Kendra L’s Travelling Hopefully

  Can you spot me up there?

As a Silver Member of the Internet Millionaires Club Malaysia for USD12.90 a month, we get to attend Mastermind Sessions once every 2 months. On top of that, you receive 2 Master Resell Rights ebooks and 2 tele-coaching calls, as well as private forum access every month.

The purpose of IMC is to help Malaysians that are interested to make money online, succeed. IMC is the brainchild of Mr. Gobala Krishnan, who has been a successful Internetpreneur for the past 5 years.

The venue for this Mastermind was at Armada Hotel, a great location because it is midway between Kuala Lumpur and Subang Jaya, fair to those that either stayed in the South or further to the North since it is a midpoint. Besides, there is good public transport system (LRT and Busses) that arrives directly in front of Armada Hotel.

The Mastermind started at around 2.45pm (supposed to start at 2.20pm at the latest but stretched further due to unforeseeable traffic jams) after all the registrations were handled and the first speaker was Mr. Steven Wong (owner of www.stevenwongblog.com) who is an expert on blogging for money.

Make Money Blogging

According to Steven, if we are interested to make money from blogging, we should avoid the “make money online” topic for your blog. This is because this niche is very saturated and you will not see the financial results if you do. I do agree with his point but I still believe that if you feel this is the niche you are most interested in, go ahead and do it because who knows, you can bring to the table a whole set of new ideas, strategies, models, etc. that no one has thought of and this sets you apart from other online bloggers. Besides, the Internet is changing so rapidly that there will be new way of doing things every month and if you are able to capture that wave, you can expect to do very well.

Steven then proceeded to show us a few successful money online blogs that are very unique for example: midtownlunch and icanhascheezburger

Ways to monetize your blog from Adsense, Clickbank, etc. was also covered during the presentation. This topic was most benefiting to those who are new to blogging and are interested to blog for money as it was covered comprehensively.

Steven also offered a FREE ebook which can be found here stevenwongblog.com

Building a Profitable Virtual Real Estate 

The next topic speaker was Mr. Sunny Tan (owner of tips.com.my), who just went full time on his Internet Business in January 2008 and I found his topic interesting (and new to me) because it is about making money flipping website or a much more grand sounding name which is “Building a Profitable Virtual Real Estate”. How Sunny makes money online is he creates websites after doing keyword searches for niches that people are interested in and are searching on the Internet via search engines.

He then fills these websites with excellent content (content he writes himself or outsource to freelancer) and also monetize it and once these websites generate lovely traffic and is also earning good income from the monetization methods, Sunny would sell it off to interested buyers. See an example here: mypaperquilling

Sounds easy? Not really as Sunny puts in a lot of hard work and spent 11 days straight to build one website but the good thing is after slogging for 11 days, he is finished with the work and if the website is built correctly and promoted smartly (through article marketing, pay per click program, blog commenting etc) it will generate its own traffic and after a few months perhaps attract potential buyers that wish to continue managing the profiting website and buy the website from Sunny for a lump sum.  Sunny mentioned he has sold a website for USD2,000!

So in this Mastermind, 2 sets of method to make money online has been outlined and explained and this should set some creative juices flowing among some of the participants. We were informed that we will receive audio recordings and presentations in PDF a few days after the Mastermind (which we did).

After The Presentations 

After the 2 presentations (about 1 hour in total), we all gathered around the food and drinks area to network and talked to each other about the type of internet businesses we are promoting and I think next time, I will print name cards with details of my blog and websites which will be very good for branding. (Gobala did advise us to do so but I did not as I thought I was not ready).

During the networking session, if you have additional thoughts or questions to ask the 2 topic speakers, you can and which I did. According to Sunny, he creates his websites using Dreamweaver because he find that buyers prefer an easy set up package when they purchase a ready made popular website. With Wordpress, you need plugins and frequent updates which many buyers may find it a bit of a hassle.

I did not get a chance to speak to Steven who seems really helpful and friendly (next time hopefully and Steven is holding a blog workshop sometime in March). I also only managed a short hello to Gobala whom I think did a great job for organizing this Mastermind meetup and for starting the IMC.

There were a total of 25+ pax (not sure of exact attendees number) and I made some new friends all of whom are successful and doing well in their offline work. One thing I garnered from this for sure is that no matter your age, background, work type, and skills, as long as you have the hunger to learn about making money online and a desire to feed your hunger, you can succeed. Don’t give up! Here’s to the next Mastermind – I hope to have something to show by then.

For pictures and other information, please visit IMC’s website.

Having been learning about making money online for the past 2.5 months and subscribing to more than 50 make money online blog RSS feeds and loads of newsletters, I have separated those that preach the actual reality of internet income and those that are all about hype. 

Those that are about hype will sell to you a dream. It is usually about how you can make tons of money online without really putting in any effort - all you need to do is buy their ebook, software, video, seminar etc.  Many new starters online fall for this hook, line and sinker because all of us are looking for an easy way out to make money online and we have been told that internet is the best platform for this. (Which is true because Internet is where you can start a business at a very low cost).

Unfortunately, this is the sales tactic that most well-known Internet Marketers are using these days (with the exception of a few) because success has gotten into their heads and they are using their name as a clout.  These are the ones I stay away from.

Then there are those that are a little bit about hype especially on the sales page but in the midst of it, you can learn real life useful internet marketing strategies that will help you make money online, if you strip down the candy glaze and get to the actual message.

Finally, you will find those that HAVE made money online in the old-fashioned way, that is by putting in the effort to their online business daily and over time is able to fully sustain themselves just working on their online business on their on time.  These are the people I am actually learning from and I have bought their products which are always priced reasonably. These people are those on my blogroll.

So, extract yourself from all the hype, give your credit card a break, and remember the only thing you need to do is: ACTION.

Define your online goal, select the type of business model that you want to use, learn and understand the ins and outs of your selected business model and ACTION.

After perusing different ways to make money online, I am most interested in niche marketing. In most of my earlier posts, I wrote about wanting to provide value when I make money online and I think niche marketing is a good way to do that because you are giving valuable information in your chosen niche either by directing them to the products that they need or providing them the product itself, such as an ebook.

To explain simply, with niche marketing, you can create a website on a niche subject, providing visitors with info and use google adsense to generate income. You can also subscribe to affilliate programs that are related to your niche and create links on your website. You can also sell an ebook/video or software to those niche. Here is a real life sample: How To Prevent Bedbugs.

Important: remember to research the keywords so that you know there is a demand for that niche

So far, I have selected 2 types of internet business models:

1. Niche websites

2. Dropshipping

I readily admit that I have been NATO (No Action, Talk Only) so far in my online venture so it’s time for me to take ACTION.

But bear in mind that if you are in my situation, which is working full time while looking to make money online, don’t neglect your full time work because this work is still paying for your house, car, food and other necessities. Work only your online venture diligently but remember who is feeding you at this point

I have so much to post but I am so bogged down with my full time job at the moment. The week so far has been crazy with deadlines after deadlines!

Once this week is over, I will have time to update this blog with:

1. My review of Internet Millionaire Club Malaysia Mastermind meeting held on 16 February 2008
2. My online spending update
3. My action plans to make money online

Till the next update, I wish everyone continued success online especially to those Mastermind friends I have made Nurul, Joeyi, Kay Kastum, Johari, Rakawi and Khai (who is an excellent copywriter) plus many more!

I finally finished the ebook that I talked about in my earlier posts. It sure took me a while although the ebook was relatively easy to finish as its a compilation of the top 10 ezines that I am a subscriber of.

But you know what I am most proud of? I know this ebook was to be released much earlier and it was delayed for roughly a week - but its the end result that counted because I finished it!

I know that a lot of people say that the journey is the most important and not the destination but to me the destination is of great importance because that’s the results. You can enjoy the journey but don’t forget the destination.

When I first started to think of what to write for my first ebook, I was not very sure because I lacked Internet Marketing knowledge and experience - I don’t know much on SEO, Adsense, PPC, and you know how many famous bloggers advise you to write pillar articles (I am not there yet).

Also, I did not want to rehash PLR articles and bundled them into an ebook as it would not be something that I actually authored but doctored (About this PLR thingy, I must admit outright that I am opting to use PLR for niche sites (the fastest method) and definitely will re-write the PLR material).

For me, I can’t pretend to be someone that I am not which is an expert in anything internet related such as blogging, article marketing, etc at this point in time…until I become an expert, you can only hear about those things I really know and understand.

So the next best thing? A compilation of my favorite ezines that have helped and spurred to me where I am today and my honest review of these ezines.

Enjoy the ebook!

Receive the download link just by filling in your email address on the right side of the page.

This is the first search result when I typed in define: success in Google: 

Definitions of success on the Web:

• an event that accomplishes its intended purpose; “let’s call heads a success and tails a failure”; “the election was a remarkable success for …
• an attainment that is successful; “his success in the marathon was unexpected”; “his new play was a great success”
• a state of prosperity or fame; “he is enjoying great success”; “he does not consider wealth synonymous with success”
• achiever: a person with a record of successes; “his son would never be the achiever that his father was”; “only winners need apply”; “if you want to be a success you have to dress like a success”
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

How do you measure success and what are your yardsticks? I am sure you will agree with me that success is very subjective but there are also mass definitions. 

Generally, people equate success with:

• Having loads of money
• Living in an expensive house and driving a posh car
• Never having to work for the rest of your life
• Able to travel as you wish to any part of the world without worrying about $
• Drink the most expensive wine and eat the most expensive steak in the world

Sounds silly right? But I can bet “success” means the above to a lot of people out there.

For this post, I am looking at the measures of success as an Internetpreneur / Infopreneur / Internet Marketing Advisor…(the list of titles could go on but I will leave it at three).

Let’s look and compare 2 current popular Internetpreneurs who are successful in their own right but definitely not enjoying the same ‘success’.

But before we do that, it must be agreed that the ultimate goal of an online venture is to make money online and being your own boss.

+++++++

Successful Internetpreneur/Blogger A 

He hails from UK and has been in the Internet Marketing business for less than a year, 228 days to be exact and at only 27 years old, has exceeded USDx in earnings in mere 8 months

Successful Internetpreneur/Blogger B 

She also hails from the UK (incidentally) and has garnered a large list of RSS subscribers in 5 months as she writes great helpful blog posts and has released a free e-book on creating niche sites using Wordpress. She has also achieved USDx as of February 2008.

+++++++

Both are very talented in their own right and you can learn loads by subscribing to their blog feeds. Anyway, below is a table that highlights what can be termed as success criteria in the Internet Marketing world.   

What does the above ‘tell’ you in terms of success? Basically, Internetpreneur B comes out as more successful because of its Google page rank, higher Technorati and Alexa rankings and also a strong base of RSS subscribers (in fact, huge kudos to Internetpreneur B for achieving that number in a short span of 5 months).

Now, what about Internetpreneur A? Is he less successful? Nope, because look at further information below. 

Both of the above case studies are blogs that I admire and read religiously – and both are non-hype, honest to goodness helpful Internet Marketing blogs. 

The reason I am using both of them as 2 comparing yardsticks is because both started out almost the same time in 2007. One is more well known in the blogosphere and the other is less well known but makes more $. You can’t really say one is more successful than the other unless you look at income.

If your success determining factor is income, Internetpreneur A comes out tops, hands down. If it is Google page rank, Internetpreneur B is the clear winner.  

So which Internetpreneur do you prefer to be?

For me, I choose Internetpreneur A (No offense to Internetpreneur B) because I think income is very very important in any online ventures (but I am so far off at this point in time because I have not taken any positive income driving action!).

My point? Success is how you want it to be. I know of many “off the radar” Internet Marketing successes that are quietly laughing their way to the bank and they are not known in the blogosphere at all.

Create your own definition of success and achieve it. Just because you do not have a Google page rank and great site traffic, there are other ways you can achieve success online.  

My online goal is to make a second income online and I am paving my way towards that goal – I admit I have been slacking and not doing much so its time for me to buck up and achieve my own definition of success.

Not everyone out there is a self-starter or a self taught expert in their field and most of them got to where they are because they learned from someone who has extensive knowledge in their field of interest and paid for it.  My uncle, Thomas Foo who runs 4 x 4 travel expeditions (check out his website here Outdoor Centre) was a formerly trained mechanical engineer who has found his passion in life which is organizing 4 x 4 expeditions around the world.

I asked him how on earth did he begin to organize expeditions if he knew nothing about  the 4 x 4 industry; he told me of course he had interests in 4 x 4 but he also paid an Australian expert residing in Australia to teach him the whole works for USD10,000, with the training lasting about 3 months (board and lodging included).  Once Thomas finished his training, he himself became a ‘’somebody” in the 4 x 4 expedition industry in Malaysia and the more 4 x 4 expeditions he organized, the more he gained to his porfolio and he himself is now known as an expert.

The point is, if you are new to the make money online scene, one way to fast track yourself to success is to learn from a mentor. Find someone that is making money in the niche of your interest and check with the person whether he/she is interested to become your mentor for a certain fee. This type of one on one coaching can help you to achieve your online goals quicker than buying ebooks or joining certain membership sites.

As for me, I have joined the Internet Millionaire Club Malaysia but so far I have yet to learn anything substantial and only scratched the surface but I will provide more feedback on this membership site after our first private mastermind meeting on Feb 16.

Three posts in a day, who said I am not motivated…

I just went and checked my Google Adsense account and for the month of January 2008, I have earned USD1.40 for CTR on one of the blogs I maintain.

So, I can’t say my online income is NIL as per my earlier post. It’s not a big sum but we all have to start somewhere right?

Have you ever read the book, The Tipping Point? It is when you reach a certain point where the momentum is so strong it becomes unstoppable especially towards the direction of what you want to achieve. In a nutshell, you have been working hard on something and you see no results but actually a wave of momentum has been built and all you need is one more action for the result you are looking for, which in turn is your tipping point.

My point is, don’t give up because you never know, your next move is your tipping point.

This is one of my motivation, money, but trust me, I am also looking to provide value too.

I am quite chuffed at the moment.

Google Adsense really do work - this statement probably sounds dumb to many out there but what the heck, its my blog! 

Yes, I am part of this Internet Millionaire Club - sounds grand haha (paying USD12.90 each month) and I am looking forward to our first private mastermind meeting on February 16.

Each month as Silver Members, we receive 2 PLR ebooks that we can sell and keep 100% of the profits. When I sell something either online or offline, I want to make sure it is really of value and not just for the sake of earning a few dollars.

I have yet to read through the free PLR ebooks from my membership site so unless I am satisfied with the content I would not be selling it. Its only right.

By the way, I wish all Chinese who are celebrating the Chinese New Year a blessed year of the Rat 2008!

I have been slacking for the past few days:

• I have not worked on my 2 niche websites at all. No new posts, planning, etc. Zilch

• I have barely touched my free ebook that I will be offering on this blog. The free ebook reviews the Top 10 Ezines that will BOOST Your Income, online or offline.

• I read other bloggers’ posts and wish I could provide such informative posts

So, needless to say, my online income is also NIL because I have not put in any effort into making my 2nd source of income online.

I know that I can do it if I really do something about it -   more update soon.

I just read a FREE 7 page PDF report from Jimmy D. Brown, an established Internet Marketer and in the short report he gave me the truth about making money online which can be summed up with 2 words.

I do not like hype and do not believe that you need to pay huge $ to learn how to make $ online -and this report really resonates with my beliefs.

If you want to find out about the 2 keys to unlock the barrier to making money online, please first read this FREE report which can be downloaded from Jimmy’s website as below:

http://www.Membernaire.com/2keys.html 

For those that prefer audio, you can opt for the MP3 download instead.

Frankly, this report has opened my eyes and steered me back to the right track.