20 Things To-Do Today
1) Write general sales letter for products which can be modified for all my products.
2) Create squeeze page for sales letter, this will be used for my blog (which I believe there is a squeeze page plugin for) but I also need it for other non-WordPress sites so I need to get a script for them.
3) Learn how to integrate aWeber with 1ShoppingCart. And 1ShoppingCart with aMember.
4) Do a test product; squeeze page, sales page, email capture, product sale, thank you auto responder.
5) Sign up for Co-Reg and add it to thank you email. Also look in to other ways to use Co-Reg.
6) Setup eBay store.
7) #Take picture of myself for my Twitter background (and for future promotional use).
8. Customize YouTube page.
9) Look into making Facebook page “business only” and further customize BusinessBuzz group.
10) Go through other social & bookmarking sites and customize when possible; Meetup, Delicious, Digg, LinkedIn, MySpace, Yahoo360, Tagged, Friendster, Live Journal, Dailymotion, Pounce.
11) Test Ping.fm for updates of all sites.
12) Do a uStream live broadcast test.
13) Look into daily goal setting/tracking system (look into Achieve Planner software)
14) Do post relating to raising money for charity – get ideas & input from visitors re: what charity, how to donate, how to keep track of donations, etcetera.
15) Look into better blog theme (maybe Studiopress theme)
16) Get most recent aMember upgrade.
Completed goals will have a # next to them
How I’m going to make 1 million dollars in 1 year… here’s my plan
Or should I say the beginning of the plan… the actual plan will surely reveal itself over the course of the year.
1) Monitization: Build PremiumCourses.com website. This site will be based on PHPLinkDirectory script which I am now (after playing with it for months now) am fairly familier with. I will create hundreds (maybe thousands) of products such as audio CD’s, DVD’s, Reports etcetera. Products will only be created after an order has been placed. In this way I won’t waste any time marketing a product that no one wants. Products for sale, after they have been created will then be repackaged together as higher price-point products at a later time. So if I have sold 3 CD’s called “Internet Marketing for Your Small Business”, “How to Grow Your Business”, and “Building Your Email List” I may then create one or 2 more CD’s to tie them all together. I can then accompany them with a transcript & workbook & maybe even a DVD and call the package “Business Building Workshop” I just go a 1ShoppingCart.com account & an AWeber account but have not had time to really sink my teeth into these products yet.
2) Marketing: I will use this blog in addition to my CashHarness.com site to generate interest. My CashHarness site will have links to different audio, video & PDF’s about making money. Actual categories will be created as I go, but will consist of things like; Internet Marketing, Multi-Level Marketing, Using social networking sites to market your products, Sales & Selling Tactics, Brand Building etcetera. In addition to posting other peoples media links, I will also post my own in prominant positions throughout the site. I will also be the only one running banners on the site. Banners will link to PremiumCourses.com product pages. CashHarness is up and running right now with a few links, it’s also PHPLD site. I originally created the site as an Adsense site but it would benefit me more running my own product ads on it. I will also run banner ads on this blog when time permits.
I have also begun looking into marketing with Twitter, Facebook & other social networks. I’m learning as I go. I’m installing Seesmic now… to manage multiple Twitter accounts. I also just got my www.CartoonMe.com picture for my avatar… let me know what you think: http://twitter.com/businessquest I did have to touch the picture up a bit though… still, not bad for 5 bucks.
Until next time…
Just got my Twitter account
I started using Twitter today… about 5 hours ago to be exact. My intention is to build a huge Twitter follower base quickly. As of right now I am following 268 peoples & have 77 followers me: https://twitter.com/businessquest
Found a great post about several great Twitter apps here: http://www.smbceo.com/2009/03/25/top-27-twitter-applications/ more on this later after I have played with some of these apps more.
I’ve been trying to find a product that will build me a huge Twitter list fast. Tweepme cost $12.95 https://www.tweepme.com/ I will look into it.
Products
Test product sales page
Action Steps Towards Personal Development
Here’s a list of activities I will implement to improve my life and move my business forward:
20 things: I will create a sub-category called “20 Things” in which every morning I will try to list 20 ideas that will make my day better & more productive. Meaning, ways to achieve goals, save time, make money, save money, generate business ideas, and spend quality time with family. With 20 Things I will try to come up with 20 new ideas, that I have not thought of before. This may mean that some days I will only come up with three or four ideas, that’s to be expected. By applying 20 things daily, it will become another tool in my “CANEI” (Constant And Never-Ending Improvement) toolbox. I will update this area daily. I may combine 20 Things along with other Action Steps, or maybe I should make them all sub-categories to this one, Self Improvement.
Journal: I will begin a journal writing in it every night before going to bed. I will then transcribe the Journal into the “Journal Category” of this blog. I will do this daily. History has shown that I have a great deal of difficulty journaling at night, or doing anything at night for that matter. By the time I get home at night, eat, play with my son, give him a bath, read to him etc. I usually get to bed too late as it is. Getting this done daily may be a challange.
Self Improvement: I will create sub-categories to Self Improvement (this category) that will chronicle daily steps towards improvement. These will include things like speed reading training, typing, eye exercises, and whether I have been applying actions and behaviors consistent with my life goals.
Speed Reading: I will increase my reading speed by using one or more speed reading software programs. The one I have now is EyeQ. I have owned it for I about two years now but I have never used it daily and have not reaped any benefits from it as a result. There is another program called Rocket Reader which works slightly differently than EyeQ and I may decide to try it if I don’t see any results with EyeQ within the next 4 to 6 weeks. I will do this & document it daily.
Typing: So far this page has been written using Nuance’s “Dragon Naturally Speaking 10″ voice recognition/transcription software. I’m a very slow typist, I will use “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing” which I have also owned for over a year but have not used it consistently to reap any rewards from it. Right now I can probably type 12 to 15 words per minute, using the hunt and peck method. My goal is to reach 65 words per minute within six months. I have great faith in the software, I know I can achieve this goal. I will do this & document it daily.
Eye Exercises: I have problems with my eyes holding focus on my computer screen. I need to strengthen my eyes doing my eye exercises which have been prescribed by my doctor. I have not been doing them but need to begin to daily. I will do this & document it daily.
Carry Notecards: I will begin carrying 3 x 5 notecards in my back pocket every day. This way I can write down thoughts and ideas wherever I am. I will do this daily.
Car Notepad: I need to get a notepad for my car, one that attaches to the dashboard or sticks to the windshield. This way when I’m in my car I have someplace to write down ideas. I will buy this today & do it as needed.
Act Successful: I need to act like this successful person I will become. As a result of acting this way this trait will manifest and become part of me. If acting like a failure breeds failure, then acting like a success will breed success. Success is the result of a great attitude, not the other way around. I will apply this daily.
Service: How can I increase my service today. How can I serve others, my goals, ideas, and money must serve a higher cause. I must move through my days in service, service to my family and friends, as well as everyone I come in contact with (as much as possible). By giving myself to others, I get the pleasure and joy of doing so. “As you sow so shall you reap” My rewards will equally match the service I have given to others. Also, I will serve my customers better than anyone. I will apply this daily.
The Most Important Person: I will treat every person I come in contact with as the most important person I have ever met. By treating people this way, it will help me connect with others while helping me come out of the shell I tend to keep myself in. Treating others poorly is a weakness, my weakness. treating others with respect shows strength. I will apply this daily.
Talking About Problems: I will not talk about my problems with people who can’t solve them.
Overcoming Problems: I can’t escape my problems by running away from them, I can only conquer them by confronting them.
Thoughts: I will make sure my thoughts are always constructive and positive. When I have negative thoughts, I will write down the opposite/positive version of that thought on a note card. I will do this daily.
Limits: I will proceed through life as if limits don’t exist, because they don’t. What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
Success: Success lyes in the journey towards a worthy goal. We are happier pursuing our goals, then achieving them. Move like a ship with a router, making small adjustments as you go. And Enjoy the journey. Once a goal is achieved – set new goals.
Reasons for this Blog
I’m broke, I have a family to support, I may lose our home within the year if I don’t make big changes now. The big idea, make $1 million in one year. USP – the goal, make $1 million in one year, can he do it. Can you? I’m using this project as a tool to better my life and my family’s life. Why 1 million in one year? With impotent goals come impotent results.
Reasons for this blog:
Accountability, I can’t think of a better way to hold myself accountable, than to share my journey with the world.
Keeping everything, my goals, progress, thoughts, journal, action steps etc., in one place, this blog.
Structure-people strive for structure; work, church, bedtime, mealtime, school, where they get their coffee every morning, these things all provide structure people’s lives. This blog give structure to my endeavors and to some extent my life.
This blog will also more easily help me connect with kindred spirits – the give and take, and the knowledge gained through sharing.
For added accountability, put my personal journal and to do lists on the blog. What makes me think that I can earn $1 million in one year starting with nothing?…. elaborate.
Ways to make money-Google ad words, banner ads, create products; e-books, CDs, DVDs, subscription sites, affiliate networking (offering my products to affiliates as well as me selling other people’s products as an affiliate), create a course in the book about my journey – making $1 million in one year. I can do expert interviews and create products out of them.
People create a great product, marketed for a week or a month, then move on. Instead – put more work on your marketing of the product than you did building the product in the 1st place. If you can make money after sending out 1000 e-mails to your opt in list what would it take to double your opt in list therefore being able to send out 2000 e-mails. If you’re able to double your opt in list from 1000 to 2000, how hard would it be to go from 2000 to 4000? If you build five squeeze pages (or squeeze sites which is now required due to search engine optimization restrictions imposed by the larger search engines), why not build 10? If 1 makes you money 2 make you more. What’s the easiest way to double your sales? Double the time you spend in contact with or speaking with qualified customers.
It is said that content is king, it is not. Good content with a poor headline will not get read. Poor content with a great headline most likely will, therefore, perceived content is king. The book will sell for $25-create DVD seminar out of that book with the same content and you can sell it for anywhere between $97 and $1000 depending on how you have packaged and marketed the product.
When creating products, create them with good structure. Even more importantly when marketing your product, relay how your product will create structure and help organize your customer’s goals and how your product will move them towards their goals. Self-help courses and books bring with them the hope of structure regardless of whether they actually deliver, the potential is there.
My bookshelf is full of great unread books and courses which were purchased based on their potential knowledge. I have gotten e-books and audio courses for free and have paid hundreds of dollars for others. The value of the content does not necessarily match the dollar value of each product purchased. I paid for the potential knowledge, not for the actual content that I received.
People look for and want good news and hope. Give it to them.
I’ve been trying for half of my life to make money for the sake of making money, it doesn’t work. At least it doesn’t work for me. I need to play the game for the fun of the game. If I try to work for the end result which is money, it won’t happen for me. At some point even if I make money it will all come crashing down. In the end I’ve arrival lose my money or I will waste a large portion of my life doing something I don’t enjoy doing, or both.
When writing copy or creating products don’t lose sight of what your customers looking for don’t get hung up on your own agenda. Give them what they want.
Don’t become complacent. If you become comfortable, you’re not moving forward.
When I write goals I need to write them in the positive tense. If I plan on doing seven things this week and only do one I will celebrate that I even did one when I had only done zero the week before. If I do 2 the next week then three the following etc. I will be doing seven per week in seven weeks and seven per day in 52 weeks. Therefore if I beat myself up for only accomplishing one that first week, I would never make it to the point where I was doing 49 of those things per week, by the end of the first year.
Products-finish designing marketing courses membership site-search for different subcategories re: marketing for massage therapists etc.-I can do hundreds of these specific types of sites using the same backend site content for instance I could market working for massage therapists and have a squeeze site which directs them to the massage therapists homepage which is nothing more than a copy of my generic homepage that I will be using for all of the sites, only modified. This homepage will link to all the areas of the main membership site. However once they land inside of the main membership site there’ll be no home link to bring them back to the original landing page which in this case looked like the homepage of the membership site – it wasn’t, just a façade.
I will also create a membership site for discovering your ideal career path. At least for now it will start out as a membership site, as I build this site I will determine if I want to turn it into a software product which I may be able to develop myself or pay someone else to do. This site will contain numerous helpful links regarding career development, it will also have a personality type program or will have links to other online personality programs for now.
The program will somehow allow people to enter their personal pertinent information which, when the process is completed, will spit out some kind of report, which, for the most part will just reiterate the information they have already discovered and have entered, but the summary will give it to them in a more coherent way. This site will be self discovery tool.
Think about other self discovery tools which would be helpful for people, and could be developed into some sort of membership site or software product.
Think about creating goals solution software products or membership sites for things like marketing a business for instance.
I Need to Begin with Goal Setting
Before I get ahead of myself – I need to begin with goal setting:
Goal Setting – It’s My Business: Goal setting is not something I will do when I have free time. Goal setting needs to be at the core of who I am, it needs to be the framework in which I construct my life and my business. I need to be in the business of goal setting. If I’m in the business of goal setting everything I do each day will be driven not by the small interruptions that I face throughout the day, but by the goals I have constructed for myself that day.
Where to start – I need to create some comprehensive system to organize my daily and weekly goals. Right now I have a lot of disorganized thoughts and theories about how I should go about organizing my life and my goals. For now I will start trying to assemble these theories by trying to apply them daily, and see which ones stick. There’s a lot of information out there on goal setting, I couldn’t possibly apply all of these ideas, but I need to begin somewhere. A walk-through test is the best way for me to get this done. For now I’ll create a separate page on this blog for each goal setting and personal development idea I would like to put into practice. I will create a Goals page to chronicle and share my short & long term goals.
