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publishing Archives - Jeff Walker

publishing Archives - Jeff Walker

Part 2: 4 Things to Do When Starting Over

by on Mar 26 2016
in Internet Marketing, Recommended, Strategy

Here's a follow up to my first video about starting over: specifically, how would I start over if I had some money to invest in my new business? And same situation, but if I had almost no money. Here's how I'd tackle each scenario…

SUMMARY

Money (and the abundance or lack of it) plays an important role in nearly every decision we make in life. When it comes to starting a business from scratch, here's what you want to keep in mind if you have no money, or if money is not an issue.

First, as a general rule:

1. Start publishing, in any format (blog, podcast, video, etc.)
2. Build an email list.
3. Connect with influencers.
4. Get out to live events.

You can gain a deeper insight into these four tactics in this: http://jeffwalker.com/start-over/.

The No-Money Factor

A lack of money should never deter you from achieving what you want. Yes, it'll be harder. Yes, it'll take more time. Most importantly, yes, it's doable.

1. Use free apps and websites. There are plenty from which to publish and build your email list. If your budget allows for minimal expenses, there are low-cost alternatives, with a few bells and whistles added on.

2. Be a good detective. You'll find influencers where they can best connect with their tribe. Find their favorite social sites and join in the conversation. Be particularly mindful of newer or less traveled sites. Influencers tend to be early adopters and you may be surprised to find your favorite influencer in these less crowded venues.

3. Be resourceful. Attending live events could be a challenge if you have no money, but challenges are what bring out the resourcefulness of the entrepreneurial spirit. When you make up your mind that you want to be at a particular event, you will find a way to make it happen.

4. Find or keep your day job. Dreamer or idealist, the successful entrepreneur is grounded in reality. Work first to put food on the table. Spend your “off hours” building your business.

Flush With Cash

Having money to invest in a business can be a blessing or a curse. It all depends on how you invest it.

1. Avoid temptation. Don't get caught up in business bling. Don't build more than you need. Do only what's necessary to start making money.

2. Invest in paid advertising. Drive traffic to your site. Get visitors to opt in. Start feeding them great content. Make them an offer using the principles of the Product Launch Formula.

3. Make your first sale. Get to dollar one. Do that and you'll have your proof of concept. You've now graduated from a plan on paper to a (hopefully) sustainable business.

4. Build your team. Sometimes, doing it all yourself is a necessity. If you have extra cash, start building a small support team. A virtual assistant who can handle general tasks and a customer support person would be a good place to start.

Did you ever have to start over? Please share what it was like and how you handled it…

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The Real Reason I Wrote A Book (+ BOOK UPDATE)

by on May 18 2014
in Book Launches, Motivation, Product Launches, Strategy

The reaction to the blog post about my book FINALLY being done was AMAZING. There were over 170 comments, and it was fun reading so many peoples' thoughts and ideas. So I shot this BOOK UPDATE video to share the real reason why I wrote LAUNCH, a preview of what's going to be inside the book, why the subtitle of the book is so long, and a lot more…

Since this is just the beginning of this story, I'd love to hear your thoughts – please leave a comment below…

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How To Move From Learning To Doing

by on Apr 21 2013
in Internet Marketing, Mindset, Motivation

How do you move from learning to doing? How do you actually get started? When is it time to stop planning and researching… and start building your business? This is how I did it…

This question came in on my Facebook page… go over there and like that page; it's one of the best ways to interact with me.

And please leave a comment down below. I want to hear about the big pivot points in your life – what they were and what they're going to be…

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15 Years Of Internet Success (And The First Law)

by on Aug 30 2011
in Internet Marketing, Motivation, Strategy

Today, August 30th 2011, is the 15 year anniversary of the start of my Internet business career.

That's right… I actually started out in 1996. Sorta crazy.

15 Years of Internet Marketing successAnd it's hard to imagine more humble beginnings. The story is too long to recount here, but I started out of desperation – I needed a change in my life.

And I started with one single action… I sent out an email newsletter.

I sent that first newsletter to everyone I personally knew who had an email address. Back in 1996 email was still somewhat rare, so the newsletter only went out to 19 email addresses.

Of course, one of those addresses was my second email address and another was my wife's email address… but I figure there was 19 emails on the distribution list, so I'm sticking with the story that I had 19 subscribers. It felt more important than if I only had 17 subscribers. 🙂

That was the start of my publishing career… and the crazy thing is that newsletter eventually grew to more than 80,000 subscribers.

Since then I've sent out well over 10,000 email broadcasts, and I've sold millions of dollars of products… and I've helped other folks make HUNDREDS of millions.

Now, as I sit here 15 years later, it's pretty interesting that the very first thing I did was start building an email list… even before I had my first web site.

And that leads to my First Law of Internet Business Success:

It's All About The List (And Your Relationship To That List)

For almost all Internet businesses, your only real asset is your list. Or more accurately, your lists, because you should have many of them (prospects, clients, affiliates, email, social media, etc.) …

Your content can get knocked off, your technology can be bettered, your search engine rankings can go away. But no one can take your list away. And with that list you can overcome nearly any setback. It's your “license to print money”… it's your insurance policy.

BOTTOM LINE: In your Internet business there are all kinds of things you can't control, but your list is the one thing that you CAN control.

Of course, I've been saying that to people for almost 15 years now. Some people listen, many don't.

The thing that really kills me is the folks who complain that they don't have a list.

Well NEWSFLASH – none of us came out of the womb with an email list. We all got them the same way – we BUILT them. Every list starts with a single subscriber. If you don't have a list yet, that just means we started before you. But it's not a race, and there's no finish line… so just get over it and start building your list.

Remember, I started with 19 email addresses.

Of course, building the list is only the first part of the equation. The second part is every bit as important… you need to have a relationship with your list. But that's a whole different blog post.

Whew… I really didn't mean for this post to turn into a rant. I figured I would reminisce about the past 15 years. Maybe compare getting started now with getting started back in the day, possibly even give you all 15 of my Laws of Internet Success… but then I got carried away.

I guess I just get worked up when I see people making the same mistakes that I was seeing back when I started.

Just get over it, and focus on building your list.

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From the Grave…

by on Nov 16 2010
in Strategy

How do you publish a book 100 years after your death, and have it become an instant bestseller?

Mark Twain just did that.

Yesterday when I purchased his just-released autobiography, it was ranked #4 on the Amazon bestseller list… which is completely amazing.

After all, Mark Twain died 100 years ago… in 1910.

And all this without an “Amazon book launch”… without an appearance on Oprah… without a book tour… how do you do that?

Well first off, Mark Twain was an enormously popular and influential writer in the 19th and early 20th centuries. His novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is clearly one of the seminal works of American literature.

Second, Twain left explicit instructions to NOT publish his work until 100 years after his death.

And even with a 100 year delay, the interest in Mark Twain and his work was enough to turn the book into an immediate best seller.

There is so much here that is just so rich… what would Twain have thought of me buying the book from my home via Amazon? Or the fact that I had to decide if I wanted to buy the physical book or the Kindle edition?

(I'm sure he would have been fascinated by all of it since he was keenly interested in new technology, especially new technology in the publishing industry.)

But the thing that kept running through my mind as I ordered the book was “the long view”… in an age where everyone is a publisher the minute they sign up for Facebook or Twitter… where people blog about what they had for breakfast… where most companies can barely look beyond next month, much less next quarter… here is the triumph of someone who had a REALLY long view.

In my opinion, the easiest way to win… at business, at life… is to take a longer view. To think strategically, if you will.

By most measures, I've had some rather outsized success in my business… and one of the reasons (in my opinion) is that I spend a lot of time thinking about the big picture – the long term stuff.

This is the deal – it's not about the next email I send or the next project… it's about what those things are going to do for my business next quarter, next year, or three years from now.

(Many years ago my friend Paul Myers said I was an “empire builder”… it took me a long time to figure out what he meant, but I think this is what he was talking about.)

Of course, you don't need to be an “empire builder”. And yes, you have to focus on getting profitable and staying profitable. That's the #1 thing if you're starting out.

But if you want to instantly set yourself apart in your market… just start making your decisions based on a longer viewpoint than the other people in your market.

Are your current actions building for the long term? Are you building assets in your business?

BIG HINT: In the online world, the most important assets you can build are: 1) your relationships with clients, prospects, and partners, and 2) your lists of clients, prospects and partners.

In any case… I ordered the physical version of Mark Twain's autobiography. I didn't get the Kindle version, because I think this is going to be a book I'm going to want to put on my bookshelf for a long time after I finish it. It's going to arrive tomorrow… I can't wait.

[EDIT by Jeff: I originally wrote that Twain was an influential writer of the 18th and 19th centuries. After consulting the calendar (and being called out in the comments), I realized my error and changed it to the 19th and 20th centuries. 🙂  ]
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