Wednesday, 7:07 pm

Effective marketing.  It already ended up on a VERY famous person’s blog…

Tuesday, 3:12 AM

Imagine what it would be like if you could put the phone down for good and NEVER again have to cold-call a lead for your home business.  Instead, prospects are now contacting YOU with their checkbooks ready, already sold on your opportunity.

Sound ridiculous?  Well…

That’s what Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring aims to teach you. And it’s how I got my start in the marketing and business world.

Now I’ll admit, I’m no longer a network marketer or in a home business opportunity, but I still get asked how I got started to get to where I am now (self-employed by age 27). So if you’re looking to grow your MLM or Network Marketing business, then you’re going to want to read every word of this article.

I’ll tell you the good and the not-so good about the Magnetic Sponsoring training program (and how you can get it for free).

The reality is, 97% of people that join a business drop out in about 3 months.  And if you’re struggling to get people to join your opportunity, it’s not your fault.

Like me, you joined in hopes of residual, passive income becoming the holy grail for your retirement.  But you were probably told the path to getting there was to cold-call dead beat leads, bug your family and friends using the “3-foot” rule, or hold meetings while you drew circles on chalk-boards.

I feel like puking just thinking about it.  Personally, I’d rather shave my head with a cheese-grater than hound another stranger to pitch them my home business.

Yeah… I blew my money on useless leads when I had very little to begin with and couldn’t sponsor a single soul (tough times I tell ya).  I placed fliers on car windshields, put up newspaper ads, and even pissed off friends trying to get them to join my opportunity.

I endured all the misery.

But that was until I stumbled across Mike Dillard’s book. I bought it, used what I learned, and made money with it the first month without having to chase anyone (not to mention I generated my own free, high quality leads).  It really was my first breakthrough in business.

Now there are some things about Magnetic Sponsoring that could be better (more on that shortly), and a lot of its information I didn’t believe at first.  You may be skeptical about it too, but it does have some really kick-butt ideas on how to market a business.

Here’s some of my favorites on what you’ll find inside the Magnetic Sponsoring course:

• How can you get people to actually pay YOU to hear about your business opportunity and products?

• How can you attract an endless flow of leads that are pre-sold and eager to get started with you?

• How can you make money your first month even if NO one joins your business? (This is a really cool idea on how to actually get paid to prospect – sound ridiculous?)

• How do you get prospects to see you as an expert, even if you’re brand new in the business?

• What’s a way to get other industry leaders outside your company to recruit people into YOUR downline? (This is just crazy – LOVE this one, and it’s perfectly legal)

• What if you quit or join another business opportunity? Is there a way to get people in your current downline to FOLLOW you to your new business? (YEP! And you’ll see how…)

• How can you create 100% duplication within your downline so every new member under you has a chance to make you money?

And there’s a lot more than what I have room to write here. The book itself can be read in a couple of hours so it’s not very long.  I like that it’s pretty concise and can be read in one or two sittings.

It’s all written in plain, easy-to-understand English, and Mike has a very engaging way of writing.  You’ll also read his personal story on how he rose to success after struggling for 6 years without making a penny (fascinating story).  It’s all laid out for you on exactly what to do and how to do it, and there’s no garbage “filler” info.

But… there are a few things I think Magnetic Sponsoring falls short on…

For one, there are NO page numbers listed in the book.  Ok, I know this sounds kind of trivial, but hey… when I’m teaching this stuff to my own downline, I want to be able to reference a page number to get them there quick!

Trust me, it becomes a big deal when you’re training your entire downline over the phone with it.

And two, the examples in the book are all well written, but there are no images or screen shots.  Now I’m not looking for a pop-up or a Dr. Suess book, but still!  I mean the information you’re giving me is awesome Mike, but share what it looks like visually once in a while.

And three, I would love to hear Mike prospect over the phone LIVE sometime.  I hear he was quite notorious as a prospector.  I think I’ll shoot him a suggestion sometime… hmmmm.

So there’s my micro-rant.

But my promise to you as a reader of this blog is that I will NEVER promote something I don’t fully believe in.

I give you my honest feedback on products, and I only write about them if I KNOW they kick major butt and will rock your world.  Anything short of that and I’m not going to waste my blog space on it.  I wouldn’t do that to you.

Now look…

I’m not going to tell you to spend your money on the Magnetic Sponsoring book… that’s up to you.  But I will tell you that Mike offers a free version of his course that you can sign up here.

It gives you a series of 7 free videos that teach a lot of these techniques.  It’s a great starting point, and you’ll make a sound judgment on whether or not you want his book.

So…

If you’re tired of cold-calling leads and chasing after family and friends…

If you want to generate lots of free, highly qualified leads for your business…

If you want to have people chasing after YOU, asking YOU if they could join your downline…

If you want a way to make money from your prospects even if they NEVER join your downline and actually get paid to show them your business opportunity…

Then check out Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring free training.

To your success,

Shiraz

aka Mr. Nocturnal

P.S. Still not clear on something?  Drop me a question below…

Thursday, 6:44 PM

- Shiraz

Wednesday, 5:14 AM

What a weekend.  A recap of our very first Nitro Blueprint Live training event coming soon…

- Shiraz

Wednesday, 3:27 AM

Eben Pagan has an idea on how to do this… and NO it isn’t about some shady ass get-rich-quick idea that’s too good to be true.

It’s all about your mindset.  How we think is far more important than how much money we already have if we’re striving to achieve financial success.

Eben is one of the most respected online marketers because he’s so darn successful at it.  The dude makes over $20 mil a year with his online businesses that he started from his bedroom, and he started out very poor.

You may be skeptical, but stories like his are a lot more common than you probably think. You can read what he wrote on “How To Become Wealthy RIGHT NOW” on his blog.

Everything he says I believe is true.  He’s dead on, and he knows it a hell of a lot better than I do considering where he is in business and wealth. But recently I gained an interesting insight on what may be missing from his thoughts.

Wealth is now “completely intangible and unmeasurable (in the traditional sense)” when it used to be about tangible things, according to Eben.  It’s no longer about money, food, land, and gold.  Now it’s about education, quality and enjoyment of life, time, relationships, personal development, and fulfillment among other things.

These are the “new” forms of wealth.

Eben argues that these things are vastly different from the old, “physical” forms of wealth because you can give them away, and still NEVER lose them.  In other words, when you share this new kind of wealth with others, you don’t lose it at all.

And the key to becoming “wealthy” is to give these new forms of wealth away to as many people as possible.  You actually get MORE of this new kind of intangible wealth back by giving it away to others.

I won’t go into the theory as to how this is possible, but Eben Pagan breaks it down real good in his article.

Here’s what I think is the final piece to his wealth-building puzzle, and what a friend of mine helped me realize when I was discussing this idea with him…

Before we can give away something, we have to first (a) believe we already HAVE it, and (b) VALUE it enough so that when we DO give it to others, they value it as well.

That is usually the problem most people run into when they begin this line of thinking.  They don’t value themselves, their knowledge, or what they have to offer to others enough.  Here’s what a friend and certified hypnotist had to say…

“Most people don’t value what they have to offer the world, because they think it’s common-place. They think other people will get nothing out of what they have to give, because they don’t even realize they have it in the first place.

Studies have shown that babies die without love. So do your dreams, internal values and desires. People say you need to love yourself first. That sounds well and good, but it isn’t what the science shows. When you surround yourself with supportive and loving people, only then you can expect yourself to flourish.

Ask any successful, happy, loving, or giving person and you’ll notice their reference group (the people they surround themselves with) support and reinforce their identity and their internal values.”

- Shiraz

P.S. Leave a comment… you’ll die rich

Wednesday, 4:49 AM

Frank Sinatra had a reputation that few people knew about outside his circle.  It only became known until much later…

He called himself the “Night Fighter”.

In the book “Frank Sinatra And the Lost Art Of Livin’”, a friend of his complained: “The thing Frankie doesn’t seem to understand is that the body’s got to get some sleep”.

It is said that he fought a relentless battle against sleeping before the sun came up everyday, which kind of reminds me of somebody (hint hint..)

However, I don’t fight sleep at night.  My body just naturally wants to stay up, and sleep only begins to overtake me moments before the initial sun rays embrace this part of the earth, and then I hit the sack.

But not Frankie.  For him it was a little different…

“He would break more dawns than most mortals.  Each one was his triumph, the death of each night.  He had survived yet another one.  ‘He feels reborn in the morning light’, his daughter Tina once attested.  When horizons brightened, he exulted over the spoils of war.  ‘Look at the colors!’ he would say, pointing bleary comrades toward thousands of sunrises.  ‘What kind of blue would you call that?’ He called the tint of sky that offered him most peace Five O’Clock Vegas Blue.  ‘You have to see it to know it,’ he dared disbelievers. Steve Lawrence, who saw his share of Vegas Blue, says, ‘I’ve told him he’s probably the last of the Italian vampires.’” - Frank Sinatra & The Lost Art of Livin’

For him, the fight against sleep never ceased.  But what was he really fighting against? Was it really sleep? Or was it something else… something much deeper?

As I read about his habits, I discovered an innate fear – the underlying shadow he fought against that drove him to becoming nocturnal like yours truly.  He described sleep as “dullsville, numbsville, weakness”.

By contrast, being awake he felt aware.  “Be aware”, he told his daughter growing up.  He was like me in that he didn’t sleep when it was dark, but he was very different in that he hardly slept AT ALL.  He survived on random power naps here and there.

There’s a parallel that can be drawn here to marketing and selling to consumers.  It’s not about their “sleep habits”, but about discovering the underlying fears and frustrations of your prospects in your target market, which you may have to dig a little deep for.

If I wrote a book about how lack of sleep would drastically reduce someone’s lifespan, would Frankie ever buy it?

Probably not.

It’s obvious that wouldn’t address his issue. The underlying issue was his resistance to losing consciousness and becoming unaware of what’s going on around him.  It was his fear (or whatever you want to call it) of becoming “weak and dull and numb” – and he associated those things directly with SLEEP.

After finding this, I’d have a much better shot at selling him something titled “How To Snooze With One Eye Open So You Can Be Conscious Even In Your Deepest Sleep!”

As a copywriter, it’s my job to dig a level deeper to find the prospects’ underlying wants, needs, desires, fears, and frustrations.  Looking below the “surface” is where the gold lies.

- Shiraz

P.S. Leave me a comment… you’ll make my heart sing

Saturday, 3:48 AM

So I just learned today that my all-time favorite online marketer is now following me on Twitter.  I’ve been keeping up with him since the day I joined it.

His name is Mark Joyner.

He’s had a couple of best selling books, including the groundbreaking “The Irresistible Offer”, which is a must read if you’re at all serious about being an entrepreneur.

But my favorite is a training product he did called Viral Marketing Blueprint.  He breaks marketing down into a complete science (which is why I love him).

“Viral Marketing” is a way to spread the word-of-mouth about your product or service, and is probably the most powerful force in getting web traffic… ever.  Here’s why:

1. The number of visitors to your site grows exponentially.

2. It cannot be turned off, so the web traffic is virtually unstoppable.

3. It produces highly qualified customers (because trusted friends are telling each other about your product)

4. It’s free.

Let’s break this down mathematically.  If every 10 people tell 2 of their friends about what you sell everyday, and they in turn tell 2 of their friends everyday, and so on, here’s how many people will be visiting your website in 10 days:

Day 0: 10 people

Day 1: 20 people

Day 2: 40 people

Day 3: 80 people

Day 4: 160 people

Day 5: 320 people

Day 6: 640 people

Day 7: 1,280 poeple

Day 8: 2,560 people

Day 9: 5,120 people

Day 10: 10,240 people!

Now imagine 30 days or even a full YEAR out.  It’s just scary the number of people that will learn about your marketing message from their trusted friend or family member, who is way more persuasive to them than any ad or sales pitch.

But I regress.  This is a highly unlikely scenario because we’re using a ridiculously high multiple of 2 here (which Mark Joyner calls the “copulation rate”).  Let’s say we used a smaller number like 1.3 instead.  So, with a copulation rate of 1.3, you have each person telling 1.3 people about your product or service.

By day 10, those 10 people would turn into about 138 people talking about your business at a 1.3 copulation rate.  In 30 days, here’s how many folks will learn about your business or website:

26,200 people!

This is a realistic scenario, and you can do the math for 60, 90, or even 365 days out and see the gigantic number of possible prospects coming to your site.  And Joyner teaches you step-by-step exactly how.

- Shiraz

aka Mr. Nocturnal

Friday, 5: 19 AM

The answer is I DON’T KNOW!

I got this question recently, and I understand why.

Most people think of my “work” as being a corporate job that I once put on a suit & tie for, walked into an office in some corporate building, handed over my resume, and answered some mundane questions about why I should get hired…

Not the case.

The marketing that I do is not corporate marketing.  Not by a long shot.

The best term to describe the type of marketing that I do is “Guerrilla Marketing”.  And the first time I learned about guerrilla marketing was when I picked up a famous book by Jay Conrad Levinson by the same title.  It’s much like guerrilla “warfare” for the small business owner.

A wannabe small business owner like myself, or even Joe the Plumber (who in reality is probably never going to be one, but that’s a whole other story) we have to play a whole different ball game to sell our products and services compared to a big firm with millions of dollars in its budget.

But Joe has a serious advantage (in his fantasy world of being an entrepreneur)…

What Jay Levinson in his guerilla marketing book explains is that a small business owner has 12 distinct advantages over the corporate world:

1. Time, energy and imagination are our investments to market our business instead of money.

2. Big firms have so much going on, that their measurement on effective marketing is often just SALES.  For guerrilla marketers, the primary measuring stick is bottom line PROFITS, which the guerilla can measure much more easily and closely than a big company.

3. Corporations rely on past experience and judgement, and a lot of guesswork to use good marketing.  But wrong guesses are too costly for the small guerilla business owner, so he or she must rely on psychology – laws and patterns of human behavior.

In other words, he or she can follow very closely the purchasing patterns of consumers to know for CERTAIN what will work and what will not work in marketing.

4. Traditional marketing used by big companies will often “count receipts” at the end of the month to see how many sales were made.  Guerilla marketing techniques, particularly INTERNET guerilla marketing, counts how many relationships you’ve made every month – and each relationship with a consumer will lead to many sales in the future.

5. Traditional marketing uses just a handful of marketing tools that cost a lot, while a guerilla marketer will use hundreds of weapons for marketing, most of which are free.

6. Simply put, small business owners can use guerilla marketing ideas to deliver SUPERB customer service and one-on-one service to consumers.  The big company simply cannot do it nearly as effectively or as quickly.

There are 6 other advantages that you can read about in Levinson’s powerful book.  Frankly I don’t have time to go into all of them, and you probably don’t want me to either because I think you get the point.  I will say this though…

The biggest advantage, in my opinion, as a small biz owner/guerrilla marketer is that I can adapt to changes and new technology almost INFINITELY faster than a big company can.  This is so huge that I have to leave it for another blog post to explain it.

- Shiraz

aka Mr. Nocturnal

Friday, 1:43 AM

I’m taking Wing Chun lessons, which is the Chinese style of fighting the dude on the right made very famous.

Bruce Lee found a MARKET to cater to, and he offered that market something it was already enjoying, but he gave it to them in a way that no one else at that time could match.

Almost all Kung Fu movies back then were shot and sold in China and Japan.  Most of them involved weapon and sword fighting, and used unrealistic effects.

Bruce Lee came long, and made them into hand-to-hand combat scenes with lightning fast kicks, and made the fighting sequences seem much more REAL.  And then, he took it to the US where Kung Fu flicks really didn’t exist, but he knew there was a demand for them.

The best advice I’ve gotten in building a profitable business online or offline, is to find a market that already EXISTS, make sure people are already buying in it, and then offer them something similar to what they’re spending their money on… and make YOUR product BETTER.

If it’s a highly competitive market, or there are serious barriers to entry, reconsider.

If there are NO players in that market, the thinking will be that it’s a huge opportunity, and you’ll feel giddy as a school girl at the possibilities.

However, it’s a big red flag…

Chances are, there’s a reason why no one is competing in that market.  It’s counter-intuitive thinking, but it makes sense! The false notion is that you have to create something new or something no one has ever thought of to go make millions with it.  TV shows like “The Big Idea” feed into this misconception.

But statistically speaking, your chances of making it big with a brand new, fresh invention are close to 15%… VERY low (can’t remember where I read this stat).

Granted, the payoff is huge if you get lucky and offer something that people actually fall in love with and want to spend money on, but that’s rarely the case.  You might as well go to Vegas.

Inventing something fresh is trying to create a brand new market that doesn’t already exist, which is extremely difficult to do.  That’s why the Thomas Eddisons and the Henry Fords of the world are rare.

If there’s a market niche that already exists with only a handful of competitors, the barriers to entry are low, and the competitors are making a lot of money… bingo.  You got yourself a potentially big opportunity in front of you.

Now go get rich!

- Shiraz

aka Mr. Nocturnal

P.S. Post up a comment, ask a question, or share your thoughts below… do it now or I’ll roundhouse kick you in the gut.

Friday, 2:37 AM

As an internet marketer, I love playing with different tools that make life easier.  My specific strength is copywriting.  When I say that, most people who aren’t familiar will think I’m talking about something to do with trademarking a name or a phrase or an idea.  It’s not…

Copywriting (“copy – writing”) is the art of writing words that persuade the reader to take some sort of action.  I call it an art because that’s what it is… an art.  It’s a skill that takes time to develop, and many of the best online marketers consider it the “million dollar skill”.

I haven’t made a million dollars… yet.  But I’ve acquired the skill to get me there (hopefully soon .  Anyways, the point I’m trying to make is that when I write a sales letter to get a reader to buy something online, I want to know 3 main things:

1. How many people are going to the site.

2. Where are they coming from.

3. How many of those visitors (the percentage) are actually clicking on the “buy it now” button to make a purchase.

This type of tracking of numbers (or ‘metrics’ as we call them) is vital if I want to test and improve the sales letter.  Some words can be changed, deleted, or rearranged to make the letter more persuasive.  But also knowing HOW people are finding the sales letter is vitally important.

A person who already knows me, reads my blog, trusts me and what i have to say is going to have a FAR different response to my sales letter than someone who simply saw a 3-line ad on Google.  If they’re coming from my newsletter email list, they’re probably going to be much more persuaded to buy.  The “conversion rate” will be higher for those types of people.

So how do online marketers TRACK all these things?  Simple… we use a tracking tool.

Up until recently, I was using Google Analytics, which is like your car’s dashboard with all the numbers, stats, graphs, charts to see EVERYTHING that’s going on on your website.  It tracks how many people came to your site, left, how long they stayed on, where they came from, and what action did they take (did they leave or did they click on a link to buy or go somewhere else?).

Analytics is a free tool, and it’s pretty awesome.  But I think I found something that blows Google Analytics out of the WATER.

Check this out…

(This is some C.I.A. shit!)

It’s called “Woopra” and it’s probably the most advanced web tracking tool around (and it’s free to use).  I feel like I can almost spy on people with a satellite with this thing!  And everything is LIVE tracking (unlike Google Analytics where you have to wait until the next day to get your stats).  It even shows a map of the earth so you can see exactly where on the planet someone is looking at your website RIGHT NOW.

It’s in a beta version right now, so it’s still somewhat limited.  However, the great thing about Woopra is that you can add and create plug-ins for it.  (A plug-in is an extra piece of code anyone can write for it to make it even BETTER).

I’m going to start using it for this blog and see what happens (can’t wait).

- Shiraz

a.k.a. Mr. Nocturnal

P.S. Leave me a comment below.  I know who you are because I’m spying on you (… kidding)