Read Jeff Walker’s “My ‘Secrets’: Four Secrets to Succeed Online”. [Reprint]


Jeff Walker’s “My ‘Secrets’: Four Secrets to Succeed Online” is reprinted here.

My ‘Secrets’: Four Secrets to Succeed Online

Jeff Walker says, “I am going to be blunt…

I have had some huge success online. In fact, I’ve sold millions of dollars of stuff in my various Internet businesses.

And since most of that stuff has been information products, most of those sales have gone straight to the bottom line.

In other words, those millions in sales have translated into millions in PROFITS. That’s an important distinction that a lot of people gloss over.

I don’t say that to brag.

I just want to make sure you realize that I know what I’m talking about. Because I’m about to share the real secrets to my success.

And one other thing – I don’t want you to think that I was an instant success…

In fact, my first full year online, I worked insane hours on my business and my profits were only $11,764.87. That was in 1997.

Not exactly a king’s ransom… but the handwriting was on the wall, and I knew I was going places.

In any case, I was recently interviewed… and the interviewer really did a great job of forcing me to boil down my nearly 11 years of online experience into just a few reasons (or “secrets”) for my long term success.

After really reflecting on this, I was able to boil it down to three things.

And you might be surprised that “product launches” is NOT one of the three.

Here they are:

1. Focus on building a list above all else.

2. Build a relationship with that list, and continue to follow up with the people to on the list to strengthen that relationship.

3. Never create anything unless my list and/or the market has told me they want it.

Sounds too simple, doesn’t it?

Well, I have found over and over that, at least in business, simple beats complicated pretty much every single time.

Those three “secrets” (obviously, they aren’t really secrets – I more consider them RULES for my businesses) are the reason that I stumbled upon the idea of “squeeze” pages way back in 1996.

They are why I was surveying my list way back in 1997, before ANYONE was talking about surveys.

Those rules are why I was focusing on giving high- quality original content in the summer of 1996, before I even had a web site.

They are the reason that I started publishing quality Internet marketing information nearly three years before I started selling products about Internet marketing.

Now I might be a little obsessive about this. And you don’t need to go to the lengths that I go. But if you follow those rules, then it is really difficult for me to imagine a scenario where you won’t succeed.

Sure, it won’t lead to overnight riches. And yes, it will actually require some work.

But it’s as close to a sure thing as I know.

Now I am going to throw one more thing in here… my FOURTH secret to success.

This is one that took my existing success and put it in overdrive. Too bad I didn’t figure it out until I had been in business for about four years.

But once I found it… well, my business doubled in the following year.

So here it is, my fourth secret to success:

4. Attending live seminars and workshops.

The power of meeting, networking, and brainstorming with other entrepreneurs is something that you just CANNOT imagine until you’ve experienced it.

You meet people that will stretch your picture of what your business could be. You will learn tricks and tactics that can instantly flow through to your bottom line. You could meet a joint venture partner that will give you an instant surge in sales.

The first event I went to was in January 2000… it was a Jay Abraham event that cost $5,000.00 per head. At the time I couldn’t conceive of spending that kind of money… but I worked as a “site reviewer” and I got a free pass.

That really was a life-changing event. I learned all kinds of great tactics and strategies. And I realized there were lots of other folks like me, sitting in their basement working away on their web businesses. And I made a few key contacts that have lasted to this very day.

And in the following year, my income doubled… much of it directly related to the knowledge and contacts I gained at that seminar.

The next quality event I heard about cost something like $3000.00. I didn’t hesitate for a second this time… I was happy to pull out my credit card. It was an epic event, and the connections I made were amazing (including meeting Yanik Silver, who was just really getting started at the time.)

At that point, I was hooked. Since then I have probably attended 25 events. Much of the time I speak at these events, but I still go to additional events as an attendee… just to learn and network.

That last word – “network” – is key.

If you want to find people to promote your business, there is NO better way than meeting someone face to face. That is how deals get done.

In fact, when I rolled out Product Launch Formula I had approximately 45 launch partners. They included virtually every single major player in the Internet marketing space.

And guess what… I had personally met all but maybe four or five of those partners. In fact, I had shared a dinner or a beer with most of them.

When I was ready to roll out my product, I had their cell phone numbers or their personal email addresses. Not a single person said “no” to me when I asked them to promote.

Now here is a KEY PIECE for you to understand…

When I met those major players and got to know them, I was NOT selling Internet marketing stuff. I was selling information about the stock market.

In other words, you do NOT need to be selling Internet marketing stuff in order to make key connections at these seminars and workshops.

There will be people in the audience (and up on the stage) in virtually every niche and market… including yours.

OK, this has gotten overly long, so I am going to wrap things up here…

But I know that some of you are wondering what are the key events that I will personally be at this year.

Well, there is ONE event that I simply refuse to miss… and that’s Yanik Silver’s Underground seminar.

In the last couple of years this has become THE “go to” event of the year… primarily because Yanik features speakers who are having real success in markets other than “Internet marketing”.

These are folks who are having big-time success in all kinds of niches (often strange or controversial niches, or niches you didn’t even know existed).

This means you are NOT seeing the “usual suspects” who speak at every other event. It isn’t the same tired old material.

Of course, I am probably biased – Yanik is a good friend of mine – we often brainstorm and mastermind via instant messenger or phone. And we have actually met up four times in the last year for mastermind sessions (twice in Vegas, once in San Diego, and one time was a Vail ski trip… “masterminding” on a chair life on a powder day is really the way to go!).

But trying to stay as objective as possible – the Underground is the one event that is an “automatic” must-attend event for me (and for lots of other folks I know.)

Here is the link for Yanik’s event:
http://undergroundonlineseminar.com/go/stakeout

That’s it… those are my FOUR secrets that have led to my success… and brought my business to a level that I simply couldn’t have imagined back when I started.

I know the first three “secrets” sound a little too simple… but they have made all the difference.

And that fourth “secret” – well, that’s one where a lot of people have a huge blind spot. And if that’s one of your blind spots, I hope you reconsider.

best regards, Jeff

P.S. I hope to see you at Yanik’s event. And one thing I forgot to mention is that there are several bonuses AND the price is about to go up on the 31st. Here is the link again:

http://undergroundonlineseminar.com/go/stakeout

[email with the subject: My “Secrets”…]

Post Related Links

Six In Seven eCourse

Jeff Walker’s MySpace

Product Launch Formula

Product Launch Formula Blog

*IMNewswatch would like to thank Jeff Walker for the publication of this post.