A few days ago I received an “urgent” email from a subscriber. He said he needed help right away to figure out why he isn’t making any money.
“I’ve followed you for a long time. I’ve been on a lot of your teleseminars and webinars, but nothing is working.
I have also followed ______, ______ and _______ with the same results.”
(I purposely left the names of the other experts out to respect their privacy).
Before I responded to his email I visited this man’s website. What I determined within two seconds on his site is that he may have been following me for a long time, but he wasn’t implementing even the basic information I share about optimizing one’s blog or website.
Something I believe virtually everyone needs to do is give visitors a way to get on your subscriber list. Nowhere on the site of the gentleman who wrote me was there a place to opt in for anything.
This is about as basic as it gets. I know for fact all the other experts also recommend this step.
Yet, so many people miss it. For whatever reason people can hear this over and over and yet not try it.
Although the man who emailed today may have been following me and several other experts for a long time he sure wasn’t paying attention to what we recommend. If he was he would definitely have an opt in box with an offer of very high value on his site.
It doesn’t end with an opt in box. Once people are on your list you have to continue to create extremely high value. This takes time and commitment.
The fact is, following an expert and implementing their recommendations are two different things.
I can’t tell you the number of times I have received similar messages as this man sent. Someone needing help right away and yet, they haven’t taken even the most foundational steps.
Rather than simply following an expert, why not try their recommendations. You may be surprised at the results you get.
What side of the issue are you on? Are you someone who has “tried everything” and yet, still not making money? Are you an expert who has had a similar experience as the one I describe in this post? Comments encouraged.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
I often get this kind of call or email as well. And more often, I find that these people say they are trying, but truly haven’t ‘had the time’ to get it all done.
Well if it doesn’t get done, have they truly tried?
I remember the first online course I bought from Cory Rudl. I went through the information with a fine tooth comb. Dedicated time to the information and the implementation. Low and behold, by following his teachings and doing the work I began making money. That was over a decade ago. And I haven’t looked back since. And… I still have mentors and buy information products to take my own business to the next level. It’s an ongoing process that begins with the first step.
Kathleen,
For many people the learning curve is high and takes a long time. But the real culprit in failing to take action is usually fear. Fear of working with technology for the first time, fear of spending money to to get started and fear of failure- are just a few of the many fears people face.
Don’t feel you have to do EVERYTHING at once. This will definitely result in failure. I would recommend starting small. Take action – by taking small steps first. Take one small step and build your confidence bit by bit. Acknowledge your progress every step of the way and put one foot in front of the other – don’t expect you’re going to have an overnight booming business with every bell and technological whistle in place – and you’ll get there in your own time.
So true Angela. Take baby steps and before you know it you will have accomplished a lot. The challenge for many is taking that first step. In all of my training courses I have checklists that someone can follow that starts with one small step. For example, my membership training course has a 28 day plan that will take someone from a place of not being sure what to do to having a program in place during this time. Each step is designed for someone to feel a sense of accomplishment in order to move on to the next step.
I want to create a list, so I can let my readers know the latest news. BUT, I don’t want to receive comments except as a letter to the editor, which I will post, and I have nothing to offer, except what I give away at no cost to readers. I am supported by advertisers. My reason for not accepting comments is having a bad experience with a local blogger who posts every comment, even when it slanders another person. I did not want to face that!
I have an RSS feed and a Facebook page, with a number of friends and readers. How can I gather a list with an opt-in form, if I have nothing to offer them in return? I’m stymied.
By the way for those of you reading this comment, Kathleen Gage gave me the courage to follow my dream and build an online news source. Thanks, Kathleen!
Thanks so much Mary Alice.