Thru the Entrecard system, I've had the priviledge and opportunity to 'rub shoulders' with some great bloggers.
When I learned that JoeTech went to Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas last month, I asked him right away if I could have an interview.
JoeTech was very gracious and said to send my questions over. I'm so please to bring you information directly from a regular 'joe' about the most recent Affiliate Summit event so here we go...
I asked: Hello Joe Tech, how are you?
Joe Said: I'm still getting caught up on my email and Entrecard messages after my laptop took a turn for the worse in Vegas, but it's all better now, so I'm getting back on track.
Pam: Thank you for your time today, I wanted to know more about your experience at Affiliate Summit West, what did you like about the Seminar? Dislike?
JoeTech: I have a long list of things I liked about it. I noted some of them in my blog posts, but in short, I enjoyed the amount of detailed information I obtained from the people who are actually making tons of money with affiliate marketing. In the forums, the attendees are encouraged to ask questions, so the amount of learning to be had is really up to you. There were invaluable opportunities to make new contacts.
I think the only thing I really disliked about the event was that it ran Sunday through Tuesday. For those of us who still have day jobs, this means two days off work. Affiliate Summit East is in Boston in August and it's the same thing, Sunday through Tuesday. If anything keeps me away from Boston, that'll be it.
Pam: Was this your first Internet Marketing Seminar?
JoeTech: It was. I've been to other conferences and I was on the board for one, but never a marketing conference. I really learned a lot more than I ever thought I would.
Pam: How did you find out about Affiliate Summit?
JoeTech: I think it was John Chow. He had a contest to win a ticket. Then John Cow did the same. Initially, I put my hand up in the air for both, but ended up attending with press credentials, instead.
Pam: Why did you decide to go to Affiliate Summit?
JoeTech: I went for the same reason I think most people wanted to go. I wanted to learn all the secrets of successful affiliate marketing and make new contacts.
Pam: I read all your entries on your blog during the Seminar, did that help you crystallize your thinking about the events of the day while you were there?
JoeTech: It definitely did. I really wanted to do more blogging from the event itself, but the laptop issues I mentioned made that pretty impossible. Having done this once, I have some pretty clear ideas of how to improve on my live blogging from another event like this.
Pam: In your pictures on your blog, there seems to be a lot of areas that weren’t that well attended. I know the Seminar was sold out. Did you see a lot of folks everywhere or did you get the Seminar speakers/organizers to yourself a lot?
JoeTech: It actually was pretty well attended. I got to the Moniker live domain auction when it was about half over and it looked like a lot of people had been there for the first half but left for some reason. It's too bad, too. They missed the sale of Pay.com for $1.5 million.
Everything else was pretty full, but I took some pictures before everyone showed up. I made sure to show up a bit early for a couple events to get a good seat. I also did manage some one-on-one time with a few of the experts because they were very approachable.
Pam: What are the main things you might tell someone considering going to an Internet Marketing Seminar to convince them that they should go?
JoeTech: First and foremost, don't forget your business cards. I would even say that you should pack those before anything else. Socks and underwear are easy to pick up if forgotten, but if you have to get business cards printed from some random printing shop in an hour, you'll probably wind up with cards that don't impress. I saw at least one example of this. Bring comfortable shoes and headache medicine, and map out what booths you want to visit and what forums you want to attend ahead of time.
Pam: Sounds like it was a wonderful experience for you, is there anything else we should know about the Seminar?
JoeTech: One thing I heard people say a lot (mostly in comments on John Chow's and John Cow's blogs) was that they just don't understand why anyone would shell out that much cash to attend this event. Before I attended, I also wondered if it was worth the ticket price. If you're looking at an event like this and want to know if it's worth it, do your research and see what others are saying.
Pam: Tell me a little bit about what you are doing online, add a URL for the convenience of our visitors.
JoeTech: I'm just dipping my big toe into some affiliate marketing now that I've returned from the summit, armed with some tips and tricks. Since JoeTech.com is a tech blog, I'm also trying to get back to more tech posts, so I've got a couple projects on the burner that involve a tennis ball, a robot, a Cube World toy, and a video camera. That's all I'm going to say for now, though.
I'm also working on another tool for my tools page (http://www.joetech.com/tools), so watch for that update soon.
Pam: Did your experience at Affiliate Summit affect what you are doing already? Or will you implement changes later?
JoeTech: Honestly, I wasn't doing much affiliate marketing before I headed to Vegas, but I will be now, and what I already have in place will be getting an overhaul. I'm pretty sure I can make a lot more on my blog with less ads with just a few small changes.
Thanks a million JoeTech, I learn a lot from interviews like this, I'm grateful for your thoughtful responses.
It was my pleasure and I'm honored to do it.
Joe
Copyright 2008 JoeTech & Pam Hoffman
Pam Hoffman
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Affiliate Summit West Interview: JoeTech
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Interview: Ricky of BlackySky At PPC Summit in San Francisco
I originally arranged this interview at the end of last November and Ricky sent it right along last December...
I 'lost' his message for awhile, and recently found it buried in all my emails. I've been looking for it for weeks!
I think I'm getting almost 150 emails a day now! Know the feeling? I was looking for something else and I finally found it!
Ricky, thanks for waiting.
Pam: Hi Ricky! How are you?
Ricky: I’m doing good thanks for asking… I’m a little bit tired but it is ok. Now it is really winter time here in Montreal Canada... anyway I’m happy to be back home
Pam: Remind me, which Seminar did you attend I know it was Patrick Schwerdtfeger’s production, what was it called again?
Ricky: No I change my mind I didn’t go to Schwedtfeger.. My friend and I went to the PPC summit in San Francisco... It was a great occasion to go west coast…
Pam: I think you found out about it from my blog, right?
Ricky: Well I knew it but I forget it but the other day I read it on your blog and said to my friend: look the PPC summit is coming soon.. This is what we need just before Christmas. So we went there and maybe it was a really great choice.
Pam: What did you get out of going to the this Seminar?
Ricky: A lot of people ask me why do you spend money on seminar or why do you go there.
My first answer is for the trip.
It gives you an occasion to see a new city and I love new culture.
One of the most important things is even if your method work pretty well, it won’t hurt you learning another point of view that works well too. I learn new trick and tips that really worth the trip. To answer the question I will say connection and meeting new people. I think this is the only and best place to connect to this great people and brand your name.
Pam: What are the main things you might tell someone considering going to an Internet Marketing Seminar to convince them that they should go?
Ricky: You need to know different point of view about the same subject to be better and you need contact to succeed. It is always fun to talk directly to a person about anything. I do think you can learn much that way then stay home and buy one of this e-book…
Pam: Is there ANYTHING ELSE we should know about the Seminar?
Ricky: You have the best in the industry at the same place and you can make new friends. You can see those people everyone was talking about.
Pam: Tell me a little bit about what you are doing online. Be sure to give us the URL as well.
Ricky: I’m doing a lot of thing on internet... ok this is not a complete answer… Most of the time I’m doing PPC, I was doing a lot of eBay auctions (less then before). Now I got this project on http://blackysky.com.
This is a beta project for now and will make it bigger in January.
This website is a unique platform where you can self promote your blog, website, product, talent and much more by leaving an ads or add a video ads … You can also buy sell trade text link, blog review, banner ad space .. Almost anything at the price you want without any intermediate that will take your money like other services out there.
The blog give update of the website but also give blog tips and where is the buzz around the net all this and much more at http://www.blackysky.com/blog
Pam Hoffman
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Affiliate Incubator Interview: Pam Hoffman
I recently realized that I never mentioned to you MY experience at Affiliate Incubator.
Find here my own 'interview' from Affiliate Incubator - my very first LIVE! Internet Marketing Seminar.
How did you find out about Affiliate Incubator?
PH: In my research for all LIVE! Internet Marketing Seminars in the world, I run across many interesting Seminars. I kept wanting to go to them. It turns out that there were a couple in the area that particular weekend and I was in a position to go to one. I had to pick only ONE!
I put a lot of thought into which one would serve me better - they were both about the same in $$$ amount (with the earlybird special on the other one). Oh, I expect I would have learned a lot from the other one as well. I had to pick though.
I think I picked Affiliate Incubator since I'm still quite new to all of this. I've heard that most internet marketers start online promoting affiliate programs versus offering their own products. That is certainly true for me. I started working internet marketing in earnest in February 2007. I don't have any products yet. I'm promoting other people's stuff at the moment.
The thing that also appealed to me about AI (Affiliate Incubator) was that they were planning on addressing the affiliate and the affiliate manager. You know at some point, you want to become the one with the product and get the efforts of others to help you sell it.
That is what got me I think.
What did you get out of going to Affiliate Incubator?
PH: I made a large number of contacts, well, large for me anyway. Of all of the Seminars I've been to, this one seemed the most comfortable or the best 'fit' or something. I sure talked a lot more than I'm used to!
I heard a lot of the same things I've been reading about and got a few nuggets of info that were new to me.
When you decide to make online marketing your 'thing' initially, there can be an overwhelming amount of information. One of the first things Russell and Stu did was to organize the first '24 hours' for an affiliate.
This sorting out and organizing were invaluable for me. It gives me a path or a check list for any project. Oh, it may not work out for me personally in the long run. It's sure a good starting point though. When you are asking yourself who to listen to and who to believe, this helps sort things out.
The individual presenters were very informative. I find that, even when I've heard something from someone, hearing it again can be a very different experience. I'm different for one thing. I may have acted upon some of the things - which puts me in a different place to hear their message a little better or something.
It seems like each of these folks have a slightly different way of doing things on the internet. This helps me understand that I need to figure out how things are going to work for me too.
I have a sign on the top of my monitor: "I Gotta' Work it 'til it Works" and that is my idea of utilizing the information I've learned at AI. I don't know that I can do things the same way that these folks have. I sure have a bunch of models to look at. Knowing me, I'll probably synthesize a number of them into something that suits me perfectly.
Time will tell.
And that is what it's all about - spurring on ideas and actions.
I don't plan on doing things like the gurus. I plan on taking their methods and making them mine. I know that I work different than anyone else in the universe and I've got to learn what that is and do that. Little else will work for me I'm betting.
What are the main things you might tell someone considering going to an Internet Marketing Seminar to convince them that they should go?
PH: If you are considering going, of course, I'd like to think I provide a valuable service and I think you should visit my blog. But you knew that, didn't you?
If I were helping someone decide, I'd probably mention that it is pretty hard to lose. Most event planners offer guarantees and if you truely do not make any friends nor learn anything even remotely likely to help your business, ask for your money back!
After that, it's your time you must consider.
I guess, if you can see this being the best use of your time at the moment, by all means, check it out! There is a lot of talent out there and ebooks can only get you so far.
I'm serious about the networking too. Where else are you going to find folks you can learn from and with whom you may form alliances with? It is all up to you.
The speed at which things change, alone, might be the tipping point for you. You can't get some of the stuff they relate to you from products you buy. You might get the information. You might get some questions answered like during a teleseminar. You won't get to compare notes with your neighbor or joke around with other attendees or the presenters. And you need to ask yourself if this information will even be relevant when you finally get that product!
At a Seminar, I think most presenters add value to their presentation by offering you some tidbit they learned just recently a.k.a. the latest and greatest! My feeling is that Stu and Russell did just that for us.
How do you even find that kind of info anywhere else?
You'll never meet the staff behind the 'names' nor their families reading an ebook.
Stu's sister was incredibly helpful during the AI Seminar. I'm always curious to learn, 'how many people' arrived for the Seminar (i've been to a few seminars!). The staff will be the only ones who can tell you stuff like that.
Oodles of things happen in the hallways and the faux-pas can always get deleted!
You know, I think you should Go! If you are at all serious about this internet marketing stuff, you owe it to yourself to take in a Seminar!
Did you learn what you needed from Affiliate Incubator to make it worth your while?
PH: It's possible I'm somewhat unique in that the simple act of going to AI gave me fodder for my blog. Oh, yeah, I sure got a lot out of it personally to help me along in my business.
I feel like this was amplified because of my particluar topic on my blog.
OK, so I got contacts, I got information, I'm getting known in the community and AND I get to write up a bunch of stuff for my blog!
On the downside...
I think I agree with GiGi. I drove home each evening and back the next morning. This makes for a tiring event. If I could have stayed in the hotel, that would have meant more time for networking and less time on the road. I might have rested more like for the lunch breaks. I could have gone to my room for a 'power nap' or whatever. :)
Is there anything else you'd like to say about your experience at Affiliate Incubator?
PH: I think that going to AI solidified my committment to finding all of the LIVE! Internet Marketing Seminars in the world for my visitors.
It locked into me the true value of going to a LIVE! Internet Marketing Seminar in a way that just writing about it can not do.
I can see what I need to do better for my blog and for my work from the experience. I still have much to digest and I'll probably be making references to this for quite awhile yet to come.
I thank you for reading and I extend the invitation to you to visit periodically to learn what is happening in the world of LIVE! Internet Marketing Seminars. I'll be logging them for as long as I see the need in the world for people to know where to find these things and how to go.
Pam Hoffman
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Affiliate Incubator Interview: GiGi Konwin
The Affiliate Incubator Interviews are still coming so I'll keep posting them for you. I spoke at length with GiGi Konwin during the Seminar, (and a little bit since then) who is just a dear.
Here is HER input from Affiliate Incubator last month...
I asked: How did you find out about Affiliate Incubator?
GiGi said: Actually I won a ticket to the Affiliate Incubator. Jim Morris of Nichebot ran a contest where all you had to do was say why you think you should be one of the winners of the contest. I think sounding pathetic helped - there were 3 other winners.
PH: What did you get out of going to Affiliate Incubator?
GK: Quite a bit. I had decided before I went that I was going to write a blog about the experience for those internet marketers that have never had a chance to go to one of these seminars. It made me take really good notes. I discovered that I really had all the tools I needed, just had to figure out a way to put it all together. I think Russell's last talk on being an entrepreneur really wrapped it all up for me.
PH: What are the main things you might tell someone considering going to an Internet Marketing Seminar to convince them that they should go?
GK: There's always something new to learn. It's a great experience just to be able to talk with other people that understand the "lingo" and know what it is you do. Those of us that sit at home all day in front of a computer need to experience our professions from other people's perspective.
PH: Did you learn what you needed from Affiliate Incubator to make it worth your while?
GK: Well, obviously I did, since I didn't pay for it. Plus I was local to the area - I think that was a drawback for me. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I could have stayed later and "networked" more after hours. I would recommend staying in the seminar hotel if you can afford it.
PH: Is there anything else you'd like to say about your experience at Affiliate Incubator?
GK: Just some tips for others - take business cards, even if all they have on them are your name and email address. Make a real effort to say 'hi' to everyone, including the presenters. I'm basically a pretty shy person, so it was a real effort to do that, but you'll have a much better experience if you do.
PH: Tell me a little bit about what you are doing and be sure to include the website of your choice.
GK: Basically, I have health-related websites, but I have done a blog about my seminar experience. Be sure to read about what goes on at an internet marketing seminar here: Affiliate Marketers Dream
Congratulations on winning GiGi and Thank You for your time! I keep visiting your blog to help remind me of events from Affiliate Incubator.
Pam Hoffman
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Your Third Affiliate Incubator Interview
Here's a third 'take' on Affiliate Incubator from another attendee I met there.
Terry Hudson takes a totally relaxed attitude to all of this - it's no wonder being from St. Thomas as he is! :)
Here's what he has to say...
I asked: How did you find out about Affiliate Incubator?
Terry said: That's a great question, Pam. I live in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Coincidentally, I've been feeling a little isolated as I think I'm the only one doing any Internet Marketing here. I've tried to talk to my friends and whenever I explain what I'm doing, I always get this really puzzled look and then they change the subject.
So when Jim Morris of Niche Bot fame announced his contest I wrote in saying pretty much what I explained above... that no one here understood what I was talking about and that I felt isolated and would like a chance to meet some cool people who had the same interest. I was one of the three chosen to receive a ticket courtesy of Jim.
PH: What did you get out of going to Affiliate Incubator?
TH: Pam, the presenters were all awesome and had their own slant on Affiliate Marketing but, there was one common thread. That was... you have to treat this like a real business, and they all echoed one another when they said you "have to be prepared to fail." Another one of my notes from Russell Brunson says... "failing makes it easier to go to the next step" I guess I'm doing something right then because I've had 3 hard disc failures in the last 18 months and have managed to put my websites and business back on track each time. It's the power here; it continually spikes or cuts off when you least expect it. I guess with each setback, you're actually one step closer to making it (even though you may not realize it.)
PH: What are the main things you might tell someone considering going to an Internet Marketing Seminar to convince them that they should go?
TH: Another good question Pam. I've read numerous times that if you don't get anything else out of an Internet Marketing seminar, the one thing you can take home with you are new friends and potential JV partners. After attending the Affiliate Incubator seminar, I can say that meeting people like you, and all the others sitting around our little group, has to be the highlight of this seminar. Don't get me wrong, I filled my workbook with notes from each speaker and have already implemented a few of the "top dawgs" suggestions. But, in the long run, the relationships I've formed are the first thing on my list of things I took home from this seminar.
PH: Did you learn what you needed from Affiliate Incubator to make it worth your while?
TH: Yes I did! I have pages and pages of notes from all the speakers. Everyone was interesting and had some very good content to pass on.
Also, as I've mentioned, I'm kind of isolated. I've sent my share of emails to well known gurus, but have almost never received a reply. There were several important attendees and speakers that I met, that I believe I could at least get some kind of personal response from now that I've put a face with a name, so to speak.
PH: Is there anything else you'd like to say about your experience at Affiliate Incubator?
TH: I would like to encourage anyone who is serious about building an internet businees to invest your time and money to attend at least one seminar. The information and most importantly, the relationships, are worth every dollar I spent attending the Affiliate Incubator Seminar.
PH: Tell me a little bit about what you are doing and be sure to include the website of your choice.
TH: Thanks for the opportunity to explain what my business is about. First of all, I have to admit that I've been doing just the opposite of what the Affiliate Incubator speakers were trying to get across. I've been going 'willy nilly' all over the place. I have clearly defined goals and a vision of what I want to achieve, but I'm coming to the realization that you can't be all things to everyone.
OK. With that said, what I've been trying to do is build a core company with niche websites on many different unrelated topics. Because of my interest in boats and the fact that I have a boat detailing business here in the Virgin Islands, I started http://www.boatdetailing.info/ to retail my product line and services. I do ok with that site and it's been online for about 36 months. Then one day, I read something about "get rich on the internet." Build Google adsense sites and the "money will come like crazy" or some such headline; and so I did. I have about 20 Adsense sites and they all make a dollar or two a day, except www.fivedaytrips.com which does $3.00 to a high of $14.00 a day. Ok, not too bad for a beginner, but where is the money? So the next thing was building sites with the intent of flipping them for $300 or so after holding onto them for a month to three months. I built some of these, but never sold one though. Tried, but I guess I didn't do it right or something(:>) So then, I decided I would get rich by having one site where I would teach newbies how to earn money online, www.terryhudson.net. I had it chocked full of affiliate ebooks, reports, free articles and you name it. Even have 30 to 50 uniques visitors each day but you know what? No money!!!
So that brings me up to date. I attended the Affiliate Incubator and learned this one key thing from Ewen Chia...
'Practice the power of one.' In other words, focus on one thing and one thing only and, when you get really good at it then... add something else. So, my big vision and dream to build a web business that I can flip one of these days is still a reality. The thing I'm concentrating on is taking it one step at a time and building value with each decision I make. Then my friends on St. Thomas will say something like this in five or six years... "you know Terry Hudson? He just sold his Internet businees for 5 mil... what an overnight success he was. Terry is one of the luckiest people I know." Ha Ha Ha... an overnight success! Everyone reading this knows how much work it takes, don't you?
PH: Do you know of any other Internet Marketing Seminars coming up that I should post to my blog?
TH: Pam, I'm counting on you to keep me informed.
Then Stay Tuned Terry! I have over 100 Internet Marketing Seminars the world over spanning the next 12 months and I'm always looking for more.
If you ever hear of any, drop me a line and I'll be sure to list it - if I don't already have it in my database, I'll be sure to give you credit and a link to a site of your chosing. That goes for anyone who reads my blog!
Thanks so much Terry, sounds like an adventure out there, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all goes for you!
Pam Hoffman
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Another Affiliate Incubator Interview!
They are coming in thick and fast and since we may have a 'lull' in the Internet Marketing Seminar action, I'm just going to hang these up for you!
Let's hear from Jon Yeo who came all the way from Australia to join us at Affiliate Incubator!
PH: How did you find out about Affiliate Incubator?
JY: Its a bit of a co-incidence, although there are no accidents. I decided I wanted to get into Internet & Affiliate Marketing and a couple of opportunities came to me that week. (Way back in March). In September, I had booked a trip to San Diego, the Bob Proctor Cruise and I wanted to take advantage of my time in the US (I am from Australia) by finding an affiliate marketing seminar. Again, later that week, I got an email from Stu and Russell via Rick Raddatz that a seminar would be running in Anaheim in the days after the Cruise. It was a no brainer as my flight back to Australia is out of LA.
PH: What did you get out of going to Affiliate Incubator?
JY: That, to the creative mind, anything is possible. There are so many opportunities out there, it's almost overwhelming. I have a whole bunch of notes from the AI weekend.
PH: What are the main things you might tell someone considering going to an Internet Marketing Seminar to convince them that they should go?
JY: Be open to ideas, be prepared to connect, be prepared to add value (thanks Rick for that one- I mentally "knew" that but Rick taught me the POWER of understanding that concept). Finally, have a goal. What do you want to achieve out of that opportunity?
PH: Did you learn what you needed from Affiliate Incubator to make it worth your while?
JY: Yes and plenty more. We got plenty of ways to manage our affilliate marketing. All fantastic. Its much better than just having one technique and hoping that it works.
PH: Is there anything else you'd like to say about your experience at Affiliate Incubator?
JY: Thanks to Stu, Russel, Rick, Ewan, Germaine & the others for an awesome event.
PH: Tell me a little bit about what you are doing and be sure to include the website of your choice.
JY: I am having huge success with a blog - jointhesecret.blogspot.com, its ugly but it works, I also see amazing results with www.AbundanceByDefault.com. Its a great opportunity. Finally, check out www.crazyegg.com. Did you know moving things around on your site and watching clicks can be monitored with a heatmap? That's what Crazyegg.com does.
PH: Do you know of any other Internet Marketing Seminars coming up that I should post to my blog?
JY: No, but that's why I have you Pam. http://seminarlist.blogspot.com
You are very kind Jon! When you hear about any other Internet Marketing Seminars "Let Me Know!" ;)
Be sure to come back for the next Affiliate Incubator Interview!
Pam Hoffman
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Your First Affiliate Incubator Interview!
I told you about Affiliate Incubator, now we let some of the other folks who went express what they learned at the Seminar.
Kevin Davis generously offered these insights...
I asked: How did you find out about Affiliate Incubator?
Kevin said: We found out about Affiliate Incubator from Stu McLaren when we were in Boise for Russell's 7 Figure Bonus event. Since we purchased Affiliate Inferno in the past, we were given complementary tickets to Affiliate Incubator.
PH: What did you get out of going to Affiliate Incubator?
KD: The most important thing we get out of seminars these days, is the
networking opportunities it provides. For this event, we also learned
more about changes in our affiliate marketing to build a business around
the affiliate marketing instead of just looking for the affiliate sale.
I had always wanted to meet Ewen Chia, and learned a great deal about
Super Affiliate strategies at this event.
PH: What are the main things you might tell someone considering going to an Internet Marketing Seminar to convince them that they should go?
KD: No matter what level you are in your online business, your business will improve by attending events like this. You will have the opportunity to network with other marketers and discover different methods and tactics that you wouldn't possibly be exposed to in another environment. The face to face interaction opens a better relationship for joint ventures down the line. Many people are overwhelmed when they consider talking to "gurus", but the reality is they are just normal people too, and really enjoy sharing their information with you.
PH: Did you learn what you needed from Affiliate Incubator to make it worth your while?
KD: Absolutely, every time we attend an event we pickup new ideas, and we are then charged up and start implementing them over the following months.
This event was no different and has added a spark for us to charge forward with some projects that were slipping by the wayside. We also picked up a few potential clients for our marketing and affiliate management services.
PH: Is there anything else you'd like to say about your experience at Affiliate Incubator?
KD: It was great to connect with you, Pam, at the event as well as several
other bloggers. It will be interesting to watch our businesses evolve
in the coming months and reconnect next year at another event.
PH: Tell me a little bit about what you are doing and be sure to include the website of your choice.
KD: We are busy with a number of projects including a Forex Coaching
program, Online Video Training for internet marketing, and Marketing
Services for small to medium sized businesses outside of internet
marketing. You can find out more about what we are doing at
http://gurusforhire.com/. We will be expanding this site over the next couple months to incorporate all aspects of the Firehorse Marketing business.
PH: Do you know of any other Internet Marketing Seminars coming up that I should post to my blog?
KD: We have a seminar planned for Las Vegas towards the end of January. It will be a three day event focused on product creation. It is called Product Creation Lab, and the salesletter and blog will be put up in November.
Thank You Kevin - I have your Seminar in my database and I'll be letting everyone know about it as soon as it comes up in the line-up.
Thanks you SO MUCH Kevin! Your comments are very illuminating - even for me!
I'll be posting further comments as they come in from other attendees so...
Stay Tuned!
Pam Hoffman
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Interview with Brad Davidson who went to Internet Marketing Mastery, Sydney Australia
Last June, I found a site on which blogger, Brad Davidson, was attending a Seminar AND blogging about it during the Seminar. I wrote him right away to see if he'd be willing to tell us all about it for the Internet Marketing Seminar Listing Service blog so here he is (and a little bit about why this interview is appearing in August!).
Pam: Hi Brad! How are you? Thanks for taking the time to tell me a little more about the Internet Marketing Mastery sessions which were held in Sydney June 15-17, 2007
Brad: Hi Pam, I am very well thanks and appreciate you taking the time to talk with me about Internet Marketing Mastery. It seems like a while ago now but that is a story in itself, the brief version however is that this seminar was so inspirational and motivating for me that it caused a complete re-think of my business goals and objectives and an interstate move within the last month so that I could change focus and make internet marketing one of my primary business objectives. [emphasis mine ph]
As a solo entrepreneur with an offline business in marketing and customer service and experience management, I have been constantly looking for additional income streams to add to my business. Over the previous 9-12 months, I had been researching internet marketing and building an understanding of how it worked, however, doing very little to get it off the ground and this seminar was able to validate everything that I learnt and prove to me that internet marketing success is actually a reality.
Pam: You know, Brad, this is one of the seminars I missed for my Seminarlist blog this year - how did you hear about it?
Brad: Well Pam, I actually heard about this through a mailing list that I am on with Jay Abraham Asia Pacific who had a special offer to attend Internet Mastery Secrets for free.
I am a huge Jay Abraham advocate and was an attendee of the Jay Abraham Bootcamp in August 2006 and I can attribute much of my mindset shift to Jay directly.
Actually, I attribute this shift to two people, Jay is the second, but the first is Stuart Gordon, Managing Director of Giant Promotional Products in Australia. While working with Stuart, he introduced me to Jay's methods and strategies and was single-handedly responsible for my mindset change that resulted in my interest in Jay and that then had a flow on to the internet marketing gurus that attended the Internet Mastery seminar.
Through Stuart, I was able to see and participate in the success that he has had through implementing Jay's strategies as a VIP Bootcamp Member in 2006 and the offer of free tickets to events such as this shows one of Jay's strategies in all its glory.
Pam: The Seminarlist Blog is all about tracking and listing all of the LIVE! Internet Marketing Seminars in the world. I'm also interested in illustrating the benefits my readers might get from going to these seminars. Brad, what did you get out of going to the Internet Marketing Mastery sessions in Sydney, Australia?
Brad: Pam, this seminar showed me two things above all:
Firstly, that what I had been learning and studying from the experts and guru's was real and this was reinforced by all of the presenters throughout the event.
Secondly, that you can start this from scratch, there is a systemised approach you can follow and that you can achieve the levels of success that the people on stage are having...and enjoy it.
Passive income is a reality. It can be achieved and it is within reach, even for people with no internet marketing experience, no product to sell or limited computer knowledge. You don't need to know how to design web sites, you don't have to be the 'expert' in a particular field and you don't have to 'have money to make money'.
There were a lot of myths dispelled and there were a lot of secrets revealed by some of the most successful people in this industry from Andrew and Daryl Grant who are local to me here in Australia and self-confessed techno-phobes to Mike Filsaime who many people would know as one of the most successful internet marketers around today and who quit his job as a car salesman to follow his dreams of internet riches and has his reputation for making $1 Million in 5 days with one of his products.
The best thing that I think I can do for you here, is to highlight some of the key messages that I got from a few of the speakers.
Stephen Pierce was a great presenter and the main message I got from him came in four simple words: "Where can I win". The crux of this being that you need to look at the market and identify the gaps that are there and find a solution to fill them. You can have the resources, energy and plan but if the environment is wrong then you won't succeed.
Marc Dussault who is the managing director of Jay Abraham Asia Pacific summed it all up with a simple 6 minute video "Shift Happens" which can be found on my site at Bricks from Clicks.
This video contains some amazing facts that really stood out for me and I suppose, more than anything gave me the message that the internet market is continually expanding so anyone who thinks it might be too late to join in should watch this video because this revolution is only just getting started, there is room for everyone and there are still such a large number of untapped markets that are growing daily.
Tom Hua was able to expand on this further with the simple gem that there are currently 1 billion people on the internet and that this is expected to grow to 2 billion by 2010. You just need to take a tiny slice of this $170 Billion pie and you too can be successful online and give yourself the lifestyle that you desire.
Brett McFall, one of Australia's great online and offline copywriters spoke at length about the value of the internet lifestyle and gave 8 reasons why "The Internet Lifestyle Is Better Than Working For A Living" and I would like to share these with you as well:
- You can work where you want
- You can wake when you want
- No staff to pay
- No premises to rent
- Freedom - Your business can be nearly 100% automated
- You can create as many businesses as you want
- Beginners can do it
- There is LOTS of money to be made
These are some of the main messages that I really felt were important and that really clicked for me at the event.
The rest have a permanent place on the internet within my blog from the event at Internet Mastery Live.
Pam: Talk to me a little bit about posting LIVE to your blog while you were attending the Internet Marketing Mastery sessions LIVE! That sounds a bit tricky.
Brad: To be honest, I am a bit of a self-confessed techno geek and had recently purchased a new phone with internet and email access and really just decided that it would be a fun thing to do and basically, it was simple as typing an email and sending it off to the email address associated with the blog.
This is the power of email and the internet.
Posting live from the event was an interesting experience, I honestly wish that I had thought of the idea before the morning of the event so that I could have let more people know about it beforehand however it did get a great response from the people that I spoke to at the event and responses on the blog.
At the end of day 1, I did a bit of a search on the internet for related sites and posted a message on the blog of another Australian entrepreneur and internet marketer, Yaro Starak who had attended the Brisbane event and this blog message was noticed by one of Jon Giaan's staff and I was fortunate enough that Jon though it was a great idea and mentioned it on stage
for the 600 participants at the end of day 2 which really amazed me and I would like to thank Jon for that promotion.
It is that attitude of giving throughout the internet marketing community that I feel makes it such a great group to be a part of.
Jon's site is still up at Internet Mastery Secrets with some interviews with the presenters from the event including Stephen Pierce, Brett McFall and Mike Filsaime.
Pam: OK, Brad, tell me a little bit about your blog. Be sure to give us the URL as well.
Brad: To be totally honest, this was my first blog! I hadn't really worked out the benefit of blogging and just thought it would be a cool thing to do and if some people were interested then it would be a great way to drive some traffic to my site.
The one good thing that came out of writing the blog was that I needed to condense my summaries of the speakers right down to the most concise and valuable distinctions in order to post via email. I normally take a lot of notes at seminars (and I did at this one as well) but when you have to pick out the distinctions that will be of value to others, it makes you look at it all in a different way.
All of the summaries are still available at http://internetmasterylive.blogspot.com/ and I also have a number of projects happening as a result of the information that I learnt at the event that will be appearing on my site at http://www.bricksfromclicks.com/ that is going to provide the resources to help build both online and offline businesses through the internet.
Pam: Do you know of any other Internet Marketing Seminars coming up that I should post to my blog?
Brad: To be honest Pam, I am going to be keeping an eye on your blog for that one. However if I come across any or attend any in the future I will be sure to let you know and happy to share the secrets of the masters with you.
Pam: And finally, is there ANYTHING ELSE we should know about the Internet Marketing Seminar sessions??
Brad: To be honest Pam, the message that I got from this event is simple, anyone can do this and be successful. So if any of your readers are out there and thinking about getting started, don't wait any longer. The market is growing daily and there is something on the internet
for everyone to allow them to realise their dreams.
I would also like to thank you for taking the time to get my feedback on this event, I think that your blog is a spectacular idea and a great way to share the messages that people learn at seminars.
Many of these are free and the information that they provide is invaluable so if you get a chance, go to a live event and let Pam know and this can be the start of your future success on the internet.
Copyright Pam Hoffman and Brad Davidson 2007
Well, that was very nice - keep looking up the blog Brad, I have over 100 Internet Marketing Seminars spanning the next 12 months and spanning the globe!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
An Interview* with David White: eBay LIVE! June 2007
This is Pam Hoffman from Internet Marketing Seminar Listing Service weblog. I’m here today speaking with David White.
David has been selling on eBay and the internet for over 10 years. In 2000 he was invited to teach at eBay University, instructing thousands all over the U.S. how to buy and sell on eBay for almost 2 years. David also runs his own consulting business assisting individuals, as well as businesses, establish and grow their internet business. David has sold over 20,000 items on the internet and continues to conduct educational programs for internet marketers.
David also hosts a radio program. I’ll let him tell you a little more about that later on.
Pam: Hello David, How are you?!
David: Very good. Just got back from eBay LIVE! and recovering and going over the notes but very good.
Pam: Excellent! Thank you so much for taking a little time out of your day, to talk to me.
I just want to tell you what I’m gonna’ do today. I’d like to focus our conversation first on the event itself and then talk a little bit about why you might think it’s important for the Seminarlist blog visitors to consider attending an internet marketing seminar.
So let’s start, tell me a little bit about eBay LIVE! from June 2007.
David: Well, the June 2007 event, eBay LIVE!, was held in Boston and they rotate cities every year. Next year, by the way Pam, eBay LIVE! will be held in Chicago, so plan on attending, it’s a great time.
Every year, they have approximately 10,000 attendees…
Pam: 10,000! Wow!
David: …and it’s a wonderful place to network, they have fantastic training events and programs. Seminars conducted by many of the vendors that have booths at the convention site and the interaction between eBay personnel and the attendees of the convention is just phenomenal.
Pam: Wow, that sounds excellent. I didn’t realize there were 10,000 people in attendance.
David: They’ve grown every year, but the last 2 years there have been 10,000 plus and it is a great opportunity for attendees, not only to meet with other eBay users & internet marketers, but the personnel at eBay as well. As you may know, it is sometimes difficult to get in touch with somebody at eBay, at the eBay company live, and talk to them. And this affords the attendees an opportunity to put names behind email ‘voices’ so to speak.
Pam: Oh, excellent, you know, I’d like to talk a little bit more about the vendors you mentioned, kind of…how many vendors, what kind of quality, did you hear anybody speaking that was really very interesting; just cover that a little bit more if you would please David.
David: The vendors at eBay LIVE! are all top-notch companies. And we’re talking companies such as Pitney Bowes, and the United States Postal Service, UPS, Office Max, Pay Pal, the Federal Government and the FBI talking about security issues, and a vast array of software providers that offer 3rd party software to make internet marketing easier. And products that can help you increase your visibility such as Sharpix, they offer a photo studio type product, so the vendors at eBay LIVE! are all top rated organizations.
Pam: Would you also consider them, David, to be very relevant to the topic or were there some that were kind of, you wondered why they were there or does eBay do a really good job of focusing in on getting the right kind of people so that, you as a learner, in a learner position say, got an opportunity to really, really understand and learn more about your business.
David: All of these companies are hand selected, so to speak. Not any company can just come in and say, ‘I’d like to present or have a booth at your vendor’s conference’ so, first of all, they’re very hand selected, they all have a relevance to eBay and internet marketing. And, when you look at the type of companies that present at eBay during the convention, these companies have established themselves as forerunners in internet marketing and ecommerce. And that’s why I believe that when you make the decision to attend a convention such as eBay LIVE!, that you’re missing out if you don’t attend the breakout sessions that these software companies offer.
Pam: Well, that sounds really, really exciting David. So you’ve been to several of these, haven’t you?
Continued here in its entirety.
*content has been altered from the audio for clarity (you didn't really want me to type all those 'ums' did you?)
Monday, July 2, 2007
New Feature: Interviews!
I interviewed David White on June 22, 2007, the week after he got back from eBay LIVE!
I wanted to get his impression of the seminar and the benefits of going.
I'll post the transcript here sometime this week and the .wav file somewhere soon so that you have audio and visual to work with.
Stay Tuned!
Pam Hoffman
p.s. the information will be in my store as well.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
May I Interview You?
Have you been to an Internet Marketing Seminar in the past few months? May I interview you?
I'd be willing to 1) call you, 2) share any 'info product' which comes out of our conversation and 3) post the converstion on my blog and 4) offer you a chance to promote your current online endeavor of choice.
I'm in the process of creating some basic interview questions and I'll be testing this out in the near future.
I'll be recording a conversation with my buddy and I'll transcribe the resulting information. I'm going to see if I can offer the recorded information as well as post the transcribed results here on my blog.
Have you had your '15 minutes' of Fame yet? Come on Down!
Pam Hoffman
