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Truth
or Dare Introduction:
Tahir: But I don't want to waste any time on this call without sharing a learning experience with the listeners, so I'm going to focus on something with your permission, Terry, from my background - but as a learning point for people, if I may, rather than just ramble on about my background. My first taste of business was 21 years ago at the age of 17. I started a business importing oil paintings from Hong Kong and Taiwan. These were brilliant. The two types of paintings I concentrated on were Old Master Copies, and Portraits painted from photographs. And I learned so many lessons from that first business that I've never forgotten to this day. Let' me explain quickly how. Firstly, I tried selling the old master copies. These were faithful reproductions of the Mona Lisa, the Sunflowers, any famous artist of yesteryear... if they painted it... you could get a painting reproduced. Of course it wasn't the original... but it was an original, painted exclusively for you in oils on canvas. The trouble was... I knew nothing about art and famous artists, and when it came to it... neither did most other people. So finding someone who truly appreciated what I was selling was really difficult. And I was door-knocking back in the day... I didn't have a shop, or place to display... I had one example of a painting... and a catalogue of the different paintings that I had to offer. And when I came across someone who knew art... they quickly realised I didn't have a clue about art or what I was selling myself... so the credibility and the sale went straight down the tube. So I decided to concentrate on the other side... portraits from photographs. So in a nutshell I'd send the photograph off, and 3 weeks later, I'd receive the painting, which was a true likeness to the photograph with the canvas rolled up in a tube and hand delivered by the postman. I knew that what wow'd people was when they saw their own portrait painted in oils on canvas, so I wanted to target two markets primarily. Weddings and Students graduating from university. But I had some major obstacles... 1) I couldn't drive and
didn't have a car. That was lesson no. 1 - no credibility = no sales So I knew that I had to build the credibility factor, so I asked my bank manager if I could have a photograph taken with him, and bring in a local reporter to take that photograph and write a story in the local newspaper about me and my oil paintings business. So that's what I did, and when the story appeared I took a cutting of it from the paper... so that I could show people... that look this really is me, this is my business and that they could trust me that this was all legit and above board, and I wasn't just asking them for their money and a photograph and promising them something in return 3 weeks down the line. Anyway, to cut a long story short, armed with just my newspaper clipping and bundles of energy, drive and enthusiasm. I ended up getting signed contracts with 3 universities... to offer the portraits from photographs to their graduates after graduation day - But here is the biggest mistake I made. All the literature I had prepared was targeting the students, and mailed out to the students after graduation. And do you know where it all went? In the bin. Why? Students didn't want to buy portraits of themselves... they'd rather spend that money on drinking beer and partying... The people I should have been targeting were the parents of the students. I had the wrong people opening the right message, targeted at the wrong audience. And that was my first and biggest lesson in business. A cock up on a grand scale with no second chances. And as far as business and making money are concerned, do you know what has changed in those 21 years, Terry, from the story I've just told you? Nothing... You need to know your market and you need to build your credibility. And that doesn't mean you have to be an established expert that everyone recognises, although undoubtedly that is what you should be working towards... it simply means that your website shouldn't look like it's been thrown together by a 10 year old on a free hosting account. If you don't treat yourself and your business seriously, you won't get any sales. And when it comes to getting traffic? You could have the best product in the world, but unless you know exactly who the cash paying customers are for your product or service, and target your message to them...you won't make any sales, regardless of how many people you throw your message out to. So that was my first introduction to the world of business, and over the 21 years that followed, I still made many mistakes, but learned from each one as I went along and became better at recognising mistakes, and patterns and scenarios before they presented themselves. And I took those learnings and started helping others... a mistake is a mistake... it doesn't matter what business you are in, which industry you are in...or what product or service you are selling. And a proven strategy is a proven strategy, despite which business you are in, which industry you are in or what product or service you are selling. So to sum up, from that start and over the next 21 years that followed until now, I've been taking away those mistakes and identifying the proven strategies in everything I do. One Way Street - Going The Wrong Way Terry: I want to read something from your website that really sums up what's happening to people online. "Which Would YOU Prefer: Before You Answer: Read both scenarios below... Scenario #1: You are sitting in a brand new Mercedes. It has all the gadgets that you could want and you’ve bought some optional extras to add to it… Ahh… this is going to be the envy of all of your friends. The trouble is you are stuck in a never ending gridlock and can’t make any headway despite the cost of your fancy car. The salesman told you that you could get great speed and great mileage too… but at the moment you aren’t getting any of that. Not because it’s not capable of doing those speeds or mileage… simply because you hadn’t planned on there being a traffic jam or so many other obstacles in your way. Right now - never mind your planned destination - you can’t even see past the rear bumper of the car in front of you! And to make matters worse… in this virtual world… there is NO escape from the gridlock and you’re going to stay stuck in it forever – but no-one has told you that yet… so you look anxiously at your watch… Time is ticking on… Scenario #2: You are in the same virtual world riding your second-hand bicycle on a clear sunny day. You’ve been weaving and bobbing your way through obstacles in front of you all day long and with minimal effort. On your way through the gridlock, you offer a friendly smile to a man sitting in his brand new Mercedes… he doesn’t look impressed. He’s in a Mercedes - you’re on a bike - and he gives you an “On-Your-Way-Bicycle-Boy… What-Do-You-Know?” kind of look. And so on you continue… Whilst all the traffic is caught in the traffic jam trying to move forwards, you notice a little side street… most of the traffic is going in the same direction - but it seems to be heading nowhere… so you decide to venture into the little side street and find yourself coming out on a wonderfully clear road with no further obstacles. You look up and see a sign-post: Looking across the road you see a similar sign pointing in the opposite direction... But traffic is only one way on this road… no-one EVER looks back. You quickly catch up to one of the other travellers on this road and you say, “Hey… shouldn't we tell them about this route?” He replies… “They wouldn’t believe you even if you hit them over the head with with it son… we’ve tried many a time… now we just enjoy where we are… and let them continue thinking they can find out how we got here.” I think that really sums up your approach to the online world and I applaud you for taking the stance you have. Something else you've taken a stand on is the niche-marketing trend. Most internet marketers tell you to find a niche and launch a product into it, you say don't bother. Why is that? Tahir: But as far as creating a product for a niche market and trying to launch it… good luck… you’ll put a lot of work in for little or next to no reward whatsoever. Now I know that sounds harsh… but hey… I really believe that to be the reality and here is why. If I was to ask anyone on this call to name a top internet marketing guru… they could probably name dozens… If I was to ask them to give me a wish list of JV partners… many would name the same names. But let’s go outside of the IM niche. Who is the top guru for dog owners online? Who are going to be your JV partners promoting for you on a launch to dog owners? Who is the top guru for golfers online? Who are going to be your jv partners promoting for you on a launch for golfers? So your 300 page ebook will sit there with no exposure and no sales….unless you can convince the big list owners in IM to promote your book about knitting to their mailing list. When most people can’t get them to promote their latest book about internet marketing to the their mailing lists… what chance has someone got asking them to promote a book about knitting or golf or crochet or anything else to their list? When was the last time you saw them promote one? The only time you will see them promote one, is when it has resale rights that they are looking to sell on to you. So whilst those in the IM niche have their million dollar launches… they push people to the niches outside of IM telling them that’s where the money lies… but stay firmly within the IM niche. Now remember, if you can create a high ranking website with lots of search engine traffic, great… go target a niche… but if you are looking at creating an ebook or info-product to sell… don’t believe the nonsense about creating a book to sell to that niche… because it will be in PayPal purgatory forever without hardly any sales and certainly no big major launch. That’s a fact! Unless you can convince other internet marketers with big lists to promote it to their lists for you.. in which case you’d have been better off creating an ebook for internet marketers in the first place. But these are some
important truths people are never told. --- End Report ---
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