Jürgen Vollmer´s Blog

Dear visitor:
Please find below an edited copy of one of the most interesting posts I have ever come accross (I´ll tell you at the end where I found it) on what NOT to do if you want to be successful in internet marketing – as we all want….

I have hesitated at first to post this here, because it is not my brain child, but then I decided I should publish it and let you take part in my journey to internet success once more.  So here we go…

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If you don’t want to be one of the 95% that fail this year then I suggest you not only read every word here today, but come back and read it once a week.

Let’s Begin…

It is no secret that I used to really suck at making money online. Heck, so did all the other guru’s except for maybe Frank Kern. haha

What did I do that anyone else might not have done (to finally become successful online)? I have no super powers, I didn’t get a fancy education, I’m certainly not a programming wiz, my parents aren’t rich…

I actually remember the day when the lights went on for me. I was living in Luxembourg. Back then I had one of those old computer monitors that still had the big glass round bubble as the screen.

Whats worse is my computer would just randomly shut down. So I’d be right in the middle of writing an article or trying to build a landing page and PLLLIFFT! There wen’t all my work! (I learned to press save about every 5 minutes)

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I’ve been at this game for almost 4 years now and in that time I’ve learned a tremendous amount of information. More then that though is I’ve been at it long enough to see the patterns and cycles of this industry.

The day the lights went on for me I remember thinking “That’s it, the answer is right under my nose. The “Guru’s” have practically been yelling it from the top of their lungs, but I’ve been ignoring them thinking there must be something more.”

I guess in a sense, as funny as it sounds, I was once looking for the magical secret also. I didn’t want to hear about basics and fundamentals and starting slow to work my way up. I wanted to hear “press this button together with this button and when you go outside there will be stacks of cash in your mailbox!”

But in that weird moment of clarity I all of a sudden GOT IT. It’s totally possible back in those days that I may have been under the influence of something, and maybe that’s what that moment of clarity was.

Anyhow, that’s the day I started to listen and this is what I heard…

Don’t Chase That New Shiny Ball

If you want to fail at making money online the best way to do it is just get invloved in every new product or money making method you hear about. In fact if you really want to get good at failing you should sign up to every marketers list, buy every product you think looks good, and try to do each concept you hear about.

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO FAIL you should choose very carefully who you allow into your life. When I first learned this lesson I unsubscribed from all but 3 email lists. I then only listened to what those 3 people had to say. This ties into the next part of the formula for failure…

Yellow Belts Can’t Kick Anyone’s Ass

When I first started out online I was trying everything. I mean the “guru’s” told me they worked; so who was I to think they didn’t. And I wasn’t making money from the last one I tried so I might as well try something else. In that thinking was my demise.

If you want to fail at making money online this year then you should try every technique you hear about for two weeks only, then move onto the next one. But IF YOU DON’T WANT TO FAIL then you should pick just one money making strategy and stick to it until you are an expert in that strategy.

Strategies That Work:
Affiliate Marketing
Information Marketing (having your own products)
Website Flipping
Blogging
Stock Market Investing
Real Estate (yes, even in this economy)
Service Selling
Software Licensing
Consulting
And many more

It’s just like playing any sport. If you tried playing each sport for just two weeks you wouldn’t be good at any of them, however, if you practiced one sport everyday for 6 months you just might start to get really good at that sport. Again this ties into the next part and touches back on that last part of the formula…

Even Tiger Woods Has A Coach

Once you pick which money making strategy you will become an expert at you must find a mentor or coach. Before I landed my internship with Russell I was barely making any money at all. Within 3 weeks of gaining him as my mentor I quadrupled my income. Less then a year later he directly had a part in me having my first 5 figure day.

I’m man enough to admit that it’s 100% of Russell’s teachings that I now make over 6 figures per year and on my way to 7 figures. Could I have done it all myself, probably, but NO WHERE NEAR AS FAST.

I got lucky, very lucky, in how I landed Russell as my mentor. However, I believe that ANYONE could still do it if they approached him with the same attitude that I approached him with.

Since Russell, I have picked up a few other mentors and I didn’t get lucky these times. This time I had to work my way in and pay my way in. It’s worth it though because having these mentors is the fastest way for me to reach the next levels of succes. Along with helping me steer clear of costly mistakes.

If you want to fail at making money online then I suggest you try to do everything on your own, don’t make any sacrifices, don’t pay for any educational material, and never make compromises.

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO FAIL then I suggest you find a mentor as quickly as possible. Make sure they are already doing what you wish you were doing both physically and financially. You might have to pay your way in, you might have to work for free, and you might have to kiss some butts. It’ll be worth it though!

Don’t Sell Sand In A Desert

If I came up to you and told you what would be better to sell in a desert either sand or water what would be your answer? I hope you said water!

The reason you answered water instead of sand is because you already know that people in a desert most likely don’t need more sand but they’ll almost always need some more water. It’s the same thing with trying to sell products as an affiliate or product owner or service seller.

You first have to know what your market wants. If you don’t already know then you need to do the research. Here are a couple ways I do my research and what information i’m looking for in my markets.

1.) Grow some courage and just start asking people that you think are your target customers then write down the information they give you.

2.) Create a survey with something like SurveyMonkey.com and offer a very valuable incentive in exchange for people to answer your survey. To get people to your survey you can either pay for traffic with something like Google Adwords or pay someone to let you email your survey to their list of subscribers.

3.) Go to quantcast.com, compete.com, or google.com/adplanner and look up sites in your market. These sites will tell you lots of information about who the people are that visit the sites you are researching.

Minimum Information You Need:

What age group is your target audience?
What gender is your target audience?
What race is your target audience?
What income level is your target audience?
Where do they hang out online?
What fears do they have?
What are their biggest common problems?
What do they like to buy?
Do they like to buy online or offline?
How fast is their Internet connection?
What emotion is causing them to want to buy?
What emotion will they feel when they buy?

If you want to fail at making money online then ignore these questions, never do any research, and just make guesses at what people want to buy. If you want to fail just sell them what you think they want instead of what they know they want.

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO FAIL then do your research first. Get answers to those questions and create a character out of that information you collected. Give that character a name and think about what a day i ntheir life is like. Close your eyes and really pretend you are that person – What do they drive, whats their house look like, where do they work, what do they do for fun, what upsets them?

If you don’t want to fail then you need to know without a doubt what will help your target audience and then give them the solution in exchange for a fair price.

For example my niche is the make money online niche. Here’s my target audience profile…

Age: 45
Gender: Male w/Fast Growing Female Audience
Race: Non-specific but majority of caucasian and asian
Income: $500 – $800/week – $3,000/month – $30,000 per year
Online Hot Spots: Twitter, Facebook, WarriorForum, WealthyAffiliate, Squidoo, Ezinearticles
Fears: Programming, Breaking the Computer, Public Speaking, Making Mistakes, Public Embarrassment
Common Problems: Lack of Focus, Information Overload, Trust, Technical Skills
Likes to Buy: Coaching, Step-by-step videos, Traffic, Dreams
Buy Online or Off: Majority has online Paypal accounts for instant online purchasing
Internet: Majority Has Invested In Broadband Connection Speeds
Before Purchase Emotions: Hope, Freedom, Fear, Fatigue
After Purchase Emotions: Pride, Invincibility, Hope, Independence

By knowing this information it’s easy for me to sell my membership site which offers coaching, community, step by step videos, and tools to make their life easier. When I add on a 30 day trial for only $1 (paid online), show what´s inside, and provide testimonials – It’s like selling water to a man who’s just crawled 3 days across the Sahara desert.

You can do this in any niche, you just have to be willing to do the research. If you need help with it, we would love to hold your hand and walk you through your first time. Just contact us in our forum.

You know the formula for failure now, just make sure you stay out of it and you should be fine. Again, yes I am offering my product as a solution, because it is, but I could not be more genuine about what i’ve said in this blog post.

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With this ends the edited copy from http://www.thesiteflingmafia.com.

I do hope you find this useful and that is why I have posted it here for all my visitors to see. I for one have learnt my lesson now and I shall take action on it NOW! Maybe you should do the same.

To your success!
Jürgen

P.S. I am not in any way associated with thesiteflingmafia.com, I only posted this to help you avoid some of the mistakes others made (me included).

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Dear visitor,

Due to an enormous increase in spam comments to my blog I decided to change the settings.

From now on only registered users can leave a comment on any of the posts here….

I am sorry for this complication, but it was a necessary step I had to take to bring down and hopefully avoid the increasing number of spam messages I received recently.

Please understand and register if you would like to comment.
Thank you!

Jürgen

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You might rember that I announced on New Year´s Day to sit down and make my plan for the year ahead.
OK, it´s done!!

Well, it took me quite some time to define my goals based on my inner self and what I really want in life. I can assure you, this is not an easy task, but I think I have finally managed.

I shall not reveil the result of my contemplation here, but you can rest assured that you will see more of me on the internet this year, and it will be a success story!

So, for now, lets leave it at this and if you want to know more, you will have to come back here more often from now on.
(Yes, you got it: this will generate more acitivity and traffic on this blog and that can only be to everyone´s advantage. First piece of my plan reveiled…)

Thank you for your visits and all the best to everyone who cares to come here and read.
Good success and a very happy year 2009 to all!

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I stumbled over Robert Allen´s method called “Multiple Streams of Income” a few days ago. The interesting bit here is that Robert actually was able to prove on a live TV show that his method would make anyone at least $24,000 in 24 hours.

He actually “failed” and did not make $24,000. Instead he made over $94,000!

And this was broadcast live on TV… Now you can get access to this proven method again by going to this link:  http://tinyurl.com/SteadyIncome.

You can also use the link to you right in the Juergen recommends column, if you prefer.

One word of caution though: Unfortunately this is only available to our friends in the United States, in Canada, and in the United Kingdom. Lucky you…

Please come back here and let us know how you are doing with this method.

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Unfortunately I missed the last coaching session with Maria Andros as guest speaker and the challenging subject of “video marketing”. Thursdays are out for me due to other obligations,  so I was able to connect to the webinar just 3 minutes before Maria had to go…

I can only hope that Alex will put the recorded version up for viewing and downloading VERY SOON, as he startetd a new challenge for us and I will be lagging behind.

I hope that the schedule go back again to our “normal” Tuesday and Friday sessions. That would put me in a better starting position than now…

OK,  had to get this thought out and now “forward to basics” again!

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Think and Grow Rich, the famous book by Napoleon Hill, published in 1937, was a bestseller in his days and it still is worth every minute spent reading it today.

Quoted from Wikipedia:
“Napoleon Hill (October 26, 1883–November 8, 1970) was an American author who was one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal success literature. His most famous work, Think and Grow Rich, is one of the best-selling books of all time. Hill’s works examined the power of personal beliefs, and the role they play in personal success. “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve” is one of Hill’s hallmark expressions.  How achievement actually occurs, and a formula for it that puts success in reach for the average person, were the focus of Hill’s books.”

If you want a copy of this famous book in pdf format, please go over to the right into the area named “Juergen recommends” and simply click the link to read it online, or right click on the link and safe the book to your hard drive.

There are quite a few clips on YouTube on this subject.  This is one I found particularly interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooh0o0hXGow

Brought to you courtesy of yours truly…

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This is the first day of the year 2009 and I have to fulfil a promise I made to myself last year…

Alex Jeffreys taught us to carefully plan ahead and then work off your plan. On my to do list there are still a few items to tick off, but the most important of them is to let my readers get some insight in what happened so far on my journey to internet success with Alex.

As you know, I am one of about 500 students of Alex Jeffreys and I have been lucky enough to find Alex´s coaching offer. Without too much hesitation I took that opportunity and registered for the program. Our first session took place on 24 November, or to be precise, for me it already was the 25^th of the month! The session was scheduled and started at 6PM EST. As I live in Gibraltar, the last British overseas territory (formerly called colony) in Europe, this meant midnight for me…

My first impression of our mentor was very positive and it has been confirmed over and over again in the session which followed. Alex is a young internet marketer who shares with us all his failures and successes of his own career in that arena, and he does it with passion and patience, excitement and cool reason. He always over-delivers on his promises and he has set us on the right path to success in internet marketing.

“Forward to Basics” was the motto of the very first session and Alex opened our eyes on the necessity of building a solid basis for the business, whereas many others claiming to know the “secrets” of internet marketing still want you to believe that it only takes a few simple steps and the millions will start pouring into your account.

True, the ultimate aim will always be to sell products. But why should people buy from me rather than the friendly competition? People will buy from other people whom they trust and from whom they have received something a value before. So, it is very important for a beginning marketer to build that trust, to create an image, a brand with your name on it, and what better argument can you get than associate yourself with another person who already has earned that trust and the confidence of your future customers?

This is why we are all proud to say that we are students of Alex Jeffreys, who in turn has Mike Filsaime as a mentor, and is associated with Michael Cheney, Jason James, Andrew Fox, just to name a few of the better known names of the trade.

Before my thoughts start to wander off and to drift away from my promise to tell you where I stand today, here is a short summary of what I have learnt and done so far:

 

We studied the importance of planning ahead, using mindmapping as  technique, learnt how to set up our first internet page, called a squeeze page, using autoresponders like Aweber.com to capture the names and email addresses of visitors by giving away a valuable eBook for free, setting up a blog as a personal diary and as something of value to attract people looking for help, advice, or consolation, and offering advice, help and consolation by sharing our very own experience and ideas, knowledge and skills with the internet community.

As this is the basic means today to build trust and to offer valuable information, a blog can be the key to success of failure in this business. If it is used mostly for sending people to other pages where they are offered some products or services to buy, a blog will not survive such pimping and dry out over time.

Instead, people want to find useful, funny, even personal information there, so that they get a better idea of who the person behind a business really is. Ultimately they will by from a person, not an internet page. That illustrates how important you as the person behind the pages really are.

You should therefore always be willing to learn, to share and to give freely – and the money will follow you…

 

After setting up the squeeze page for a “profit pulling platform” (a product give to us by Alex), linking it with Aweber.com and PayPal, it was time to find ways to drive traffic to that page, and a very good way to do that is your blog. Active membership in so called social media like twitter or facebook, will help to boost the number of visitors to your blog and thus to build a list of subscribers to your first mailing list.

 

Today I can say that I am still lagging behind many of my fellow students, but I have a working blog, a squeeze page and profit pulling platform set up, I am an active member of twitter.com and of facebook and I am looking back to many years with failed attempts and two months with success coming my way.

 

Thank you, Alex! Thank you to all fellow students and to all visitors.

 

Please follow my development also next year, as there are exciting things ahead.

I wish you all a Happy New Year in sound and stable health, with lots of love and friendship, peace and success. Always remember: the most important things in life cannot be bought for money, they have to be earned by generosity, giving, caring and loving others.

Gibraltar, 1 January 2009

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Tonight I have started reading the book by Timothy Ferris entitled “The 4-Hour Workweek” and I am intrigued by his fresh approach to an old problem: how to work less, have more time to do the things you like, and still make more money.

He has his own website for you to explore here: http://fourhourworkweek.com/

P.S.
Next step for me will be a summary of my journey so far. I should have done that some time ago, but due to the various troubles I had to go through it is still on top of my To Do list.

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As an addition to the post about my problems with the trojan some time ago, I found another tool to help prevent this happening in the future.

It is freeware (with an upgrade possibility for more features) and it works just great.  You can get it here for free: http://tinyurl.com/8j7k37

I installed the program and let it scan my system. It came back with 4 severe threats (”Krotten AU Trojan”, “Netspy Keylogger”, “PC Police Keylogger”, and “Advanced Windows Password Recovery”) and 17 low risk infections, most of them cookies.

I bought a licence and got rid of all malware found. That gives me the reassurance that my system will not be down again because of those critters…

Hope this will help others to avoid the hair raising experience I had to go through.

Merry Christmas to all!

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