Before you get too concerned I should point out that luckily it was a remote controlled helicopter and no passers by were injured although the cat has taken to living in a cardboard box.

The terminal failure was cause by a very small screw working itself loose. I suspect that it was the cheapest part of the whole helicopter, yet it turned out it was one of the most important and something I’d never given a moments thought to.

Not once did I think, “I’d better check that really important small screw isn’t loose”

If I had I would still have helicopter in one piece and not one that looks like it was designed by Picasso.

Aaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnddddddd your internet business is a lot like my Helicopter only as strong as the weakest part.  (do you see what I did there!)

We can all spend hours every week making sure that our business is working well but if you overlook one small thing then you could open yourself up to potential disaster.

Last week, I found that due to my own stupidity the signup boxes for 500 buyers that you see in the sidebar and below this post weren’t working and I hadn’t noticed it (it wasn’t a good week all round was it).

I usually get 10-20 signups per day from those and they had been down for over a week it doesn’t sound like much but take into account the lifetime value of subscribers and it could add up to a 4 or 5 figure loss over time.

It doesn’t matter that I have multiple backups of the site, a resilient server, protection against hackers and the best conversion tracking money can buy..if I don’t pay attention to the stuff that matters.

The point of this post is to point out the need to know what your priorities are. At the moment mine is generating traffic and subscribers. I should have made sure that everything was in place and working properly on a daily basis.

I’ve now complied a check list of what I need to check everyday, and I urge you to do the same.

What’s the most Important thing in your business?

If you are relying on AdSense then you need to ensure that the ads are running on your sites everyday.

If it’s affiliate marketing then make sure that the links are still working everyday.

If it’s list building make sure that your signup boxes work and that people are getting access to what they signed up for.

It’s great knowing you have a 30% open rate but pointless if you aren’t getting new signups.

Focus on the small things it’s the stuff most likely to hurt your business if you get it wrong. It’s all well and good having backups of your sites but if they have a fundamental flaw then the backups mean nothing.

Look after the small things and the big things generally will fall into place

Do you know what the most important part of your business is?

Finally a Quick Word about No BS Listbuilding

We are closing the WSO for No BS Listbuilding tomorrow and starting to sell it from a self hosted platform. This is your last chance to get it at under $10.  Since the launch we have added new ideas and methods and intend to continue supporting it.

We have an active members Facebook group where we pass on advice tips and answer members questions.

With over 1100 sales it’s one of my most successful products  Click here To Check it Out

They both had valid points but Ryan Lee in particular made some sweeping statements. Most WSO’s are garbage,  Most WSO’s don’t work etc.

In the past I have done a fair bit of WSO bashing myself and I do think there are fundamental flaws in the system and that the quality should be controlled a little better.

However WSO’s do have a place in the IM market.And they are not all ripoff’s or crap products.

When I came into the business 9 years ago $37 or $47 was pretty much the entry level price for a lot of products. My first ever purchases were $77 for access to a forum and $97 on some site building software.  That level of pricing excluded many people from entering into IM.(I know some people who think thats not a bad thing)

It’s all well and good saying that all WSO’s are crap and having a link to you $495 coaching course at the bottom of the post like Ryan did but many people can’t afford that. Even if they did the coaching he is offering might not be suitable for them at this stage of their online career. If they can’t build a blog, do research or build empathy then they’ll fail no matter how good the methods taught are..

How can you learn the basics without spending a fortune?  By buying WSO’s or joining Forums when’re you’ll be able to learn from other peoples experiences.

The fact of the matter is that Most WSO’s aren’t crap, there is some great software that was initially launched as WSO’s in order to get feedback and find what improvements people would like.

There are solid money making methods released as WSO’s everyday that work… Everyday you can learn how to build lists, drive traffic and write articles that convert for less that $10 tell me that not a good thing!

But you need to put the work it.

Too many buyers purchase WSO’s with the attitude that if I don’t like the method I’ll refund it.

Whatever happened to Personal responsibility?

Learn to spot good WSO’s from bad WSO’s If you aren’t sure what the product is don’t buy it. Check the history of the vendor, check their posts out do they add value to the forum or just sell stuff?  Have a look at their previous products … are they launching their 4th bit of software in 6 weeks.. if so that should set alarm bells ringing.

Research before you buy!

I got a refund request today that said “this isn’t for me”  when I asked why he bought it the answer was “I was curious!”

I ask again whatever happened to personal responsibility?

If I buy a product and I don’t like the method I don’t immediately ask for a refund, I bought it based on what I perceived the product to be , if the sales page was accurate but I decided that the methods don’t suit my style of marketing thats down to me.

If you look for the refund policy on a product before you buy then you probably shouldn’t buy it.  WSO’s and IM products aren’t  “Try Before You Buy” products. If you are looking for a magic button you will be disappointed so don’t buy products that sound too good to be true.

Take every screenshot of earnings with a pinch of salt.. they can be faked and some will be.

If you want to learn to do something specific then look for case studies, also look for on going training.  When we launched No BS Listbuilding last week (WSO of The Day April 27th..  Hey, if it’s good enough for Ryan Lee to promote his products in his post I am happy to learn from him   )we deliberately added a Facebook group so we can continue to help the buyers over the long term.

 How can The WSO system be Improved?

What everyone seemed to overlook is that the purchase of a product is a 2 sided affair and that both sides of the transaction have to take a certain level of responsibility. The following ideas just seem like commonsense to me, I can’t see them being implemented as the Warrior Forum is a business.

I believe that fundamentally the whole system of WSO’s is pretty sound but there can be simple changes made that will make it better for both vendors and buyers.

For example, every product should have a proper help desk and not just an email address, support should be the vendors number 1 priority.

When vendor’s publish their first WSO that product should be thoroughly  reviewed and checked including any income claims to ensure it’s of a good quality, suggestions should be made for improvements if necessary.

There should be a minimum post count before you can post a WSO

Quality checking should be done on a daily basis to 20% of all products.

No comments allowed in threads from newly registered accounts or accounts with duplicate IP addresses

All reviews posted should be accompanied by some sort of proof of purchase.

A central registry should be established where vendors can list refunders, serial refunders should then be blocked from purchasing.

Ok thats it from me .. now over to you. I want your views and your ideas.

If you are one of the people unlucky enough to have been hacked you’ll know how much of a problem it can be.

It’s not just the problem of restoring access to your blog, you may have to scan it for malware so that google and various browsers don’t block access to it.

You may get extra bandwidth fee’s,  This blog was taken down last week not by being hacked but by the attempt, it used up a months bandwidth in about 14 hours. Luckily I have my own server so I could adjust it as soon as i knew about it.  Hackers were using a brute force method of trying the Username Admin with a millions of different passwords.

If i’d have had a limit to the number of attempts in place they wouldn’t have been able to even try to access the blog continually

You can secure your blog very easily and block the 5 most common hacking methods

1 Change Your username

DO NOT use Admin as your username  anything is better, so if you log in using admin go and change it immediately

 2. Change the database prefix

Most wordpress installations use the prefix wp_ for each database, because of this it’s something that hackers can exploit. Change your prefix to something random

 3. Remove the WordPress version Number..

If a hacker knows what version you are using he knows the vulnerabilities, removing the version number stops him targeting specific exploits

 4. Change the login page

If a hacker knows that everyone uses the same login page then he knows where to attack. On the other hand If everyones is different he once again is at a disadvantage

 5. Set a maximum number of login attempts.

If i’d have done this last week then my site wouldn’t  have been down. Once set you  after 5 attempts the site it locked down for 30 minutes

Making these changes will help to protect you against many types of hacking, it’s the same as protecting against burglars if your house is well protected they will go elsewhere and look for easier targets. Very few hacking attempts are directed against specific sites . Hackers tend to cast a wide net and then target the areas they know they can exploit.

If You are a technophobe then you are probably having palpitations now.. never fear…

The video below shows you how I protected a blog in under 2 minutes if you can use a mouse you can secure your site.

Read More About Securing Your Blog – Click here

Solo ads seem to be the flavor of the month for list builders which is strange because 9 times out of 10 they are a bad choice when it comes to building a list.

Solo ads used to be a really good way to build a list until someone realised that you could make more money from your list if you sold solo ads … Ohh OHH  see whats happening there?

People are building lists with solo ads to sell solo ads.

Solo ad cannibalism I like to call it.  The quality of the leads you get are quickly reducing as more and more people are getting onto solo ad sellers lists. Open rates of less than 1% are common on some lists. To put that into perpective I have a 4 year old list that get a 20% open rate

The problem is not just that the quality of the leads are poor and open rates atrocious it’s that the real cost of building a list with SA’s is much higher than people think

Here is how it’s portrayed.

You spend $50 and get 100 clicks, so you immediately think ok that’s only 50c a subscriber not bad.

Wrong

Of those 100 clicks you’ve paid for you might, if you are lucky, and have a great offer get 40 signups, a 40% conversion rate.

So now we are over $1 a click….it get’s worse.

Some of those signups won’t verify their email address and some will get the free report or give away and then unsubscribe.

For example last week I tested a solo ad supplier with 40 clicks for $20

It’s social media plugin that replaces the like button on your blog posts… although if you read some of the emails and blog posts I’ve read you would be forgiven in believing that it was going to change the world, cure cancer and win Arsenal a trophy.

If you don’t want to pay for it , don’t worry I’ve found a cheap/free alternative.

I’ll be testing on this blog so check it out below the video….sweet!

Check out the video below

Please share this post if you liked it, and if you are tired of all the bullshit why not check out mine and Paul Forcey’s Forum Income Igniter 

Try MoodThingy For Yourself!

Would It Need Zero Cost’s To Set Up and Run?

Would It Need Zero Ongoing Costs?

Would It Be Something That Is In Demand and  Thousands Of People Want?

If you answered yes, then please watch this 11 minute video . In it I show you exactly how to get started and get your first client.

If you found it useful please share.

Someone who has been marketing for less than 6 months etc

I disagree, in my books being a newbie is all about mindset and you you approach marketing.

If that’s the case then what separates a newbie from a more experienced marketer?

Newbies tend to focus on aspects of IM they can’t control instead of what they can control.

“Google slapped me..”

“I don’t have the money to buy that great new tool”

“This niche has too much competition.”

These are just excuses that make it easy for a newbie to say things like IM is a scam, It’s impossible to succeed, I want a refund.

Newbies believe that their ideas are correct, they’ll go into a niche build a site maybe even create a product because they know that they are right. Everything they do is guided by their own opinion.

They’ll create a product or a website and spend a month trying to get the it looking right and focus for a week on the right logo.

They foolishly believe that the site or product is their actual business. It’s not it’s an asset witin their business nothing more.

The newbie see’s the IM World in black and white, there is the product or site  and there is selling the product, and the product is the most important thing…. Wrong Wrong Wrong

You are in business the most important thing is getting paid and your focusing on what your customers want. Does a carpenter think that his hammer is the most important part of his business?

The newbie marketer builds the product they want to build, they are right they know what will sell… WRONG

Because of this focus they often ignore a product that their customers and subscribers would pay for without a second though because they know best  (I’ve been there, done that and got the limited edition t-shirt!)

My business partner Paul Forcey recently asked his buyers what features they’d like to see added to a plugin. The feedback he got gave him an idea for a new plugin.

When the site or product fails they believe it’s due to outside influences that they can’t control, it’s never the newbies fault!

Eben Pagan talks about the two areas that blind entrepreneurs from success:

1. Emotional estimation – making decisions based on emotion instead of data or truth.
2. Seeing only validation – seeing only what they did well, and ignoring what didn’t work.

Newbies are masters at both of those.

What are newbies real good at? Excuses, Excuses, Excuses,

Getting a bit uncomfortable yet?

I wonder how many people have stopped reading at this point because the truth is starting to hurt?

If it is then don’t worry.  I had to face my failing as I wrote this. After 9 years I still recognise traces of newbie in some of the things I do or more importantly don’t do.

Stop The Newbie Attitude

Here is how to stop with that newbie attitude.

Become customer focused and also treat every project as vitally important ,imagine that failure to complete it will result in total and utter disaster.  If you start a project finish it.

Don’t start another project until the previous one is finished.

Newbie Marketers will generally focus on large niches whereas successful marketers target much smaller niches that they know they can have success in.

Don’t think Niches, think Sub Niches and Sub Sub Niches

Bodybuilding (Niche)

Bodybuilding For Women (Sub Niche)

Body Building For Post Pregnancy Women (Sub Sub Niche)

You will own that niche is a few months and you can build your business from there.

You’ll have a list of women, who like fitness, body building, keeping in shape and have young children and who don’t mind paying for information.

Dude, you hit paydirt!

One other thing that newbie marketers do really well is to fail to have multiple ways of generating customers, they’ll leave it generally to word of mouth.

They won’t do most of the following:

•  Lead generation to capture an email address on their website
•   Measure their cost per lead, cost per sale, or lifetime value of a customer
•   Try to sell a product that doesn’t exist yet
•   Event based marketing like product launches or webinars
•   Joint venture promotions with complementary partners in their niche
• Seminars and Workshops

In the last week while researching this article, I’ve seen 3 product’s sold at $500 or higher that didn’t exist and that were delivered over 4 or more weeks via webinars.

How much easier can product creation be?

The Non Newbie Marketer know’s what he thinks is of no importance, his focus is on what his customer wants.

Let your customers guide you and have channels where they can tell you want they want and what they need.

Non Newbies see a niche and immediately see the problems that they can focus on, they talk to their potential clients and find out what they want.

They are customer driven.

If you want to break out of the Newbie mindset then check out Income Igniter. The $1 trial is still available at the moment

Paul and Myself are going to be bringing major changes to how we impart knowledge in the coming weeks we are planning some member only Webinars. This month we are also doing a month long Facebook domination challenge.

Also be sure to check out our Fast Implementation System, It will change the way you approach Internet Marketing

Finally if you enjoyed this post …Please share it!!

“The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.”

He was right, how many times have you made money when you abandoned a project or didn’t release a product until it was correct.

The answer to that is probably NONE!

Do you want to know how many times I’ve released a product or site that wasn’t quite perfect but still made  money… LOTS

With everyone of those products i’ve got feedback from the buyers or from testing elements and been able to improve the product.

Quite often the money i’ve made has been used to add improvements which in turn allowed that product to increase in value.

I actually don’t like to think in terms of products , I instead prefer to talk about Assets and Asset Generation.

You should be building assets quickly and then testing them out, which would you prefer to do spend 4 weeks working on a project and then find it’s not quite right for the market you were targeting or spend 4 hours?

There is 1 big secret to quickly creating assets and that is:

1 Idea = 1 Asset

Why would you create a 400 page recipe book when you can target 7 Paleo meals your family will love.

Your target market might have lots of books on a topic so they won’t buy a book that covers everything, bu they will pay for specific information.

Myself and Paul Forcey are releasing a product called The Fast Implementation System today and for the next 3 days we are giving 75% off to our subscribers and blog readers.

We explain more in the Short (20 Minute) Podcast below

DownLoad the Podcast

Read More about the Fast Implementation System

I actually like them and prefer them to the forced optins you get when you purchase a product.  (yes I know I use them but I do update my products and I hate it when you complain that you didn’t see the latest videos I added! )

The trouble is I see so many really poor ones I am starting to dispair.

Squeeze pages are simple things that only need to have 3 elements and 1 outcome.

The 3 elements are:

A Headline

Some benefits for signing up

An Optin Form

It goes without saying that the end result should be the reader uses the Optin form.

If you are lucky or a good copywriter you can get the benefits into the headline and still get 50%+ optins.

I’ve created a short report about squeeze pages which you can access by just clicking one of the buttons below , ironically no signup required!

I would also like some feedback for some research i am doing I would like you to add a link to the squeeze pages you like best in the comments section.

I know this could be open to abuse so please try to refrain from adding your own one! Pinky Promise?

I am happy to tell you those days are gone.

My focus is now coming up with ideas, doing a small bit of research and then launching the product or site as fast as possible, then and only then do I start to tweak it and refine it.

Fast Implementation and Minimum Viable products that test the market are the most efficient form of business available to you.

Every major company in the world does it to some extent.  Ever buy a computer game and then get updates and patches to fix bugs and glitches?

Many of those are known about before the launch but it makes it easier for the company to focus resources on the feedback the customers give them rather than what they think they might need.

This week I conceived, built and launched a site with a total of about  4-6 hours work.

The Idea was simple, give same day rebates on internet marketing products. The research was even simpler I asked the owner of a rebate site if the site was still profitable or had people grown tired of rebates and preferred bonus’s more.

To help drive traffic I decided to swap a like or tweet for the rebate.

A really simple idea, I am the first to admit it’s not original or unique but that doesn’t matter I can build on the basic idea over time.

I know it can be profitable if I focus on good quality products, get traffic and give great customer service.

I launched it without a logo, without fancy graphics, in fact the timeline cover on the Facebook page is truly horrendous.

None of that matters at the moment it would be like putting frills and glitter on a elephant.

The site is out there and I can now spend time getting traffic and seeing if it looks like being successful , if it is then I can spend money making it more visually appealing and having cool stuff coded.

I launched with 2 products one of which is an exclusive 50% off deal on a new product the other is a healthy rebate on the best plugin of it’s kind on the market. (you’ll have to go to the site to find out what they are )

The most important features are in place, a way for people to share the site and a way for them to subscribe and get additional discounts, and more importantly instructions telling them how to get rebates on the same day they purchase.

What more does a rebate site need?

If it flops then I’ve wasted a few hours on it and not a lot of money.

The alternative was to spend a few months on the idea and building a really cool looking site with lots of functions and features.

I could have a form on the site that people fill in and that automatically processes the rebates . It would cost time and money to implement and test.

Once there is a need for it then I can add it but for now they can send me an email, it works and it cost minutes to set up and no cost.

Try to adopt some level of fast implementation to your online business today and see how much easier IM becomes.

•  Conceive the Idea
• Do Basic Research
• Create a Minimum Viable Product
• Launch
• Tweek and Improve

Thats it, if you aren’t doing Fast Implementation then you should be!

Check out My Fast implementation Project at Viral Rebates