Ask Bob The Teacher

Today’s rant is all about taking more control over your business.

After all, it is YOU that should be in control of your business, and not the other way around.

When you are in control, you determine what hours you will work, the time frame for your product launches, even the growth trajectory.

But when your business is in control, you are back in the “employee” role again and have to react to situations as they come up.

So how do you deal with this? Seriously, I’d like to know.

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I am going to make a lot of people unhappy today. The good news is you are not included in that group.

I’d like to share with you a quick story about how I reclaimed $215/month back into my business (over $2500/year) so I can pay my bills faster and outsource some of my business more efficiently. And if you repeat the same steps I did, you could also discover quite a bit of “found money.”

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Beyond the typical spam, my inbox is filled this week with two types of emails from people I usually want to hear from.

They are offers to promote their new product, or emails promoting those products. As a person who thought he had this email thing under control, I’ve come to realize that the last two weeks have been incredibly LOUD in my inbox, and as the big holidays approach it’s only getting louder.

I’m not talking about lousy, too much hype products that aren’t worth the email paper they are written on. This is especially difficult right now because there are some really great products being released all at the same time.

Here’s how I try to handle the overload of products being released right now (or at any time for that matter).

Email Overload Management Part One

First, I have more than one email account. I have a

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With the launch of a ton of affiliate marketing training programs from great people over the last few weeks, I thought you should know how the approach I take to teaching affiliate marketing is different.And in a moment, I’m going to tell you the specific 8 steps you should be doing to be successful with this type of business building.First and foremost, the approach I am taking with the Eight-Fold Path live course starting next week gives you plenty of live training and Q&A opportunities to answer your specific questions. I have found that this provides the most value in any learning process. If you have to digest everything on your own, it’s unlikely that you will see results nearly as profound. The only other person I have seen do this effectively is Matthew Glanfield, whose mentoring (when available) I highly recommend.Most of the other courses out there are completely recorded (with no live interaction) and/or they hand-off the personal Q&A time to somebody else.

Second, I don’t teach people to go out and find where the top niches online are. I teach how to build a business that promotes you as an expert in what you already know, even before you have your own products. You already have to learn business building strategies — why complicate things by learning new niches at the same time?

Third, you won’t learn from me how to rely only on pay-per-click methods that require a lot of fine tuning and guesswork while spending quite a bit of money. If you have a lot of money to spare, then that is an okay way to go.

But for the people I’m teaching, I stress the lowest cost, longest effect processes that keep you generating sales long after you set them up. Some call this BUM marketing, but I think it’s much more active than that. However, once set in motion it does tend to last quite a while even if you don’t return to it for months.

Now a lot of people are going to call me crazy for doing what I’m about to do…

I’m going to tell you exactly what you need to be doing to be successful with affiliate marketing — right here on my blog for free.

Most people would charge (and are charging) for giving you this information. But this is too important to hold back from you, so I’m going to give you a very specific (although concise) roadmap of what steps you need to take.

So here’s what I believe to be the best way to approach affiliate marketing, what I like to call….

The Eight-Fold Path To Affiliate Profits
Combine each of these steps together for maximum results every time…

Step 1: Find A Niche That YOU Can Excel In
Over the long term, I expect affiliate marketing to make up about half of your income online. And the other half, eventually, should be from your own products. So the first thing you should be doing is focusing on promoting products in the area of your own expertise.

Doing so does two things.

First, it builds on your own experience and credibility, resulting in more sales because people will trust you know what you are talking about.

Second, it connects you with that industry so when you do make your first product, you will skip over the hurdle of being an unknown.

The additional bonus is the people you have promoted as an affiliate are likely to reciprocate the favor when your product is ready.

Step 2: Set up your links professionally — and measure the results
Most people fail to use the right types of affiliate links because they a) don’t know how, b) are lazy, c) think it’s too expensive.

But if you want the real results people talk about all the time, you need to set up better looking affiliate links.

This usually comes in the form of using php or html redirects within a domain name, which takes just a few minutes of your time when you know how to do it.

I also recommend setting up a unique domain name for each affiliate program. Although this sounds expensive, at just $9 per domain per year, it’s a great investment that yields much better results.

And as many of the people know that I promote, I have a knack for coming up with great domain names to promote products. I have never shared my top strategies for this publicly, but I’ll be doing so in the course.

You also need to track your results, which means setting up the right scripts and services to give you the data you need to make good decisions. I’m talking about knowing the number of times your links have been clicked on, where are you getting higher conversion rates, what is your cost per sale, etc.

The good news this is also very inexpensive, and in fact you can do some of this for free if you know where to look.

Step 3: Set up your traffic net
Although I love free services like Squidoo, ultimately you must have your own website in order for you to capture leads into your own autoresponder, set up the best affiliate links, and provide a place for your product reviews for long term results.

So the third step, before you promote anything, is to get used to the process of setting up squeeze pages and connecting them to an autoresponder.

If you are under a constricted budget, or you want to save time, then you can initially skip the hosting part by using the great service at Your-SqueezePage.com, but your first revenue should be turned into getting your own hosting and domain.

Then you connect your squeeze pages to your autoresponder so that you can follow up with the people who are asking for information. You know as well as anyone that people rarely buy on first introduction.

By setting up your traffic net, and using the autoresponder to give valuable information, you multiply your chances for success.

And again, since over the long term you want to have your own products, setting up the traffic net gives you a ready supply of customers when you’re ready.

Step 4: Use Free Web 2.0 Services For Long Term Promotions
Times have changed where you can set up a static web page and expect good results. Using Web 2.0 traffic methods encourages interactivity. And set up properly, this can add to your credibility as a source of recommendations.

So the fourth step is to create Squidoo lenses, develop articles (and post them to the right places), and utilize the power of blogs in multiple ways (I’ve already helped over 10,000 people learn how to improve their business with Squidoo at SquidooSecrets.com).

These three particular methods are effective because they get more people involved in the process than just you. So when people comment on your lenses, articles, or blog posts, they give you third-party validation. Without this, people don’t know if they can trust you.

But with just a single comment (you’ll get plenty more eventually), your credibility sky rockets.

Step 5: Write A Special Report About The Product
When people search online for information, they are looking for information first, and the chance to buy second. So by writing a special report, you are giving people what they want in two ways.

Even if you hated to write, you are able to communicate about a product that you enjoy. Just think about the last time you recommended some kitchen gadget you used, or a new toy you got in your garage.

Writing a special report simply puts those ideas from words into writing — but you can keep what you say very conversational.

Then you give this report away for free in exchange for people’s name and email address. When they click on your affiliate links inside the report, you’ll be making money.

The steps of making your report into a PDF that can be delivered 24/7 is cheap and a lot easier than you may be afraid of.

And I’ll show you how to do each step of this process. And I’ll also teach you how to get your report into more people’s hands so you get maximum exposure of your review and affiliate promotion.

Step 6: Use Video To Get Their Attention
I learned from Todd Gross the importance of using video online to stand apart from the crowd. Todd competes regularly with other marketers with 10 times the size of a list. So I recently sat down with Todd and had him teach me more about online video.

And yes, I was smart enough to record the interview with Todd and it’s included in the Eight-Fold Path training course.

The bottom line is this: you have personality that is not showing in text. And when you use video, whether something you have created or something you get from the product owner you are promoting, using video gets people in a good mood.

Done right, video explodes your results, and with Todd’s help, you will learn how to maximize this powerful tool.

(By the way, Todd gives away free stuff every month at FreeGiftOfTheMonth.com) 

Step 7: Teleseminars For Profits
It’s unlikely you don’t know what a teleseminar is, because you’ve probably been invited on a call where an expert and his/her guest talks for an hour or so about a subject area you want to learn more about. These are valuable teaching calls in and of themselves, but at the end, they usually promote a related product to learn more.

As an affiliate, holding teleseminars of your own can be a very lucrative process — they can also fail miserably.

In my course, I teach how to hold the teleseminar at little or no cost to you, and how to get the best long term results. You’ll learn even more with Matthew Glanfield’s advanced course on the topic (when it’s available again), but you’ll get plenty to start with from this part of my course.

These seven steps make up the bulk of the Eight-Fold Path To Affiliate Profits, a system that I use again and again for great results.

The eighth step is something I don’t share publicly – it’s too powerful and too rarely used. So to protect the investment of the people who join the course, I can’t tell you about it here.

However, it remains my favorite (and most lucrative) way to promote those products that I want to be connected to for a long time. And I’m going to show you exactly how to do it for your favorite products, if you join the course.

After reading this far, you may be wondering why you need to take this course from me — I’ve already told you what you need to do in order to succeed with affiliate marketing.

Simply do each of these eight things and you’re all set.

However, you’ve always known at some level what you need to do.

My Eight-Fold Path To Affiliate Profits Multi-Media Training Course Goes Beyond The “What To Do”, And Teaches You The Complete “How To Do It”

It’s the how to do it that trips you up. That’s where having a personalized training course comes in very handy. I’ve paced the course over an 8-week time period (it finishes before Thanksgiving), so that you can complete each step with me showing you exactly how to do it.

And if you don’t get it at first, you have the opportunity to ask for help from me and the others in the course, as my advanced training courses are set up as communities, not just simple download areas. And all the training is recorded and downloadable so you can learn at the pace that works best for you.

To enroll in the course, here’s what you need to do….

1) Purchase the Four Noble Truths Of Affiliate Marketing at www.DiscoverAffiliateStrategies.com.
Consider this a required textbook purchase, as I must know that you have the fundamentals down. I’ve kept the cost low (under $10) during this enrollment period for the course, but it will be raised later. The Four Noble Truths is an interview between me and Matthew Glanfield, simplifying the key essentials of affiliate marketing. You may have heard some of this before, but getting it completely right is imperative to your success.

2) Enroll In The Eight-Fold Path To Affiliate Profits
After registering your purchase of the Four Noble Truths, you’ll see the complete details of the Eight-Fold Path To Affiliate Profits Multi-Media Training Course (most of which was outlined in this article). Until midnight, September 29, the price of the course is $197, then it goes up to $297 (many of my mastermind members tell me I should have it at $497 or above, but as a former teacher, I know you’ll show your appreciation for the easier access by becoming a great affiliate of the course later when the price is higher).
Special Note: If you prefer to pay in 3 installments, you can decline the offer, and you’ll see the 3-payment plan immediately. You also have a “Silver” option, where you can receive all the recorded content of this course, without the live interaction for half-price. This option should only be chosen if you have a very limited budget, as the value in the live interaction is easily 10 times higher than the cost.

The truth of the matter is you can get some results doing it on your own. But if you’ve struggled, and you recognize that you are in need of more personalized guidance over a short time span, then this course is your best bet.

And with the payment options and 100% guarantee after the course is complete, you have absolutely no risk.

I want you to be successful. Not just because I’m a good natured person. In fact, I hope you become great at affiliate marketing so that you can become a super affiliate of my products, too.

Like you, I’m a big fan of “win-win” situations. With my live 8-part training course, your success goes from maybe to definite.

See you in class!

Bob Jenkins

p.s. While I’ve been in Poland this last week, I’ve earned over $2000 as an affiliate while on vacation because of using all 8 of the pieces I teach in this course. Let me show you how affiliate marketing is done.

p.p.s. Were these 8 steps helpful to you? Tell me which step you want to master the fastest with a comment below…

I’ve been in Poland for the last week, and yesterday, I had an ah-ha moment while picking mushrooms in the woods.

Watch this video (click the big 4-color logo at the bottom of this post) to learn how picking mushrooms in a foreign forest is like trying to grow an online business. Then be sure to tell me what running a business has been like for you (creative metaphors encouraged!)

Do zobaczenia!

Bob Jenkins

p.s. Need an affiliate marketing mentorship? I have a few openings remaining in the Eight-Fold Path To Affiliate Profits course.

While working with my private coaching clients, I am continuously reminded that I am not alone.

The deluge of emails that we all receive daily is creating a din so loud that we can’t hear the important stuff.

Worse yet, we feel like we will be missing something important so we sift through it all anyway, wasting hours of time each day.

Hours that could have been better spent producing revenue generating products and services, marketing strategies, masterminding… in other words: actual business.

Although I have a decent system in place to handle my email, I still fall victim to this. Striving for efficiency is what’s important, even if we come up short some times.

Here are a few tips for how to handle all of this.

First, decide who it is you want to listen to. Chances are you receive marketing messages from me and over a dozen others on a regular basis. Assume that all of us have decent things to say. You still shouldn’t be listening to us all.

We’ll likely have different points of view on what you should be doing, and that confusion can lead to information overload and paralysis.

So make a list of the marketers you receive email from on a regular basis. Write them down. Go through and rate them 1-10 (10 being awesome, 1 being rubbish). Anyone less than a 7 — unsubscribe, unless you are a paying customer for that person.

And if you did pay for something and you are now rating that person low, you may want to get a refund.

I evaluate the marketers I listen to with the following questions:

1. Do they have valuable things to say for my business?
2. Do they write emails in such a way that I can learn good copywriting from them?
3. Do they seem to have my best interests in mind with their products, services, and recommendations?
4. Have I met them personally, and found them to be genuine, positive people?
5. Have they supported me when I needed help?
6. Have their past recommendations been incredibly useful, and resulted in moving forward with my business?

Next, set up message filters in your email. If you are using Outlook or Outlook Express, they are called Message Rules. On any message you receive, you can right click and choose Create Rule Based on this message. Have separate folders for each marketer’s emails, and ship the emails immediately into those folders.

Third, make another folder called Urgent or Priority. People you know you MUST get their emails (family, spouse, etc.), should go immediately to that folder.

Once you’ve set up the rules, go to Edit Rules in the Tools menu, and choose Run Now for all those rules. Your 8563 emails will suddenly turn to 4000, and you can keep at it.

Repeat this process every month or so. Initially, it will take about an hour or so to set up the rules. Make sure you don’t get distracted actually reading these emails.

Tackling email and information overload is a liberating experience. Enjoy the sense of accomplishment when you are done!

Bob Jenkins

p.s. How do you handle your email and information overload? I want to hear about it — post a comment below!

This may seem like an off-topic rant, but I’ll bring it all together in just a minute…

As you may know, for the past ten years I’ve taught history to ninth graders and older.

What you may not know is that for 8 of those years I also taught one of the most popular electives in the school: World Religions.

This class changed many lives, opening up the views of the students who never knew how much so many religions have in common.

It changed my life, too.

Even though I was the teacher of the course, I learned more about the core essentials of faith than I ever learned anywhere else.

At the heart of every religion is the quest for peace, generosity, and hope.

Even if not all the followers always put these three things in the forefront, they are the cornerstone of just about every religion I’ve ever studied.

In the middle of my career in teaching this particular course, one of my students co-authored a course with me, Studies in Non-Violence.

It has been offered in the county schools for the past 5 years.

So what does this have to do with building a business online and the lessons I usually share with you?

Well one of the challenges I’ve had to face is reconciling the growth of income with the responsibilities that comes with that.

So I’ve been trying to find a way to share part of my income with a charity that fits with my own personal philosophies — most of which I developed as a teacher of World Religions.

I’m happy to say that after months of searching, I finally found the charity that fits with all of my thinking and passions for helping others.

The cool thing is, it doesn’t promote any one religion, nor focus on any single area of the world.

Instead, it focuses on the issues of poverty and war, attempting to eliminate the reasons for why people create and put up with conflict.

As you look at this presentation I’m about to share with you, I want you to listen to the voice in your head that says, “This is nice, but it will never work…”

And I want you to remember all those times someone told you one person can’t make a difference, yet how often that proved to be untrue.

The one teacher that changed your life, the one book written by one author that introduced you to something wonderful…

The one person you’re spending the rest of your life with.

The birth of one child turning your whole world into a new direction…

You get the picture.

Help me make a difference — and make the core essentials of peace, generosity, and hope a reality for millions of people.

Join TenMillionClicksForPeace now…

Thanks for reading,
– Bob Jenkins

p.s. Like other givers and sharers of this site, I receive no monetary reward for sharing it. In fact, you don’t have to spend a dime in order to help the world through this charity. Simply sharing this site will help a great deal.

And when you can help financially (I hope sooner than later), please do so.

p.p.s. Are the names Jack Canfield, Deepak Chopra, Arun Gandhi, and Desmond Tutu familiar to you? Find out what their role is with this charity, join the cause, then leave a comment below.