Australia.
Reading books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Think and Grow Rich from
the age of 12, Adam’s passion has always revolved around personal
development. As he grew older, he became fascinated with personality
profiling and how it could assist people in understanding themselves
and the world around them.
At 17, Adam summoned up the courage to follow his passion and
was led on a path that saw him learn from some of the masters in
online marketing. Since learning about the world of the internet,
Adam has not only built and successfully marketed his own websites,
but also consulted with some highly respected individuals, like Jay
Abraham, Stephen Pierce, Matt Bacak, Jack Canfield and Brett Mcfall.
Adam’s online marketing strengths are traffic generation techniques,
including Google AdWords, and he is also heavily involved in Web
2.0 start-ups.
At the age of 20, Adam has grown his consultancy into one of the most
recognised traffic generation consulting services in the world, with
over 500 clients in four countries. He has spoken in front of crowds
of over 1,500 people in Singapore, Australia, the UK, Indonesia and
Malaysia on how to effectively send traffic to any website and make
a profit, even if the site is only a day old. He also runs a successful
coaching club with weekly segments on his popular website www.
AdamDavis.tv.
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What attracted you to learn about internet marketing?
I believe that everything in my life has happened for a reason. At a time
when I needed a clear path and something to keep me out of trouble,
internet marketing revealed itself to me.
I graduated from St Marks Anglican Community School in Perth, Western
Australia, when I was 17. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to
do with my life. Having not received the academic results to get into
university, I did what many lost teenagers do after leaving school – I
made the decision to make no decision.
My dad owns a very successful window treatments company in Perth,
with a large factory that makes vertical blinds. Dad thought it would be
a great idea for me to work in his factory (something to do with hard
work), and so that’s what I found myself doing. It was definitely hard
work – although the job wasn’t difficult, it was boring and required me
to stand for long periods of time while I packed massive blinds together
and carried them to the loading dock.
After four months, I experienced a moment that changed the way I thought
about my future and what was in store for me. I remember taking a break
one day and looking around at the people I worked with. They were all
over 40 years old. I was only 17 – was this what I wanted to spend the
next 20 years, or potentially the rest of my life, doing?
Around the same time that I started questioning the direction of my life,
I started having dreams about being on stage and having people hear and
follow what I taught. I had no idea what I was teaching, but the audience
seemed to love what I was saying.
Then, unexpectedly, my big break came and I seized the opportunity
with two hands. My father had many ventures that he was looking to
build upon and one of them was a website called www.everythingAV.
com. This website was run by a young entrepreneur who had left the
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A D A M D AV I S
We en ded u p
s e l li n g th e websi te
for $15,000. Not bad
fo r a 17- yea r-o l d!
company to pursue other passions, so my
father was left with a finished website but
no marketing plan. Dad was looking at
filling the position when I put my hand
up for it. I had no prior knowledge of
internet marketing, but I could do my
best and make the website work or I
could go back to packing blinds. There
was no way I was going back to packing
– the website had to work!
With my experience limited to searching on Google and playing computer
games, I punched in the keywords ‘marketing my website in Australia’. I
found a website promoting an X10 Seminar, in Coolum. It sounded like
the nirvana of internet marketing seminars, with all the top marketers
from the US coming over to speak at the three-day event. I read the sales
copy totally confused as to why it had been written in this long format
(unaware that this type of website would later be my livelihood). By the
time I reached the end I was so excited that I had already packed my
bags. Then I saw the price tag – over $3,000! I was shattered.
Feeling defeated, I closed the browser. But then something odd happened.
A pop-up box appeared on my screen. It was an ugly grey colour and
asked me a simple question that begged for an answer. What’s the single
biggest reason you are not attending this event? In the heat of the moment
I wrote a massive long email about how I was only 17 and I was upset
because I didn’t have enough money.
A week later I received a call from the organisers, explaining that I was
the youngest person ever to have been interested in internet marketing
and that they would be honoured for me to come for free. A few days
later I was on my way to my first ever internet marketing event. I learnt
the most amazing techniques and from that point on I was hooked!
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Can you describe the success you experienced developing your
father’s website?
After returning from the internet seminar, I began marketing the small
website that Dad had created. Over a period of just four months, I took
the site from no visitors and no sales to 100 visitors a day and over $2,000
a week in revenue. Needless to say my dad was extremely happy. We ended
up selling the website for $15,000. Not bad for a 17-year-old!
What do you love most about operating an internet-based
business?
There is so much to love about being in business on the internet that I
could go on forever! But here are three things I love the most:
•
Personal freedom – an internet business means that I don’t have to
be chained to an office or desk for any set hours. I can be wherever
I want to be and still make money.
•
People – I love meeting people from all over the world and knowing
that I can do business with any of them. There are few jobs that
provide the opportunity to meet such a diverse range of people who
all share a common interest.
•
Growth – I absolutely love being in an industry that is growing in
leaps and bounds. The internet grows and evolves every minute of
every day. With this growth and change come new ways to succeed
online, and continual improvements to existing online business models.
It keeps you on your toes and makes you feel that you are a part of
something exciting and dynamic.
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A D A M D AV I S
Can you explain how your first internet marketing seminar came
about?
I had just returned from an internet seminar in Queensland when I
decided that not only would I start creating my own websites, but I would
also offer a consultation service for businesses that needed help with their
internet marketing efforts. Little did I know what opportunities would
come from this!
The very first person who contacted me for consulting was Dale Beaumont.
Dale was looking for someone who he could consult with on a regular
basis. He approached Simon Chen, who gave him my business card.
I was amazed when I spoke to Dale on the phone. We hit it off instantly,
and after flying to Singapore and consulting with Dale on effective
traffic strategies he decided he would like to put on an event for me in
Sydney. He arranged for a small group of 20 people to hear my message
about internet marketing. I was so nervous that when I got up to speak
I called Dale the wrong name! My nerves soon passed and I proceeded
in educating my audience about the world of internet marketing. It was
a phenomenal experience that I will never forget.
What are your major activities on the web?
After successfully creating websites for myself and my clients, I soon
realised that the best way to test the effectiveness of my sales copy was
to send paid traffic to the website. So I began working extensively on my
pay per click, particularly Google Adwords.
The pay per click service started off as a side project to my consulting,
but it soon became a very big part of my overall business. In 2005, I set
up www.AdamLloydDavis.com to offer many different traffic-generating
services, from pay per click advertising, to press release writing and
distribution.
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How can people decide what type of internet business to start?
When entering into a new online market, I have learnt that you should
not aim to compete with others. By that I mean you should always look
at how you can complement what is already available in the industry.
A good question to ask yourself is, ‘How can I get everyone talking about
what I offer and sending traffic to me?’ This is why social networking
and community websites are such a smart idea. They allow you to grow
a database of people where everyone selling a product or service wants
to be a part of the community because it will attract further business.
Another great question to ask when trying to complement an industry is,
‘What am I having trouble with and cannot find a solution for?’ A great
service that allows you to do this is www.AskDatabase.com. If you couple
this with traffic from Google AdWords you can get some responses from
people in that industry in a matter of minutes – you can also ask for
their names and email addresses too!
For example, let’s say that you are looking to create a product for the dog
training market, but are not quite sure how to complement the industry. All
you have to do is set up a page using www.AskDatabase.com and say:
Dear Friend,
My name is Adam Davis and I need your help in answering an urgent
question about training your dog.
I have done extensive research on effective
methods of training your dog, but I
simply have way too much information
to fit into one downloadable product!
So please answer the question below in
as much detail as possible – if I use your
question in my book I will send you the
answer free of charge!
Lo ok at how you
can complement
what is already
availab le in t he
ind ust r y.
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A D A M D AV I S
What’s the single biggest question you have about training your dog and
what type of product would help you the best – videos, written or audio?
By doing this, you can compile the most popular questions and provide
the answers in a course – in multiple formats – and offer it for sale to the
people you asked. This way, you have not only identified the problems
in your market and created a product as a solution, but you have also
created a list that you can promote the product to.
This is one way to complement an industry rather than competing with
it. But there are plenty of other ways!
For people new to online marketing, can you explain pay per click
advertising?
Pay per click advertising is a service offered by the major search engines
– MSN, Yahoo! and Google – that allows advertisers to create small
text advertisements to be displayed at the top of a search engine’s
results page.
Advertisers bid on keywords that they think will be popular and that will
match the likely search terms entered by their market. For example, in
the dog training industry, people might be searching for many different
keywords, such as ‘dog training tips’, ‘dog trainer’, ‘make my dog stop
barking’, or ‘dog obedience’. When a user types one of these keywords
into a search engine, your advertisement will be displayed as seen in the
picture below.
When the user who searched for the keyword clicks on the advertisement,
the search engine charges the advertiser the amount they were willing
to pay. The amount changes depending on how much the advertisers in
the industry are willing to pay for that particular keyword. It could be
anything from five cents to $5.00 a click.
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How does one set up a Google AdWords account and what are
some of the common mistakes people make when doing this?
Signing up to Google AdWords is one of the simplest step-by-step processes
around – but don’t be fooled by its simple navigation and clearly labelled
buttons. Some advertisers make massive mistakes when setting up their
campaigns that are detrimental to their overall success.
You can sign up to Google AdWords by going to www.adwords.google.
com and clicking on the ‘start now’ button on the top right-hand side.
•
First off, there is the issue of your ‘language preference’. It may sound
silly but make sure the language preference you choose is the language
your website is displayed in!
•
Next, is your ‘geo targeting’, which asks you where you plan on
advertising your website. Ninety-nine per cent of advertisers believe
that if they choose all countries they will get maximum traffic and
the most sales. This is one of the biggest mistakes people make when
setting up their account. If you choose all countries then you are
going to have your advertisement displayed in countries that don’t
even speak your language. How are you supposed to sell something
to someone who barely understands what it is you’re offering them?
Make sure you only choose to advertise in places you know speak
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A D A M D AV I S
English (or whichever language your product or service is in) as the
main language.
•
Then, you need to choose what to write in your advertisement.
There are lots of mistakes made when it comes to creating these
advertisements. The biggest tip I can give is to make sure you offer a
benefit and a feature for your advertisement and to display your main
keyword in the headline.
•
Also, choosing the right keywords is another issue people have when
creating their AdWords account. A lot of advertisers seem to think that
there are only a handful of keywords related to their topic – in reality
there are usually hundreds, if not thousands. You need to make sure
that you do effective keyword research. I recommend using keyword
software like www.KeyWordEliteTool.com or www.WordTracker.com
to find the best keywords in your industry.
•
Another massive issue faced by advertisers is setting a daily budget
that they are willing to spend when choosing the right bid price for
their keywords. This will often change depending on what it is you
are offering and how competitive your marketing is. It is okay to start
off small and work your way up. You don’t have to have a whopping
$200 daily budget and feel you have to bid high for your keywords.
That’s a fast way to go broke, especially if you don’t carefully watch
how well your AdWords traffic is converting into sales.
What are some of the rules of Google AdWords and what happens
if you break them?
Google AdWords has a lengthy terms of service agreement that you can
read on its website. However, in regard to rules that can be broken, there
is one overall rule that Google bases its entire company around. If you
stick to this rule I can guarantee that you will become Google’s best friend
and will not have any hassle when sending traffic to any website. Google
believes in the rule of relevancy.
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What’s the rule of relevancy? Here is a diagram to explain.
Basically, you need to make every single part of the AdWords puzzle
relevant to the other. When I say relevant, I don’t mean distant cousins
of cousins – I mean real blood brothers!
When your keywords are highly relevant to your Google Ads, your Google
Ads are highly relevant to your landing page, and your landing page is
highly relevant to your offer (whether it be a product or service). Do this
and you have given yourself the best possible chance of making money
with Google AdWords.
What is the best thing about creating advertisements using
Google AdWords?
The best thing is that you can change them at any time. Really, there
is no such thing as a bad AdWords advertisement – no right or wrong
– only an outcome. Did it send traffic or did it flop? Either way it is
okay because you can always split test various advertisements to see
which ones have the highest amount of clicks compared to the amount
of people who saw them.
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A D A M D AV I S
What is the difference between Google Adwords and Overture?
Which one do you prefer and why?
At the most basic level they are the same thing just run by different
companies. AdWords is run by Google for the Google search engine (which
is currently the world’s biggest and most popular search engine). It is a
very comprehensive and user-friendly advertising system which, if utilised
effectively, can drive a lot of traffic to your website very quickly.
Overture used to be a company that simply listed sponsored results
and nothing else. It was then bought by Yahoo! and now operates as
Yahoo! Search Marketing. It operates on the same principle as AdWords,
exclusively servicing the Yahoo! network of sites and services.
I prefer Google AdWords because not only do more people search on
Google than Yahoo!, thereby allowing me to reach a larger audience, but
the company’s pay per click marketing system is much more advanced
and flexible.
Can you explain what ‘split testing’ is?
Split testing is when you test multiple advertisements at the same time. So
when someone searches for a keyword you are bidding on, advertisement
A will be displayed; when the next person searches for the same keyword,
advertisement B will be displayed. You can see over a period of time, and
many searches later, which advertisement attracted the most clicks.
Some interesting words to test with your advertisements are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
buy
compare
join
read
find out
solve
learn
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POWER OF ADWORDS
•
•
•
•
235
meet
sell
discover
uncover.
Take this advertisement for example:
This advertisement pulled a three per cent click-through-rate for my
campaign – I thought this was brilliant! Then I decided to split test the
advertisement with this one:
This advertisement pulled a whopping six per cent conversion, doubling the
number of people visiting my website after searching for this keyword.
How can advertisers research keywords?
An important thing to remember when advertising online is that people
are searching for solutions to their problems – however, everyone explains
their problems in a different way. Therefore it is essential that you
undertake keyword research. Here are two steps for identifying the right
keywords:
1. Write down your own list of keywords that you think people are
searching for:
• Use misspellings and typos.
• Use abbreviations and acronyms (for example, ‘Dec’ instead of
‘December’ and ‘PDA’ instead of ‘personal digital assistant’).
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A D A M D AV I S
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Use different variations of verbs (for example, ‘learn to type’, ‘learn
typing’, ‘learning to type’ and ‘learning typing’).
Use separated, hyphenated or merged keywords (for example,
‘email’, ‘e-mail’ or ‘e mail’).
Use geographic locations (for example, ‘red skate shoes new
york’).
Use US and UK spelling (for example, ‘color’ and ‘colour’).
Use your competitors’ company name, or product or service
name (for example, if you were Apple, use ‘Windows PC’ as a
keyword).
Go to www.Thesaurus.com and look at different ways of saying
the same thing (for example, ‘education’ can substitute for
‘training’).
Visit www.Wikipedia.com, an online encyclopaedia that is free to
edit. You can see what they have to say about your industry and
you may find that they talk about a particular technique or expert
that you can use as a keyword.
2. After you have expanded your list as much as possible, use free or paid
tools online – www.GoodKeywords.com, www.WordTracker.com and
www.KeyWordElite.com – that can show you other popular keywords
used by people when searching your industry. The most important
point when it comes to keyword research is to not only think of your
product or service as what it is but what problem it solves.
Once your advertisement is appearing, how do you get it to
appear at the top of the page?
Google rewards advertisers that write effective advertisements in a way
that allows them to jump above their competitors. If you write a better
advertisement that people respond to by clicking on it more regularly,
Google will place it above your competitors. They do this because they want
people to use their search engine by offering relevant search results.
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This means that mom and pop advertisers, and small and medium-sized
businesses have a level playing field! But don’t try clicking on your own
advertisements over and over again because you will only get banned
from using the service altogether.
What is the most important thing to remember when using
Google AdWords?
Remember the rule of relevancy. Every time you are looking to create
a new campaign, always remember to make sure that all four factors
– keywords, ads, landing page and offer – are in alignment with one
another. This will not only save you a lot of money, but it also has the
potential to skyrocket your online sales.
Is it important to maintain your AdWords account?
Maintaining your AdWords account, just like split testing, is something
you should never stop doing. There are always keywords being disabled
or people trying to out-bid you for various keywords, so it’s important
to check your account at least once a week to make sure everything is
running smoothly.
Do you think that pay per click advertising will become outdated?
My generation has been brought up with the mentality that if we have a
problem, we’ll search online for the answer – and the best way to search
for anything online is by using search engines. As long as search engines
exist I believe there will be pay per click advertising. The rules may change
over time and the price for keywords may vary, but you will always be
able to pay per click on search engines.
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A D A M D AV I S
As l o n g a s sea rch
engines exist I believe
t h e re w i l l b e p ay p e r
click adver tising.
•
•
•
•
•
•
In your opinion, what are the
benefits of using the internet for
marketing?
Today, people are more likely to search
on the internet for information instead
of looking through the Yellow Pages or
newspaper. Some common pay per click
marketing benefits include:
You can target your advertisements by keyword, language and
location.
There are no nasty surprises when it comes to fees, which gives you
full control of your budget.
AdWords are completely measurable – you can know which keywords
are working and which ones are not.
You can edit your advertisements any time, any place.
There is a very low set-up cost.
You only pay for advertisements that work – someone must actually
visit your website by clicking on your advertisement before it costs
you anything.
Why are you passionate about social networking?
My favourite social networking sites are www.myspace.com, www.ecademy.
com, www.linkedin.com and www.xing.com. Since joining these networks
I have increased my business revenue by 20 per cent because there are so
many people that I can help. I strongly recommend signing up to these
networks and helping people achieve their dreams because in return your
dreams will also be achieved.
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Doing everything themselves – these days you can outsource every aspect
of your business – from redirecting a domain name, to programming
complex websites, to writing e-courses through sites such as www.craigslist.
org, www.rentacoder.com, www.guru.com and www.elance.com. These
sites allow you to reach people with various skills and experience around
the world.
Thinking a degree is required – starting an internet business does not
require you to have a degree. What it does require you to have is a
willingness to learn and an ability to be creative. Degrees may be helpful,
but the internet is continually changing and therefore so are successful
marketing techniques. There are people out there, like me, who can
provide you with advice, information and tuition on what works and
what doesn’t. By listening to these people you can succeed online without
having to spend years on expensive study.
I have had the honour of being mentored by well-established and successful
entrepreneurs such as Stephen Pierce, Dale Beaumont, Brent Williams and
my father, Peter Beaven-Davis.
Stephen Pierce has taught me about running an effective internet business,
and I now have over a hundred clients. My phone was ringing red hot
in a matter of months after I received his guidance. Stephen has also
coached me in presenting and selling from the stage, as well as looking
after customers once they have invested in my services. He is honest,
fair and a true example of what someone can achieve if they put their
mind to it.
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A D A M D AV I S
Dale Beaumont taught me about effective communication and the
importance of brand and reputation. I consider Dale to be a true friend
and someone I really admire. He has always offered diplomatic advice
in helping me overcome challenging situations and obstacles. Dale was
also responsible for giving me the best advice ever: ‘Come to Sydney and
follow your dreams’.
Brent Williams was my former roommate and is the co-owner of
Tomorrow’s Youth International. From Brent I have learnt to get excited
about the little things in life. I now know that if you do, you will always
find yourself in a happier mood with a mind-set that is truly appreciative.
His passion for life is contagious and his lentil soup was always a good
source of nutrients during those long nights when I was first setting up
my internet business.
Saving the best until last – Peter Beaven-Davis, who is not only my dad
but also my best friend. A lot of our personal development and growth
has been together and we help each other be the best possible people
that we can be on a daily basis. It’s hard to think what my life would be
like without my talkative, but always supportive, father. He has always
allowed me to learn my lessons through life experience, no matter how
painful it was, and still is, for him to watch!
As funny as it may sound, the internet itself has very little to do with
whether or not you become a successful internet entrepreneur! Instead,
it is about who you are and the mind-set with which you approach the
concept of the internet. In order to succeed you need to stay focused and
committed to both the immediate task and the long-term vision.
But perhaps the most important thing I have learnt is that the internet is
nothing more than a medium; one that can distract a potential entrepreneur
to the point of destroying their business. Let me explain:
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The very nature of an internet-based business means that you will often
spend long periods of time in front of a computer screen (unless you
have employees to do this for you). There’s little interaction with people
and it can become distracting if you do not have good motivation and
concentration. It is not uncommon to have wandering thoughts about
random topics far removed from your business. Your unfocused mind
tempts you to Google irrelevant topics and then you start following links.
Before you know it, you’ve wasted many hours that could have been spent
furthering your online business and increasing your profits. You then
fail to approach your tasks with as much enthusiasm and vigour as you
previously did, thus starting a downward spiral that can spell the end of
a potentially successful internet entrepreneur.
My work has allowed me to witness people succeed and fail with their
internet businesses. Based on my experience, I have learnt that the most
important ingredients for success are:
•
•
•
•
determination
motivation
focus
clarity.
To succeed as an internet entrepreneur you need to be completely
committed to your business and determined to succeed regardless of
the obstacles that befall you.
I set very high standards for my work and
myself. In the early days, if I didn’t get
something right the first time I felt that
I had failed. This led to procrastination
and developing the habit of ‘I’ll do it
tomorrow’.
I have lear nt to
get excited about the
lit t le t hings in life.
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A D A M D AV I S
It has definitely been challenging overcoming my fear of failing the first
time. It took me a long time to understand that everybody makes mistakes
and that these mistakes are the foundation upon which we improve what
we do and how we do it. I know now that there are no such things as
mistakes. You simply do what you feel is the right thing to do at the time,
and then you do your best to learn from the experience.
From time to time, I still catch myself doubting my ability to succeed at
something, which prompts me to put off doing it. However, I find that
if I persevere I achieve a real sense of growth – whether it’s asking a girl
on a date or speaking in front of an audience of 500 people! I believe
self-doubt is the ultimate killer of dreams and I find that we often create
circumstances in our lives where we sabotage our own success. This is
because it is easier to duck out of the way than to push forward.
At the end of the day, I’d rather step up to the plate and take a few swings
and miss than not step up at all and miss the opportunity to potentially
hit a home run!
I think the most common thing that holds people back is the misconception
that you need to be a technical genius with a computing science degree
to succeed. While some people may think that they have a phenomenal
online business idea, many are put off because they think they are not
computer-savvy. Well, yes, it is an advantage if you already know how
to upload a webpage to a server or how to register a domain name, but
you can always pay someone else to complete these tasks for you. Better
still, you can learn to do it yourself, which is the fun part of creating an
online business.
Another misconception about creating an online business is that if you
click a few buttons, money will immediately come rolling in and you will
never have to look at your computer screen again. That is not going to
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happen! Internet businesses require owners to invest time and effort, just
like bricks and mortar businesses.
Many people start up an internet business dreaming of instant profits
and early retirement. When it doesn’t achieve instant success, or requires
more work than initially envisaged, people become bored, impatient and
unfocused and the business is abandoned. These people then write off
internet entrepreneurship as impossible or a scam. But the truth is, there
is no such thing as a get-rich-quick way of succeeding online. Anyone
who promotes a course or technique that says otherwise is playing on
your vulnerability and wishful thinking. Succeeding online takes time
and it takes effort.
Over the next ten to 20 years, what do you see as the major
opportunities with the internet?
There are some exciting new opportunities involving the internet video
industry. Already, domain names ending in .tv are being snapped up left,
right and centre because companies are starting to realise that having a
website is not enough these days.
With advances in technology, it is easier and cheaper than ever to host
both archived and live video online. I predict that there will be a massive
push toward companies having their own online television stations. The
successful stations will capture their target audience’s attention, educate
the market on their product or service, and increase the company website’s
stickiness (which is the amount of time people spend on a site or how
often they return to it).
That said, no matter how far technology advances, the basic human desire
for social interaction means that no technology will ever beat dealing with
a human being. Therefore, I foresee that customer-company interaction
will become popular through live streaming video. This means that when
you visit a website you will see the representative via streaming video and
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A D A M D AV I S
That is how I
be able to ask them any questions you
may have. It’s something I’m very excited
about!
wo u l d b e s u c ce s s f u l
ag ai n i f I h a d to sta r t
ove r.
What do you say to people who
think it is too late to get involved
with the internet and fear they’ve
missed the boat?
How can you miss the boat on something that is always evolving and
growing with so many different opportunities? With the internet, there
is no boat – the internet is an ocean!
I would follow the same path that has led me to where I am now. That
means starting off again as a microphone runner at seminars that I am
interested in. As a microphone runner you not only receive the most
up-to-date information on your chosen subject, but you also get the
opportunity to mix with people with similar interests. Plus, you get the
chance to introduce yourself to speakers, which is priceless! These are
invaluable opportunities to establish a rapport with professionals and
demonstrate your desire to succeed and willingness to learn. I’d listen to
these people, take their advice and put it in place for myself. Then I would
improve on what I have and continually seek to better my business and
myself. That is how I would be successful again if I had to start over.
years?
I love internet marketing and want to increase my list of people who are
succeeding online as a result of using my traffic strategies and seeking my
internet knowledge and experience. My product, Unleashing the Power
of Google AdWords, is highly acclaimed by many top internet marketers
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245
and so I would really like to develop a whole series of courses about
effective marketing methods.
Over the next five to ten years, I also want to start doing more youth
development work. I believe that the current school system fails to
recognise spiritual and emotional intelligence, so my ultimate goal is to
one day be principal of a school that teaches these things in conjunction
with academic intelligence. When people get in touch with who they truly
are and learn to love themselves, we will see a big increase in the quality
of life in the next generation.
‘You can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a
harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a
fulfilment.’ – Kahlil Gibran
For me, this means that we can only truly be free in mind, body and
spirit when we stop focusing on freedom as something that needs to be
obtained. Achieving freedom is not like striving to achieve a gold medal
in the Olympics. It is about being totally happy with yourself and your
direction in life; it is about having a career that is in alignment with what
you are passionate about; it’s about loving the life that you are living.
While the concept of freedom is relative and subjective, I don’t believe
that an incredibly rich man who owns an internet business enjoys any
more freedom than a father of two who works six days a week in his
small jewellery shop. Let’s say that the jeweller is passionate about what
he does, has a happy home life, goes to the beach every Sunday and
appreciates everything and everyone he has in his life. Now let’s say that
the rich man, despite having millions in the bank, is perpetually unhappy
with his business performance and his life. Who enjoys more freedom?
To me, it is the man who is content with who he is, what he has and
where he is in life.
31/8/07 8:28:34 PM
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
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readers of this book…
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31/8/07 8:28:34 PM
F O C U S M AT T E R S
Focus Matters
MIKE RHODES
So many people get caught up in the latest
and greatest thing and then jump from one fad
to the nex t. FOCUS (Follow One Course Until
Successful) and don’t give up. Never give up!
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PROFILE
MIKE RHODES
Mike Rhodes was born and raised in Hertfordshire in the UK. He
spent his childhood falling out of trees and skipping school to play
snooker.
At the age of five, Mike saw a television program that made him
want to be a helicopter pilot. It was a dream that took him to Hawaii
where he learnt to fly. When he returned to the UK, he worked for
Lord Hanson’s helicopter division serving clients such as the Queen,
Bill Gates, Michael Schumacher and Boyzone.
When Mike realised that he didn’t want to fly for the rest of his life,
he travelled around the world and snowboarded in four continents,
eventually arriving in New Zealand. It was there that he started his first
business venture. However, after two days of trading, he experienced
a minor setback when his internet café was flooded. After the water
had gone, he went on to build a popular business, which he sold in
2001 and then moved to Sydney, Australia.
Mike now spends his time speaking, consulting and mentoring with
businesses on the subjects of online marketing and building websites
that work.
He lives in Melbourne with his girlfriend, Gabriella. When he is not
working from his home office he can usually be found on a mountain
bike or running through forests training for another adventure race.
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249
When did your passion for business begin?
I’ve always loved the business of business. Since the age of 14 I’ve worked
in various small businesses and always knew I’d have my own. It wasn’t
until 1999 that my desire to build the first one really took hold. That
happened when a great friend gave me two books: Cashflow Quadrant
by Robert Kiyosaki and The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. These
two books opened my mind to a completely new understanding of what
owning a business was all about. Cashflow Quadrant taught me the ‘why’
(the difference between creating a job for yourself and building a business)
and The E-Myth Revisited showed me the ‘how’. I’ve been working on
both ever since.
What made you leave England and move to Australia?
After I finished uni I spent a year backpacking through Australia as part
of my big trip around the world. I immediately fell in love with the beauty
of the place. The people were so positive, the country was so diverse and,
of course, the weather was a damn sight better than in the UK! Above
all, it was the Aussie can-do attitude that really won me over. I loved the
fact that you were given a go and then judged on your results.
So I found out what I had to do to emigrate, went home to work for three
years and then jumped on the first plane out. I went to New Zealand for
three months to snowboard on the way here and ended up staying there
for three years. I made it to Oz eventually and I’m here for good now. It
really is the lucky country, where anyone can achieve whatever they set
their mind to – I love it!
from it?
It was an internet café in Queenstown, New Zealand, a gorgeous town on
the shore of Lake Wakatipu, surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
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MIKE RHODES
Unfortunately, we opened on 15
November 1999, which was right about
On days one and
the time that the lake decided to have a
once-in-a-hundred-year flood! On days
t wo i t ra i n e d a l l d ay
one and two it rained all day and the
place was full – life was great. On the
and the place was full
third morning the lake broke its banks
– life was great.
and a few hours later there was almost a
metre of water in the store – something
that doesn’t play well with computers! If
only I’d gotten around to sorting out the insurance...
We did manage to save all of the hardware and even pulled up the carpets,
which had just been laid six days earlier. Then we waited for the water
to go down, rebuilt the water-soaked walls, slapped on some more paint,
re-laid the carpet and opened again just in time for Christmas.
I learnt that nothing matters as much as having supportive and positive
friends and family. No matter how strong and independent you think you
are you always need to lean on someone from time to time for support
– or to store 20 computers, monitors, desks and rolls of carpet for five
weeks (thanks Theo!).
.OWORRIES
4HANKS
4HEO
TULLY
C
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251
I also learnt the power of having really good systems in place to run the
business. I had some truly wonderful staff working with me, which allowed
me to focus on ‘E-Mything’ the business – a necessity in a transient place
like Queenstown where 80 per cent of the available workforce leaves
every six months.
Having systems in place lets you get on with the more important stuff,
like growing the business, marketing and enjoying life! I was fortunate
that my first business was one that lent itself to being systemised. It was
so systemised that I was able to sell it within a week of getting an offer I
couldn’t refuse from a local businessman. He knew he could rely on the
income the business generated because it wasn’t dependent on me.
Who were some of your early business mentors and what did you
learn from them?
I was lucky enough to train with Michael Gerber in the US to become a
qualified E-Myth consultant. I learnt a lot from Michael, especially about
spending time to build the systems that run a business and to not try to
do everything myself.
Robert Kiyosaki was a big influence and hammered the point home to
me one day that I was born to be a teacher. Robert is without doubt
the greatest educator I’ve ever met. If you ever get a chance to see him
speak – take it!
More recently, Seth Godin has had a huge influence on my thinking. The
guy is a genius and understands how to market in the 21st century more
than anyone else I know of. He coined the phrase ‘Permission Marketing’
way back in 1999 and then gave away the e-book of the same name for
free to spread the idea. He believes that spreading your idea quickly to
as many people as possible is far more important than hoarding it. And
if you can create remarkable experiences for your clients (what he calls
a Purple Cow), you will stand out in the crowd. I learnt an enormous
amount from Seth and have a lot to thank him for.
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MIKE RHODES
Finally, my parents and my nan have taught me a lot as well. While my
parents don’t always understand why I am compelled to build businesses
rather than get a nice well-paid job, they’ve always been incredibly
supportive. Nan taught me to chase my dreams and never give up. She
suffered from ill health for years yet never once complained. She was an
amazing woman, a huge inspiration and is greatly missed by everyone
who knew her.
Can you explain what the E-Myth is?
Certainly. The ‘E’ stands for ‘entrepreneur’ – it actually has nothing to do
with e-commerce as most people think. In fact, the book was written in
1984, long before ‘e-everything’ was part of daily life.
The Entrepreneurial Myth states that most businesses fail because small
business owners are not entrepreneurs but rather technicians suffering
from an entrepreneurial seizure! What Gerber means by that is that
someone will see a friend making money from, say, an online business,
think to themselves ‘I’m good with computers’, then quit their job and
start up as an online entrepreneur. Then they discover that the business
owner is required to work longer and harder in a vast number of roles.
That’s why so many businesses fail – the owner is great at doing the work,
but not at running the business.
The E-Myth explores the roles of the entrepreneur and technician and also
the role of the manager. The manager must keep everything on track and
make sure that the business delivers on its promises. Personally, that’s my
weakest of the three roles – I am terrible at paperwork! Luckily I learnt
early on that I needed to hire a great manager to allow me to concentrate
on being the entrepreneur and the technician.
Most people don’t spend enough time being the entrepreneur (building
the business, planning strategy and building equity) because they like
doing the work of the technician – it’s what they’re good at and usually
what they enjoy doing. For example, a carpenter starts a furniture-making
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253
business because they love building things with wood but that does not
necessarily mean they are a great businessperson.
The trick is to build your business as if you were going to have 5,000 of
them. Think McDonald’s or Boost Juice – the stores are run by people with
very little business training and yet they deliver the same quality product
every time. Why? The power of systems: the systems run the business and
the people run the systems. This is what the E-Myth is all about.
Do people get bored when they have to run systems?
Not necessarily, but sometimes that can happen. If the systems that run a
business are taken to extremes they can restrict staff and annoy customers.
We’ve all had the frustrating experience of being on the phone to a support
person who tells us they recognise the problem but are unable to help!
The goal of having systems in place is to automate the repetitive tasks,
the daily tasks, so as to free a business’s staff to be creative and spend
time doing what a business should be doing – helping the customer. As
long as the culture of an organisation allows for this, systems will help
rather than hinder.
What are your tips for creating systems for online businesses?
A system saves you from having to reinvent the wheel each time you do
something. Here are my tips for creating systems:
•
•
The most obvious systems are those
that get your product to a client or
customer. So if you sell information
products, setting up automatic delivery
is a must.
Set up an auto-responder sequence for
when a new prospect gives you their
…the systems run
t he b usiness and t he
people run the
systems.
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MIKE RHODES
email address. This is a great way to start a conversation and earn
their trust gradually over time.
•
Use a product like AWeber to manage your email lists so that when
someone buys, they are automatically moved from your prospect list
to your customer list.
•
Set up systems for your marketing. This might involve hiring an
AdWords professional and a search engine optimisation (SEO) expert
to ensure a steady stream of new customers. Doing so will allow you to
focus on giving value to existing customers, without having to worry
about finding new business.
•
Have a system for handling money in and out of your business. No
good with money? Well, you’re in business so you need to know about
money. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to actually do
the nitty gritty – you can hire a bookkeeper to look after your money
systems – but you have to know enough to be able to ask the right
questions.
•
Implement systems that monitor the ways your visitors use your
website so that you can improve it. Google Analytics is free and gives
enormous insight into your consumers’ mind-set.
•
Ensure that you have management systems in place. Gerber likes the
concept of management by exception. That is, keeping an eye on
the key performance indicators (KPIs) of your business to indicate
changes in business performance. Changes in these mean that action
is required.
Why do you believe the web is so important for small businesses?
Information, leverage and speed. Whereas once we used to have passive
consumers being sold to every day, in the information age we now have
consumers who are in charge. Consumers can easily find information
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255
to assist in the buying decision – what to buy, where to buy, and how
much to pay. This means that whatever business you are in, your clients
and future clients are always looking for more information to help them
make the right buying decision.
The web is a powerful tool for providing the information that consumers
want, in the format they want it, when they want it – all with tremendous
leverage. You create the information once and it gets used over and over
again, which allows you to concentrate on looking after current customers
instead of searching for new ones.
Small businesses have a huge advantage over their big corporate cousins
– they’re nimble and fast. For instance, I was talking to a friend recently
who works at one of Australia’s largest companies. He mentioned that
they were bringing out a new product in a couple of months and asked
how he could achieve a great search engine ranking from day one so that
their prospects could find them. In other words, he wanted to know how
to use SEO to his advantage.
I suggested running a quick test using Google AdWords (those little
‘sponsored links’ that appear on the right side of the search results) to
find out exactly how big the market was for that product in Australia
and, at the same time, learn exactly which words those prospects used
when searching for it. After all, you can’t optimise a page until you know
exactly which phrases (or keywords) you want to optimise for! He said it
sounded like a great idea, but that he’d have to attend four meetings and
get the sign-off from seven people just to run a quick $500 test! A small
business doesn’t have that problem. They can respond to an opportunity
immediately, sometimes even owning a corner of the market before the
big boys know what’s happened.
Why did you start WebSavvy and how does it help businesses?
WebSavvy was born out of frustration and one of those moments of
clarity that we all live for.
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MIKE RHODES
In 2004 I was introduced to the concept
of Google AdWords. I thought it was
I co u l dn’t h el p
amazing. Although I didn’t think that
AdWords would grow at the speed it has
mys e l f f ro m sh ow i n g
and would be such an important part
of a small business marketing mix, I do
clients the ins and
remember thinking that this was big! So
o u t s o f th i s a ma z i n g
I decided to learn as much as I could
about this new tool. However, there was
to o l.
very little help around and almost all
of it was from American businesses and
consultants. I knew that many Aussie businesses would benefit from this
tool, but would have difficulty in finding out how to use it. They all
had websites, but very few prospects could actually find them unless the
business was paying big money to build a brand via traditional media.
They needed a way to get found, a way to get their site in front of their
future clients.
Google AdWords offered these businesses a way to get found incredibly
cheaply, but setting it up was a problem for business owners and therefore
they failed to see its full potential. So I expanded my existing consulting
practice and started setting up AdWords accounts and managing them
for my clients.
The results were amazing! For example, for one client we sold over
$100,000 worth of ugg boots in just 24 days only using Adwords. We
learnt a lot in those early days and made some classic mistakes. It was
a lot of hard work and difficult to systemise. Each day we would have
to solve specific issues for individual clients – adding lots of value, but
having to reinvent the wheel each time.
My E-Myth training was nagging at me, telling me that something had
to change because there wasn’t an easy way to get the leverage needed to
help the thousands of businesses that we wanted to. The problem was
compounded when we started offering a similar service when Google
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257
Analytics came out. We hired some talented people to help, but something
was missing. WebSavvy was the answer!
What led to WebSavvy becoming primarily a mentoring business?
I love to teach, so the mentoring program was a natural progression from
us doing all the work for our clients. I couldn’t help myself from showing
clients the ins and outs of this amazing tool. I was passionate about them
understanding it and they loved it and asked for more.
The thing is, using tools like AdWords and Analytics not only helps tweak
and improve your website to bring in more customers, it also offers a huge
insight into your market. I firmly believe that this insight is absolutely vital
and that every small business must, to some extent, gain this themselves
so that the company and everyone in it can benefit.
A big part of this is a deep understanding of how to use AdWords and
all the side benefits of using it – knowing which keywords to optimise,
knowing which headlines attract visitors, having the flexibility to change
your offer, advertising in a new state or country within seconds, and being
able to test your price or even business name in a matter of days. It might
also include learning about blogging, analytics, other online marketing
and advertising tools, website usability, copywriting, web design and even
a little psychology!
We mentor business owners and marketing managers on the various
ways to get more visitors to their site, and how to get those potential
customers to take action. That involves crafting an online strategy that
uses the right online marketing tools and then teaching them the tactics
needed to implement those tools. As it is mentoring and not a one-sizefits-all package, we’ve found that people learn much faster and enjoy the
process infinitely more. After all, how often can you spend two hours with
someone and see results the very same day – more customers, lower prices
and better conversion rates – how could you not enjoy it!
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MIKE RHODES
They are my favourite moments in business: when I see people’s faces light
up because they have learnt something that will improve their business,
and sometimes even their life.
Why did you choose to build www.WebSavvy.com.au as a blog
rather than a conventional website?
The biggest hassle with websites that are built around a directory structure
is adding more content. Often menus need to be updated, layouts changed
and links rebuilt – that all takes time, and small businesses have little
enough of that resource. By using blog software, like WordPress, all of
that work is done automatically. We can still add that content in whatever
form we choose – a mind map, image, video or a list of bullet points for
instance – it’s just a lot easier to manage.
We also realised that Google loves blogs! Because the content changes
on a regular basis, Google (and the other search engines) give it a better
score – it believes something that’s constantly changing and is still topical
is much more likely to be relevant to the visitor then a site that hasn’t
changed in three years. That goes for the readers of the site too. No one
wants to come back to a site after a few months, or a few weeks, and find
that nothing has changed. It’s boring. And you can’t afford to be boring
in an instant gratification society!
How difficult is it to set up a blog?
Not difficult at all. In fact, I think it is much easier than setting up a
‘normal’ website. With a blog you don’t need to be technically minded
– you don’t have to know how to write code, upload a site with ftp (file
transfer protocol) or learn about cascading style sheets (CSS). You just
log in, write your post for the day and hit save. There are thousands of
free design templates available, so you can have the whole thing up and
running in about an hour for absolutely nothing.
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Proof that a blog can be a successful addition to a corporate site.
I chose to design my own layout and found a wonderful guy on www.
rentacoder.com to create it for about
$100. As the architecture of the site is
we d on’t have to
automatically created, the blog software
automatically archives all of the content
p ull out our hair
and creates the site map (which is vital
in an effor t to
for a good SEO ranking). Again, these
are simple systems that save us time and
k eep ever ything
mean that we don’t have to pull out our
up to date.
hair in an effort to keep everything up
to date.
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260
MIKE RHODES
For more information about blogs, I highly recommend two Aussies:
Darren Rowse and Yaro Starak. Both have been blogging for years and
are great teachers.
What do you believe are the hallmarks of a great website?
There are three things that any website needs – from an SEO point of
view and, even more importantly, for your readers:
1. Great content – people search the web looking for answers and solutions.
That could be a deep insight into a topic; a great product, service or
experience; or free resources like mind maps or how-to videos. So,
having great content is important for two reasons: to quickly prove
to a new visitor that you have the information they need to answer
their questions or solve their problems; and to convince those visitors
to come back time and time again.
2. Great design – I strongly believe that a website must do its job and
achieve whatever goals you set. That doesn’t mean it has to be ‘pretty’.
It means that the site has to be designed to be highly usable and to
work. If a visitor can’t get to all the great content, if they can’t navigate
easily around your site or buy your products, then it won’t matter how
good your information is or how your site looks. It’s an extension of
being found – visitors have found your website, now they need to be
able to find the answers to their questions.
3. Plenty of links – Google and the other search engines believe that if
you’re linking to other relevant information, then that must be of
service to your visitors and so your rankings in the search engines
improves. Your readers like those links because they don’t use the web
in a linear fashion, they hop from one place to the next following the
conversation across multiple sites. And, like everything in life, you’ll
reap what you sow – link to other sites and you’ll start getting links
back to yours, thereby building traffic and gaining more readers – it’s
called link love!
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What are the most important things you have learnt about
Don’t try to do everything yourself! There are so many talented people in
the world and for every job you hate or don’t do well there are thousands
of people who are great at it. I’m really bad with paperwork (you know,
the little things like sending out invoices!), so I have someone who’s great
at that and who completes those tasks while I concentrate on spending
my time doing what I’m good at.
We’ve formed alliances with various Aussie companies that complement
what we do so that we can get even better at doing what we do and still
provide a full service to all of our clients. This concept of joint venture
partnerships is great. Jay Abraham is a master at this, and so is one of my
previous business partners, Grant Lewers. They both taught me a lot.
So if you’re new to the online world and have a product but no database,
team up with someone who has a great list and no product. Everyone
wins: both companies are better off and so are the customers. Remember,
help other people achieve their goals first and they’ll be more than willing
to help you achieve yours.
You’re a big fan of the 80/20 Principle, can you explain why?
I can’t overstate how huge this can be to your business and to your life in
general. The Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule, basically states that you
get 80 per cent of the results from 20 per cent of your efforts.
For an online business it means that 80 per cent of your visitors will come
from 20 per cent of your keywords; 80 per cent of your profits will come
from 20 per cent of your clients; and 80 per cent of your traffic will be
on 20 per cent of your site’s pages (so you don’t need to fix them all!).
It also means that in order to massively increase a website’s effectiveness,
you don’t have to change much: 80 per cent of the possible improvement
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MIKE RHODES
Th e k ey to
wi n n in g i s stay i n g
aro u n d l o n g en o u gh
in o n e a rea .
will come from just 20 per cent of the
possible changes. The key is knowing
what to change next. That’s a huge benefit
we provide to our clients – showing them
what to work on next and what changes
to make. There’s always something on a
website, or in an AdWords account, that
can be improved – always. The trick is
knowing, of the 84 things to do, what
you should do next.
It’s also a wonderful way to conquer procrastination. Just aim to do an
80 per cent acceptable first draft of whatever you’re working on. Most of
the time that will be enough and when it’s not, you come back a day or
two later and finish it off. Knowing that you only have to get something
80 per cent perfect means that it is much easier to start and not put it
off. This is what usually happens with a perfectionist – they never start
because it is never perfect.
•
•
•
•
Passion – this is what makes you jump out of bed in the morning and
want to do what you do.
Determination – this will pull you through the tough times and
encourage more from others and, more importantly, yourself.
Vision – this will keep you on track and ensure that you don’t get
distracted. The key to winning is staying around long enough in one
area.
Confidence – this will conquer the self-doubts that we all get and give
you the belief to succeed. Once you have that, you’re almost there.
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I think the biggest mistake I made was not starting sooner than I did. I
would like to think that was because I was travelling the world, being a
snowboard bum and learning to fly helicopters in Hawaii. But I suspect
the truth is that I was afraid of whether or not I could do it.
It’s good to be aware of the potential dangers and pitfalls, but don’t ever
let that stop you from taking that first step and getting started. Once
people see you start and really commit to something, help will come
from the most unexpected places. You just have to start.
If you follow your heart and do something you love, there’s no obstacle
you can’t overcome. I know it sounds corny, but it is really true. It is a
great feeling to know that you are getting paid to do what you love.
If you had your time over again, what are some of the things you
would do differently?
Not getting flooded on day three of my first business would be great! That
said, I learnt so much about myself and my business from that experience
that I don’t think I would change it even if I could.
I think that the sum total of all our experiences is what gets us to this
particular moment in time. So I think I’d have to say that I wouldn’t
change anything because if I did, I wouldn’t be here right now. And I’m
really enjoying where that is.
entrepreneur?
Fear. Robert Kiyosaki says there are only two things that stop you doing
what you really want: self-doubt and laziness. Pretty much any excuse
boils down to one of those two things.
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MIKE RHODES
People don’t get started in business because they worry about what might
happen. How crazy is it to worry about stuff that hasn’t even happened
yet? When, and if, that thing does happen, spend your time thinking
about and creating the solution and move past it. Until then, there’s no
point dwelling on it.
Once a business gets started, owners often get caught up in the daily grind
of wearing a dozen different hats and trying to do everything themselves.
The biggest treat you can give yourself and your business is just doing
what you’re great at and getting other people (your staff or outsourcing)
to do the rest.
Some people advise that you spend lots of time working on your weaknesses.
I disagree. I believe you should only work on them until they are no longer
a liability. The way you become really outstanding at something is to
work on your greatness and improve that to the point of genius! Think
of Cathy Freeman, Dr Fiona Wood, John McGrath or Steve Jobs. These
people didn’t achieve greatness by spending hours on their weaknesses
– they built on what they were already really good at and got better until
they were among the best in the world in their chosen field.
Just do it! Operating an internet-based business is a great way to live,
offers a very flexible lifestyle that’s incredibly rewarding and allows you to
work from anywhere you choose. Some steps to get started would be:
•
•
Start by figuring out what things really get you excited, then find a
way to create a product or service of real value that is related to that
excitement and that people need.
Get your prototype in front of plenty of people very early on and ask
for feedback – don’t shy away from criticism.
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•
•
•
•
265
Use a very simple website to capture email addresses of interested
people and ask them what challenges they hope to solve with your
product.
Offer them an incentive to help you – maybe a free trial once the
product is ready.
Aim to be remarkable. Don’t try to please everyone and don’t build
for the masses – go for the early adopters, the ones who will spread
the word about you and your product or service.
Get the word out. Talk to bloggers, post on forums offering help (not
selling) and generally be of service to your target customers. Give
before you ask and you’ll do well.
What are some of the ways people can decide what type of
internet business to start?
The key word in that question is ‘business’. Don’t aim to create a shortterm promotion that cannot be sustained. The Google Cash idea and
other similar methods of selling online are not really businesses in the
true sense. Sure they might create a few hundred dollars – maybe even
each day – but they need ongoing care and attention to run. One major
change in Google’s rules and your income can disappear overnight.
There’s much more satisfaction, fun and wealth in building something
long term and sustainable. Kiyosaki’s definition of a business is this: ‘Can
you leave your business for one year, come back and find it doing better
than before?’ The only way you’re going
to be able to achieve that is with a big
One major
vision, solid goals, great staff and lots
of hard work. That’s why you need to
c h a n g e i n G o o g l e’s
be passionate about the subject of your
business. It’s what will pull you through
rules and your income
the tough times and keep pushing you
can disappear
forward.
over night .
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MIKE RHODES
So, how do you figure out what you’re passionate about? Here are some
things to try:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Brainstorm with like-minded friends.
Create a mastermind group and meet at least once a month.
Ask your mum what you loved doing as a kid.
Read Unique Ability by Dan Sullivan and Catherine Nomura.
Look at how you spend your time when you’re not working. What
do you like to do for fun? What gets you excited? What can you do
for hours without getting bored?
What blogs and magazines do you like to read – is there a theme that
you can turn into a business niche?
What would you happily do even if you weren’t being paid to do it?
The last one in particular will lead you in the right direction. A friend
of mine in New Zealand loves golf and wine. So he created a company
that takes small groups of tourists to different golf courses for a game in
the morning, then tours the vineyards in the afternoon – do you think
he loves his job?
Doing everything yourself – so many business owners believe that no one
will do a task as well as they will. Therefore they try to do everything,
often forgetting that they started out the same way. We all need to be
given a chance to learn and to be able to do so in an environment where
people are allowed (even encouraged) to make mistakes.
Failing to create the right environment – encouraging people to make
mistakes might seem a bit daft, but without it your business will grow so
much slower. Staff won’t want to push the boundaries or make independent
decisions for fear of being punished or ridiculed. Instead, imagine if you
rewarded the best mistake of the week!
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Fearing to hire people smarter than themselves (or too different) – the
best thing you can do as a business owner is to hire really smart people,
challenge them with big goals and then get out of their way! I believe
that you should play the role of mentor, cheerleader, advocate and
confidant, but never the bully or ‘headmaster’ who just tells people what
to do next.
Becoming addicted to information (which is especially true online) – so
many people get caught up in the latest and greatest thing and then
jump from one fad to the next. They never stop long enough to make a
project really work. FOCUS (Follow One Course Until Successful) and
don’t give up. Never give up!
‘Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.’ – Winston Churchill
Whenever I’m having a tough day, I think of those words and about
what my grandparents were going through when Churchill spoke them
– the sacrifices that their generation made for us to enjoy what we have
today. When I do that, my tough day seems so insignificant that I have
no choice but to shut up and get on with it.
What a great question! I’d find a ‘starving crowd’ in a marketplace that
I was really interested in. I would talk to people to find out what their
biggest challenge was in that area and then create something of real value
to help solve that challenge. I’d give away free trials or samples to gain
people’s attention and create some buzz, then ask them what else they
would like and find a way to provide that as well. I’d also partner with
people who are smarter than me and ask them how I could help them
achieve their goals. I definitely wouldn’t try to do everything myself.
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MIKE RHODES
Although we
learnt the hard way,
we n ow o n l y tea ch
people who want to
be taught.
What is one of the funniest things
that has ever happened to you in
your business career?
Kayaking into the internet café on day
four would have to be on that list. The
local paper wanted a picture for a story
about the flood. What could have been
one of the worst days of my fledgling
business career ended up being heaps
of fun!
What do you love most about being in an internet business?
I love the ability to do business with people on a truly global scale. I’ve
had the good fortune to work with some incredibly talented people from
all four corners of the globe. For example, I have never met the person
who built my website because he lives in Sri Lanka. However, we still chat
whenever we need to via Skype.
A large part of what WebSavvy does is teaching people. Although we
learnt the hard way, we now only teach people who want to be taught.
The internet allows us to reach further and meet more of those people. So
much so, we now have clients in over a dozen countries. I love working
with them and because they’re all over the world, they teach me new
things every day.
entrepreneur?
1. Be passionate.
2. Do something you love and it won’t feel like work.
3. Read books on many subjects (not just the web or online marketing),
and take action on what you learn.
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4. Know where you want to go and what the goals of your business are
(remember, goals are specific and measurable).
5. Just get started.
6. Never give up!
years?
I’ve recently moved to Melbourne to live with my beautiful girlfriend,
Gabriella. So I think the next few years will involve finding a house and
becoming a husband and dad.
As for WebSavvy, my goals are to keep growing the business and finding
ways to leverage my skills to help 1,000 businesses a year around Australia
and the rest of the world. I’m exploring the idea of licensing or franchising,
and I’m always on the lookout for the right people to help us. Know
anyone?
Oh, and trying not to do it all myself!
31/8/07 8:28:38 PM
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
Mike Rhodes has kindly offered a FREE BONUS GIFT valued at $97.00 to
Starting Your Internet Business – In this video mind map, watch as Mike
walks you through all the steps you’ll need to get your internet venture off the
ground. If you’ve never seen a video mind map before, make sure you check
this out, as you are sure to be amazed!
31/8/07 8:28:38 PM
A F F I L I AT E M A R K E T I N G
Affiliate Marketing
ANDREW CLACY
Yo u c a n a l s o u s e Yo u Tu b e fo r p ro d u c t
demonstrations, testimonials, affiliate mark eting
(wit h a redirec t in the banner ), s taf f
introduc tions, news about your business (a video
news release), or tip of the week.
31/8/07 8:39:17 PM
PROFILE
ANDREW CLACY
Andrew Clacy was born in Ferntree Gully, Victoria, in 1967. He grew
up on a farm with an older brother and two younger sisters.
After moving from Nar Nar Goon to Wodonga at age 16, he finished
his schooling to become a television news cameraman with Prime
Television in 1986. During this time he realised that even though the
job was fun it paid poorly. This had a huge effect on other areas of
his life and so he began to look at other options and found himself
being drawn to internet marketing.
Today, Andrew runs a consultancy that advises businesses and helps
them build internet traffic. He also owns various websites and has
developed numerous joint venture partnerships. He is passionate
about helping businesses increase their profits online and believes
that one of the biggest mistakes made by online business owners
is to have graphic artists build their websites. According to Andrew,
online success involves careful consideration of marketing structures
and search engines.
Andrew has travelled all over the world, going as far as Costa Rica,
Switzerland and the US to refine his knowledge and skills in internet
marketing. He has also developed strong bonds with a lot of wellknown American internet marketers.
Outside of business, Andrew is a keen St Kilda football supporter, a
massive Jimmy Barnes fan and enjoys travelling. He is a single dad with
two sons, Brad and Aidan. He is also a keen stock market trader.
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How did you first become interested in the internet?
My interest in internet marketing developed as a natural extension of my
interests in marketing. When the first internet marketing event came to
Australia in early 2004, I was there to film it. I was deeply interested in
learning the craft so I used my skills as a television cameraman to get
into the event, which had a massive impact on me.
From there I met many people and a chain of events occurred. I went
on to film a second internet marketing event, the famous X10 Seminar
in Coolum, which was fantastic and full of great content. I was the only
one at the event to bring a printout of my websites and had internet
gurus make changes to my sales letter. I implemented the changes and
saw fantastic results that made a dramatic difference to the way I operated
the business. To this day, I have not seen anyone else do this. But why
not? I have found that the most successful people are willing to help you
if you ask. So ask!
In the beginning, what were some of the skills you lacked and
what did you do about it?
In the beginning I was lacking the skills to edit websites. Learning basic
editing skills was a great step forward. Once I learnt those skills I did
not have to pay someone to make small changes to my sites. A program
like Microsoft’s FrontPage makes it dead easy to maintain and update a
website.
The next important skill I had to learn involved direct response advertising.
Once I learnt this skill I was able to apply the principles of this form of
advertising in an online environment.
I also quickly realised that getting leads to take action is critical when it
comes to internet marketing. So I learnt how to optimise websites and
get links to a website. I regard linking as the essential key for getting free
traffic. The more links you get from another person’s website to yours the
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ANDREW CLACY
higher up your website will go in search
engine rankings.
We h ave a cqu i red
several proper ties
using R ick ’s strategies
What was your first online business
venture and what did you learn from
it?
an d h ave th em fo r
The first website that I made money
from was www.DatingMagic.net. I
actually purchased the reprint rights
from somebody else, changed the sales
page and added bonuses. I found that because men often go after women
there will always be market for a service like it. It proved to me that you
don’t have to create the product yourself to make money.
s al e o n o u r si te.
From this venture I also learnt the power of questions. I once sent an
email to my database asking men what their number one question about
meeting women was. Their answer was, ‘overcoming shyness and using
our minds to meet women’. I would have never guessed their response.
After learning this information, I had someone ghostwrite two e-books
on those topics and I increased sales on my site. Then, when I decided
to add a graphic representation of each e-book, the sales increased again.
So I also learnt that people wanted to see an image of the e-book’s cover
because it makes an electronic product more tangible in their minds.
After establishing yourself, what types of strategies did you use to
make money?
I made money as an affiliate promoting other people’s products. I have
used Google AdWords a lot for myself and have achieved some great results
for my clients as well. The ones that have a good sales system and offer a
free DVD, audio or something similar tend to have better conversions.
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275
When I promote something I am always looking for a reasonable margin
and I make sure the sales letter looks good. I did struggle for a while to
get a high natural search engine ranking, but when I realised you could
not optimise one page for 100 different keywords, I made some big
changes in my web rankings. My struggle became my breakthrough. I
decided to optimise one keyword per page and to optimise many pages
to one keyword. Doing this made the difference and allowed me to get
high search engine rankings.
What major strategy do you now use to make money online?
Currently, I am busy recruiting affiliates and have started using a mixture
of real estate investing and internet marketing. I admire the work of Rick
Otton and have teamed up with one of his successful students to make
www.777RealEstate.com.au. We have acquired several properties using
Rick’s strategies and have them for sale on our site. We do not need a
real estate licence as we have a financial interest in each property.
I find that the internet is a fantastic vehicle for attracting people who
want to sell their property quickly. We also use our site to automate
many procedures, so now we can contact many people quickly. Plus, the
margins in real estate are very good. I would have to sell a lot of affiliate
products to make the margins that I do with real estate.
Do you believe that affiliate marketers should promote products
overseas or should they only explore opportunities in the
domestic market?
There are enough products to promote in Australia, however, I love
promoting to the American market. There are also more markets in
America and they are a little savvier when it comes to purchasing online.
Plus, of course, the US dollar is good.
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ANDREW CLACY
As an affiliate marketer, when you have found a great product or
service to promote, do you build your own website or simply use
the company’s website?
After I have found a product or service to promote, I will use AdWords
to determine if I can make money from directing traffic to my affiliate
link. If it is a profitable campaign and it looks to have a long life, I may
choose to build a site around that particular topic. If I do this I always
make sure that there are other products I can promote and on the website
I may capture a photograph of the affiliate product and write my own
review. It’s important to have your affiliate links high on the page, giving
people the chance to click through. Even on an affiliate website it’s crucial
to capture emails.
Why do you say that joint ventures are the best way to market on
the internet?
Joint ventures can be done in so many ways. If you think about it,
promoting an affiliate product is pretty much a joint venture. For those
who do not have a budget to start with, think outside the square.
One of my favourite online strategies is to find what are called, two-tier
affiliate programs. This enables you to make money when someone joins
an affiliate program. For example, if I introduce Sally to a two-tier affiliate
program about magic tricks, and Sally has a big list about magic tricks,
I make a smaller percentage than Sally does. That is, I may make $20,
Sally may make $50 and the owner may make $50, thereby making the
product $120. But before I do this, I make sure that the sales letter for
the product I am promoting is good, the commission for the second tier
is at least $US10, and that there is a good supply of affiliate materials.
The question is, how do I find two-tier affiliate programs and how do
I find affiliates to introduce them to? The answer is to search Google,
Yahoo! and MSN for niched two-tier affiliate programs. For example, if
your niche is ‘beauty tips’, then you would search for ‘beauty tips two-tier
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277
affiliate program’. We use all three search engines – Google, Yahoo! and
MSN – because the results will vary.
How do you go about finding great joint venture partners?
First, I look for people by viewing ‘contact us’ pages on their websites or
searching niched blogs, e-zines and newsletters. After we find the contact
information, I then write an introductory email about the affiliate program
I have found, using the affiliate link at least twice in the email. When
I write this email, I like to also include some of the benefits that the
marketer will get (only talk to them in first-tier terms) and their potential
commission per sale. This is only one way of doing a joint venture but
there are plenty of other ways of doing them online.
What are your top tips for making joint ventures work so
successfully?
I believe there are five ways to achieve successful results from joint
ventures:
1. Always have clear objectives and goals.
2. Make sure both parties contribute – work efforts and rewards should
not be lopsided.
3. If you are promoting someone else’s
I t ’s impor tant to
product, make sure there is enough
margin in it to promote the product
have your affiliate
properly.
4. When considering promoting a
links high on t he
website, ensure that the site has plenty
p a g e, g i v i n g p e o p l e
of supporting marketing materials.
5. When seeking out joint venture
t he c hance to c lic k
partners, try to find out their physical
t hrough.
contact details. Most people only use
email, so a phone call or letter will
really stand out.
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ANDREW CLACY
You have had many years of experience using blogs. What are your
top tips for using this method to market?
Blogs are generally more user friendly as far as search engines are
concerned. I have used www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.org for
free blogging services. Lately, I have also used www.squidoo.com, which
acts in a similar manner to a blog.
My top strategies for blogging are:
1. Make sure you have unique content on the blogs.
2. Update your blogs regularly because search engines like updated blogs
with unique content.
3. Blogs can utilise other features such as podcasting and RSS feeds, and
can therefore dramatically increase their reach online.
4. Submit your blog to other blog announcement services, like www.
blogomatic.com, www.egmstrategy.com/ice/tag-generator.cfm or www.
technorati.com/ping. These places can generate keywords for your
blog and ping them (let sites know that you have updated your
blog). There are many other places to update your blogs. I have 55
free places to update your blogs at www.australianonlinemarketing.
com/bookmarking.html.
5. Have a mechanism on your site that allows you to capture email
addresses.
Links are an important element of improving a website’s search
engine ranking. Can you explain some of the ways to use them?
Links are the key to obtaining quality search engine rankings. Whereas
once it was acceptable to have any link, these days you need quality links.
A quality link is from another website which is in the same or a similar
niche as you, with anchor text. Anchor text can be simply defined as
putting a keyword on someone else’s site and having that keyword link to
your website. For example, if I am trying to rank my www.777RealEstate.
com.au site with the words ‘sell your home’, I would search Google for
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real estate directories. I would then submit my website with the words ‘sell
your home’ and have it link to my website. Of course my website would
need to be optimised for the same keyword. I could also write articles and
use anchor text in my biography box at the bottom of the article. Articles
are a great idea for creating links because there are tonnes of places to
submit them. I have a huge list of these places on my website.
The importance of linking is not fully appreciated by people until the
penny drops and they realise that the internet is just a series of links.
I believe that it is a major mistake not to devote more resources and
attention to linking. If businesses around Australia started to allocate
a budget for linking in their advertising I think you would see many
hidden websites start to rise in the search engines. Unfortunately, I find
that most businesses with websites are yet to take advantage of links and
constantly make this mistake.
You are big fan of MSN adCentre. Can you tell us what it is and
what you like about this marketing medium?
MSN adCentre is MSN’s version of AdWords. Although it is not as easy
as AdWords to set up, I have found the traffic great – it is good quality
and fairly cheap. The people who search MSN are generally tied into
Channel Nine (ninemsn), so I look at what is popular on Nine, and what
the demographics of a Nine viewer may be. Then I work out the best fit
for promoting to them. There are also many non-Channel Nine viewers,
which must be taken into consideration.
When MSN launched their version of AdWords, it came as a pleasant
surprise to me to learn just how good the traffic from there is. Although
I have found the interface is not as user friendly as Google’s, generally
speaking the cost per keyword is cheaper and the quality of traffic is still
fantastic. While many internet marketers only use AdWords, there are other
internet marketers who are taking advantage of using MSN adCentre.
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ANDREW CLACY
Another use of
Yo u Tu b e co u l d b e to
Your latest strategy involves the
very popular YouTube. Why do
you believe this website provides
some of the best opportunities for
internet entrepreneurs today?
create niche-based
we b s i te s…
YouTube, for those who have not heard
of it, provides free access to thousands
of videos. As an internet marketer, there
are two distinct advantages in using
YouTube:
1. As YouTube has millions of visitors every day, you can get some quality
traffic to your websites using YouTube material. If you can make a video
that is educational, funny, interesting or just different, you can draw
a lot of people to your website. You can do this by having a banner
on the video with your website URL and by putting your website in
the description of the video. It’s a crime not to do both!
2. You can also put a YouTube video inside your website or blog, so that
when a visitor goes to your site they can press play and watch the
video.
If a YouTube video has good educational content, you can turn a cold
lead into a warm lead fairly quickly. You can also use YouTube for product
demonstrations, testimonials, affiliate marketing (with a redirect in the
banner), staff introductions, news about your business (a video news
release), or tip of the week.
One of the ways I use it is for affiliate training. For example, I have some
video training at www.howtopickupsexychicks.com/affiliate_resources.
html. This helps train my affiliates to promote my website better. I also
find that affiliates join my program from YouTube, so it’s great!
Another use of YouTube could be to create niche-based websites with
relevant and topical videos inserted into the site. The site could then
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281
YouTube – one of the biggest websites in the world.
obtain affiliate links and Google’s AdSense program. With such a site,
people interested in that niche would love to use it as a resource.
What are the specific steps involved in creating and uploading a
video on YouTube?
The first step is to make a video with your video camera or using screen
capture technology to record the computer screen and talk at the same
time. You can also use a webcam to capture footage of yourself.
The second step is to use capture software that allows you to transfer your
video onto your computer. Once this is done you can use paid editing
software or search for free editing software. Make sure that all or part of
the video has your website URL. I always mention my website address
during the recording too.
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ANDREW CLACY
What is the best way to write a video description and use the tags
field when uploading a YouTube video?
When you write your title description for a YouTube video make sure that
you have a keyword-rich title. That is, word the title so it still makes sense
and also use keywords and include your website URL in the description. It’s
interesting to note that YouTube actually uses keywords in the description
section, so you should try to have different keywords in this section to
your title, which will then widen your umbrella. I generally don’t use more
than six tags because I do not want to get flagged by Google. The process
for writing YouTube descriptions is similar to optimising your website or
writing an eBay listing. In all cases it is important to think of words that
internet users may be searching with when looking for your videos.
What’s one of the best business deals you’ve ever done and why
did it work so well?
One of the best deals I made evolved from a chance meeting. While
speaking at an internet marketing seminar, I met Elena from www.Elena’s
models.com She has the world’s number one site for Russian dating. I
already had www.DatingMagic.net, so it was a no-brainer to do a joint
venture with her.
I went to her home on the Gold Coast, interviewed her, made some screen
capture videos and we put together our own unique dating program,
www.HowToPickUpSexyChicks.com. As soon as it launched it sold like
hotcakes.
The program worked well because we had a very strong affiliate area for
our affiliates to promote us. We also included e-book covers, banners,
Google AdWords suggestions and many other marketing tactics for our
affiliates to use. Apart from that, our affiliates also made good money
from the site so they were more than happy to promote us. From this
experience I learnt that it is important to provide a lot of resources
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283
for affiliates and that it’s essential to go out and recruit affiliates as a
promotional tool. Affiliate traffic is great traffic.
I believe that it is important to continually surround yourself with
successful people and have therefore had many mentors during my career.
One such mentor has been Stephen Pierce from the US, who has had an
influential impact on my life. I have had the privilege of working with
Stephen and his wife, Alicia, since 2005. The main lesson I got from
Stephen was to treat your website like a business. That is, businesses need
referrals, testimonials, back-end products to sell, constant promotions
and marketing.
Another mentor who has inspired me is an entrepreneur from Coffs
Harbour, Mal Fittler. Mal taught me ‘real world’ marketing. Lesson number
one from the ‘School of Mal’ is that you cannot afford to forget about
direct response mail. A real letter in someone’s hands has a tangible value
and if you can find a way online to gather offline data, then do it. At
around the end of 2000, my mailbox was full of offers and sales letters.
Now I rarely get any. The few that I do get really stand out. Mal and I
have a three-way joint venture with British Grand Chess Master, Raymond
Keene, OBE, where we will be selling 100 rare chess books. We are using
direct response sales techniques within the website.
Is there a significant quote or saying
which you live your life by?
Th e p ro g ra m
wor k e d we l l b e c a u s e
I have two main quotes that I live my
life by:
we had a ver y st rong
affiliate area for our
‘The biggest risk in life is to take no risk
at all’ – this quote applies to people who
would rather watch television than try to
affiliates…
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ANDREW CLACY
build a better life for themselves. I would rather live my own life than
watch someone else’s.
I also believe, ‘You become what you think about, so be careful what you
think about’.
What do you see for the future of the internet?
The internet will move closer and closer to online video applications.
With the internet set to get faster over the next couple of years, larger
and longer video files will be able to be played online. This means that
longer commercials and programming will become available. It’s up to
the current people online to embrace online video now. That way when
it becomes even more popular and user friendly, you will already have
the experience from using sites like YouTube and Google Video.
entrepreneur?
1. Find a great niche and stay in it.
2. You don’t have to know everything – outsource your weaknesses and
focus on your strengths.
3. Understand that there are multiple ways to generate traffic and you
should implement as many as you can. For example, writing articles;
submitting press releases; optimising your webpages; getting links for
your sites; using Google AdWords, MSN adCentre, MySpace, YouTube
and podcasting; and developing an affiliate program.
4. Always edu-sell. In other words, if you capture names, which you
should, do not go the hard sell. Provide a lot of valuable content and,
if you want, add a subtle offer at the end. But make sure you have
real solid advice in your online newsletter.
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285
5. Most online marketers only look at the online aspects of their business,
but you should not forget about offline as well. If you own a shop,
capture people’s names and emails at the point of sale, use the media
to gain free exposure, and advertise in targeted trade journals if you
are in a relevant niche.
6. Spend some time understanding the back end of your business. If you
are selling a product online, join affiliate programs that complement
your product and introduce those products.
7. Never stop learning! The internet is always changing, so always invest
in yourself and keep learning.
31/8/07 8:28:40 PM
D
F REE B ONUS G I FT
Andrew Clacy has kindly offered a FREE BONUS GIFT valued at $37.00 to
37 List Building Secrets – List building is one of the most important strategies
in Internet Marketing. Learn from one of the best, as Andrew goes through 37
different ways to quickly and effectively build your list. This is something you
don’t want to miss!
31/8/07 8:28:40 PM
FINAL THOUGHTS
We imagine that by now your head is probably spinning with a multitude of ideas and strategies, coupled with excitement about what is really
possible.
Despite the title of this book, there really is no great secret to building a
successful and profitable internet-based business. As this book demonstrates, all the information you will ever require to succeed is freely
available, as long as you have the drive, courage and ‘smarts’ to actively
seek out what you need to know.
However, the real driver of success is simply implementation – the ability
to put into practise, and take action on the things you hear and read.
After years of working with people we have seen that this rarely happens
by simply reading something once. It comes from re-reading, reflecting
and then applying – not just once but until it becomes a habit and part
of your life.
With this in mind, our strongest recommendation is that you do this exercise: re-read each of the chapters of this book, with a notepad and pen by
your side, and write your answers to these two questions:
•
•
What are the three most important things I’ve learnt from this
chapter?
How can I implement these learnings into my life, starting today?
Yes, we know that it is going to take some time, but as they say, the only
place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. And we are not
31/8/07 8:28:40 PM
288
FINAL THOUGHTS
talking about physical work, a bit of solid thinking is all it takes. So give it
a try, after a few short weeks you’ll be amazed at the impact it will have.
Also, as we said in the preface of this book, you are your most valuable
asset so make sure you keep investing in yourself. That is why we have
provided the many bonuses for you. Make sure you go to the webpage
(that’s if you haven’t already) and download all of the gifts. They contain
some fantastic material, which you will wholeheartedly enjoy.
In closing, remember this: ‘Nobody can go back to the beginning and make
a brand new start. But everyone can start from now and make a brand new
end’, so begin on your path now! Don’t worry about the past, and don’t
worry that you don’t know enough – you probably never will. Just make
a start, begin on your path today and continue learning as you go.
We trust that you’ve enjoyed this book. It has been a real honour to work
with these amazing entrepreneurs and to share their stories. Take their
ideas to heart, put them into action and watch your dreams soar.
DREAM BIG!
Dale Beaumont and Shaun Stenning
PS – For anyone either looking to start their own business, or already doing
it, we strongly suggest also reading Secrets of Male Entrepreneurs Exposed!
and Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs Exposed! These two books provide
invaluable insights from many large, high-profile businesses, which will
provide more great strategies to further expand your mind and increase
your success.
PPS – We love receiving letters or emails from people who have been
inspired by something shared in one of our books, so please contact us
with your stories of inspiration.
Mail: Dream Express Publishing
PO Box 567 Crows Nest NSW 1585
Australia
31/8/07 8:28:41 PM
Other ‘Secrets Exposed!’ Books Available Now
Secrets of Male Entrepreneurs Exposed!
Secrets of Property Millionaires Exposed!
Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs Exposed!
Secrets of Young Achievers Exposed!
Secrets of Small Business Owners Exposed!
Secrets of Great Public Speakers Exposed!
Secrets of Inspiring Women Exposed!
Secrets of Great Success Coaches Exposed!
Secrets of Entrepreneurs Under 40 Exposed!
Secrets of Marketing Experts Exposed!
Secrets of Stock Market Traders Expossed!
Secrets of Top Business Builders Exposed!
Secrets of Internet Entrepreneurs Exposed!
For the latest information on the release of the above
‘Secrets Exposed!’ books, please visit:
www.SecretsExposed.com.au or www.DaleBeaumont.com
31/8/07 8:28:41 PM
D
How to claim your free bonus gift…
Some of our contributors have generously offered FREE bonus gifts to all of
our readers. Here are some of the things you’ll receive simply by visiting our
website:
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how to use the internet to create a cash flow for life! With so much information
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begin?”. Join Sandy during this inspiring 50 minute audio and discover how
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FREE GIFT # 2 ($29.00) Top Seven Action Strategies For Accelerating Your
Online Sales – Will Swayne from Marketing Results is going to teach you some
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– Whether you want to make a part-time income or millions of dollars a year
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FREE GIFT # 5 ($47.00) How To Identify And Eliminate Your Subconscious
Blockages – In this special audio, you can discover step-by-step instructions
for the techniques Andrew and Daryl used to overcome their subconscious
blockages to earning passive income.
Simply visit the special web page below and
follow the directions to download your free gifts:
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…valued at over $881
FREE GIFT # 6 ($97.00) 10 Secrets Of Online Conversion Even The Gurus
Don’t Know! – Learn how to create trust with your visitors and make more
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Tele-Audio – In this special audio, learn how Search Engine Optimization and
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– In this downloadable video series, you can discover the explanation of the
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FREE GIFT # 10 ($97.00) Starting Your Internet Business – In this video mind
map, watch as Mike walks you through all the steps you’ll need to get your
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make sure you check this out, as you are sure to be amazed!
FREE GIFT # 11 ($37.00) 37 List Building Secrets – List building is one of the
most important strategies in Internet Marketing. Learn from one of the best,
as Andrew goes through 37 different ways to quickly and effectively build
your list. This is something you don’t want to miss!
* The free bonus gifts offered by contributors are current at the time of printing. If a particular gift is
no longer available, we will substitute another gift of similar value and content. For the most up-to-date
information please visit www.SecretsExposed.com.au/internet-entrepreneurs.
** The intellectual property rights (including trademarks and copyrights) associated with each of the bonus
gifts offered are those of the respective creators. Unauthorised distribution, modification or copying of any
of these documents is prohibited without the express written permission of the creators.
31/8/07 8:28:41 PM
About the authors
Dale Beaumont
Dale Beaumont was born in Sydney in June
1981. Growing up, he participated in a number
of sports and at the age of nine was selected
for the elite NSW Gymnastics Squad. Training
34 hours per week, he soon learnt the value of
discipline, hard work, having a coach and most
importantly, delayed gratification.
After six years of intensive training, Dale
changed his sporting focus to competitive
aerobics so that he could spend more time
on his studies and pursue other interests. In 1998 he became the National
Aerobics Champion and the youngest Australian to compete at the World
Aerobics Championships, where he placed eighth.
After finishing high school, Dale began attending various personal
development and success seminars, where he learnt from people such as Jim
Rohn, Michael Rowland, Bob Proctor, Robert Kiyosaki, John Maxwell, Brandon
Bays, Brad Sugars, Mark Victor Hanson and many others.
At the age of 19, together with good friend Brent Williams, Dale wrote his
first book titled The World at Your Feet, and co-founded Tomorrow’s Youth International, which now runs educational and self-development programs for 13 to
21-year-olds in four countries. Dale has been featured on the Today show, Sunrise,
Mornings with Kerri-Anne, as well as in countless newspapers and magazines.
Most recently, Dale has been hard at work developing the ‘Secrets Exposed’
series, to bring together the very best material from hundreds of Australasia’s
most successful people. With more than twenty books planned for the next
three years and an up-coming seminar series, Dale is now a sought-after
speaker on topics such as: start-up business, networking skills, book publishing,
internet marketing and generating publicity.
Dale lives in Sydney with his beautiful and very supportive wife, Katherine. With
a baby next on the ‘to-do’ list and lots of international travel plans, Dale is looking
forward to the challenges ahead, and to spending more time enjoying life.
For more information about Dale’s workshops and educational materials, or
to book him as a guest speaker at your next conference or event, please visit:
www.DaleBeaumont.com
31/8/07 8:28:41 PM
Shaun Stenning
Shaun Stenning was born in Echuca, Victoria,
in 1984. His parents were supportive of an
active lifestyle and Shaun spent most of his
time training and playing sport. He competed
at both state and national levels in a range of
sports.
Shaun’s entrepreneurial flair was apparent
from an early age and at just eight years old
he decided he would begin investing. He rang
the ABC Radio National’s share specialist and
grilled him about what shares he and his sister should buy before starting
his portfolio.
By the age of 12 he was managing a variety of indoor sports at the local
sports centre, at age 16 he was running a holiday program for local caravan
parks, and at 17 he was running pre-season boot camps for local football
teams.
After graduating from high school at 18, Shaun faced a choice between
becoming a professional AFL umpire and pursuing a business career. He
decided to enrol in a commerce/computing double degree at university,
but left before completing his course. Shaun realised that the methods and
strategies he was learning were out of touch with what was happening in the
market and what he was learning from his real life business experiences.
He worked hard to educate himself, reading countless books, attending
seminars, doing courses and just giving things a go. Shaun and his first
business partner had a number of early successes, including managing the
first-ever 24-hour fundraising event in regional Victoria.
Shaun is now the general manager and co-owner of Sure Fire Marketing, one
of the fastest-growing internet marketing businesses, which in the first three
months experienced a 400 per cent monthly increase in staff numbers.
Shaun lives with his fiancée, Stephanie, and their two dogs and describes
his ideal holiday as ‘lying on a white sandy beach with a cocktail in hand’.
www.SureFireMarketing.com.au
31/8/07 8:28:41 PM
About our contributors
We would again like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the amazing people who have helped
to make this book possible. Some of them have their own books and other educational
products – for more information feel free to contact them directly.
Sandy Forster – Wildly Wealthy Women
Address: PO Box 362 Mooloolaba QLD 4557
Phone: 1300 133 249 Fax: (07) 5493 9650
Website: www.wildlywealthy.com
Books: How To Be Wildly Wealthy FAST
Jason Ham – The Uniform Super Store
Address: Factory 4/8 Nicole Close Bayswater VIC 3153
Phone: 1300 730 045
Website: www.uniforms.com.au
Sascha Griffin – pinklily
Address: PO Box 219 Leichhardt NSW 2040
Phone: 0412 646 464
Website: www.pinklily.com.au
Will Swayne – Marketing-Results.com.au
Phone: 1300 799 737
Website: www.marketing-results.com.au
Books: Advanced Website Conversion Strategies; Search Engine Strategies
Amanda Clarkson – You Won The Bid
Address: PO Box 224 Burleigh Heads QLD 4220
Phone: 1300 887 173
Website: www.youwonthebid.com
Mitchell Harper and Eddie Machaalani – Interspire Pty Ltd
Address: 2/3 National Street Rozelle NSW 2039
Phone: (02) 9555 5570 Fax: (02) 9555 5571
Website: www.interspire.com
Matt Freedman – Redback Solutions/Sticky Tickets
Address: 119 Willoughby Road Crows Nest NSW 2065
Phone: (02) 9956 3852 Fax: (02) 9439 2157
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Website: www.rb.com.au; www.stickytickets.com.au; www.mattfreedman.com.au
Andrew and Daryl Grant – Kudos Trust
Address: PO Box 1455 Toowong QLD 4066
Website: www.andrewanddaryl.com
Ari Galper – Unlock The Internet Game
Address: 181 Parramatta Road Annandale NSW 2038
Phone: 1300 763 654 Fax: (02) 9337 5107
Website: www.unlocktheinternetgame.com
Marc Lindsay – IM Alliance
Phone: (07) 3102 9738
Website: www.ltseo.com.au
John Bertone – Internet Marketing Institute Pty Ltd
Address: PO Box 4500 Homebush South NSW 2140
Phone: (02) 9746 1111 Fax: (02) 9746 1155
Website: www.internetmarketinginstitute.com.au
Adam Davis – Adam Davis Pty Ltd
Address: Unit 1/ 20 Prindiville Drive Wangara WA 6065
Phone: (08) 9309 2907 Fax: (08) 9309 3044
Website: www.ppckid.com
Mike Rhodes – WEBSAVVY
Website: www.websavvy.com.au
Andrew Clacy – Australian Online Marketing
Address: 2 Eltham Crt Wodonga VIC 3690
Phone: (02) 6024 7941
Website: www.australianonlinemarketing.com
31/8/07 8:28:42 PM
Other great titles now available
Secrets of Male Entrepreneurs Exposed!
In this book you’ll discover:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How to come up with your multimillion dollar idea
Creative ways to raise hundreds of thousands in capital
How to build and lead a champion team
Unique marketing ideas that will explode your profits
Master techniques to influence people and sell your ideas
What it takes to get media exposure and loads of free
advertising
How to package and franchise your business to go global
Featuring written material by:
Jim Penman (Jim’s Mowing) • Siimon Reynolds (Photon Group)
• Justin Herald (Attitude Clothing & Intimidate) • Phillip Mills (Les Mills International)
• Tom Potter (Eagle Boys Pizza) • Brad Sugars (Action International) • Tim Pethick
(nudie Founder) • Douglas Foo (Apex-Pal International) • Michael Twelftree (Two
Hands Wines) • Domenic Carosa (destra Corporation) • Jim Zavos (EzyDVD) • Craig
Lovett (Cleanevent International) • Glenn Kiddell (VitaMan Skincare) • Trevor Choy
(Choy Lawyers) • Joseph Chow (ironfish)
Secrets of Property Millionaires Exposed!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The essential qualities of all top property investors
All the various property strategies and which one is right
for you
How to make money whether the market is going up or
down
Master negotiation techniques that will save you
thousands
How to structure your portfolio correctly to minimise tax
How to use partnerships and joint ventures to explode
profits
Expert tips on market trends and future growth areas
Hans Jakobi (Australia’s Wealth Coach®) • John Fitzgerald (Multimillionaire Investor)
• Craig Turnbull (Author, Speaker & Mentor) • Patrick Bright (Leading Buyers’ Agent) •
Dymphna Boholt (Asset Protection) • Sam Vannutini (Renovations Expert) • Edward
Chan (Taxation Specialist) • Gordon Green (Residential & Commercial Investor) • Peter
Comben (Property Developer) • Rick Otton (Vendor Financier & Wrapper) • Gary &
Jenny Leather (Husband & Wife Duo) • Michael Yardney (Property Commentator) •
Chris Gray (Lifestyle Mentor)
To order your copies online and save, visit:
31/8/07 8:28:42 PM
Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs Exposed!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The skills of starting and running your own business
How to establish your client base and deliver a
professional service
The secrets of networking and creating business
partnerships
Creative tips for finding and training your team
How to receive media publicity and lots of free
advertising
What you need to do to expand your business ideas
around the world
How to effectively balance business success and
family life
Sonia Amoroso (Cat Media) • Joanne Mercer (Joanne Mercer Footwear) • Sue Ismiel
(Nad’s Hair Removal) • Carol Comer (High Impact Marketing) • Sue Whyte (Intimo
Lingerie) • Kristina Noble & Simone Babic (Citrus Internet) • Sandy Forster (Wildly
Wealthy Women) • Katrina Allen (DeJour) • Suzi Dafnis (Pow Wow Events) • Tanya
Bension (Corporate Training Australia) • Amy Lyden (Bow Wow Meow) • Margaret
Lomas (Destiny Group) • Suzy Yates (Baystreet Mediaworks) • Kristina Karlsson (kikki.
K) • Shelley Barrett (ModelCo.) • Kirsty Dunphey (M&M Harcourts)
Secrets of Young Achievers Exposed!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What it takes to become a real success
How to know what you want to do with your life
How to get motivated and stay motivated
How to overcome criticism and discouragement
What all super-achievers have in common
How to reach the top of any career, fast
How to turn your dream into reality
Bec Hewitt (Celebrity Actress) • Jesse Martin (Young Adventurer) • Chelsea Georgeson
(Pro Surfer) • Amy Wilkins (TV Presenter & Fitness Coach) • Hugh Evans (Community
& Aid Worker) • Ilona Novacek (Leading Model) • Ben Korbel (International DJ) •
Stephanie Williams (Ballet Dancer) • Tim Goodwin (Aboriginal Activist) • Simon
Tedeschi (Concert Pianist) • Torah Bright (Pro Snowboarder) • Jeremy Lim (Singaporean
Ambassador)
31/8/07 8:28:42 PM
Other great titles now available
Secrets of Great Public Speakers Exposed!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Why the ability to communicate in public is critical to your
success
The essential skills all successful speakers have in common
How to overcome fear and project confidence to your
audience
How to plan and structure a presentation for maximum impact
How to use the right type of humour and have your audience
in stitches
Simple techniques to communicate subconscious messages
What it takes to make $1 million a year as a professional
speaker
Doug Malouf (Speaking Coach) • Shelley Taylor-Smith (World Champion Athlete) • Carl
Barron (Leading Comedian) • Matt Church (CEO Thought Leaders) • Peter Sheahan
(Generation Y Expert) • Catherine Devrye (Best-selling Author) • Gavin Blakey (Former
Toastmasters President) • Chris Rewell (Image Consultant) • Ron Lee (Corporate Ninja)
• Lisa McInnes Smith (International Influencer) • Billy Graham (Boxing Champion) •
Candy Tymson (Gender Differences Expert) • Michael Rowland (Personal Development)
• Ron Tacchi (Corporate Speaker) • Robyn Henderson (Networking Expert) • Amanda
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Secrets of Inspiring Women Exposed!
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How to set and achieve your personal and career goals
What it takes to conquer fear and overcome blocks
Inside secrets to attracting wealth and financial security
How to lose weight, feel great and look ten years younger
The ingredients for joy-filled relationships and a lasting
marriage
Practical ideas to make a real difference in your community
How to be a great parent and master work/life balance
Lauren Burns (Olympic Gold Medallist) • Miriam Schafer (Holistic Life Coach) • Rosie
Pekar (Dynamic Motivational Speaker) • Jo Cowling (Biggest Loser Contestant) • Mia
Freedman (Former Editor of Cosmo) • Kim McGuinness (Founder Network Central) •
Lisa McInnes-Smith (Best-selling Author) • Terry Hawkins (Human Performance Coach)
• Jennifer Jefferies (Work/Life Balance Expert) • Denise Hall (Entrepreneurial Mother) •
Cydney O’Sullivan (Multimillionaire Investor) • Sally Anderson (Legacy Coach) • Simone
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To order your copies online and save, visit:
31/8/07 8:28:42 PM
Secrets of Small Business Owners Exposed!
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Creative ways to raise money to get your business idea
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Dozens of low-cost marketing strategies that really work
How to find ambitious and loyal staff to grow your business
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What it takes to develop lifelong customers and word-ofmouth promotion
How to buy established and profitable businesses for very
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What to do to expand nationally and tap into large overseas
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How to effectively juggle your business, personal and family lives
David Staughton (Think Big) • Chris Males (Pro-Fit Corporate Health) • Joshua Nicholls
(Platinum Electrical) • Libby Dedman (Just Liberated) • Peter Gow (Creative Capital) •
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Secret of Great Success Coaches Exposed!
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How to redesign your life and get on the path of real success
What to do to align your values and set meaningful goals
How to totally break through anxiety, phobias and emotional
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The secret ingredient to a joy-filled and lasting married life
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Dr John Gray (Author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus) • Pat Mesiti (Mr
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31/8/07 8:28:42 PM
Free CD and guide to help
you discover how to publish
your own book and become
a best-selling author
Would you like to sky-rocket your credibility, be seen as an expert
in your field and open up doorways to publicity that others can
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After receiving hundreds of calls and emails, best-selling author Dale Beaumont
decided to create a range of resources to help other aspiring authors, and
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best-selling book.
Starting with a free 68-minute Audio CD and a 43-page Publishing Guide
(valued at $147) you’ll discover…
• The 7 quickest and easiest ways to get your book published.
• Over a dozen costly mistakes that 98% of new authors make and how you
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publishers, literary agents, self-publishing and vanity publishers before
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• Why co-authoring a book can double your chances of getting published.
• The correct royalty percentage that every author should be paid,
so you don’t get paid less than what you deserve.
• Why hiring the right vanity publisher almost guarantees your book will be published, but the wrong
one can send you broke. Learn where to find the
credible ones.
• Should you self-publish your book? Discover
the pros and cons about publishing and
self-publishing before you make this vital
decision.
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And the best part is, this information is written in plain english, so you do not
need any previous book publishing experience or prior knowledge to understand it!
“Whether you are a fiction, non-fiction or even a poetry writer, Dale Beaumont
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“I’m blown-away with the amount of information being given so openly and freely.
I discovered that you don’t need years of study in publishing to get started. The
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it helps to totally eliminate the fear of publishing.”
Gaz Lowe (Author of Whispers of the Real Heart)
Whether you have already had your book rejected by a
mainstream publisher, or you have an idea but are yet to
get started…you’ll get the information you’ll need to get
into print fast!
To download your free 68-minute Audio CD and 43-page Publishing Guide
(valued at $147) today simply visit the following website…
www.GetPublishedSecrets.com
31/8/07 8:28:43 PM
Discover the amazing success
behind Australia’s leading
educational and ‘life-skills’
program for teenagers and
young adults
After six years and more than 10,000 thrilled participants in four
countries, your teenager now has the opportunity to experience
the highly acclaimed 2 1⁄2 day advanced life-skills seminar
‘Empower-U’…
•
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Do you feel that your teenager could be achieving more, but can’t seem to
get them motivated?
Do you want to give them the best education possible?
Do you want them to have every means at their disposal to live a happy,
successful and rewarding life?
Then you need to discover why thousands of parents agree that the 21⁄2 day
‘Empower U’ program is the best decision you can make for your son or daughter’s future…
In a fun, teenager-friendly environment, Dale Beaumont and Brent Williams will
reveal the very same motivation and high-achievement secrets that propel the
world’s top performers to success – and that are already working wonders for
thousands of kids across Australia. Secrets that your child will learn and apply
to their life immediately. Secrets we’ve made so simple to understand and use
that you will notice immediate improvements.
At Empower U your child will become so motivated, so focused,
and so determined to succeed that they could well become
a super-achiever in a very short time. Your child will
walk away from Empower U with total belief in their
own abilities and absolute certainty that they can
achieve anything they want. Plus, they will have
a ‘toolkit’ full of specific strategies they can use
to convert their desires into tangible, real-world
results – starting right away!
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It doesn’t matter whether your child just needs some friendly encouragement
or a total ‘attitude overhaul’, Empower U will give them the belief, tools and
strategies they need to get moving in the right direction.
“I am so glad that a friend told me about Empower U. My daughter attended
almost two years ago at the age of fourteen. She is now seventeen and more
motivated than ever. I think the most amazing thing about her experience is that
it was not just a one-off. They have supported her the whole way and that has
been just terrific.”
Peter Stacey (Father of Jessica)
“Empower U was absoultely awesome! I have never truly learned, enjoyed and
been touched by something as much as this in my whole life. I think this program
will significantly impact on my future in a positive note and I can never express
my gratitude enough.”
Sameer Chowdhury (Age 17)
“My two daughters attended the Empower U program. One excited, one sceptical.
The change in both of them is truly amazing. I am now such a big fan and I just
hope that more people take the chance on this that I did. Because then they will
see what I now see.”
Tura Lechminka
(Mother of Alana and Kathryn)
Whether it’s more motivation, improved attitude, better exam marks, a savings
plan, landing a great job, or just a more open family relationship… you will
see results fast!
To enrol your son or daughter into the next Empower U program simply
give us a call or check out our website…
Tomorrow’s Youth International
1300 732 782
www.TomorrowsYouth.com.au
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