Paul Lear
marcus passey
Lisa
Ed Rubi
James Howard
Kerie
Benjamin Cip
Paul Wilson
Tom Harvey
Vance SovaArchive for My Journey
Every Day’s A School Day!
Posted by: | CommentsBlimey O Reilly. Its the 23nd February and I haven’t posted here since the 8th January. That is very naughty of me. So that’s what, 6 weeks of stuff to tell you about!!
Ha ha, I won’t do that but I will try to fill you in on how things are going for me and what I have learnt in those 6 weeks.
I did think that I should start to put more informative posts on my blog. You know the kind. How to fix z problem, How to get y traffic, How to put x on your blog. But actually. That’s really not me.
I find it easier just to talk about what has been going on with my business. The thing is I know that most people aren’t interested in me personally but if they can see that I can go from zero to where I am now and pick up some useful tips or incentive then that’s good enough for me.
So whats happened in the last 6 weeks?
Sticking to my IM business alone and not the fact that my 2 month old son has absolutely blown me away and made me feel more content that at any time before then things have been going well.
For the first month ever I am actually in credit. I received my first Clickbank payout of $572.46 as well as a few Paypal payments to add up to over $600 in commissions. And I’m due another $300 plus already. This is a monumental achievement for me and has given me the confidence that I absolutely WILL be successful at this.
I have continued to grow my list which now stands at over 2,500 and I have just launched my 2nd product to giveaway which is called “On The Double” Product Creation. Here’s a look at the ecover.
"On The Double Product Creation
If you want to learn how to create products in double quick time then please just add your name and email address to the form below the picture and I’ll get it straight over to you.
I’ve also learnt to think more like a marketer than a customer. Its a strange feeling to be more involved on the inside looking out than on the outside desperate to get in.
Most importantly I have learned that anyone can succeed in this business if they are prepared to follow the tried and tested methods, stick at it and persevere, even when things are looking bleak.
I’m going to become a full-time IM’er (well 10 hours a week but no other job) and I’d like to help as many people as I can do it as well. If you sign up to my newsletter via any of the opt-in forms that you see on the blog, and just reply to one of my emails then if there is any way that I can help you at all I’d be very pleased to do so. (ahem, within reason people!)
I keep saying it but this is just the end of the beginning. The good times are still to come!
And Oh yes, I’ve learned today that you shouldn’t suck too many max strength sore throat relief tablets unless you want your whole mouth to go numb!
Have A Good Day!
Holiday Greetings, The Hard Work Starts Here!
Posted by: | CommentsYou’ve got to love the business of Internet Marketing! As you will have seen from my previous post I was stuck in limbo land waiting for the arrival of my wee guy. Well, shortly after I posted that we started to see the first signs that he would be making his appearance.
Anyway, after another 3 days and very little sleep Danny finally made his way into the world and obviously as the proud father I am I’ll stick up a wee piccy of him here
Thatsa ma boy!
But I’ll make that the last I speak of this saga for a little while. The point I wanted to make was that through all of this time i.e approx 3 weeks, I did very little work on my online business yet in that time it continued to grow. I now have a list of 1300 peeps and it continues to grow daily. If you are one of my subscribers I’d like to say a very big thank you to you for listening to me and reading my emails.
I feel that I have now completed the first stage of my journey to independence. The hard part is getting started but once you have the ball rolling one day you will wake up and it will have become an unstoppable force.
So on a final note I’d like to wish everyone a very enjoyable holiday period and have a great new year. I’ll certainly be enjoying my first xmas with my wee boy and I will come back with a renewed vigour to make 2010 the year that I, and whoever wishes my help, reach our online goals.
Many Thanks
Andy
Living In Limbo….But You Should Grab This!
Posted by: | CommentsWell, here I am. 3 weeks on from my last blog post. I’m thinking that is probably too long to be leaving between blog posts and in time I hope to rectify that. Perhaps in the future I will have lots more to talk about but more importantly a lot more people to talk to.
Or maybe I have so much to talk about that I can’t focus on one subject at a time!! Yeah, that sounds more like it.
On a personal note I am still waiting on the arrival of my first kiddywink. He’s now over a week overdue and the waiting is driving me round the bend. At least it allows me the time to keep working on my IM business.
That side of things is continuing to grow at a steady pace and if I could give one piece of advice to the newbie IM’er it is to have patience. There are no get rich quick schemes here. We are about building a profitable BUT sustainable online business. If you are looking for a quick cash injection or a part-time income then I’m sure there are systems out there that can help but I am pursuing the dream of becoming a full-time IM’er and for that I need longevity.
As for those goals, what have I achieved so far?
The biggest advancement that I have made is in the most important part of my business – my list. On my last blog post I only had a few hundred subscribers, today it is sitting at approx 850.
I am happy with the progress I am making and the beauty of building a bigger list is that everything starts to go into overdrive. If you adswap with a list of 200 and get 5% conversions then you are only getting 10 subscribers a day but when you adswap with a 2000 list you will get 100 a day, therefore you move to the next level a lot quicker.
So please remember that it’s the getting started that is the difficult part. Once you have momentum you will start to make great strides in a far shorter period of time.
So this moves me nicely on to my next point which is the release of Alex Jeffreys new “Triple Threat Affilate” product.
Basically Alex is giving away one of the webinars that we had as part of the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Program and in all honesty this is the one that blew me away.
My journey started when I began Alex’s course, it cost me just under $1000 to do so but now you can get started for nothing. I fully intend to reach my destination and I will always remain thankful for Alex’s advice.
So do yourself a favour and get this webinar:
Alex Jeffreys “Triple Threat Affiliate” Webinar
I’ll leave this post there and by the time I post again my life will have been turned upside down and inside out and, I NEVER thought I’d say this but I’m quite looking forward to it.
Famous last words!!
You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry!
Posted by: | CommentsWell, It’s the middle of the bloomin night and I just had to get up to make this blog post.
The thing about this business is it gets into your head. You think about it constantly. What should I be doing? What do I need to learn? How do I do this or that? and on and on.
And part of me loves that. I even love spending the money on new products, even when I’m trying not to.
But what’s the point of this post? Well, today I started watching module 7 of the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Program called the Big Online Secret or the online roadblocks, whichever is preferred.
And what I realised, just now, lying in my bed, is that I am doing this all wrong.
As Alex kept pointing out, if you don’t keep a journal than you will fail. Well I didn’t keep a journal. I’m a compulsive note-taker and list maker but it’s probably all the wrong stuff.
I haven’t got any videos up yet. I have recorded them but then it took me ages to edit, then they take about 2 1/2 days to upload to youtube. While bringing the computer to a grinding halt.
I’m also focussing far too much attention in driving traffic to this blog. There isn’t any point to doing that. It’s not monetized. It may be read but then it will be forgotten about. Never to be read again by 99.99% of people who visit. What’s the bloomin point in having high traffic or a good Alexa ranking if there’s no end product. Like peeing yourself in dark trousers. Gives you a nice warm feeling but nobody notices! (Not that I have)
And this is all sounding very negative, but really, it’s not. I know what I am doing wrong but just as importantly I know what I am going to do to fix it.
I have a cunning plan and when I get up tomorrow I’m going to get stuck in.
There isn’t much more to learn about the basics. There is no great online secret. It’s about perseverance and consistency.
Massive action = massive results.
And I need to be myself more. I like a laugh, don’t like to take myself too seriously but prone to going off into rants. But so what. Opinions make us who we are. If you don’t agree with someone then get over it, we’re all adults.
I do like having a blog. Somewhere to vent your spleen as we say. Somewhere to get to know people and build relationships and, in time, friendships. It’s funny that you can type some stuff onto this and people will read it but in the real world nobody really hears anything but their own voice.
I once heard a saying that has stuck with me – “Nobody listens, they are only waiting for their turn to talk!”
Maybe we should listen more and talk less?
G’Night
I’ll probably delete this or at least edit it after I’ve had my night’s sleep!
Google Doesn’t Use Keywords Meta Tag
Posted by: | CommentsHi all,
As I hadn’t been very active in my blog-hopping activites recently I decided to spend a night visiting my fellow students blogs and some outside blogs as well just to try to catch up with as many people as I could.
Firstly, some of the information, hints and tips that I picked up were excellent. And I mean that sincerely, excellent.
There was the social bookmarking advice from Karen Kalata, Paul Wilson’s tip on the MyBlogLog plugin, Marcus Passey’s great post on how much your site is worth and Edward Rubi’s terrific twitter tips. To name but a few.
Apologies to those I left out.
However it was when I went outside the students blogs and visited the site of Matt Cutts that I found a great piece of information. Now Matt is some head bod in the labs at Google. Haven’t found his job title yet.
But in Matt’s most recent post he talks about how Google does not use the keywords meta tag in their web search. At all. Ever.
I found this extremely fascinating as it is often mentioned in SEO teachings around the internet. And he goes on to say that they are far more likely to use the description meta tag for searches.
Anyway, here’s the video he has posted. Hope you find it as relevant as I have.
Dean Holland’s An Inspiration!
Posted by: | CommentsThis business relies on momentum and consistency to deliver results. It is important to keep doing a little something every day in order to move you closer to your goals. Whether that is tweeting regularly, writing an article every day or making a blog post weekly.
And it is very easy to let life and work get in the way of these consistencies. And before you know it a week and maybe two has passed.
As a Dean Holland student I know that it is possible to make a success out of IM and I am determined to make it there. As work life deteriorates and with new family commitments looming it is very easy to start getting negative. Results aren’t where I would like them to be, my email list is still in its infancy and some things haven’t worked like I would have hoped.
But, people, that is not the way that I am going this time.
On the positive, I have had sign ups, I tweet regularly and my following has grown to almost 3,000. I have written articles regularly and I will continue to do so.
Dean Holland is my inspiration this time and that is something that I haven’t had for a while. Dean started where I started. He followed Alex Jeffreys coaching consistently and 9 months later he quit his job. This isn’t just possible, if you follow the system, its probable that you will get results.
I’d also like to say a big hello and thank you to anyone visiting this blog. Thanks for taking the time to visit. And for any Dean Holland or Alex Jeffreys students, please contact me via the contact page here or PM on the forums just to say Hi. I know we all need help with motivation at times and I’d really like to start building some online relationships.
Finally I’d like to point everyone in the direction of my blog page titled Five Free Membership Sites. These memberships are terrific. There is a traffic generation club and an affiliate profits club as well as a self help site and 2 other web marketing memberships.
They really are free, although there is an upgrade option. And the information inside is incredible. Check them out – Click here
25 Things You Didn’t Know (Or Care) About Andy Michaels
Posted by: | CommentsIn response to the challenge thrown down by Gary Simpson (http://motivationselfesteem.com/talk/) in the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Forum and because I was tagged by the good man Mr Marcus Passey (http://www.marcuspassey.com) whose list is a lot better than mine by the way) I felt obliged, nay pressured into revealing more.
Also Marcus will be becoming used to me stealing things from him so I have decided to write it in the third person as then I can laugh at that sad sod in the list as well. You may notice me clutching at straws by the end.
Here goes:
1.Andy is 5′8″, medium build, weighs 11 1/2 stone so just into overweight territory.
2. Andy loves ice cream and sweeties hence the creep into overweight territory.
3. Andy is 32 years old and not a kick off the arse of 33. But still gets on the bus for a half! Maybe, If I tried??
4. Andy is not in the job he though he would be in when he was 16. Is anyone?
5. Andy is Ginger, Red-Headed, Carrot-Topped, etc but Andy’s not bitter about it. Well, not now. Much.
6. Andy got away with getting married for 9 years but is about to reach his 1 year anniversary realising that its not that bad after all. Don’t know what the wife thinks about that.
7. Andy is 3 months away from becoming a father for the first time and is pooping himself at the prospect.
8. Andy lives in the country, hiding his anti-social tendencies amongst the sheep.
9. Andy works in the retail industry which is the cause of most of his anti-social tendencies!
10. Andy loves the footie (soccer to the yanks), Well, Andy did but the excess money, cheating, diving, mollycoddling of over-paid namby-pambys and general destruction of the common man’s game is putting him off somewhat.
11. Andy has the tendency to launch into rants regarding the lack of common sense in the world on a regular basis.
12. Andy is interested in the financial news and thinks that anyone who says they couldn’t see this crisis coming is either deluded, blinkered or lying. (Andy’s been boring his family and friends with this for 8 years). And if we think that the answer to overspending and debt is MORE overspending and debt then God help us all!
13. Andy is a mass of contradictions. He’s selfish but generous, laid back yet uptight, demanding yet easy-going, funny but serious. For some reason that reminds me of a line from a Chris Rock show where he says that we can’t always be a conservative or a liberal thinker. As in “On crime, I’m conservative, On prostitution, I’m Liberal!” Just a joke folks!
14. Andy likes to laugh – a lot. Andy misses being younger when he seemed to laugh from morning till night till he couldn’t breath. Where does the laughter go when you’re older? We’re all so serious now.
15. Andy goes red at the drop of a hat, Ends up looking like a giant Swan Vesta. At least 10 times a day. Andy’s still not used to it.
16. Andy is a keen reader, Of financial stuff as mentioned before but particularly historical fiction. If its got fighting, blood, guts, death and glory in it then I usually love it. Favourite authors include Conn Igguldenn, Steven Pressfield, David Gemmell and Giles Kristian.
17. When Andy was slightly younger and dumber he broke his collar bone jumping off a car. This is still the most painful thing he has ever experienced. Andy told his parents and the doctors he did it jumping over a wall. They said they believed him.
18. Andy has done a 10,000ft tandem parachute jump despite being a teensy weensy little bit scared of high things. I can’t go up high things without wanting to sit on the ground. Despite this I have jumped off a few things pretty high up.
19. Andy detests programs like Big Brother, The X Factor or The Apprentice (1st series was good but after that..). Basically if it makes you want to scratch the inside of your head then I’m in the other room.
20. Andy likes lots of American drama’s like The Wire, Dexter, Generation Kill, The Mentalist, House. And the good reality programs like Deadliest Catch, Oil Riggers, American Chopper and Axe Men. Oh, and he loves Emmerdale and isn’t afraid to show it.
21. Musically Andy can listen to many kinds of music and doesn’t discount country, classical, blues etc but really likes a bit of indie and rock. He likes loads of folk from The Enemy and Paulo Nutini to The Proclaimers and Credence Clearwater Revival. And when Andy wants to think of nothing but the music he sticks on The Who and just revels in the beauty of it all.
22. Andy has had a DVD player for 5 years and watched 3 DVD’s on it in all that time. Andy wonders why you can’t fast forward all the intro bits on a DVD like you could a video! Maybe thats just me.
23. Andy has realised because of writing this list that he has done very little in his life worth writing about, and he’s not very interesting.
24. Andy tries to live his life trying not to do to others those things that p*** him off. Like not merging in turn in traffic, or talking over someone else, or saying “I pay your wages” to store staff, or not saying “excuse me” or “sorry”, or whistling in public, or a thousand other things. Andy is never, ever late and see’s being late as a sign that your time is more important than someone elses.
25. Andy is determined to follow this path through to the end and will succeed in making some sort of regular income online. Andy feels a lot more confident this time.
Bloomin Nora, That was a lot tougher than I thought.
Now I’ve to go and tag some other folks in this big 25 things game.
Andy
What Ian Rankin Can Teach Us.
Posted by: | CommentsAaargh. Done it again. Another 9 days gone with no posts. Aah Well, Lets not dwell on such things. I have a feeling that I am going to be adding a few more in the next week. I just have so much that I want to talk about.
I have a post to make in response to a challenge where I have to write 25 things about me. I’m writing this up so that I can’t go back on accepting the challenge. I also want to make a post regarding Alex Jeffreys Coaching Program, namely the latest module I’ve listened to – Triple Threat Affiliate. This module blew me away. Something just sounded different in Alex’s voice. Or maybe I just got it???
But those are for another day. Today I just want to type up a very small news item that I noticed in one of the tabloids. We should all take what we need out of it. Nothing else to add –
“Millionaire author Ian Rankin raked in just £200 from his first novel it emerged last night.
The Rebus writer is believed to have coined in at least £3.2 million last year alone.
But he confessed to Scots actor pal Alan Cumming, 44, for a foreign TV show that he made a pittance from his debut offering.
Rankin, 48, told him: “The first book I got £200, the second book I got £600. And so it went like that for some time. But I kept writing better and better books. It was around 1998 before I could afford to buy a flat in Edinburgh” -End Article.
So why tell you this and what do I get out of it?
I think my fellow students will see what I see.
A writer now regarded as one of the best and most succesful in the UK is only that because he persevered. He could have given up but he didn’t, he got better as he learned and now he is where he wants to be.
Remember this before you give up your dreams!
Andy
So, How Are Things Progressing Andy?
Posted by: | CommentsWow, Doesn’t time just fly by. I haven’t made a blog post in 10 days now. There just seems to be so much to do.
I have certainly not been idle in this time. As part of the Alex Jeffreys mentoring program I have been beavering away in the background trying to follow the program.
So I have been busy building up a following on twitter -
http://www.twitter.com/andymichaels121 if anyone is interested.
That’s going well as I have built up a following of over 1000 now due to my subtle blend of quotes, jokes and comments. Yes, I also throw in the odd free gift in there. For someone who 3 weeks ago had no interest in twitter I am a bit of a convert. 1,100 followers in 3 weeks. That’s not too shabby at all.
My other main activity has been blog-hopping. I have been trying to visit plenty of Alex Jeffrey and Dean Holland student blogs as well as external IM blogs and leaving a comment. By doing this I am seeing a reciprocation of this and have received 60 comments to my own blog.
So not only have I learned new things by visiting these blogs but I have also gained so many other things. I have started to get my name out there which, in time, could build a reputation. I have gained backlinks on my site from people commenting on my blog which hopefully helps for SEO reasons. I am, again hopefully, starting to build relationships with my fellow students as we start to communicate and support each other.
But I also gain confidence and momentum. By getting good comments I begin to believe that this process can work for me. It makes me want to continue the process and get more comments and this brings momentum. And when it gains momentum this brings the enthusiasm to keep going.
And enthusiasm brings the desire to take action. And we begin again.
Before I sign off I want to mention Dean Holland. When I signed up to the Alex Jeffrey’s Mentoring Program I did so through Dean’s bonus package and in doing so I gained a place on his new mentoring program as well. Fortunately as Dean is a protege of Alex Jeffreys the teachings are very similar.
But..Dean has introduced a concept on his blog that is simply outstanding. He has developed the Believe & Achieve Show in which, every week he will post a brand new video, developed for the newbie, designed to help them succeed in Internet Marketing.
Check it out at http://www.DeanHolland.com
As part of his Believe & Achieve Show he has listed all of his students on his blog as people that are willing to help anyone who wishes to ask. So I just want to say that if anyone has landed on this site from Dean’s blog then please don’t hesitate to contact me or leave a comment asking me to contact them. I am no Alex Jeffreys but I have already started learning loads from these guys and will be delighted to help.
Peace out.
Andy
P.S Free Memberships to the Traffic Generation Club (normally $27) are still available. See previous post or Click Here To Register
Many Hands Make Light Work.
Posted by: | CommentsAs I mentioned in my first blog post, my aim for this blog is to be an interesting mixture of product reviews, particularly the products that I am using at the moment i.e Alex Jeffreys Coaching and Dean Holland Coaching, blueprints that I have followed in the past that I know can be used to make money, including hints and tips on creating products, setting up sites etc as well as articles, useful sites etc. Basically anything that I think you’ll enjoy.
Today I will mention a bit more about my progress with the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Program. So far it has been an extremely interesting course. We have covered all of the basics from editing your sites, adding paypal buttons and uploading sites to your domain name. A lot of this is very basic stuff and although many people on the course may already be aware of much of it I like that we are starting from scratch again. This allows everyone to follow a tried and tested formula.
Alex is turning out to be an extremely good teacher and his desire to help us all shines through in his video presentations. The support structure is also strong with Garry Parkes stepping up to the plate and hitting it out the park. The forum isn’t too big that it overwhelms you and the students on there are supportive, helpful and generous.
But now that the system is set up, this is where the good stuff should really start. I can’t wait to see the tactics used to drive traffic to our sites and due to the unique collaboration between members we will all share in the success. Let the good times roll.
