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DanceCrazy [2/5] Let’s do it the Right Way, the Wrong Way

Ok, so after years of making money, doing things the purported “wrong way”, I decided I would do things the right way (or so I thought). After purchasing the very expensive domain name (covered in Part 1 of this amazing Case Study), I was ready to drop some big bucks on creating a great site, a great marketing program, and a whole new line of products.

Not only that, for some strange reason, I wanted to spend money. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but when you are used to always doing things inexpensively (on the cheap), you sometimes feel like you’re missing out on something if you but had more money to purchase it. 

So, rolling in dough, I thought, let’s spend some cash. Note to Readers: If you ever find yourself in a similar situation. I’ll get you back on track! After all, my skewed and completely warped inner voice said, “why get a website for $200, when you can spend 10k”? “Why market for a thousand dollars, when you can market for 20” (um, thousand dollars). So, I let loose the dogs of vanity, and unlocked the padlocked bank account, so I could “play with the big boys”.  I decided I would not run or hide from the idea of spending some  "serious" money.

All with good intentions mind you, I went to a mid tier developer, or so I (mistakenly) thought, Network Solutions.  They are a huge player in the internet space, known mostly for registrar services. Since I won the auction through Snapnames (and at that time, they worked closely together), the domain was registered there, and they had a fancy new shopping division called Monster Commerce. Since my previous Yahoo Store fiasco (coming soon to this blog), I decided this was to be my next platform.

“Why I needed a platform”, that simple question, seems to have eluded me. I already had a shopping cart (http://www.shoppingcartcrazy.com, the best on the web), and I had very basic HTML skills, and access to some good designers, yet…onward I went, right to the spendy “other side”, and I got a lesson in how the other half lives (the rest of the world), that aren’t so lucky as I, and now you, to have the knowledge which I so carelessly discarded in this instance.

You see, to make a long story, a tad shorter, ignoring my previous success, and reaching for the illusion of something greater, I made my single greatest mistake in a long time (only trumped by being a TrafficPower.com customer – some people will get that, others will have to Google it).  The problem was not in the “reaching”, but in the implementation, and disregard for my past success. In attaining the next level, and moving into multi-millions of dollars, I had the false belief that I needed to do something different than what I was already doing. Rather than focusing on what was working, and do more of that, I decided to  go in a different direction.

I chose very poorly in adding this shopping cart, and a dynamic one at that, to a brand new site. Even with 7 years of site “aging”, this killed my once powerful domain name, as I failed to recreate the existing page structure of the past site (an easy thing to do, and something I’ve done before to keep page rank and incoming links). 

Lack of FTP access was a killer! Never, and I repeat, never, use a closed system to host your site and run your shopping cart unless you are entirely trusting of their SEO techniques, their internal website structuring and layout for your site, and their suite of tools available. I have never found this kind of shopping application on the internet, and likely you will not either. If you do, let me know!

Making a web store is not rocket science. There are tried and true benefits to conversion techniques, page layout, SEO optimization, and sales letters, which this new web store simply didn’t do (and made it very hard to implement). I had already used all these techniques, on multiple sites, and was making money on these tried and true principles. My stores may not look professional (or at least what I would consider professional), but boy…was I making a lot of money.  This was my attempt to go the “corporate” route, and copy what the big boys were doing, in hopes that I would see a new channel of sales (perhaps customers who were turned off to my sales-letters and marketing tactics on my other sites).  Even with this stated intention, it would have been better to use my existing shopping cart, and hire a designer, rather than rely on the MonsterCommerce back-end.

The overly cumbersome, absurdly complicated structure of MonsterCommerce (at least for me, and my staff), along with an amazing tangled, and SEO unfriendly structure (we never ranked in google – of all places, and had middling rankings on the other engines),, killed the site long before we even launched it.  The lack of direct FTP, or ROOT access, and inability to actually change, modify, or take complete control (easily) of the website, and SEO unfriendly pages (from unbelievable bad page titles that could not be easily changed, to meta tags that were dead), was the final nail in our coffin. I put countless man hours on building the store, adding the products, video, descriptions … but sales were not coming, and rankings were nonexistent. But rather than wake up, and smell the coffee, I went the other direction, and even with a lousy, but fairly good looking storefront, I decided to throw money at marketing to try and turn it around, and throw it I did, which is the focus of the next report on the DanceCrazy.com debacle…

Lessons Learned:

Stick with what works!  Just like internet marketing courses, you only need one thing that works, duplicate it, build upon it, and cherish it. Don’t keep going after new things, but focus on those things that work. 

Avoid closed systems. You need control.  If you are going to use a closed shopping cart system (store), then you’ll be in trouble unless you do your research first. See other stellar implementations, and talk to other store owners before deciding.  More money, rarely, if ever, means great service or greater products.  You need FTP access!  Unless you will NEVER be meddling with your sites, in which case, I would still go with Yahoo, or even Sitebuilder (for very beginners), before MonsterCommerce.  It was a stellar sales job on their part – what can I say?!

Be Clear about What I wanted: Why I didn’t just build the store with my existing shopping cart, I have no idea. While http://www.shoppingcartcrazy.com is not perfect for huge businesses (as mine is becoming), it’s great for people starting out. It’s an absolute necessity. There are simply too many things to keep track of, and the design of your site should not be dictated (and controlled) by your shopping cart. At first, I saw this as a bonus (due to integration), but later learned, it was a huge boulder around my neck, dragging me down.

Page Layout and Control: what I like about hand coding a site is it give you individual page control, so you can not only design nice looking pages, that actually convert customers using tried and true techniques, but you also have control over individual, page by page SEO. It’s not hard to do the 5 Step MarketingCrazy.com SEO page techniques, but if you are using a closed system, you may not have easy access to your pages HTML.  You need to have complete control.

Make sure, when and if you need to, You’ll be able to move: This is covered in the next sections a bit more, but it bears a quick note here.  If you can’t change services, you are in big trouble.

I have never, ever, ranked so badly as I did when using this service.  But it gets much, much, worse. In part 4, we’ll talk about how hard it was to get OFF the host/service, and actually rebuild the entire site, but before we get to that, in Part 3, we’ll investigate paying big bucks for SEO page optimization efforts.

Wait until you see part 3…

Just days after telling you all I would not succumb to all the latest pitches for internet marketing courses, and guru preaching’s, I’ve purchased them all (using a fair amount of rationalization I might add).  I thought I could resist, I thought I could enter the year fresh. Alas, I have fallen…

I had to come clean immediately, and tell you all about my decisions and my rationalizations. I purchased John Reese’s course (pricey, at $2500) only after talking to him via email, and being assured of its insanely high level material, and that it would be applicable to someone whom is already a serious internet player.  He assured me it was, and give a fair cancellation policy if it doesn’t live up to the hype, I have an out. This course takes place in a few days, and frankly, I’ll blog about it, and let you all know what I think.  It’s a simple nine hour webinar, and frankly, the shortness of the course made me more interested! It’s likely solid content.

I purchased Armand Morrin’s course, even though it’s similar to the course I purchase every years from MarketingTips because I wanted to stay on the cutting edge, and see what other people are offering. While this is a big course, it will start at a lower level, and frankly, I want to see what people are doing with the big launches this year.

There are two schools of thought regarding my upcoming course (name is soon to be announced, and you’ll LOVE it). One is to simply produce what I believe to be the absolute best material in the world, and do so from the ground up, simply ignoring all the clamor around me. I’m already on this course. The other, of course, is to purchase everything out there and study it, in order to improve what I’m bringing to the table. I’ll likely do some of this, but not have the time to do it completely, nor do I believe doing so would naturally result in a better internet marketing course. 

Regardless, I have fallen. The pitches were strong, and frankly, studying courses is far easier than implementing them. Since I have a strong team taking care implementation, I had to check these courses out (and since I’m travelling currently, in Australia of all places, this is not an easy thing to do). I have purchased…everything (yet again), actually reversing thoughts made in several blog posts (and for that I apologize as well), and probably the biggest rationalization that I can offer is that, I’ll be able to blog about it, and give you honest reviews. 

I’ve actually often purchased a course, or done an event,  that brings absolutely no value. Only wasted time.  Hoewver, there are those rare courses and events that net you 10x or event 100x the cost. There is, sometimes, exceptional value to be had. it certainly has happened before (on those rare ocassions). I’m just so busy enjoying life right now, it seemed crazy to purchase more education when I am so embroiled in execution (and worldwide travel). Yet, that’s exactly what I’ve done, and now you get to come along for the ride.

We’re all human. The first step in solving a problem is…admitting that you actually have a problem! ;)  I’d like to stand up, and declare…

Good lord, I am so close to spending another 5k on my "continuing education", I can’t tell ya’. Between Amrand’s Internet Marketing Explained and John Reeeses 3 Day "IM" training course, it’s really crazy. I’m chomping at the bit to buy these courses. 

Both course are probably quite good, but, as always, it boils down to execution, and not the courses themselves. Armand’s is definitely more comprehensive, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Here’s the ONLY thing holding me back from giving these people my money…

I understand that this is about execution, and not about more learning! Hello? Don’t get these if you haven’t actually done the work from your past courses. They are probably great, but buying courses (more courses) does not equate to greater profit, unless you do the work first.

Do I need another course to tell me to write more articles and distribute them? Do more press releases? Make a video and get it on YouTube, make more AR messages, converse with my list more? No!  I know what to do, and now I (and you) have to keep doing it a very high level.  Are these people practicing what they preach? Well, yes and no!  John is very forthcoming about that, and Armand…well, Armand is in a league all his own.

These are great courses, and honestly, reading the sales letters, and hearing the videos, I want them both. I want them both badly. Yet I won’t do it. I will not succumb. I will not purchases these courses. Will I feel better off? Probably not. Will my business benefit from NOT getting the courses? Strangely enough yes. Because I’ll be able to keep my "eye on the ball", and not spend countless time learning new techniques, or different things to do, when I haven’t accomplished my last batch.

Good Luck - those sales letters are SO convincing!    

Ah, the life of an internet marketer!

This is definitely the year of internet launch madness. I mean, really. As I mentioned before, I really only think one course will be worthwhile, but I have not seen, nor asked to see, any of the courses at all. My promise to you is I won’t strongly recommend anything, ever, without seeing it first.

You should know, firs thing, that it’s rare in internet marketing circles. Almost everyone recommends items that they do not see. It’s crazy! Next time you trust your friendly internet marketing advice source, why don’t you ask him if he’s actually seen, or read, the course that their pitching you. The likely answer is no.

Perhaps I’ll ask for a review copy of Armand’s course, since it seems the most likely candidate for a real course, with solid value, however, it’s hard to envision I’d ever have time to see it, and use it.

UPDATE: I asked for a review copy of Armand Morrin’s product, Internet Marketing Explained, and was told they don’t have any.  Let me translate - the course is probably not done, or in the process of being completed. No one, not the million of people promoting it have seen word one of it, and have no idea what they are telling you to buy.

Now, I know Armand, and he’s the real deal for making money on the net, and I was part of his mastermind, yet we don’t sit down for dinner every other week. Can you trust me to tell you whether the course is what you need? Is good for you? My advice. Stop being a lemming. No review copies, means no reviews, means … watch where you step.

It’s so ludicrous to not offer review copies…really. I mean, you can order the course and return it with a full guarantee, so what is the point of not providing one? Sir, I was just following orders…

So, will my forthcoming course have review copies. Of course! For every "serious" affiliate, I wouldn’t expect you to promote it without seeing it first.  Of course, I’ll have an edge, because I’ll also have a book out…

END OF UPDATE…

Ya’ see, I am a successful, travelling, internet marketing madman (as most of you know), and when someone tells me their course is 56 hours long, that is not a selling point for me. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. You should look for concise, well organized, courses – only!

In addition, you should never buy a course when you haven’t finished a previous one. Ever! No matter how good it sounds. No matter they tell you it will never be offered again. There is not a course that’s ever been released that you couldn’t find on Ebay, a month later. Did ya’ know that?

Anyway, I received a, rather heartbreaking letter, from an internet marketing friend recently. I’ll be following her advice and allowing comments on all my posts from here on out (so please, feel free to comment below), but she’s been taken to the cleaners, year after year, via various supposed “internet marketing” gurus. She’s sick of it – but unfortunately, caught in the circular web of spending, and re-spending, versus sticking with one thing, until it works, and never moving on to the next thing until it’s done.  

Anyway, long story short, she recommended I let people in on exactly what the life of a successful internet marketer is. Not a fake life – like most of the supposed gurus would have you believe, but an honest to god, real life, day by day, marketing lifestyle reality check. So, here’s my first chapter in the life of an internet marketing superstar, MarketingCrazy style. Perhaps I should have capitalized the first letter of every word eh?

Anyway, here I sit in Sydney, and as I previously documented, I have been barely able to run my business since I got here. Luckily, my business runs very well on autopilot (a trick I’ll share with you in years to come), and produces me solid income, day in and day out. I just left the Four Seasons hotel in Sydney and took a train to Olympic Park where I am attending the Sydney Salsa Congress,  and basically living my passion (dancing), while working my business from the road.

My internet marketing friend also recommended I share pictures of my travels, to personalize the experience, so here’s picture number one and, of me in front of the Bridge and of the beautiful Sydney Opera House in the Harbor:

 

Whoops, that one came out crooked, but I’m too lazy too fix. But I bet you want a movie too eh? So how about this – this is the beautiful view of the bridge from aboard the Sydney Ferry, travelling to Darling Harbor (you’ll love this):

 

And finally, a couple of special movies, just for my Internet Marketing friend, a little Sydney Salsa, from the Sydney Festival. The Sydney Festival was a day in the park, this time featuring Grammy Award Musicians, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. I arrived expecting a small crowd, but what I got, blew me away. Take a look:

 

and if that weren’t enough, when the band started playing (the sound was excellent), it became really, really, crazy. This is truly one of my favorite bands, and they sounded exceptional - here’s a clip:

 

No dancing clips this time everyone. Sorry about that. So, there’s a peak at an internet marketing life, and as I travel around the world (and you’ve seen my schedule so ya’ know I’m going to be doing some significant travelling), I’ll try to give people a glimpse of that, in between talking about internet marketing, and giving you what advice and help I can offer.

For me, this business offers me the ability to control my time, and through this business I have learned that time is truly the only commodity we have that can’t, generally, be made more of. We have a limited amount, and it’s going by at a steady rate. I want to be able to use it as I see fit - be it family, travel, charity or just meandering around the world.

I really do want more people to be able to experience this lifestyle - even if but for selfish reason of simply wanting more friends to travel the globe with. No, honestly, it’s an attainable lifestlyle, and business for everyone, and I plan on spreading the joy before the end of 2008.

There, I said it. It’s in print. I have a date now, and there’s something coming…

Hope all are well in the New Year, and attacking their dreams…

MC (MarketingCrazy)

Oh, here’ s some useful info and some answers to some questions:

I find that it takes a minimum of 1.5 serious hours per day to stay on top of my business (ya’ see, real work). I could limit that, and do less, but I’d start falling behind, since I need to setup the right systems to automate more (which, since I’m a control freak, I haven’t done yet).

It takes 5 hours a day if I want to move forward (make more, do more…). Treating it like a business.

It takes 12+ to be a leader (at least at times)…Don’t believe the hype!  It’s real work…

Ok, as a special bonus, just for reading this far, here’s a dance clip for you:

 

Tools of the Internet Marketing Traveler:

Ok, so there are many things in this changing world that are hard to keep pace with. I am a true worldwide road warrior, and I need to have access, and the ability to work, from wherever I am.

So, what does work entail? I need to check my email (both send and receive), post to blogs, create websites (requires software that I need to have, aka, Frontpage), the ability to get and make phone calls around the world. On top of that, word processing capabilities are important too, as are a suite of graphics programs.

It’s all in the Laptop, or is it: As of yet, I can’t find all this on the web, which necessitates me travelling with a laptop (a trusty and light Thinkpad X60 – good batter power, great screen and keyboard). Lacking a built in video camera.  I will need to upgrade to get that plus faster wireless, and more security.

The problem with a laptop, outside the US, is that you learn how reliant you have become on your wireless broadband card. I can’t live without it. Wireless broadband (I use Sprint, but Verizon is also good), is the killer app of this decade (so far).  Simple as that – it has un-tethered us from our cubicles.

Unfortunately, global roaming wireless broadband is not available (yet), and the hurdles to it becoming available are vast (given the competing national phone companies). So, upon arriving out of the country, you are bound by hotel wireless policies, or the occasional free or paid access hotspot (usually a café). Not an ideal work environment.

In Sydney, my current “home” away from home, it’s even worse!  The prices are ridiculous for wireless access. It’s spotty at best, and really a hinderance to getting work done (and yes, this is a super-major metropolitan city). Actually, found it easier in Bangkok, and even to some extent, China, then I do here (who woulda thought). Very expensive for shoddy connections…Where’s my global wireless broadband?

All about World Phones: Oh, how I wish I’d gotten the unlocked Verizon Blackberry. Blackberries are the only phone to travel with, but you need a phone that can take SIM cards, plain and simple, if you are travelling worldwide. In addition, you need a camera BUILT IN to your phone, so you can have picture taking capabilities wherever you go (and ideally, some form of video as well). The days of carrying a camera and a phone have got to be over by now? My current blackberry has NO video or camera at all. Not good for a roving reporter such as myself…

Yes, I will upgrade my phone before my next trip to Eastern Europe. I have heard that there is a free Verizon unlock for the blackberries (even old ones) now online. Anyone seen it?

American Express Platinum: The major benefit of the platinum, apart from airport lounge access and a big bill, is it gives you access to over 900 offices throughout the world where you can WORK at. You can actually pay to set up an office anywhere in the world (about $150/mth), complete with high speed internet, and even receptionist (if necessary). If I were staying in Sydney, I would almost certainly get an office here using that service. As it is, I plan to investigate this option in Europe.

The problem of finding nice places to actually WORK when you are abroad can be plentiful. There are only so many cafes that make it comfortable to work for more than a few hours at a time.  How much coffee can you drink?  On top of that, in Sydney, it roughly costs $100/day to even BE online for any length of time during the day. Yes, that’s $100, through Telestra, at the whopping rate of $26 every 2 hours.

While internet cafes are everywhere, they do not have laptop hookups, which further necessitate a change in my future work patters.

The Future of Internet Marketing Road Warriors: I have threatened it before, but now, I’m ready to do it. I’m going to do a test, trading in my trusty Outlook and Outlook Express, for a full on boost of GMAIL. That’s right. I have NO LESS than 30 email accounts that need to be transferred (although I will only transfer the important 10, and the other 20 I’ll put through my admin staff). This is scary, since I am SO reliant on email to survive, and it’s a big job.  I’ll report back on progress…

Also, let’s say I could trade in my Laptop, to travel without one (not that I would mind you), what about entering all those sensitive passwords into a café computer? I don’t think so. You could wake up and find your 300k email list gone, and all your daily transactions settling to an account in Bolivia.

So, I want to move my email, and as many applications as possible, to internet based solutions. Google apps, and Gmail, look to be my future…but that still leaves some apps that require my PC (such as graphics, and web work). I can’t imagine travelling without one, but perhaps I can go lighter next time, and also get one with a built in camera for Skype. Perhaps the new Sony’s – but I’ve been a loyal Thinkpad user for so long, it’s hard to imagine my life without one…

VoiceMail to Email: Since it’s so difficult to sort out the phone situation, and so costly, getting your voicemails, no matter where you are, via email, is a great solution. http://www.grandcentral.com, promises to do just that. I can’t joint the Beta from here (outside the US). Currently, I use Skype to check my voice mails from abroad.

Wish List: I’m not sure this exists, but I’d like to embed my computer with worldwide location software, so if it was stolen, and the thief got online, I could not only locate them (and send authorities), but send a code to actually erase my hard drive (or completely encrypt it), without them knowing.

Leave a comment below, let me know of your road warrior experiences (Internet Marketers or not).

Next up: Article on Skype, WorldPhones, and tools for the Blackberry warrior, written by Dakin Ferris!