Perpetual Traffic Formula

Ryan Deiss has worked his way up to become one of the most respected teachers of internet marketing, and most of his valuable knowledge and insight – probably worth tens of thousands of dollars –  is available in the Perpetual Traffic Formula.

Click here to visit the Perpetual Traffic Formula website.

The goal of Perpetual Traffic Formula is to teach you about the three main components of search engine optimization (SEO), and show you how to quickly and continuously drive targeted traffic to your websites via search engines – mainly Google.

In this program, you will learn about how to properly optimize your websites to rank for strategic keywords, how to quickly and easily generate high ranking backlinks even from .gov and .edu sites, and how to make sure there is enough activity on your websites to drive it higher in the search engine rankings.

(This last part – activity – was highlighted in Google’s “Caffeine Update” because the powers-that-be at the search engine realized that if a site is constantly being updated and people are leaving comments, it’s probably an “authority” site.)

I highly recommend Perpetual Traffic formula for any internet marketer – beginning, intermediate, or advanced – who wants to grow their revenues and profits.

What are your thoughts?  Have you used any of Ryan Deiss’ products before?  Already purchased a copy of Perpetual Traffic Formula?  Leave your comments below.

Perpetual Traffic Formula

Per FTC regulations, please note the above links are affiliate links and I may receive a commission if you purchase.

Whether we’ve ever thought about opening up our own business, or we currently own a multi-billion conglomerate (and if that’s the case, please feel free to shoot me an email!) starting and running a business can be a pretty overwhelming task.

That being said, just because it’s tough doesn’t mean you’re bound to fail. In fact, here are ten things you can do as an entrepreneur that will help to ensure your long term success:

1. Be Passionate – In order for you to be successful and to put in the amount of time necessary, you need to be head over heels for what you’re doing. I mean, don’t be more in love with your business than you are with your friends and family, but if your business doesn’t get you excited, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

2. Be Bold – If you blend in with everyone you’re going to have lots of trouble. Nobody is going to seek you out to do business with you. Don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd. Take a stance. Be opinionated. Tell the world how great you and your business are!

3. Be Curious – Ask lots of questions. Why? Why not? How? WTF?!? This will help you run your business more efficiently, offer products and services your customers want right now, and help you stumble upon “the next big thing.”

4. Be a Problem Solver – Your customers gravitate away from pain (problems) and towards pleasure (solved problems). Pay attention to the word “can’t.” If you can provide a product or service that turns a “can’t” into a “can” you are setting yourself up for a very lucrative, long-term business experience.

5. Find Your Voice – Obviously, there are certainly ways of communicating that are more prudent than others, but at the same time, you have to stay true to yourself. Don’t stiffen up and get a case of the blahs. Speak and write like yourself, and you’ll be much more likely to engage your audience and turn them into paying customers.

6. Take a Controlled Risk – By nature, entrepreneurs are risk takers, so you’re probably already more inclined to take a risk than a “normal” person. That being said, when something comes along that you’re unsure of, take a controlled risk and go for it. Don’t plunder your business’ finances or your life savings, but don’t be afraid to stick your toe in the water either.

7. Subscribe to the “Yes, And…” Principal –It’s so easy to say no. Next time you catch yourself about to say no, say, “yes, and…” For example, let’s say you’re approached by a firm that wants to advertise with you, but isn’t necessarily in your target niche. You’d usually say no right off the bat, but this time you say, “yes, and let’s discuss how we can make this more mutually beneficial business partnership instead of a paid advertising transaction.” Maybe nothing will come of it, but something might.

8. Learn to Delegate – Accounting, legal stuff, marketing, operations… the list goes on and on. You can’t be responsible for everything. There’s only so much time in a day, so focus on the most important tasks and delegate the other stuff to other people you trust. No need to burn the candle at both ends, especially if you’re surrounded by good people as it is.

9. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask For What You Want – In most cases, what you want is a sale. When dealing with your customer – whether it’s someone you’re trying to sell your product or service to, or another business you’re trying to broker a deal with – make sure you’re perfectly clear about what you want. The easiest way to do this is to very simply and politely ask for exactly what you want.

10. Provide Out-of-This-World Customer Support – Word of mouth travels fast, so if you make one customer angry, soon enough, a bunch of current or potential customers will know to never do business with you. Focus on complete customer satisfaction. Set the bar high and then over achieve, because once you get a customer in the first time, they’ll be inclined to come back to you. And since it’s easier and cheaper to keep a current customer than it is to get a new one, good customer support is nothing but a good business practice.

I know some of these things are easier said than done, especially if our DNA tells us to do the opposite. For example, I’m a quiet, non-risk taker, so I still struggle with rules two and six.

Some entrepreneurs obtain an MBA online, however in reality its not entirely necessary at all. Instead, I think if you start to incorporate some of these ten rules of being a successful entrepreneur into your business and life, you’ll be surprised at how quickly your business will begin to flourish.

“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it.”  – Mahatma Gandhi

Starting any business – even something as “simple” as writing a blog – can be a pretty scary thing.

There are a lot of things do and plenty of other things to learn, and on top of that, there’s no guarantee you’ll be successful. In fact, the odds are actually stacked against your success.

Sounds like a pretty risky proposition, and is probably the reason why many people to through their life without ever entertaining the idea of branching out and doing something on their own, even if they stumble upon a great idea or opportunity.

While you might be a little intimidated of the idea of starting a business, don’t let that fear hold you back and keep you from pursuing your dream of owning your own business and going after financial independence.

After having been in business for three years now, I think the biggest factor in my success – and considering 50% of businesses fail within the first five years, making it past the three year mark should be considered a success – is the fact that I have always believed in my abilities as a business owner, web site developer, and writer.

Especially when I first started out and had no idea what I was really doing, this belief in my abilities was enough to sustain me while I acquired the skills necessary to ensure I was running a sound, profitable, and growing business.

If you’ve come up with an idea for a business, whether it’s a new website or a revolutionary product, run with it! Trust in yourself and your abilities; you’ll figure out everything you need to know. If you run into barriers, ask for help from people who have already solved similar problems.

Believe that you can do it, and, eventually, you will.

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

The above quote comes from the classic book “Walden” written by Henry David Thoreau and speaks to anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit.

I’m not trying to get all spiritual or new age on you, but I think the above quote is one of the most powerful and telling things I have ever read.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation...

What this says to me is most of us go through our lives wanting more but accepting less. We accept a life that is lacking passion.

We know we want to do more or make more of ourselves, and it tears us up inside, but we resign ourselves to accepting the status quo and not taking any action to make our life and the lives of those around us better.

“… and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

I think this is the saddest part of the quote, because, to me, it says that not only do we know we want more and to make more of ourselves, but we have the ability to make the changes we want, but are simply too tired, drained, and discouraged to do so.

Pretty depressing, right?

This Quote and You

So, how does this relate to you?

First, if you feel this quote applies to you, work like heck to get out of your rut and start making some changes in your life, even if it’s something simple like driving a different route to work.  Sticking with your current routine shouldn’t be an option!

(Although, be smart about it.  Quitting your job or not paying the bills might feel good, but will probably leave you in an even worse bind!)

Second, find something you’re 100% passionate about and spend time doing it. For me, it’s writing about entrepreneurship, personal finance, and the environment. Whatever your passion is, find it and embrace it!

Third, if you’re so inclined and want to take on the challenge, try and find ways that you can turn your passions into a business. Even if it’s something that you do on the side in your spare time, I think you’ll find even more fulfillment in your passions by transferring them to your “work.”

What are your thoughts? Are you one of the quietly desperate with a song in you? Have you broken free and made extraordinary changes in your life? Leave your comments below!

Resources:
Turning Your Passions into Your Business

Per FTC regulations, please note that the above link to Walden is an affiliate link, and should you purchase the book I will receive a commission.

According to a recent survey by the Conference Board, only 45% of Americans are satisfied with their daily jobs, which is the lowest level since the survey was first conducted in 1987. As a point of reference, 61% of people were satisfied with their job in 1987.

Considering many of us spend close to half our day getting ready for work, commuting, and actually doing our jobs, this is some pretty sad news.

It seems like less people are following the old expression “do what you love and the money will follow,” and are sticking with unfulfilling jobs just to collect a paycheck. Or, maybe they have followed the expression and are working at a job they love, but are simply dissatisfied with a lack of advancement opportunities, rising health care costs, work/life imbalance, or stagnant wages.

Either way, there’s an argument to be made here for starting your own business (I know, that was sort of off on a tangent), especially since in order to be successful at your new business, you’ll likely have to work on something you’re extremely passionate about.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating you go into work tomorrow and tell your boss you’re quitting – especially if you have a family or financial obligations. However, starting a side business – especially something online – that you might be able to grow into a full-time income, is certainly something worth considering.

Even if it’s just starting a blog as a release from your stress-filled day, you can turn that into a money making opportunity that, given some time and luck, just might be able to allow you to exit the “rat race” on your own terms.

Here are some resources if you’re interested in learning more about starting a business and entrepreneurship:

• Steps I took to start a business
• Choosing a legal structure for your business
• Nolo’s Form Your Own LLC Book Review
• How to pick a business checking account
• Why you should start an online business 

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below!

Ask yourself the following question right now: which of these two fears – fear of failure or fear of success – is holding me back the most?

Most people will say it’s the fear of failure that holds them back, and I think that’s a bunch of baloney. I’d be willing to bet that more than anything, it’s your fear of success that’s holding you back.

Let me explain.

If you’re like most everyone else, there is an element of fear that holds you back from doing anything and everything you want. Whether you want to start a business, train for a marathon, or take an improv class and you have yet to do it, it’s because you’re afraid of something.

I think that something you are afraid of is that you’re actually going to be successful.

According to LiveStrong.com, fear of success consists of the following things:

• Fear that you will accomplish everything you’ve set out to do, but you still won’t be happy, content or satisfied
• The belief that you are undeserving of all the recognition and praise that will come your way as a result of your accomplishment(s)
• The belief that when you do achieve success the first time, you will not have the ability to sustain it, so you’re simply setting yourself up for a massive letdown

Any of these things sound familiar? I know each and everyone one of the above points could have my name written next to them!

Not that I’m trying to dimmish the fear of failure (well, I guess am), but it’s rooted in the idea that we’re not good enough. I know I’m taking a giant leap here, but I think that each of us knows ourselves well enough to know that when push comes to shove, we are good enough, smart enough, and capable enough to accomplish what we set out to do.

It might not be easy, but with a little bit of blood, sweat, tears, and ingenuity, we won’t fail.

This alone is enough to rule out the fear of failure, mostly because, when it comes down to it, failure doesn’t exist.

Success on the other hand, now that’s a completely different beast. What if I find success and I’m unfulfilled? Do I truly deserve the success? What if I’m successful but I can’t maintain it? These are tough questions, which usually lead to “analysis paralysis,” meaning we get so bogged down wondering about the what-ifs that we simply end up doing nothing.

So, how do you get over your fear of success? I recommend the following things:

1. Learn how to smell the roses and enjoy your small successes. If you can learn how to be satisfied with the little things, just imagine how happy you’ll be once you accomplish something “big.”
2. Realize that people are going to want to pat you on the back for your accomplishments, and they wouldn’t compliment you if you didn’t truly earn it or deserve it.
3. Even if you don’t continuously achieve 100% success, by trying you’ve accomplished more than 95% of the people out there (ok, I know this is a little too on the “you’re a unique snowflake” side, but it really is true).

Now you have no reason to not go out there and accomplish everything you want, so get moving!

“Somewhere someone is looking for exactly what you have to offer.” – Louise Hay

I saw this quote the other day, and immediately thought about how relevant it is to those of us who run an online business, in particular blogs and information based websites.

According to the World Bank, as of 2008 the world’s total population was nearly 6.7 billion people.  Of those 6.7 billion people, roughly 21.3% of them — or  1.4 billion people — have access to the internet and use it with some regularity.

It probably goes without saying, but 1.4 billion is a gigantic number!  When you multiply that number by the fact that each of these internet users have a wide range of interests, it’s impossible to fathom a situation where you could create a site or blog that wouldn’t be of interest to at least several thousand people.

For argument’s sake, let’s say you decide you want to blog about a niche that only .01% of the world would be interested in.  Obviously, that’s a pretty small percentage, but when you take .01% of 1.4 billion people, you’ll find that there are 140,000 people who would be interested in your site.

Now that percentage doesn’t seem so small, does it?

So, if you’ve been on the fence about starting a blog or a website because you weren’t sure you’d have an audience, get over it! There are so many different types of people online that you’re bound to have not just an audience, but a captive audience.

For those of you who have already started an online business, keep it up, even if you have yet to see a significant influx of traffic or revenue. Although it may take a while for your audience or customers to find you, they do exist and will eventually make their way to you because you have exactly what they’re looking for!

What do you think?  Please leave your comments below!

One of the most basic reasons many of us start to develop and run websites and blogs is to try to make ourselves a small fortune.  We’ve all heard about or read stories of people who were able to come up with some product or website and very quickly turn it into a cash generating machine.

While I don’t want to burst your bubble, the chance of that happening to you or me is pretty slim to none.  I’m sorry, but it’s a fact.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t become a successful internet entrepreneur.  In fact, there’s a simple thing you can start doing right now that will essentially guarantee that you will get far with your website or blog:

FOCUS ON EVERYONE BUT YOURSELF

I know this point seems rather obvious, but in the quest for riches and notoriety, we tend to over look this rather meaningful item.  No matter what niche your website serves – whether you talk about politics, money, dieting, marketing, etc. – or how crowded that niche is, if you focus on your readers, you will end up succeeding.

Here are three simple ways you can start focusing on your readers so that you provide them an enriching experience on your site:

1) Focus on improving your readers’ – not your own – problems. I know that you’ve created your website or your blog to serve your own purposes, however, if your site or blog doesn’t actually help people solve their own problems, they’re never going to come back to your site, if they find it at all.

When writing your posts, focus on what your readers want to read or learn from you.  You can learn what they want by being an active member in forums related to your niche, reading and responding to comments on your site, and reading popular posts on other sites or blogs related to your niche.

By virtue of creating your site, you have made yourself into an authority figure.  By continuously writing about what your readers want and solving their problems, you will grow this authority and will end up with an incredibly successful website or blog.

2) Don’t hold anything back. While writing for your site or blog, you have to be as thorough as possible.  Yes, I know this will increase the amount of time it takes to research and write about your topics, but it will greatly increase the odds you’ll actually help solve your readers’ problem(s).

Let’s be honest, no two readers are a like, which means no two readers have the exact same problems.  Don’t get me wrong, depending on your niche, many readers might have very similar problems they’re looking to solve, but not any two readers will have the exact same issue.

By providing different view points and multiple resources – even if you these view points or resources conflict with what you believe is the “best” answer – you’ll be able to help more people and solve more problems than if you were to just write a quick post explaining your stance on a particular issue.

Try and make each of your posts a one-stop solution shop!

3) Give your readers your best stuff for free. While this might seem like it’s not a good business practice, nothing could be further from the truth.  (Obviously, I’m assuming your site is information based, and not actually revolving around a physical product.  If you’re hawking an actual product, the rules are slightly different!)

When building up your credibility, it’s going to be incredibly tough for you to ask for anything from your readers; you’re going to have to give time and time again, and expect nothing in return.  This will be tough at first, but resist the urge to try and push people towards affiliate offers, advertising, or your own products.

However, once you’ve gained credibility with your readers by helping them solve a problem or two, they will naturally gravitate towards the affiliate offers, advertising, and your own products that you have throughout your site.

By virtue of this, your helping your site’s visitors to succeed, without asking for anything in return, will help you become a success.

I’d like to leave you with a quote by Maya Angelou that I think sums up this entire post:

“It may be in fact utterly impossible to be successful without helping another person to become successful.  I don’t know, but I don’t think one can become liberated without liberating somebody else.”

Outsource Method Review

I just purchased Outsource Method, a new program by Daniel Turner and Marc Lindsay, and I have to say that so far I’m incredibly impressed, and I’m really excited to start implementing the techniques I’ve learned thus far.

(Please note, I used Outsource Method when it had a $1 trial period.  The current price for membership is $995, which may seem steep, but because you are given so much information, Outsource Method is still worth consideration.)

I have been looking at outsourcing techniques for a while now because to be perfectly honest, working a full-time job and then working another four to six hours each night on building my online business was becoming quite a drag, both mentally and physically.

While I enjoy writing and site building, if I could outsource the grunt work to other people, I would be freed up to work on marketing and other “higher level” business activities, not to mention being able to get more beauty rest.

This is where Outsource Method comes in, and walks you though the process of how to outsource the grunt work. Basically Outsource Method teaches you how to work smarter – not harder – and shows you how to get more results with less effort on your part.

Here are some key things you learn from Outsource Method:

• Why outsourcing is critical if you want to grow your business and have free time
• How to go about selecting the right people to outsource to
• How to put together proposals that get you exactly what you want while saving you time and money
• How to successfully pull off your first outsourcing job and where to go from there

If you’re anything like me, you have a tough time letting to and “assigning” work to other people. However, since there are only 24 hours in a day, there’s really only so much that we can accomplish on our own.

When you add in the fact that most of us small-time internet marketers have regular full-time jobs, families and basic human needs (like wanting to eat and sleep), there’s really only a couple hours each day that can be devoted to working on your online business. Obviously it’s pretty tough to grow a business if only a couple hours per day are being put into it.

So why not put more time into you business by leveraging the time that you do have so that you can maximize efforts and profits?

Let’s look at this very likely real world scenario:

You only have two hours each day that you can devote to growing your online business, and chances are you’re not going to be able to get a lot done in that time. Maybe you’ll be able to do some tweaking to your WordPress site, write a new article and then distribute it to Digg, Facebook and Twitter.

Not to sound like a jerk, but that’s really not a lot to show for two hours of work.

Now let’s look at another very likely scenario, should you choose to begin outsourcing your grunt work:

You only have two hours each day to devote to your online business, but during those two hours you put together a request to have 50 unique articles created for your site (which you’ll receive the following day), contact a website developer to talk about updating your latest affiliate website, and work with your SEO team to help get another site ranked higher on Google for highly targeted keywords.

In looking at the two scenarios, in which one was more work accomplished? In which one did you work the least? Hmm… get more accomplished while doing less work? Sounds pretty smart to me!

Yes, I realize that outsourcing isn’t free; you do in fact have to pay the people that are helping you. That being said, outsourcing is incredibly cheap, especially when you factor in the dollar value of your own time. And when being guided by Outsource Method, you’re not going to get burned or end up wasting your money.

In fact, after following the lessons in Outsource Method, you’re probably going to ask yourself why you didn’t start outsourcing work earlier.

Let me leave you with just one more example (in case you couldn’t tell, I’m really trying to hammer home the point):

I value my own personal time at $100 an hour. That’s not too cheap, yet not too expensive. So, to do those two hours where I slave away at writing a single article and installing some WordPress plugins, I would essentially have to myself $200 to do that work. In the other scenario, where I do far less work and a lot more delegating, I may only have to pay the article writer and my design and SEO teams a total of $50, or roughly $25 per hour.

So not only am I working less, but I’m actually coming out $150 ahead.

One of the oldest facts of business is you don’t get rich working for people; you get rich when people work for you.

Do yourself a favor, check out Outsource Method and finally get the free time – and business growth – you deserve.

Outsource Method Review

NOTE: In complying with the latest FTC regulations, please be aware that if you purchase Outsource Method by clicking any of the links on this site, I will be paid a commission from the product’s creator.

Remember back when you first decided you wanted to try your hand at internet marketing and running your own business online?  If you’re anything like me you were incredibly wide-eyed and excited all while trying to do a million things at once.

First there was making sure you had all of your paperwork in order, then there was buying domains and hosting, getting your sites set up, writing content, getting traffic, and finally, seeing all that hard work pay off with your first affiliate sale or Adsense check.

Unfortunately, in getting caught up in all of the hoopla, you probably skipped one of the most important steps of all: coming up with and writing down your business goals.

One of the downfalls of jumping into internet marketing is you can get caught up in doing just that, and not ever really be forced to come up with specific goals you would like to achieve through or as part of your business.

I know that when I first got started I never took the time to write down what exactly it was I wanted to achieve though my business, and because of this lack of direction my business suffered.  After taking some time to really think through what it is I want to gain from my business, I finally took the time to write down my goals about two months ago.

Since writing my goals, I feel like I have been much more focused and my business has prospered.

So, to share with you, here are the goals I have written down:

• Create a new affiliate site in a different niche each week
• Make $1,000 per week by the end of January 2010
• Make $10,000 per month by October 2010
• Submit five new articles per day to article marketing sites
• Grow my opt-in email list to 2,000 by the end of January
• Have one $500 day by the end of January 2010

Don’t get me wrong, they’re pretty lofty, but at the same time I feel that if I really put forth the effort, I’ll be able to get it done.

Now that I’ve shared these with the world, I feel a lot more obligated to try my best to stick to them.  Don’t get me wrong, you knowing my goals isn’t the only reason I want to work hard to achieve them, but it certainly doesn’t hurt my cause to have that extra motivation!

What are your business goals?  Please leave a comment below and let me know what you would like to achieve.