95% of online marketers will probably answer this wrong (LOL):

 

The Answer: 70%

(Source: Home Based Business Institute Statistical Data)

So Why Do “Guru’s” Keep Quoting the “95% of Home Business Fail” Statistic?

Fear.

Fear helps sell products.

If they tell people that they only have a 5% chance of succeeding, it puts fear into the masses that they will not succeed UNLESS they do whatever it is the “Guru” is telling them to do.  Usually, it is to buy the Guru’s product.

Don’t worry, I’ve fallen for that statistic, and even quoted it myself…not even knowing where it came from!

But “fear selling” will only bring you people who are scared, people who are motivated by fear, and people who in the long run are more mistrusting and not ready to give 100%.

So if the Truth is that 70% of home businesses thrive over a three year period what does that mean for you?

As long as you have some sort of solid, proven strategy for earning money, and you KEEP AT IT, consistently over the next few years YOU are very likely to succeed!

Isn’t that fabulous news?

Don’t you think you’re more likely to work hard at your business and to actually do what needs to be done, and treat it seriously now that you know YOU have a high likelihood of success??

So many people have been conditioned to believe that home businesses fail that even if they start their own business they expect that they are more likely to fail and they don’t put in the work.

It’s interesting to realize that a lot of people also think that brick and mortar businesses are the safer option, but only 29% of these make it into profit within the first three years.

This is good news.

Why?

Because home businesses have a lower start-up capitol, generally require less time investment, can be done on the side of a full time job, AND are more likely to succeed!!

So don’t let anyone scare you into buying their particular product.  Just make sure you have some solid information on how to market, a great product to market, a mentor you respect who doesn’t use FEAR to manipulate you….and PUT IN THE WORK!

People misquoting the “95% fail” statistic has damaged our industy as countless people have been scared away thinking it won’t work!

Here’s some interesting “70%” statistics….

So, decide today if you are going to be one of the 70% of Wannabe’s

or

One of the 70% of Successful Home Business Owners!

And don’t give up!!!

If you don’t yet know how to market your products, or don’t even have a home business yet download the Rebel Marketer’s Manual to learn how to market online, how to start your websites, and how to find a product that will be profitable for you FAST (it’s free because I believe everyone should have access to this information and it’s time we ALL were able to achieve success!)

 

 

 

The “Green Eyed Monster” and Celebrity Culture Has Destroyed Internet Marketing

…but WE can claim it BACK!

Human beings are naturally JEALOUS!  For some reason when we see other people succeed or doing better in their lives we tend to secretly wish that something would hold them back.

Ordinary people aren’t allowed to do a little bit better than us!

But celebrities! That’s a different story.  Celebrities are special, they have some mystical, magical properties that mean it’s perfectly OK for us to keep paying them obscene amounts of money to do stupid things that loads of other people could do.

And who are the celebrities of the internet world?  GURUS.

Now you might think I’m totally anti-guru, but that’s not the case.  I’m anti people stepping on other people to get to the top.  I’m anti people actively trying to keep other people down.

And I’m FOR good people getting ahead, following their dreams, and making their living online.

Did you know 70% of Americans want to be self-employed….and 70% of Americans live pay-check to pay-check?

Now, here’s the shocking news:

An estimated 70% of all home-businesses in the U.S. THRIVE in the first 3 years.

That means that ALL those people (and yes I believed this too for a long time) who told you that you WOULD FAIL because 90% of home businesses fail, unless of course you joined them….were WRONG.

Why don’t more people know this statistic?

Because internet marketers LOVE to tell people they will fail UNLESS they follow them.  That it is an industry of failures who just didn’t follow their simple plan.

But these well-meaning internet marketers have shot themselves in the foot.

Because people now believe that working on a home-based business is DOOMED to failure.  That home businesses don’t work and people don’t make money.

That’s simply NOT TRUE.

Now… do I advocate a simple system for making money online, YES.  Do I believe it is the only way to make money online, NO.

People are making money online in all kinds of different ways every single day.  But I KNOW that some people will want to work with me because they like my blog, or they find my articles refreshingly honest, or they just like the system that I follow to make money.

Do I worry that some people will go off and find another way to make money online? NO.

Because the more people who are successful in this business and who SHARE their success story, and who stop spouting GARBAGE about how you will fail unless you work with them the BETTER.

If 70% of Americans want to work from home for themselves, then each success story they here will bolster their belief that they can.  Each real person they know who’s made a go of it will help them feel like they can do it too.

When we support each other in this industry, we support the entire industry and make it more likely that we ALL SUCCEED!

How Can You Support The Industry?

1. Share your successes, no matter how small.

When you start growing a list online, tell your friends how easy it was.  When you make that first paycheck, don’t be afraid to announce it’s your first paycheck.  People need to see the whole story unfolding. Not just the stories of people making millions, but the smaller successes of people making a few hundred, or people making that first commission, etc.  The average person should have a feeling of the whole path towards the successful home business owner….not just the end result.

2. Buy “LOCAL”

When you are going to buy a tool online, go find an affiliate link for it.

Nothing makes me more angry then when people cut out the affiliate I.D. on a link before they buy.  What is so wrong about someone getting a small commission?  What is so wrong about helping someone else out?

Remember, every dime the average person makes online uplifts our entire industry.  Don’t just buy from the gurus…buy from the “little people” as well.

3. Don’t Fall For Celebrity B.S.

No one person deserves to hord all the success.  Just because someone has been successful doesn’t mean that it will rub off on you just by buying something from them.  If they are selling their information by all means buy it.  But don’t think that gurus are anything other than normal people who’ve had great success online.

The true successes in our industry are people who work as a team, people who support each other, and tribes of people that work together to become successful.  Putting gurus on a pedestal doesn’t help anyone, it makes the average person feel inadequate.

Support the gurus AND the people who are just starting out.  More people need to see the complete picture.  Both the guru end and the newby end. We should be shining a light on the newbies who are having their small initial successes.

Never forget: It’s the stories of ordinary people having small successes that really build universal belief in internet marketing as a great option for people who want to change their lives.

My favorite “guru” is an awesome couple that share pictures and stories about their new team mates becoming successful in their first 30 days, the excitement of an ordinary TEAM having genuine success is far more thrilling than the excitement that some guru made another $20k last week.

4. Honest is The Best Policy

People who lie, who argue, who hype things up just give the industry as a whole a bad name.  We need more honesty, more real people, more integrity in internet marketing.  Follow simple rules, don’t lie, don’t sell something you don’t use yourself, don’t pretend to be best friends with some guru, etc.

Tell real stories about yourself, your goals, your family, etc.  For example, I just got to quit my job.  It was really just on paper as I’ve been on leave for ages, but anyone who wants to quit their job can relate to that goal and to the amazing feeling you get when you finally hand in that letter of resignation.  So I blogged about it.  I didn’t go on about how amazing I am….but how amazing I FELT.

5. Be Successful!!

Don’t be afraid of success. Your story will truly help others and the industry!

 

We’re in this TOGETHER.  It’s OUR industry.  Your success is my success, and your neighbors success is your success, etc.  So slay that green-eyed monster that’s making you cut out affiliate links, or only buy from “gurus” and start supporting each other!!

 

References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Office of Advocacy, Small Business Administration
Home-Based Business Institute

 

 

I have been a stay at home Mommy for almost a year now.

But only now, today, do I feel like I’m finally FREE of the working world.

Why?

Well, I left my job (working in a VERY well-known coffee shop chain, yes, probably the first one that popped into your head!) a few months before my second baby was due to be born as I was ready to be done.

I was ready to fully embrace the world of working from home.

I was ready to be 100% there for my kiddies…all day, every day!

So I took early maternity leave knowing I had no intention of coming back.  In Ireland women are allowed to take an extended unpaid maternity leave period so they can spend as long as possible with their babies in the first year and still have a job waiting on the other end.

I took this option because, although I knew I wasn’t coming back, if I was technically an employee I still got great discounts worldwide, LOL.

However, I didn’t realize at the time that I was adding a huge mental ball and chain to my business.

I shied away from fully marketing and sharing my story on Facebook, because I was ex-collegues would see and tell the bosses.

I never felt fully comfortable embracing the title of “self-employed” because I knew that somewhere on some computer I was listed as an employee (even if I received no support, pay, and never actually went to the place).

It’s incredibly hard to shift that feeling of trying to separate one part of my life from the other.  Of not being able to fully go online and state, “I work from home, and doing a damn fine job of it!”

This week I suddenly decided that enough was enough.  It was time to tell my ex-bosses that they were (in fact) EX-bosses.  It was time to let my work collegues see who I really am and what I actually do.

So I handed in my letter of resignation, filled in my leaving documents, gave up my discount card and announced to the world that I was no longer an Employee.

I spent the rest of the day in absolute SHOCK.

My heart felt unbelievably light.  My head was reeling with possibilities, and I felt fully FREE for the first time ever.

My little announcement has more and more people asking about what I’m doing and realizing that the dream of FINALLY handing in that letter and telling your boss you’re working from home is possible.  It happens to normal people every day.

Sure, it was just a matter of getting paperwork sorted, as I haven’t been a real “employee” in a year…… but the mental shift that has happened has truly overwhelmed me.

If you’re holding yourself back in your business by having silly fears and trying to hide who you are and what you do, STOP!

Let yourself be free, be open, and embrace your dreams!

 

 

 

In the past few months, society has completely changed.

It started, slow…but has picked up at such a rapid pace that I find I can barely keep up.

The way we receive and process new information has warped to the point where we trust nothing, have incredibly short attention spans, and tend to prefer entertainment that allows us to turn off our brains.

Why Is Information RUINING The Internet

• There’s too much of it! Most people have hours of training or reading they plan to do, but never will
• The more time you spend online or watching the news, the more information is being shoved AT you
• With exposure of certain truths in the last year, people are beginning to doubt information sources like news, corportations, government, etc.
• People prefer to get their info from other people… but they tend to assume everyone has an ulterior motive!
• With so much of it out there the value of information decreases, and people need more to feel they have the full picture.
• Too much information can make you FREEZE unable to make decisions
• Attention spans become very short as people try to get through information as fast as possible

It’s a strange combination of both wanting TRUTH, but not trusting INFORMATION that has led to a strange language.

People online now speak in pictures and “140 characters”.

They try to deliver a short, concise message with a picture that illustrates the point or brings out an emotional reaction from the viewer. They no longer try to argue, get people to read long posts, or view long videos.

How to Speak This New Language

What Does This Mean For Your Marketing?

1. Short posts…or very broken up

You’ll notice that I use very short paragraphs.  That’s because people tend to SCAN.  They don’t want to take the time to read the full article, so they scan each paragraph to get the gist.

The more paragraphs you have…the more likely someone is to actually get your point!

TRY to keep your posts short and to the point! (I’m still working on that one, lol.)

2. SHORT videos

Video marketing is a great way for people to get your message and see you as a real person.  But if your video is longer than 4 minutes, most people will never click the play button!

If I want to make a video, I usually do a quick TIMED two minute demo…and name the video “2 minute tips” so people realize it really wont take up much of their time.

3. Learn to Speak in Pictures

This is VITAL.  I believe pictures are replacing videos as the hottest way to market.

It’s a little bit harder, but you simply need to use a program like paint to put a message on a picture and then share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumbler, etc.

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social sites online because it is ONLY pictures.  Think about what messages might be compelling that would make people want to check you and your site out.

If you need ideas, go look at Facebook.  It’s COVERED in funny, meaningful, inspirational, pictures people have made.  These are getting shared all over the place!  Make sure to put a link in your status update if you do put one up, as your pic retains the original status of the person who posted it!

4. Real Friendships, Honest Marketing

Don’t try to get people to buy your stuff all the time.  It’s annoying.

There are huge global movements happening right now. Big shifts. And the people who are being most successful online, or the people who are open about what they do… but not telling people to buy their stuff.  They are creating genuine relationships and joining the big online conversation that is growing daily.

They are posting pictures and learning more about others.  It’s ok to market, but don’t think that people will get tricked or “hypnotized” anymore.  Throw the sales book in the garbage.  Go join social sites, link EVERYTHING to EVERYTHING, and have fun!

I PROMISE the more fun you are having, the more others will see it and want to follow you, learn from you, and buy from you!

 

 

Someone recently asked me:

“If you had to start over again from scratch what would you do”

They asked what I would do if I woke up tomorrow only to discover that everything I had built up over my past three years online had disappeared. 

If all I had left was a computer with an internet connection, $100 dollars, and the knowledge I’ve got from my three years in online marketing.

First….I’d spend some time in SHOCK!

Lol.

Then….I’d follow this plan:

My “OMG, I’m Starting From Scratch” Super Fast Build-Up Plan

1. Grab a Free Email Account – $0

Obvious…but don’t want to overlook anything!

2. Get a Leveraged Blog – $25

It took me a good two years to get the blog traffic up on my self-hosted blog.  The blog traffic on my leveraged blog…only took about a month!  If I was starting from scratch I would want to take as many short-cuts as I could.  One is to host your blog on a high-traffic, high profile domain that ranks easily in Google and is fully optimized for spreading content virally in social media.

I would cut out the cost of hosting, plug-ins, technical help, etc and simply get an Empower Network Blog.  But I would try to find a sponsor who provided some sort of free e-book to use in my marketing (like the Rebel Marketer’s Manual that I allow my Empower team to use with their links in their marketing), so I could do step 5, 6, and 9.

Empower Network would also become my primary source of income, until I could afford to also invest in other income streams.

3. Get on Facebook – $0

I would open a Facebook Account and add some personal details, pictures, etc.  Then begin adding friends.  The best way to add friends actually starts on Google and makes people feel compelled to check out your website.  I did a little 2 minute tips video on how to do that here: How to Get Friends on Facebook

4. Get on Twitter – $0

I would open a Twitter account, personalize it and start sharing great Tweets.  A couple good quotes is a good starting point.  Then add Followers by interacting and actually using Twitter.  Again, I did a video on how to do this best so people actually want to read your Tweets and click your links here: How to Get Followers on Twitter

5. Get an Aweber Account – $1 for One Month

I really think there’s n0 point even being online if you’re not going to start to build a list you can market to.  Any big numbers you hear from Gurus, like “I made 30k my first week!” etc…. It’s nearly ALWAYS because they started with a big list to market to.  It’s the real leverage of the internet.

I would create my first list in Aweber giving my new list members the free E-book (mentioned in step 2) as part of their first message and as a thank you gift.

I would then create a good opt-in form and have Aweber host it for me (in the web-form publication options).  This would then become my freeby offer.

I would also create a second Aweber list and link that to my Empower Blog so that I could use their lead capture pages and systems to grow my list for me. (This is how I would get new list members and leads through the blog).

6. Kick-Start My List With a Solo-Ad – $50

Next I would place a solo-ad to get my list started.  For $50, you would usually get about 200 clicks on your ad.  Basically, you are paying someone to email their list with your freeby offer…they would guarantee a certain number of visitors to my opt-in form.  They don’t guarantee sign-ups, but if the opt-in form is good you can get around 50% opting in.

I would find the solo-ad seller through Safe-Swaps.  That way it is automatically tracks how many clicks I’ve received from the seller and I’m less likely to get ripped off!

7. Write Relationship Building/Viral Blogs – $0

I would spend about one hour a day writing blogs that help build up relationships.  There is more detail on how to do Relationship blogs in the Rebel Marketer’s Manual on the right side of this pages… but in a nutshell, I would write blogs on topics people are already interested in.  Make sure they include some personal stories… make sure they touch on feeling and emotions my leads are likely have.

I would ALWAYS post my blogs in Facebook and Twitter.  Particularly in Facebook I might ask a question with the link to encourage people to join the conversation.

I would then create an email blast to go out to my list telling them about my new blog post and encouraging them to check it out (with a link included).

8. Socially Syndicate Blogs – $0

I would join Onlywire and submit my link to up to 40 different social sharing sites automatically.  I would also join Pingler and Ping.fm to ensure I am getting the maximum social sharing.  It would take about an hour to set all these up the first time, but then I would be able to socially syndicate all over the web in less than 5 minutes per post.

9. Use Ad-swapping to Grow My List – $25

Finally, I would use Safe-swaps to help grow my list.  Basically, I would find ad swap partners with a similar size list as mine, get them to exchange a solo-ad for free.  I would email their freeby offer to my list and they would send mine to theirs…helping us both grow our lists.  I would be careful with this strategy though, and fully investigate all ad partners before agreeing to a swap and only doing one per week to ensure I don’t damage the relationship I am building with my list.

 

And that’s my not-so crazy plan to go from scratch to making money online with only my computer, internet, and $101 dollars (ok…I’d have to borrow a buck from someone, lol!)  It would only take $101 and about 2 hours per day.

Now if I had a bit of a bigger budget I could scale this out even faster leveraging more strategies…but I will save THAT plan for another day

Comment below with what’s the FIRST THING you would do if everything you’d ever done online was suddenly wiped out!

 

 

Because I couldn’t stop myself…