What If You Owned My Company?

June 7, 2009

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As most of you know by now, we’re moving back to Florida to be closer to family. I know it’s just an excuse but the “move” has had me so distracted that I can’t seem to get myself in the working mood.

However, today I pulled myself up by my britches and I’ve got a lot of news to share with you. Plus, I want to ask you what you would do if you owned my company… I need your help guys and I reward well!! ;-)

Before I get into the fun part of asking you what you would do if you owned my company I want to tell you about a very special episode of our Twenty Minute Tackle show.

Best Selling Author, Dave Lakhani, Stops By

On Tuesday June 9th at 6pm mountain (8pm Eastern) we have a very special guest dropping by our house to answer any questions you have. His name is Dave Lakhani and he is THE GUY when it comes to persuasive arts. Literally, he wrote the book on it as well as several others.

Dave is a best selling author and his books can be found in any local bookstore, Amazon.com, and I believe I’ve even seen a copy in an airport bookstore. He writes and speaks on the topics of sales, coercion, and anything related to persuading someone to do what you want them to do… Like buy your stuff!

I’ve had the pleasure of really getting to know Dave recently. It all started when I went to one of his seminars about becoming a speaker. Since that event I’ve made over $10,000 as a speaker and even landed an international speaking gig. Dave delivers the goods and you won’t want to miss him on our show this Tuesday.

We’ll be talking about his new book called “How To Sell When Nobody’s Buying” and how you can relate what he’s teaching to Internet marketing. If you have any questions about sales, copywriting, or just making more money period… Then please email them to us so he can answer your questions on the show.

What Would You Do If You Owned SiteFling?

This is really important to me and I really need your help here. This literaly has everything to do with you and little to do with me. Let me explain…

I want to make sure that whatever I’m doing whether it be my blog posts, emails, or creating products that it’s the most helpful thing I can be doing for you. So I ask you to really take a minute and think about if you owned my company with all of it’s resources, contacts, and experience…

What kind of product, service, website, anyting would you create that would help you get the most success or entertainment?

Sample Ideas We Had…

  • Re-vamping our SiteFling Mafia site into a bunch of 12 week programs that taught various Internet marketing topics like; Copywriting, Traffic Generation, Website Flipping, and Social Media
  • Creating an Amazon style directory/review site of PLR and Resale Rights products
  • Remaking the 20 best PLR and Resale rights products with professional designs, copy, and even turning them into physical products along with pre-researched marketing manuals for each
  • Creating pre-made product funnels including front-ends, upsells, autoresponder series, and backends
  • Hosting extreme mastermind groups like a Shark Fishing Mastermind Trip

Think about these examples, plus what you personally need and want. Then let us know in a comment down below what we can do for you that would help the most. If I get at least 25 comments with peoples feedback then I’ll send out a free landing page template kit that I had my designer design for me.

SiteFling 30 Day Apprentice Challenge Results

In other exciting news it’s about day 19 or 20 now in the apprentice challenge and those that are taking action and following along are starting to get results. They are now starting to see traffic coming in, visitors are opting into their autoresponders, and one has even already made $780.

There are 10 videos from our challengers talking about what they’ve learned and the results they are getting and it’s not too late to join. We have it setup so that even if you joined a year from now you would still start out at day 1 and everyday a new lesson would be sent to you.

Now is the perfect time too because all the questions have already been asked and answered in the forum. Go check out the new videos from challengers sharing their success stories.

Ok well that’s all for now, I’ve got to go help Chaunna pack up the garage. Remember to leave your comment about what you would do for yourself if you owned my company. If I get 25 comments with feedback, everybody gets a free landing pages designed by my new designer.

Go Bigger,
Justin Brooke

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  • Hi Justin,

    If I owned your company, rather than sell your android system I would package it with resell rights so that other people could set up their own sites with your information. The people that purchased the resell rights would have to be fully versed in running the system.

    I see this as being a way of taking your business up an ascension model. Rather than sell the business once, you sell it many times to other people that will then train and help other people.

    The only reason I thought of this is because I think that I could run the system too. So don't forget me just in case you decide to sell the master resell rights to the system. I could be your trial first customer. :-)

    Hope this helps,

    Kind Regards,

    Denise
  • Whatever you do, don't sell the site! I know that a site like that would easily bring you quite a bit of money but I wouldn't want someone else to manage it.
  • Hey Justin,

    Great thoughts! May be a forum embedded in the site for the visitors would add value! I see great discussions going on here!


    Lyndon

    <abbr>Lyndon’s last blog post..What is all the Mystery around Makin’ Money?</abbr>
  • Hi Justin,

    Interetsing question and great thoughts there :-) I loved all of your ideas. Have you also thought about throwing a contest for copy writing after the workshops on that.

    Take Care
    Love and Light ,
    Maggie
  • Justin as a satisfied member of the 30 Day Apprentice Challenge, I would create a product based around that theme. Actually, not even a product, more like a college. This online college would have a number of courses that walk the user through a piece of the business. For instance the 30DAC would be one of the first classes, since it helps you create the "face" of your business.

    Similar to college some of the courses would have recommended prerequisite courses. For instances. The 30DAC would lead to the next course of "creating your own product", which in turn could lead to another course "getting involved with Jv's". The recommended prereq's would hopefully prevent people from getting into a course that may be to advanced for them. It's hard to avoid losing those that lack determination, but you can definitely try to limit the losses of those that didn't know better and got into a course that was over their head.

    Most importantly, keep doing what you and Chaunna do! I can't tell you how much it meant to log into the 30Dac and actually hear you and Chaunna on video critiquing my site! Chaunna's replies in the forum were already great but this took the cake! Providing personal feedback either from you, Chaunna or somebody else you hire to those in the courses would be the "it" factor that separates your online courses from the rest.

    Best of luck!

    <abbr>Eric Transue’s last blog post..What is a Backlink?</abbr>
  • Everyone can benefit from this info. Thanks for posting this. Will subscribe to your site.
  • Wow, cool site. Thanks for posting. Really like reading sites like this.
  • Hi Justin,

    I suppose that there are a few things which you could do and some of them have been mentioned here already.

    Start an affordable membership site showing people how they can (actually) make money online.

    Joint venture with Newbies - This may be a strange concept but what about the little guy who has a great product but nobody gets to see it because the so called guru's are always releasing new products and swamping the market with rehashed crap?

    Show people how to bring traffic to their websites, forget Adwords and PPC, forget about list building, just show someone how to get their sites listed and highly placed on the search engines.

    Help the struggling masses - offer a small number of people some one on one time with you, let them watch over your shoulder. But don't charge crazy money, it needs to be affordable.

    There are people out there who bang on about their time being so valuable that they have to charge people tens of thousands of dollars for this service because the will lose money while they are showing others what to do - what a crock, most of these guys have an army of outsourced workers to do the work for them anyway, so they don't lose any money - they just feel the need that because they are well known - people will pay it.

    Ok! I seem to be rambling here (sorry)

    I suppose in essence, what ever you do should be aimed at everyone who wants to make money (no matter what their wallet size) but doesn't want to spend a fortune on learning how.

    Take it easy...


    Richard
  • Hey Justin,

    Without knowing what works best for you currently and which products give you the most revenue/output I do have a couple of ideas.

    I like Chris Jensen's suggestion with the contests. But I imagine something even bigger. If you could take all of your products and make them "Apprentice" type challenges or teaching seminars and make that your niche. Using exclusivity and pricing to drive interest and the prices up I think you could blow up that market. The affiliate dollars that are generated help subsidize and bring in recurring revenue, and with each "graduate" you get a loyal customer that comes back for every session or contest. You have a captive audience and the customers that are attracted and stick are going to be easier to keep than trying to get new customers. We all know that existing customers are where its at.

    This may seem a little off the wall, but I would even consider doing some infomercials. They are expensive, but that is an audience that would be ripe for something like this.

    I think it is important to focus, and I think with your experience and access to experts and gurus you could create a highly profitable, repeatable, recurring revenue driven business.

    Good luck and we are happy to be a part of this journey.

    Robin and Travis

    <abbr>Travis’s last blog post..<a href="http://robinandtravis.com/manstraw/">ManS... calls RobinandTravis.com its home!</abbr>
  • Tina
    Hello Justin,

    My first time posting here. You and Chaunna are the Best!! I never hit the delete button when checking my email and I see it's from sitefling. I have learned more from your site for little or no $$$ than many of the products I have bought or subscribed to in the past 2yrs. I think you should definettly
    do more challenges and contests. I personally need a swift kick in the butt and some motivation. I suffer from information overload and lack of a quiet place to work at home.

    All My Best,

    Tina
  • Justin & Chaunna, you are both simply awesome. Everyone has said it so many ways above, but I'd like to give it my own shot.

    What attracted me to sitefling was your content, but more important was your insights that slapped me in the face. For example, your blog post from 2/15/09 Formula for Failure. My face was red for days from that slap. I felt like you had been looking over my shoulder. You get it, you know how to communicate it, and you make if affordable to the working to be successful internet marketer. The second thing I loved was your accessibility. I couldn't believe when I called your number at the designated time from the Mafia that you actually answered. To me that conversation, was worth a thousand forums and emails. And it was accessible to me without a huge cash inlay.
    Now as you grow, that accessiblity has been reduced and I understand it, but I think you need to figure out how to incorporate that into anything you do.

    The 30 day challenge has really got me moving and not constantly second guessing my each and every move. I'd definitely do more items like this. Now I am 9 days behind, so I do miss out on the forums current conversations although the info left in the forums is great. The next one of these you do, you might want to take one day off on the weekends for people to play catchup or like me are not home any weekends. My daughter plays travel ball and we are gone each weekend.

    Two last points, putting together challenges where people are put into groups as I read above, where they work on each others projects is an awesome idea. I would say they get together once a week and Justin you or Chaunna get into the group (similar to one on one coaching without the huge time comittment) once every other week or once a month. This would help allow you to be accessible even as you get bigger and bigger to more people. Skype or some other technology could be used.

    The last thing I would consider is something where people can see results quickly (if they take action) and a definite focus on picking the right keywords and generating traffic. Because all these other ideas are great, (PLR, website creation, etc), but if I can't get targeted people to my website who cares if it converts & how pretty it is.

    I'm sorry this is so long...You guys rock!
  • Marlene
    Hi Justin,

    It sounds as though you are at a real crossroad in your life -- what a GREAT opportunity! I know that you are asking us what we would do with your business/site, but -- I'm curious about something: namely, what would be FUN and ENLIVENING for you to do?

    I'm glad that everyone is responding so heartily and with such varied ideas to your question. At the same time, if whatever you end up deciding is not something that creates a passionate response inside you, it will tend to be a drag on your energy ... and not serve as an inspiration for more creativity.

    So, what would I do with your site? I would read all of the ideas that have been sent in (which I KNOW you are already doing!). As I was reading them, I would pay attention inside myself for a ZING! and/or an excited exclaimer, "Wow! Now that would really be fun!" Then, I would go for that!
  • Build a series of affiliate products like--Android--. Sell one piece at a time for like $29.95.

    Then give away a series of lessons on building a website to promote your product. You could even offer free hosting to the affiliates that are promoting your product. Thus teaching your members how to build affilitate sites, getting more affiliates, and your affiliates and you make money on the deal.

    I guess this is the Travis Sago model.

    Rick

    <abbr>Rick Wordpress Builder’s last blog post..One Week Marketing for Newbies</abbr>
  • antbanks
    i know your selling the android site but it would be nice if that whole concept outsourcing with ebooks and video. that would be a nice monster course people would love to have. also May i suggest you hire a voice over to create your site fliiiiing slogan you do so well, it might be more professional. I would also be up for an outsourcing membership site, that would be cool. Are you into or what are your thoughts on this new giveaway craze
  • Justin Brooke
    Thanks for the tips we're actually under non-compete now and can't create an outsourcing course. About the voice over, I'm not really trying to sound perfeshonal ;-) Just trying to sound like me.

    Not a fan of giveaways, they just put a bunch of freebie seekers on your list. They are good for building a big list, but just not a quality one.
  • Hey Justin,
    I am currently doing apprentice challenge and I am already generating some traffic so thanks for the valuable lessons.
    What I would like to see in the future is monthly lessons with each month concentrating on a certain topic.
    For example: blog syndication topic - we would have few weeks to concentrate on the topic and once we master it we could even outsource it and move on to the next one.
    Thanks for all your help,
    Gordan

    <abbr>Gordan’s last blog post..Tell me what you need</abbr>
  • ERIC
    more on my comment above, just structured content that is easy to follow. From a beginning internet marketer (the very basics - how to buy a domain) to more advanced stuff. And keep it in an easy to follow way on a website like this so that if someone new comes in, they can start at video/post #1 and go through to post #XXX, then keep following the blog to learn more and more.
  • ERIC
    MAKE THINGS SIMPLE AND STRUCTURED
    People trying to learn internet marketing are watching all these other gurus make tons of money every day and they get all these f'd up ideas in their head. It's more simple than this.

    Build sites > Create content > Get the rankings

    That's it. Make something simple and easy to follow and people will learn.

    New IM's like me (well I'm about 9 months into it) need to keep things simple and learn more and more along the way.

    I don't know how everyone else feels, but I don't need to make a ton of money, just enough to quit the f'n 9 to 5 so I don't have to ask permission (like a damn little kid) to take a day off, or make sure I'm at a certain place at a certain time everyday. That's what it boils down to. Just being happy with my work and what i do everyday.

    Don't know if that was the question you were asking, but just my thoughts i guess.

    I also don't think that IM's should be creating products about IM. When will it stop? how much shit do you need!!? I mean, I'm making money and I use about 5 or 6 software programs and that's it. only one is recurring payments. I don't use any books, or courses, or membership sites, or any crap like that. I just create content and make sales...
  • Hi Justin,

    You guys already provide so much value as it is. I cant think of anything that could add right now. Alot of people mentioned that they wanted a ready made product funnel systems to buy. That seems like a good idea, but I would rather learn the system, step by step, just like the 30 Day Apprentice Challenge is broken down step by step.

    What really keeps me motivated is hearing the stories of how you overcame your obstacles in the past. Would love to hear more of those stories.

    Perhaps even some articles or videos on the mindset one needs to have to become a successful marketer.

    Hope your move to Florida goes smoothly.

    Peace

    Koorosh

    <abbr>Koorosh Vahabi’s last blog post..An Important Secret of Success</abbr>
  • First I just want to say I appreciate what you do. I get your posts by rss and have never come over to the site to comment but this post was such a good idea i just couldn't resist.

    I think what you guys do is probably working for you pretty well. I'm not sure if this post was sparked because you are feeling stagnant in your business or if it's because you guys have so much going on with all your different sites and products etc. that you are just trying to step back a little and get someone elses perspective.

    Whatever the reason doesn't really matter I think just posing the question and really listening to the feedback is what's cool.

    As for what I think you guys should do . . . . . I have always been a strong believer in mentoring. I have been selling mentoring programs for "Gurus" for the last 6 years. Although I strongly believe in what I sell most of the "Gurus" I have sold coaching for over the years are huge jerks!

    They only care about themselves and making as much money as possible. Hey I am all for making lots of money but some of these guys take it to the extreme. They don't care how dishonest they are as long as they make a buck.

    I won't name any names on here because I would like to keep my job but I have worked with some very big names over the last 6 years and in all that time only one or two of those "Gurus" actually cared about there students.

    So after that little rant my suggestion if you are not doing so already is to get involved in a larger scale mentoring progam. I'ts great that you guys are so willing to help people but you have a business and lives etc. if you wanted to help the most people possible and have the most positive influence possible then teaming up with the right mentoring company is the way to do it.

    p.s. I subscribe to your blog but I am not on your list please add my email. I would love to keep up to date with what you guys do. If you have any questions about all the behind the scene stuff with the really big mentoring companies send me an email some time, I could tell you some stories of some big name "Gurus" that if nothing else would make you shake your head and have a good laugh.
  • Hmmmm I have been on the end of one of the big Guru's mentoring programmes, and honestly they are a waste of time.

    When I signed up with Justin and chaunna, I learned more than I had with my "Mentoring Manager" He was hopeless! I wont name names, and honestly it was $12,000 Aussie Dollars LOST as far as I was concerned.

    I am a good student but I couldn't afford to waste that kind of money. Since then I have been approached by phone by several of the so called big guru's Mentoring sellers who rang because I was on their list.

    They got hung up on quickly and I have taken myself of all lists except Justin and Chaunna's.

    NOW I finally am making progress!

    So from personal experience I am against those kind of programmes.

    All bags of winds, that do not deliver what they say even though their names may be touted around.

    Sorry to reply in this way, however, I guess I feel people need to be wary.

    <abbr>Maggie’s last blog post..What is irritating about Twitter?</abbr>
  • Sue McShan
    Newbie in me is showing, I guess, but why sell it? It's a great show and you and Chaunna obviously care for each of us to make such a hit site. Use something else for your home in Florida, if necessary. Let God handle it.
  • Tracy McElhinney
    Hey Justin,

    Is your interview of Dave Lakhani on Tuesday night a webinar? If so, where do I go to watch it? Thanks!

    Tracy
  • Justin Brooke
    Hi Tracy, no it's not a webinar it's a live Ustream show and you can find our channel by going to Ustream.com and searching "Twenty Minute Tackle."
  • Dee
    Hi Justin and Chauna, this would be taking you off the web for a bit but have you thought about collating everything you and Chauna have done and presenting that knowledge in hard copy, a book to sell on Amazon? A sort of catalogue of how you've got to where you're at now. The kudos of being a sure bet Amazon best seller would look good on your websites in the future.

    I agree with others that you're an amazing couple who naturally attract, educate and generously keep your readers updated on the latest in IM. Brillliant!
  • Justin Brooke
    We have been thinking about a "real" book but self publishing is so much easier, so much faster, and so much more profitable. Good idea but probably one we're not ready for just yet.
  • Justin, I have been following your stuff for a while and I am quite impressed. I am a member of the Sitefling Mafia, and I would love if it was revamped into a bunch of 12 week programs. That would be pretty cool.

    I also like the idea of pre-made product funnels, but they would have to be quite limited to just a few people, otherwise they wouldn't be worth nearly as much and I wouldn't be nearly as useful.

    I also like the idea of a mastermind, as I have seen that people involved in masterminds see serious results, more than most people who don't enter mastermind groups.

    I personally do not like the idea of you offering PLR, as there are already tons of PLR resources out there, and I personally don't see the need for any more. I am a member of Nicheology, and it has great PLR stuff. I have also purchased a bunch of PLR articles and products outside of the Nicheology membership, and like I said, there are places all over to get PLR stuff from.

    So I would like something different. Something intense. I am not a beginner, and I catch onto things really quickly, so when I join memberships I want them to be intense and allow me to move through quickly.

    I look forward to seeing the changes you make.

    Shawn
  • Justin Brooke
    Duely noted good buddy, and we will have something tailor made to all these suggestions soon enough.
  • AudioAdam
    As someone currently developing a product, I'd be using yours contacts for consultation and advice basically.  I have pretty much 0 marketing and professional contacts.

    Since I missed the 30 day challenge because of a PayPal issue (which is fixed now), I decided to give myself a personal challenge instead. Like I said before, I'm a skilled developer just jumping ship.

    I might even do a write up for you in relation to what I'm working on since I'm using bits and pieces of your advice as I'm developing this.
  • Justin Brooke
    Twitter it up buddy, use those social media tools to network with other marketers and slowly but surely you'll have the contacts you need. It can be a lot of work but eventually you'll get to where at any given moment you can call 3-4 millionaire marketers with a question about how you should proceed... And that's PRICELESS!

    My mentor Russell Brunson once told me in a hotel room we were staying in together that if someone took away his whole business, his products, his list, and everything... If he still had his relationships he could get it all back within a couple months.
  • Justin,

    I'm loving that you left 'theman' comment stand.

    There's one in every promotion isn't there :-) Just yesterday I had a guy complain that I sent him an affiliate offer, so he unsubscribed. When I did the math I discovered I'd sent him 32 emails of pure content before he ever got the promo.

    That's awesome :-) Since Aweber charges by the lead...

    The one thing that 'theman' said that I completely agree with is 'Do your own thing'. I'd likely keep doing things much the way you are right now. Continue to add value, keep in contact and...in the words of the inimitable Zig Ziglar "Help them get what THEY want so you can get what YOU want.

    Phil Hughes

    PS: Thanks again for visiting my blog, you're welcome there anytime. In fact I'm happy to give you a free pass to my new membership site, just drop me an email.

    <abbr>Phil Hughes’s last blog post..Is Selling Evil? The Balance Between Content and Conversion</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    It took me a long time to understand Zig Ziglar's most popular quote. I do get it now and it's VERY powerful and 100% true.
  • Pat
    Hey Justin,

    I'm with the Site Flipping and Local Business ideas. We've begun a business that targets online and offline business people.

    Perhaps coming up with a product (physical or digital) that teaches local business people how to market their site, services and products online. I also do phone research and part of what I do is visit small business sites. I've seen a lot of bad small business sites or sites where their Alexa ranking is 20 or 30 million because they don't market their site or themselves online well or at all.

    I read an online forum for a certain profession where one of the experienced guys told a newbie that the difference in being successful in that profession over their competition was knowing how to market themselves to local customers. He said he could raise his yearly income by tens of thousands of dollars per year with marketing skills.

    Another product might be a pre-made template to create a local business directory that would be seo'd to get real results for members.

    Pre-made email messages for affiliate products are always welcomed too.

    Thanks to you and Chaunna for being different from all the (as Paul Myers calls them) "Ad Sheet" marketers out there. I receive many many "Ad Sheets" everyday in my inbox from small to large marketers. They push the latest product then send me an email the next day with another product, on and on.

    Regards,

    Pat
  • Justin Brooke
    My friend in the business, Rachel Rofe, has a killer product about getting offline clients. It's a little pricey at $497 but WAY worth the price once you see everything that comes with it.

    It's honestly the most detailed "offline marketing" product I've ever seen. It had to have taken her 3-6 months to create it. Anyhow it's called "Make $10k In One Weekend" ignore the hypey name, this product really delivers the goods if you take action on it.
  • Sharon
    Justin, As a marketing person, so much of what you share is "new News" to me since I don't have a technical internet background. But as a marketing person, I have a concept which may be helpful. You may already have done this segmentation but if not give it a try and let me know if it is helpful.

    I would build a simple matrix and have my customers designate which box they would put themselves in... left side I would have 3-4 levels of internet marketing expertise: Beginner, intermediate, expert, and pro...please give your definition of each so that people will self designate their knowlegde level. Across the top, I would have columns about your customers goals...are they building sites for selling products to consumers; are they creating sites that sell products for other companies to consumers; are they building a business-to-business site to sell product to other businesses or; a b-t0-b site for a business to other businesses; non-profit; etc. In essence, figure out what your clients goals are and where they are on the technological continuum. I would create a bucket for Just learning. Hope this helps.
  • Justin Brooke
    that is a killer suggestion and while we may not do it exactly that way that really gives me a great idea for a variation of it. Thanks SO much, that was really awesome advice.
  • Hey Justin and Chaunna,

    You guys lead by example and have some great advice, I think just keep that up. Others have given a few things that I know you and Chaunna will chew over, turn inside out look from every which way and then make up your own minds.

    Site Fling got as big and popular as it is, because of the unique way you and Chaunna care for every member and come up with the goods, and tell all in YOUR OWN SPECIAL WAY! That is WHO you are and that is WHAT Sitefling is about.

    You also let the small people "IN" without HUGE costs, that is also what is important, you also do not rubbish what may appear to those "In the Know" be a silly question asked(you see questioners being belittled in many forums) and answer it.

    So I guess what I am saying is, If I owned Sitefling, I probably wouldn't change much, I would just keep on giving the great service you give, and do little 30 day challenges (maybe that is the answer to what others have written, 30 day and 60 day challenges on the subjects written about above)
    because if you change too much, then you lose your identity!

    I hope this helps.

    Oh, enjoy your new life in Florida and Justin, catch a shark and let it go for me please! I LOVE FISHING!! Last fishing trip was when we rented a large houseboat as a family on the Hawkesbury River and all I caught was Eels!

    They were slippery and horrible! HAHA

    Love and Light

    <abbr>Maggie’s last blog post..What is irritating about Twitter?</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    I once caught an eel at our annual family reunion in Alexandria Bay, New York on the St. Lawrence river... They called me "Eel Boy" for 2 years and still get it once a year! haha
  • Hi Justin,

    I think you have a lot of the best ideas nailed already but I do know that the best way I have always found to learn anything is to have someone to follow.

    I enjoy site flipping so I am biased towards that but in all honesty anything with a course to follow and a bit of one on one coaching in the sense of being able to ask when/if something doesn't make sense would get my vote.

    This could even be in the shape of a forum so people could nip in and out when they had the time and get help and answers, and this also would mean that people further into the course could help those just starting.

    This is all probably on the lines of things you have done or are thinking of doing yourself but I know if I had the resources right now I would take them and create a course to make money from (almost) nothing, maybe just the cost of a domain name or similar.. all the way through to flipping the thing, I think most people are looking to make that first few dollars to put towards the next bigger project and so on.

    I'll stop rambling now, thanks for a great blog.
    Alex
  • Justin Brooke
    If you ask anyone thats ever been in one of my membership sites... I'm not the greatest forum owner. It's sooo much work to run a quality forum. the users just have to read their couple posts, but the owner has to read EVERY post and always be on the lookout for new ones.

    I love how helpful it is, but it's just tooo much work.
  • Dude you have more resources than anyone in IM!
    I think that if you made a resource report with your top resources and recommendations it would be real helpful to a lot of us because we don't have as much experience with some of these products, services, software, resources, tools and applications as you do.

    It would help us cut through all the Bs and get what we need to get what we need done.

    I think that would be helpful to a lot of people!

    Dbk

    <abbr>David King’s last blog post..Is your Face on my blog?</abbr>
  • Mike
    Hi Justin,
    First of all, I am not an ass kisser, but dude, you already have the best site of any of the so called gurus. I begin taking internet marketing serious a few months ago. Everyone's mailing list ,but yours, that I subscribed to was just for them to Sell me something that I must have (immediately if not sooner) I still get their sales pitches sometimes 2 or more week pitching a new product.
    You always offer valuable content, and I honestly feel that you have a desire to help people to become successful on the Internet. I plan on taking your apprentice course. So the only change I suggest is don't change.
    Mike
  • Justin Brooke
    Thanks Mike those were killer compliments for us. We do try very hard to keep up the quality content, lots of our buddies tease us about giving so much away for free... But when we're beating them on the JV leaderboards they see how well the way we do things works.
  • Mark
    Mike Mike, you hit the nail on the head, justin is the only person who has came across to me as super cool.

    I would refer anyone to Justin and in the future will turn to Justin when I'm nearing as succesful as I already plan to be so I can go higher.

    Man Justin how I wish I had your mindset, I'm a lone ranger, so I guess it;s going to take me a long time to get there.
  • Here's the bottom line - this is what "drew me in" to you and your site and is what I feel is KEY to drawing more people in and keeping the ones you've got.

    1) You were "approachable" (though probably 'cuz of your move this hasn't been nearly as true lately as it used to be).

    2) You gave things away for free or very little cost to build trust.

    3) You came across as an average joe instead of a guru.

    Now, personally, what I feel would be best is if you found a way to work with a couple of people a month or whatever ONE-ON-ONE and used them as case studies and documented the results. You could hold a contest for example and the top 10 performing people in the contest could all win a "chance" at a random drawing to see which person was selected. You could even over the other 9 or maybe draw 2 more names or something a 50% discount on your coaching service or something.

    The guru's are (a) unapproachable and (b) just don't want to work with anyone one on one. I think there is a huge potential for you to do this and separate yourself from the rest out there.

    I've seen the trend repeated over and over. Average Joe starts small, makes it big, and forgets his roots and no longer works with those people that helped him get there. So far you haven't been that way, and I'd hate to see it happen... I think some personal one-on-one programs would be a way of keeping grounded and everyone else involved as well...

    <abbr>Troy B’s last blog post..Real Estate News 54,Foreclosure,Pipes,Minorities</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    Don't worry bud we're not changing our attitudes any time soon. This is the real us, we're not pretending, but at the same time we do see how well taken our persona comes across. We know it's working and we're not planning on changing it anytime soon.

    It actually makes things easier because we're not trying to create some kind of character... It's just the real us in t-shirts and all.
  • theman
    If you listen to these people they'll probably run your business into the ground.

    They are NOT successful. That is why they are here. You ARE successful. Listen to yourself and your mentors and LEAD these people. If they knew the best thing to do with a successful business they would probably have one by now.
  • Seriously? You think if you listen to subscribers you will destroy your business?

    They may not be successful, but they still know what they want. Marketers make money by giving people what they want. (At least, the best marketers do). Justin makes money by giving his subscribers what they are looking for. If they aren't successful, they still know what they want.

    Maybe they aren't successful because they don't know how to generate traffic. They know that they want to be able to generate traffic, so they tell Justin that they want to learn how to generate traffic to their website before they can make money. So if they were in Justin's position, they would know how to generate traffic, so they would teach how to generate traffic.

    Even if they can't do it themselves, they know what they would want if they could do it. A lot of people aren't successful because they just don't have the knowledge or certain abilities (such as product creation). But they know what knowledge they need, or what services they need in order to have a successful business.

    So they can tell what they need, and Justin gives that to them. That will make Justin even more successful because he is giving his subscribers what they need. It isn't going to run Justin's business into the ground.

    Also, I personally don't appreciate you saying that his subscribers aren't successful. Everyone has different levels of success. I am one of his subscribers, and I actually am successful. But no matter how successful you are, you can always learn even more from other people. I run a successful business, but I still follow Justin (as well as other marketers) because they know things that I don't, and I am always willing to learn new things that could improve my business.

    Justin's success is going to continue to grow because he builds relationships with his subscribers and he tries to give them what they - we ask for. He isn't going to run his business into the ground by asking us what we want.

    Shawn
  • Justin Brooke
    ... What he said! haha thanks Shawn
  • No problem Justin. :) I just couldn't let that comment go without saying something. (It got kind of long...)

    Shawn
  • Justin Brooke
    If I didn't listen and ask what my subscribers want then I wouldn't be nearly successful. I've found that it's not what I want that matters... It's providing what they want that does.
  • Justin,
    You and Chauna have gotten me to take more action that I have ever taken in my internet effort to date. A lot of the problem that I was having was that I had too many things coming at me at one time and did not have the time to put into action the things I had learned, before starting on something new.

    When your first video challenge came out earlier this year, I did my first video shoot and posted it to Viddler. After following your directions and successfully shooting a video and uploading it, I asked myself what was I so fearful about (But then it's always easy when you know how). After seeing how easy it was, I now know that all I needed was to be challenged and shown how it is done.

    Prior to starting the 30 day apprentice challenge I opted into Site Fling Mafia and was trying to follow how to flip a site, so you can imagine how excited I was when you came out with the apprentice challenge. I had struggled with putting together a professionally looking blog and had paid to have two sites put together. Then I had one, a blog, framed out for me. But I struggled getting the header and adding content. After starting the challenge, the pieces started falling into to place and I don't understand why it too me this long to get it. Maybe it's because you guys do such a good job breaking everything down and making it understandable. One thing Justin, this is feedback and not criticism. The audio and some parts of the video are really hard to hear and to see the topic you are covering.

    Before I was laid off from my 9-5 I did not have enough time to do what I thought I need to do, online, so I wasted a lot of time working on the wrong things. Now that I have more time and a plan to follow I am making a lot of progress.

    If I owned site fling I would break up the training into tiers, just like you do for flipping sights. You have folks at different levels, or who will be at different levels after completing your training program. Some are newbie, some are intermediates and some are at an advance level. Some have 5.0 hours a week to devote to their business, some have more. I would then have topics that were hands-on training that I would rotate. I would use the model like the 30 day apprentice training we are currently going through to teach these topics.

    I think that you are on the right track by providing affordable training. As I begin to make a profit from what I am learning I don't intend to leave as what you are doing is working for me. One of the biggest area that I could use some help in is learning how to do the research to determine where the hot and profitable Niches are. A training module similar to the 30 day training would be ideal for me. I am sure that it would not have to last for 30 days. The important thing for me is that the training is broken down into bite site pieces where I am not overloaded with assignment that I could not get completed in a reasonable amount of time. You guy's have done an excellent job in the amount of work that you assign to each module.
  • Justin Brooke
    I'm glad we could have the opportunity to be a part of your life in such a positive way. I did a lot of embarassing things as a young kid and I feel I owe the world.
  • George Hasky
    Hi Justin

    You and Chuana always seem to have great content and advice.

    I personally would love to see a Option -
    Creating pre-made product funnels including front-ends, upsells, autoresponder series, and backends
    This is an area that is not fulfilled in full from the many products available today.
    People want a ready made product but not just the front end - or the back end - but the whole funnel.
    That is how the big boys make the money.
    It also lends itself well with your sitefling domain and what you have offered in the past through this site.

    Secondly the -
    Remaking the 20 best PLR and Resale rights products with professional designs, copy, and even turning them into physical products along with pre-researched marketing manuals for each ...

    is also very juicy indeed.

    Maybe a mix of the first and the second would work well.

    Happy moving by the way

    George
  • Justin Brooke
    Yeah this is also how we've made most of our money, so it seems only fair that I create what has worked for me... and give it to you guys.
  • abiel
    I think this one what u said is the best option:

    Creating pre-made product funnels including front-ends, upsells, autoresponder series, and backends

    Regards, Abiel
  • Justin Brooke
    Everyone seems to like that option the best so that may just be exactly what we do.
  • Personally, I would like to learn how to get local business clients in my city and make money marketing for them. I believe the competition is very low. I read your blog post on how you do this, but I think I am looking for something more in depth. For example, I tried finding local biz meetings to go to to meet people, but have not been able to find one in my city (one that you don't have to pay to go to). I would like a more in depth product to show exactly how to approach businesses, contracts to use, etc. And if possible, it would be great if this product did not cost $1500.
    Thanks,
  • Justin Brooke
    I know it can be hard to raise the first initial funds for the paid ones but some of them are the best. People PAID to be there versus just showed up for free, which means they have a marketing budget.

    I remember I couldn't afford my first paid one so I traded the host a website and he let me in cheaper.
  • Hi Justin,

    This is a very hard question to answer, its like they say putting a kid in a candy store!

    I would have to say is the biggest thing I need is to get in the circle of the people in your rolodex!

    One mailing from a big named marketer would change my life forever! Not just me my family also. Yes thats what I would do, introduce the people in the rolodex, maybe a master mind or set up a pitch fest where we get 5mins each to pich our products to the big marketers.

    Thanks for the opportunity Justin!

    Kelly Cole
  • Justin Brooke
    If you want to get a big named marketer to mail for you, you basically need to kiss their ass. I know it sucks and it's the last thing in the world I like doing, but it can be quite worth it.

    We've literally sent expensive brownies and other gifts to some big people along with fancied up physical versions of our products and that's what got us in.

    Hint: A marketer who's name rhymes with Hussell Stunson likes white chocolate covered strawberries from berries.com
  • White chocolate covered strawberries from berries.com....I have written that down for future reference. I think that could be one of the most valuable tips you have given so far...jk. But that is valuable information. (Watch as the marketer who's name rhymes with Hussell Stunson gets hundreds of strawberries over the next little while)

    Shawn
  • Good to know. :) So...what would a marketer who's name rhymes with Dustin Crooke like?

    Shawn
  • Justin Brooke
    He won't be unhappy about that at all!
  • I'd love a 12 week thing on site flipping. Even better would be to add a case study of you building some sites from scratch and selling them within the 12 weeks.
  • Justin Brooke
    We just sold a site for high 4 figures in the warriorforum WSO area. Nothing more then a salesletter, some camtasia video tutorials about Internet marketing, and a membership site script.

    From their we just used the same traffic and sales strategies that we teach here, got it making over $1,000 per month, and flipped it for a nice paycheck.
  • Yeah, I was keeping an eye on that WSO from the day you posted it. I was thinking about how people may have bought expensive copywriting services before, so unfortunately, your single sale may not have broken any records :P Well...maybe top sale for 2009!

    I was hoping for something completely from scratch before our eyes though...that would be wicked!
  • I would like you to create an ultimate SEO product that outlines everything about onsite optimization.

    it's my biggest struggle at the moment, at the moment due to a small tweak I climbed 200 places, but did that ruin my rankings for the rest of my pages I'm just not sure.

    Maybe I should try your 1 hour power consulting but really I think I've justgot to deal with what I've done for now and see do I climd those finall 200, as then I probably wouldn't have to worry about all my other pages.

    SEO is scary lol
  • Justin Brooke
    There's already a killer SEO membership site... SEOMoz.org - Literally, companies like Ford send their SEO people to SEOMoz.
  • Oh, I would buy up pre-made product funnels like they were going out of style! :D
  • Justin Brooke
    >> Click Here To Order << hahaha just kidding
  • First, I would Nichify Flinging. I would split flingers into 3 groups: Novices, Experienced and Turnarounds. Novices get a foolproof start. Experienced flingers get nuanced improvements from a master. Think about how a coach can shave minutes off a poor runner's time but miliseconds off a world-class runner's time, and yet, the milisecond improvement is the hardest to get. Turnaround flingers have been trying for awhile and have some sputtering success or worse, just mounting expenses. You would aggregate content into sets appropriate for each group.

    Next I would develop a personal learning plan for all flingers. By surveying them on two tracks - knowledge and experience "I don't know what it its." "I know what it is but haven't done it." "I know it and I've been doing it for years." You can make sure each learns in ways that are very relevant and rewarding. Based on their self-assessment, a personal learning plan of topics is offered. This allows for proper sequencing of information and scaffolding of learning. As they complete their personal learning plan, new content is offered. Possible add-ons of adjunct content or activities would be labs, practicums and case studies.

    Then I would focus on the informal learning side of flinging. Build a set of processes / process maps and let flingers add their knowledge to each activity and task for how they do it, tricks and traps, attache files and links for performance support or decision support. Check out nGenera (used to be Talisma) Knowledgebase product: http://www.cim.ngenera.com/tal_products/knowled...

    Finally I would organize flingers into volunteer project teams. The team would be a "round robin" of flingers who each have a project to finish. They would agree to work on each member's project one session per week. I'd put 4 people in a team, that way each gets team support one week a month. Put reporting milestones and mentor sessions in each team's charter for some high value oversight. Create groups of projects that are similar into teams so all may benefit from contributing to team output. Give teams a discount on technology they apply in service to completing the project.

    Sell SiteFling Franchises. Complete with operations manuals, back office technology, just like brick and mortar franchises. buy-in fees, royalties, corp. training, employee training, the whole shootin' match.

    Justin, my final suggestion is for your ears only as it will differentiate you from every other information product marketer out there and I don't want any other guy to benefit.
  • Justin Brooke
    Wow now thats a detailed feedback!!! Interested in hearing your "super ultra secret" suggestion
  • A four week course on an initial product rollout would be cool.

    Thanks for everything you're doing Justin.

    <abbr>Neal Battaglia’s last blog post..Tim Ferriss Ideas at Wordcamp SF 2009 Part 1</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    Neal you should checkout Brent Hall's "Multiplier Method" parts #1 and #2... He's got the best product roll out strategies, especially in part 1. Part 2 is more about selling physical products and high priced items.
  • I'd put together a turnkey website to provide access to all those resources you mention in the video.

    A place for your customers to go and mastermind as well as have help in whatever they might need help with ie... like the warrior forum kind of deal

    where you provide helpful tips and places for us non gurus to get some real help with all aspects of online marketing and maybe offline too.

    That's what I would do.

    <abbr>Kenny Michaels’s last blog post..Ultrahosting.com</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    Thanks Kenny we're adding your considerations to our list ;-)
  • Justin,

    I appreciate you wanting to get our input into your business. One thing I have learned over the years is that if you help people the money will follow... I know you know this, it's in your DNA now. I am happy to see you are remembering where you came from and that you don't want to just go off half cocked about "Trying To Take Over The World".

    I propose you roll with this, stay with helping the younger internet and affiliate marketers out there, develop products that will teach them the basics and then support with further advanced techniques. The 30 day challenge was and is personally great for me. I am off my butt and doing stuff! I love you guys for that... Stick with getting everyone out of the hole, the freakin rat race, and kill it just like you do every day man!

    I love your grass roots stuff, I know you guys care... that is what is making you so popular.. because you care!

    Again, I say focus on getting everyone off their arses and doing work that will provide a foundation for further personal and business gains.

    I hope that is what you are looking for Justin, I don't say this much but God Bless You Two!

    To Your Continued Success,
    Clint Anderson

    <abbr>Clint Anderson’s last blog post..Thinking About Quitting…</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    The 30 day apprentice challenge has been one of our best "action taking" courses. More people have had success with this then almost any of our other products except for SEO Lies... But we sold way more copies of that so it's not a fair comparison.
  • Honestly what I would do if I had a wealth of resources is create a done for you/opportunity package with an affiliate program/ and then a resell rights upsell...

    broken down...

    1. Create a great lead gen product... free cd, video something...
    2. This leads them into a done for you, 'business in a box' type of package (kinda like you are doing with the elite subscriber virus) an easy to use software package that will allow you to easily create products... ($47)
    3. This leads a traffic generation upsell package. think android control panel but with traffic generation tips... like that product russell has... ($147)

    - If you are an affiliate then you get half of sales...

    4. Here's where the business partner upsell comes in... If you upgrade to a platinum member lets say for $397 and $29.95 a month... you get to add your aweber code to the lead gen product... to build your list... you get 100% of the first product, 50% of the second, and then 50% of the business partner upsell and 25% of the residuals...

    So with this one product you got a great product, plus a product that teaches how to sell the product, but then a all in one business partner deal that's perfect for someone...

    I think that just to create another product is still limiting the person... Lets say you did a "How to create a product" product... the person is still limited on there ability to create a product...

    But lets say you had them sold on a "how to create a product" type of product... they are salivating to get it... then you sale actually here's a product for you already done... why wouldn't they get it...

    So here's an idea using the model above...

    1. Lead Gen - "free how to create a product video" using some of the 'millionaires you got connections to... like a masterminding session...
    2. an upsell to a software that allows you to create products easily...
    3. A product teaching how to generate traffic and sell your new product...
    4. Oh wait... here's a new product already packaged that will allow you to build YOUR list, and create a great income...

    Sold!

    Sign me up...

    Here's the CC number...

    You got a winner...

    ... Do I get a review copy for coming up with the idea? lol

    Jason Benfield

    <abbr>Jason Benfield’s last blog post..Viral Video Secrets Exposed Part 1</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    Great ideas dude and we're adding your notes to our master notes. We'll let everyone know what we're planning as soon as we come up with the right plan.
  • Let us make a product and use it as a free report to create lists and then help us promote your stuff to those people and split the profit with you.Example:
    I will create free report on something I know in the marketing niche to attract free signups,I will create squeeze page to sign up people . I will promote it to get signups.This is the place where you come in with your membership site product or what ever.You will help me to convert those people and I will make 50% as an affiliate and learn how to do all that and you will get %50 and a long list of signups for your membership site. We all win! My point is,I want to work with you to learn from you. I would pay to join that kind of club.I don't want to be a buyer anymore,I want to be part of something where everybody win.I know I have to give and I am ready to work and pay.
    This is how I see it.Maybe some day, it will come true.
    Good luck with Florida 'adventure'
    Love Kathy :)
  • Justin Brooke
    Whatever we create we are going to get very serious about the affiliate program as a way to give free coaching. Because the more money we teach you how to make the more money we'll make.
  • Hi Justin

    I think all of the information that you put on your blog is always very informative.

    I would go the route of creating pre-made product funnels including front-ends, upsells, autoresponder series, and backends.

    I find that it easy for user to be able to load these and find affiilates to promote the product providing that only a limited amount is sold.

    Although I also like the idea of PLR product because they can be completely customizable to what the user wants. I also think if they were shown a set by step process in how to completely customize your PLR product from beginning to end.

    <abbr>Bruno Auger’s last blog post..Privacy Policy & Terms and Conditions</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    The PLR and Pre-made product funnels seem to be the most popular choice. We're listening to everything everyone has to say and will try to come up with the best fit. Of course we'll add our own style to it to make it educational and entertaining at the same time.
  • Good Afternoon Justin!

    I actually watched this video a little earlier today on youtube. This is a really hard question to answer. You give so much, and I know that you have helped many people achieve success in different aspects of internet marketing. I do not know how successful it has been for you, but I know that you occasionally do contests ( I am participating in the 30 Day Apprentice Challenge).

    I really think that these are great, and I would like to see you or maybe even just Chaunna do these competitions on a regular basis. I know that Chaunna has a teaching background, so that combined with both of your guys experience and knowledge, I think that you could create a teaching program, or continue to do more of these contests.

    Just my personal opinion. I know that you have the tools to do whatever you want, and makke as much as you want, but you guys are really good at teaching!

    Thanks,

    Chris Jensen
  • Justin Brooke
    Contests are insanely powerful... I've made mid 5 figures with them this year, helped my friend make $6k with a contest last year, and the guy that showed me how to do them made 6 figures with one contest.

    Maybe ContestMarketingSecrets.com LoL... If someone buys that I'll literally mail them my toenail clippings! ;-)
  • Hey Justin,

    I just checked and ContestMarketingSecrets.com is already taken. Now, ContestTrainingMethods.com is available. If I had the resources you had, I might consider purchasing this domain, but it would probably remain blank for a while as I have a ways to go still.

    But, I did win a few free domains from NameCheap on Twitter, so I could get it for free, and maybe try to make a buck by reselling it to you for a "Premium Domain" price. Just kidding.

    The traffic to my site that I am building for the 30 Day Apprentice Challenge is steadily rising. I would love to host a contest like this someday. So, I would like for you to teach me how to run a contest where I can teach a bunch of newbies how to be successful in internet marketing.

    Let me know when this class becomes available!

    Chris Jensen

    <abbr>Chris Jensen’s last blog post..Top Ten Twitter Applications</abbr>
  • Hey Justin,

    If I own your company, I would JV with some big players like you said in the video to set up a free make money online academy membership site.

    I have no idea how to monetize this site yet (maybe by selling your existing and upcoming products).

    <abbr>Desmond Ong’s last blog post..Affiliate Marketers Are Going to Punch Me in the Face</abbr>
  • Justin Brooke
    Monetize it with affiliate commissions for a hosting company like hostgator or sell your own hosting. Hosting is the #1 membership site model because once they have a website on it they almost never stop paying for it.
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