If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

So, here I sit at the Underground Online Seminar. I’ve been hear a few times now, and this is by far my favorite conference currently in the Internet Marketing and Biz Building space.  It’s fantastic this year! I met the CEO of Zappos (billion dollar online shoe company), and he’s a great guy. Totally down to earth! Behind me now is Dr. Mercola (of Mercola.com), and around every turn are amazing masters of the internet, and their individual industries. 



I’ve had some great meetings already, and frankly, it’s simply very motivational to be around so many successful people (and yes, there are also people here whom are just getting started). Everyone is great.



Yet, this year, something is different! Not really in the event itself (which is top notch), but in myself. As I’ve spent the first part of this year traveling and, currently, am about to leave to Eastern Europe (Prague, Budapest, Poland…), I’m simply feeling a bit detached. Not really detached, but rather, I’m really/truly living the "internet lifestyle", in that I’m traveling and living off internet businesses (really well).  The people here, while many are wealthier, few are simply roaming the world traveling after setting up their business.

Yes, life is cool fo rme, but I have to admit, I’m feeling like a slacker… I’m going to get back to work this summer. Not because I have to, but because I want to.



Make no mistake. These guys are motivated workers! They aren’t talkers, they are do-ers. As I consider myself, they don’t just talk the talk, but they walk-the-walk. They are out there succeeding, doing that which they want to do.  Right now though, I am living off my success, and perhaps, taking too much time off.



Or at least that’s the way it feels when I’m surrounded by all these titans of business. My business, though large, is dwarfed by many people here. More inspirational though, is that coming here gives you a roadmap of what to do to grow your business (perhaps a never ending task). It’s hard not to just run back home and continue growing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s hard to keep traveling the world, living adventure after adventure.



I know, I can hear your collective sigh out there, and I won’t dwell on this too much. It’s a balance. The point is, once you put in the work to this type of business, the type of business I am going to teach you how to create, you not only control the way you work, and when you work, and how you work, but also how long you vacation for. If it’s six months, like me, then so be it - but for me, this conference has re-inspired me to get back to work….



and the minute I return from Eastern Europe, that’s exactly what I’ll do, and you’ll likely be the beneficiary of it.



So, the seminar, now the morning of the second day, is well on it’s way. There are some fantastic speakers coming on, including the CEO of headsets.com, in a keynote. I’m simply amazed by the cool mix of "real" businesses, with internet marketing businesses that are present. I’m running into just about everyone around here, I can’t believe it.



Well, the CEO of headset.com just spoke, and he was absolutely great. Funny, yet with a fair amount of proven, good content. Right now, it’s a panel of the big guys, explaining how to get 1000 optins a month (very simple), but they’ve actually hit on such simple concepts. Yep, even I’m learning something.  Great stuff - and so doable!

Oh, and of course, let me leave you with some actionable content. What have I treally learned. The basics are back! Beware of the internet launch. Yes, things are changing, but the basics from two years ago still control. Yes, video is incredibly hot (and getting hotter), just look at me. However, the fundamental underlying business is sitll easily understandable.

Get or make a product, perfect your sales process, get optins…and the #1 secret everyone sweeps under the rug? Buy the freakin’ traffic!  Yeh, there’ are other options (affiliates, JVs, etc…), but this is the way to jumpstart success.

Anyway, enough talk, very cool conference. Hope all is well! More soon.
Keep it Crazy-
MC

PS - See the post below for the link to see some snippets from the seminar, and get DVDs or sign up for the next one.

Ok, so many of you smart people are joing me this weekend in Los Angeles for the Undergoud Seminar (Congratulations, we’re all going out to an amazing meal together), but many of you are not!

As I mentioned, this is THE event to be at if you’re interested in making money from home, or learning more about internet marketing, business and entrepeneurship (is that a word), and I just found out, some of the event is going to be streamed live, for free. Yes, my $2500+ event is going to be streamed live.  Interested in seeing it?

Here’s your link to the free coverage:

Underground Spy Footage

They’ll be broadcasting 24 minutes each day from the event totally LIVE. (12 minutes per time - 2x/day). Plus, have real-time updates from actual attendees of what they record outside the seminar room (essentially the sights & sounds of the Underground). I

No, I don’t plan to be on tape!  I’m not in this for fame, but I love to learn, and be around other like minded and motivated, successful people. So, if you didn’t join me in LA, here’s your chance to see what I’m doing, and how it all plays out.

Underground Spy Footage

Yes, I’ll also give you my unfiltered thoughts of this years event (whcih I’ve attended now, twice, before).  On a related note, I just did my taxes, and oh-my. That is an unpleasant task! Not because I have so many businesses, or so many transactions (which, yes, I do), but because, it’s amazing to see just how much freakin’ money I made last year!  Whoa.  That’s not brag, that is honest to god amazement at the fact that you can make so much money, working from home, and doing what you love.  It’s crazy!

Is it a dream, or a nightmare? Well, if my one major con of switching actually took place, it could be a nightmare, but for now, over a month into it, it’s a dream among dreams. It’s Heaven…

Ok, this is the one month report, and there are some brilliant tidbits in here…Basically, it’s changed the way I do business, and perhaps, even the way I travel. While there are negatives, as I will point out, this is the wave of the future. It’s technology working the way that it should - something windows and Microsoft could never actually accomplish.

Typically, I would start with all the "Good" things, but since the list of "Cons" is so short, I’ll start there. If you’re new to this article of how I moved from Oultook to Google…start with the two prior posts, Moving Outlook to Gmail, and then A Gmailer’s Reflection on Outlook.  I should probably title this, How Google took over my world….

Preface - I am not a huge Google fan, just relaying my results.

CONS:

I have put all my faith in Google!  They handle my Mail, Documents, Calendar, Newsreader, and … Advertising, Analytics, oh lord, we won’t even cover that here! If anything were to fail over there (and it will someday, quite likely), I’m in a heap of trouble!  It’s way too much faith in a single company. You’d have to be crazy to do it … or perhaps, simply crazy not to?  Really, it’s what you’ve trusted Microsoft to do for years, that has never worked, and led to endless dilemma and heartache, and wasted work. Agreed?

Secondly, there’s not enough easy offline access to your mail/files/etc… Google Gears needs a lot of work! I can’t access a lot of this stuff when I am not online. That’s a big problem!

Um, that’s about it. Sure, there are tons of features that are missing (like simply beaing able to move to the next message when deleting or archiving the current one), that make you CRY in agony against Gmai, but the plain, inescapable fact is…

PROS:

It works.

It’s Fast. Instant search, Instant Messages.

It’s Intuitive.

It’s Time Saving. Threaded Messages and Labels!

It’s all on the web (no more switching between computer…you always have access).

As hard as it is to admit, none of those things happened for me with Microsoft products. It was slow, rarely worked, I’d constantly lose things, have constant freezes, and rarely get work done.  So, what have I actually learned, and what can you learn from my switching my Outlook to Gmail:

Lesson #1: I wish I had tried it earlier!

If it doesn’t work, try alternatives. Give it a shot, and see if it works for you. Honestly. I’ve saved time, headaches, and no longer have to worry aobut searching my email, or finding things. All answers and emails are a second away. It used to take me 20 minutes to check my email via outlook in the mornign (30+ accounts), now it’s seconds (or immediate). Major difference!

It makes me envy the people whom switched before me, and how much more productive they’ve been, whilve I’ve hassled with lost mail, endless start times, and unretrievable messages!

Lesson #2: Integration Works…

I didn’t plan to have my calendar using Google Apps, but it happened. It’s easy, and while it lacks functionality I’d like (cel phone alerts, etc…), it’s a s imple way to share my day with my assistants. I now have 3 assistants, and the calendare is very helpful. Along with the Newsreader (and taking care of my 100+ feeds), it’s a great way to stay on top of things. The newsreader in Outlook 2007 was a mess for me, but I never planned on switching, but it was just so easy. Now, after the fact, and years of other products, all the Google stuff appears seamless and easy…

Lesson #3: I can travel. Did you hear that? I can travel, without a laptop!

This one I’m still getting my head around! I can, for the first time in 10 years, travel without a laptop if I desire, and still be up to date. My email, docs, calendar, reader, etc… are all online, and instantly accessible from anywhere. Oh my god! The ramifications of this are huge. I leave to Prague in one week, and the thought of not taking my computer never even entered my mind. Now I have to think, what do I need my computer for? Am I going to write so much that I need it with me?  My main needs for comptuer and travel were… email. Skype is a close second as is web surfing and site maintenance. However, my main reason has always been email.  Can I actually travel without one? With just my Blackberry? I don’t know! But it’s got me thinking, let me tell you.

And now, my blackberry works better too, only checking one email account - but we’ll leave that topic for a later post.

Now that Gmail has IMAP, you can import all your mail. It’s easy, but incredibly time consuming. 5 gigs took about…3 days or so.

Anyway, don’t want to ramble. Hope my experience help you as well!

Ok, so, honestly, we haven’t officially launched this blog, nor the companion products. My time is focussed on other things, and even now, as I devote more and more time to it, my coaching clients have all been let go to make room.  I simply travel too much, and have no time to spare (and I do mean, zero time)…at any price (more on that later, as I love discussing the value of you time, see below).

Anyway, while this blog has growing readership (for good reason I imagine), it’s not huge yet. Many of the readers are friends, and others, simply smart entrepeneurs who got lucky and stumbled upon it.  So, I thought I’d share that one of my friends jumped on the bandwagon, started implementing  (and purchasing) some of the things mentioned on the blog, and had just a couple of short converstaions with me…

and blammo (ok, Shazaaam), he’s now makin’ $100/day with his FIRST info product!  That’s really cool, and I just thought i’d share. You’ll hear from him in the testimonial section in future months (of that, now, I’m certain). He is SO freakin’ happy, it’s crazy! You’d think he won the lottery. He worked like a dog, and loves the new testing stuff he’s doing, and … well… he’s making money. Gotta love that! He’s truly ecstatic, already talking about going full time.  Best thing yet? He’s not technical, and sitll barely understands websites.

No big moral here except, take action, take action every day, and you win…win BIG. No action, No win. Pretty simple stuff.  What’s going to be your action today?

Build a website (aim low, maybe just an opt in page to start?). That’s our recommended moderate beginner platform, but if you want to avoid that monthly rate, and be COMPLETELY spoonfed and handheld (to an egregious amount), build your website here.  Personally, I like the first guys, whom build you a stable wordpress platform based site.

Both of these options, to a lesser than greater extent, are for beginners or early intermediate users.

Backend it with a good Autoresponder? ShoppingCartCrazy.com Perhaps?

Yep, Affiliate Links (but all great products). And whammo, you’re online and ready to start selling!

If you’re a leader, there are people copying you, it’s that simple!

If you do things well, you’ll have people steal your ideas, and, in some cases, entire sites.  It happens. It’s expected, and in at least some cases, can lead to positive, unexpected, results.

A perfect example of a leader is David DeAngelo (Eben Pagen) of DoubleYourDating.com, the most copied squeeze page for obtaining email addressed in the world.  I’ve never seen one idea copied so incredibly often, and improved upon (at times).

I just launched a social network (one of three), and within days, I had two people launch the exact same network (in some cases using the exact same software), and in one case, even in one of my niches. If you’re leading, you have to expect, and even desire, the competition. In all but a few cases, as long as you stay true to yourself and your goals, your competition will fall by the wayside, copying you or not.

In every instance, it is better to be the leader than the follower. In this case, the people following me followed the wrong path, and chose poorly (as I myself did), the wrong community software. Whoops.  This mistake, for me, pretty fixable (as this was just a test). For them, probably a disaster that they’ll not recover from. If you’re going to follow, and copy, make sure you choose wisely. More on that in a second…

Why talk about this? Because, while I prefer to lead, I think copying what works is the easiest way to success online! Let me repeat that, copying what works (not copying other people’s work) for most people, is the quickest most assured way to success online. Find what works, duplicate, add your own spices, and duplicate.

The problem is, what if you attempt to replicate the wrong things? In this case, the person (blindly) followed the worst of my 3 social networks. The one with the least likelyhood of success.  In another case, a seperate person copied my squeeze page (which was being randomized via Google Optimizer), and copied the worst performing one.  So let me be clear…

There is no point in copying, unless you are testing and tracking! Not many people do this, but it is key to success online. In fact, some consider this the true secret that NO ONE talks about. If you are not doing this, you are stumbling around blind, copying random things, and always falling for the next fad.  It’s a necessity!  It also is the fastest guarantee to MORE money, if you are already earning some.

But, I won’t get too sidetracked (this is all covered in my upcoming book). The entrepeneur must walk a thin line between trying what’s worked, and creating new things and ideas. I relish peole copying me!  Let me say that again. I relish when people copy me. NOT  when they try to steal my work mind you, but when they try to take it and Improve it, I can attempt to learn something (and perhaps, will get the chance to replicate their success).

That won’t always be the case. In fact, it will rarely be the case. People who copy other people’s work are not typically the type of people whom are going to add to it in a meaningful way, however, when it happens, both of you get better. You raise the stakes for whatever it is you are trying to accomplish.  However, when we do "copy", let’s follow the rules:

1) Never copy content, and don’t outright steal ideas. That’s not right! In fact, in some cases, it’s downright illegal.

2) Ask permission whenever possible - if someone else is there first, respect it!

3) Don’t copy for the sake of copying! Have clear objectives…Ideas are free (for the most part), it’s implementation and execution that’s important…

4) Read #3 four more times, and then add the words marketing and promotion.

5) Whenever possible, lead!  That doesn’t mean you should follow every crackpot idea you have however. I already told you the easiest way to success is to follow what’s working. However, if you improve on it, your success is that much closer to guaranteed.

6) Don’t copy everything! My god. Everything I do is copied online now SO quickly, it’s staggering (even to me). I fail at over %50 of what I do. Ouch. Yep, I’m coming clean. Maybe it’s not that high (ha - actually it’s higher), but if you’re following my lead (dance talk), copy the right %50.  It’s amazing that I can have huge succcesses that are completely left untouched, and yet my failures are replicated ad-nauseum.

The greatest success will always come to leaders, both in life and in business. The success I want in my life, will come from leading, and partnering with leaders (good people, with good ideas, that are willing to take chances). Which road will you take?