How To Write Your Book: Eat An Elephant (Pt 1)

“They” always say that to eat an elephant, take one bite at a time.

Whoever eats elephants anyway?

The principle holds true, though. If you have a big hairy task in front of you that seems onerous and huge, start somewhere and start small.

So it is with writing a book.

Here’s a method for getting it done in a relatively painless manner.

Decide on your overall theme or overriding topic
Break that up into a series of smaller themes or sub-topics
Pick one sub-topic you know enough about or research one to gather information
Write 10 – 20 pages on that sub-topic. That’s 3000-6000 words, give or take. Oh, and try to write it in ONE sitting. Clear your desk, your mind and your computer screen. Dedicate 2-4 hours to complete the task uninterrupted. Kick procrastination and distractions away. “Just Do It!”.
Congratulations. Now, if you want to profit from that effort, you need to spend up to an hour putting together a sales page to promote that chapter.
Decide on a price for the ‘report’, say between $7 and $10
Let people know that only the first 10 buyers will get a copy at this price.
Promote your product and send people to your sales page, let them buy the report and make sure you get their name and email. Also make sure the buyer goes onto a customer list in your autoresponder system.
When the first ten people have bought, close the offer and don’t accept more sales.

At this point, you have one chapter of your book written; you have ten people added to your customer list and you hopefully have some pent up demand from those who missed out.

That’s not the end of it at all. Head back for the next instalment where the clever plan becomes evident!

Take Daily Action To Succeed

Some people make internet marketing all sound so simple, and I guess it is when you’ve got a set of products and know what you’re offering to whom.

"Getting it" and applying it are two different things.

Most people are not trying to overcomplicate things. It just takes longer when you have to think through the steps each time. For instance, seemingly simple tasks take on new life when each step is plugged in…

1. Email list about one of my offers
   1a login to autoresponder service
   1b write email
   1c fill out the pages and schedule or send autoresponder

2. Dictate three articles.
   2a decide what to write about/angle
   2b dictate
   2c either transcribe myself or outsource
   2d login in to articles directories and post
   2e post to own websites

3. Clear out customer support.
   3a open emails
   3b respond
   3c fix issues

4. Create PowerPoint for upcoming presentation.
   4a open PPT
   4b prepare slides
   4c open camtasia
   4d record voiceover for slides

Dead easy if you’re a machine and know exactly what you are doing and that is all you are doing! Most budding IM’ers however are faced with the stop-start issue of working and trying to do IM on the side.

A lot of it also depends on the tools you use (some are quicker and easier) and how familiar you are with them. It’s much quicker if you’re using them regularly and don’t have to remind yourself what to do so consistency is key in building skills and your business.

So don’t feel inadequate when one of your guru’s tells you how easy it all is. It may be for them. But we’re all human and we each take different times and approaches.

The key is to making sure you are making plans, not excuses.

Just take action.

Daily.

How To Be More Productive, Part 4

Ok, so my notes from the Helen Raptoplous call have identified:

each day do four things you can complete towards your main current project
then do the regular things you need to do consistently – daily, weekly, monthly activities
then, if scheduled, do your block period of focused attention on a big project
finally, if scheduled, take the day to plan, flesh out ideas or build systems

That’s kind of the priority order of undertaking actions every day to progress.

A key plank in this methodology (in my view in any time management or productive endeavour) is to have accountability.

Robert Plank introduced us to this concept in one of his courses where he encouraged us to set up an accountability membership site. The idea was to buddy up with someone, declare your four things at the beginning of the idea then report back at the end of the day either saying DONE for each item or explaining why it’s not done.

Being held accountable removes excuses that we use for ourselves, it motivates us to do things because someone else now knows and we’re less likely to procrastinate when we’ve publicly declared our intentions.

Helen went beyond the member site idea and suggested whatever works for you – blog about it, tweet about it, update your Facebook status, do a YouTube video. However you do it, let others know what you’re going to work on and by when. Then, update them when it’s done or at the end of the day. The idea is that by checking in with others, you now have skin in the game and your reputation is on the line! It compels you to action.

This idea is one I agree with. Working solo enables one lots of opportunities to rationalise why you’re busy but not achieving what you need to. Having another person you work with in this regard is rewarding and I suspect Raptoplous incorporates this feature heavily within her 30 Day Productivity Challenge.

Overall, the message Raptopoulos conveyed was nothing new and even sounded a bit complicated. I doubt that bothers her. As she says, you need to close the gap between information and action and her program is geared to do just that. I agree with her when she states that you need to commit to implementing what you are learning and what you know ie take action.

This series has been about being more productive. I do believe the key Robert Plank ideas (4 Things a Day, Accountability) as well as Helen’s ideas about Consistent Actions, Big Plan Blocks and Systems/Ideas/Planning Days will lead you to being more productive.

My recommendation is start with:

Four Things a Day – complete one then the next
Consistent Actions – daily, weekly, monthly activities
Accountability – commit daily then report back

Implement those three habits and I guarantee you’ll be doing way more than you are now.

Oh, and use RTM to make it all happen!

How To Be More Productive, Part 2

Last time, we talked about the 4 Things Theory and how to apply that. It’s based on the premise that if you focus on doing 4 specific things a day that move you forward then you will progress more easily.

There are, however, times when you need to do more than the 4 things. There are regular tasks that need to be done, like your annual tax return, that won’t go away and must be completed. Today we continue my notes from a talk by Helen Raptoplous.

Take time to make a list of what you need to do consistently to move forward. Set up a schedule to make sure they get done.

Daily – what are the essentials you need to do daily?
Weekly – what tasks need to get done once a week?
Monthly – what needs to be done once a month?
These might be routine tasks to keep ahead of the game such as reconciling accounts or submitting expense reimbursement claims, or they may be actions which will propel you ahead by doing them consistently and regularly without fail by making them part of your routine

Plan ‘extreme focus sessions’ each week to work on bigger plans and projects. Block out a period from 45 minutes to 3 hours where you focus on bigger plans. Do up to 3 such blocks a week.
Set aside 1 to 2 days per month where you do not take calls, see clients or get distracted in any way. This is the time to work ON your business or career. Take this time to p-l-a-n, work on those ideas you’ve had, or build systems that will reduce effort over time. It’s best to schedule this at the end of the month or the beginning of the month. It’s a time to ask yourself “did I do my best last month?”, then put in place better plans and actions to make improvements

So, there’s the plan for being more productive.

Work on your 4 Things
When they’re done, do your consistent tasks
Do you planning/systems day/s
Each month, review the prior month and set up your next month to be even better!

Next, I’ll give you my view on the system presented and share with you one key ingredient that makes it work better.

How To Be More Productive, Part 1

I sat in on a call with Helen Raptoplous recently and she did a good job of extending Robert Plank’s productivity philosophy. Plank is a prodigious producer of content on the web so he has learned a thing or two about how to do more in as short a time as possible. Thought I’d share my notes from the call with you. This Part 1 on How To Be More Productive is Helen’s take on the Plank 4 Things Theory, with her own enhancements.

Be really clear on what you need to work on. Focus on only one priority project at a time
Start each day knowing what things need to be done. Have a list of four things that you can actually complete in one day. One of those things should relate to your highest priority project. The other three things are tasks that move you forward on your business (or job)
All actions and tasks need to be ‘bite-size’. Each one may take from 30-90 minutes to complete in order to move you forward. there may be smaller actions that only take 5-25 minutes – you can do these after you complete your 4 tasks
Don’t start a new project or entertain a new idea or get distracted while you’re doing one of your 4 tasks. Finish what you start – work on one thing to completion before starting the next thing. According to Jack Canfield, the average person has some 300 hours worth of projects in their head at any one time. We can’t achieve them all at once so advance one, then the next. Too many distractions are unproductive
if you feel you’re distracted by other things that need ot be done, take a short 5-10 minute break between your four tasks to catch up on things like checking email, making a phone call, grabbing a coffee etc.If an idea pops up while you’re doing one of your 4 things, just jot it down so it’s out of your head and you won’t forget it, then come back to it later.
Once you’ve finished your 4 tasks, you can call it a day and go play, or do some of the other things you want to get done.

In my next post, I’ll share the next plank in Helen’s productivity approach.

How To Really Get Your IM Business Rocking

A lot of the time, people at the starting or bottom end of the internet marketing online business chain are not doing much but learning. Some of us become professional learners.

We’re stuck in a state of mad desire to get a business happening and complete inertia – the more you learn the more confused you become and the more you realise there is to learn. We flick from forum to website to article in search of the Holy Grail that will lead us to internet riches.

Well, here’s the news folks.

The riches are right in front of you. What you need to do (and I’m talking to myself here as well!) is to buckle down, have a plan and stick to it until you get results. Then continue working it.

Doesn’t matter whether it’s Article Marketing, Video Marketing, Information Product Creation, Freelancing, Google Adwords or whatever. Every system works. There are people who exist in cyber space who have made money with every conceivable method that exists.

What made them successful?

Having a plan.

Sticking to the plan.

Taking action.

So, let’s get you moving.

Here are my notes from watching a webinar by Robert Plank today. This is a PLAN, it’s a METHOD and each action is DOABLE. You’re going to need to find some time and headspace first.

Free up some time by not watching tv – catch up on Netflix or iTunes or record it and watch it later so you can flick through ads and save time
Be aware of what your weak points are eg not planning your time or procrastinating. Work out a game plan to minimise their effect
Improve your attitude
Talk to yourself better stop wallowing and feeling sorry for yourself
Focus on what makes you the most money right now or has the potential to and milk it for all it’s worth
Make a schedule to get things done. Have stuff transcribed, have autoresponders written and scheduled, etc

The Plan

ONE – Set yourself up financially

Step 1 – make sure you have at least one months income in the bank to reduce the stress. Get yourelf some freelancing gigs, whatever you can save, work at it

Step 2 – if you have enough in the bank, reduce your debs, especially credit cards.

Step 3 – save on a regular basis for taxes and super – put as much as you can into your retirement fund

The idea is to put a solid cushion behind you to fall back on and reduce finanical issues going forward.

TWO – Start – Make a product

Get good at something – be a transcriptionist, writing articles, losing weight, playing golf, whatever
Read a book a week to educate your self where you’re lacking knowledge
Compile a report showing what you do eg a word document with some photos of your renovations before selling
put together a 20-60 minute audio lesson explaining how to do it – real estate, hypnosis – there’s already lots out there but you can do it better

THREE – Get your funnel going

get an autoresponder, set up an optin page
what is it converting at? make more forum posts to get more traffic
do you have a 10 day follow up sequence? do your new subscribers see your blog posts, your report, your webpage, your sales letter
if you don’t have anything or can’t put anything together, buy PLR, get the rights to sell it and set up a sales page with an active buy button
what’s the sales letter convert at? how do you know? do you know? Make sure you let people know where to find the sales letter
Set up an affiliate program so people can recommend people to your products and promote it for you
if at this point you’re making say $100 from freelancing, $500 from your day job and selling $300 products, then focus on the products. (Build a bigger list, put out more products, get more traffic etc)

FOUR – Set up a coaching program

find someone you can work with to help them for free eg
once you have them as a case study, this becomes version 2

FIVE – Extend

who is in your niche at your level and size to buddy up with?
ask to interview them and tell your subscribers about them – builds the friendship with them
contact one new person a day and figure out how you can talk to them for 20 min – becomes a bonus, a free offer for an opt-in

SIX – Repeat

At this point you should be making more money each month
Don’t need to get into new niche – you already have a passion and are getting paid to do something. Maximise it rather than let it die on the vine and move onto something untested and unproven

MINDSET

Your marketing has to be meaningful- just sending out what everyone else is sending won’t cut it
Info products will always make money
Pick your topics eg embroidery, scrapbooking, guitar lessons, self help, golf, weight loss,
Find out what people are buying and check what competitors are doing
Build the list, build the relationship, get more traffic, improve your sales letter – you can continue tweaking once it’s all in place.
Avoid the scarcity, blaming mentality. Have the idea of abundance – it’s way more empowering.

What if…

You could produce a report to sell @ $27 – sell one – that’s one hour of work for $27; sell more than one and your hourly rate automatically increases for the same level of work
You set up a Member site @ $97 per month per person – sell one a day – a much better ROI
Get 30 members paying $97 per month – you just replaced your day job. You can then support your family or others, travel, pay more of your debt off, pay out your mortgage, retire earlier, have longer holidays. It all starts with a plan, commitment and action.

What you can achieve

1.1 million words transcribed by others to produce
write an article in 7 minutes or less
turn one idea into 52 articles
produce 50 x 5 minute videos in a day
record 100 articles in a day
produce a sales letter in one hour
do a blog post in 15 minutes

By doing these things faster you can produce more, build a list faster, get indexed faster, become an authority site.

If what you are doing now is not working, then get yourself more productive. If you’re not now – and I guess you’re not, then grab this. It is a foolproof easy to apply system to get stuff done.

Here’s 5 areas where you might be having issues

marketing your products
managing your time
writing articles
creating content
producing videos, products and traffic

So, if you want to start getting results, start DOING.

Set a schedule for working on your Online Business DAILY – make it early in the morning for an hour or last thing at night – whatever works best for you but keep it as a commitment and try to keep the same time scheduled so you set up a routine
Write out a plan of what you will PRODUCE over the week and each day eg This week I want to write a year’s worth of blog posts and 20 Articles for Submitting to directories. eg Tuesday I will write 12 blog posts on niche X.
At the appointed time and date, clear your desk, clear your head and do the ONE THING you said you would do. Do it in one batch and get it done. DO NOT check email or forums or social media pages. Just get it done. then go play.

What’s the very next thing you are going to do as a result of reading this post?

Red Hot Internet Marketing

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