Number 1 Question — How to bootstrap a business startup to begin with. I know you like to focus and excel at: How to Take a Business to the Next Level. And How to Grow Tenfold or How to Build a Multi-Million Dollar Business. But…. I actually wonder if the harder question isn’t how to go from 0 to six-figure (profits) business. Especially given that most of us have a day job to pay the mortgage. Some businesses are
easy to start very small and build, but others are very hard
to do part-time or on a limited budget. That’s my number one question.
————————

p.s. Is there a long delay between when I post and when it ends up in the blog? I posted to the contest 8 or more hours ago and haven’t seen the entry. Are the timestamps that are shown with each entry, simply the time it got added to the blog? Or are they the time people made the comments?

How can I secure long-term traffic and business growth for my internet business?

This is fairly simple. Always do your very best to provide great content for your visitors and subscribers to your ezine. I read all the emails and do business with those that provide great content and I feel alot of other people do as well.

Dale Calvert
http://www.DaleCalvert.com

Does your program truly align your risks, incentives, opportunities and interests with mine at an affordable level of investment?

What do I need to change in my life to take not only my business to the next level, but be on the leading edge of the future?

How do I differentiiate myself from others on the web and attract interested customers?

I’ve already signed up for coaching with a few good marketers who I feel can take me to the next level. Will this be overkill?

Three questions:

1) Will there be any one-on-one coaching in this program?

2) What kind of access will we have to the facilitators of the program?

3) Will we learn how to effectively outsource some of the work, such as market research?

How do I develop content that is worthy of the volume of customers I want to generate? Is there a process to developing quality content in any niche area?

How long will it take to get a return rate over double my investment in the program, when I do it they way you say I should?

The problem with many instruction manuals is that they tend to be written by ‘experts’ who assume, usually incorrectly, that the people reading the manuals are at a similar level of expertise as the writer.

Consequently, readers who are less knowledgeable about the subject, often find themselves at a disadvantage as they try to unravel the true meaning of what is being described.

Where manuals are concerned, the K.I.S.S. principle works best.

Believe it or not, people really DO want to be able to understand the instructions and put the programmes or software into action, and not have to deal with instructions reminiscent of the early MS DOS Operating System manuals.

How can I introduce the 4 Steps stated above to an industry that is void of any savy marketers. Hardly anybody uses Direct Marketing and even the bigger companies use email all wrong. I am all alone. There are alliances to make, but none of them know of the importance of list/relationship building.

Cameron McGehee

Will this be a “blueprint” business model? Will it be scaleable from the one person (+outsourcers) to the nine figure gross incomes?

Is this program applicable to me since the prospects for my loyalty marketing tool are mostly retail, etail, and B2B?

How much does it costs to find people to outsource and build your websites for your info products and salesletters.

I don’t know how you guys come up with web platforms that capture emails and the copy to make people fork over their money

Hi Rich,

very good quality info you provided in the final chapter. I understand that it is extreemly important to frequently stay in touch with your the potential customers on your list. The ezine is the best known way to do this (it is one of the factors that made Agora big). For many small business owners like myself it is time consuming to procude a great ezine with related products for your customers. The best way is to seek a partner that produces great ezines that I can call my own. Who do you recommend for this?

Will this program have a simple step by step process that even I as a neophyte can follow? I understand that this program will attract people with many different levels of experience, expertise and skills, so will this program be able to cater for all of us? Will it also take people like me to the next level and the next level when we have mastered the basics and develop our level of competence?

Hi Rich,
Well, that will be the same answer as I give almost everyone that asks me what I want to learn. That would be: “How to pick a niche market that includes my strengths and passions, but is also a profitable market for the long run of my business”

Will this program be helpful for newbies who has great desire to convert his passion into multi million dollar profit within a short period of time?

My question is will this coaching program give me action plans and blueprints at a strategic and tactical level and will it allow me to acheive scalability in my business

Hi again Rich! Well I’m sure all of us feel as though we know you very well even if you don’t know who we are, thanks to your Manifesto trilogy…:-)
Like everyone else, I have zillions of questions buzzing around in my head so its a bit difficult to pick just one.
OK, here goes - the one question that I would need to have answered would be,
What do I have to to do - what are the progressive steps - to be able to utilize, to maximize the business tools on offer in this course so I can set up my own multi-million dollar business?
I have a feeling I’m going to find out on Nov. 1st!!!

Cheers & good health to you, Rich
Suresh

If I persue my passion (screenwriting) can I create a website about that subject that would still make money…and would it be anything more than just adsense ads and article on script writing. I don;t have a site now so I always feel like I’m on the sidelines when these offer come up.

My ONE question…

How to do market research right? If Overture, Ebay, and Amazon worked as well as suggested, success would be more common.

“What is the ONE question that you absolutely need to have answered, in order for this program to be THE best investment of your life?”

How can I besure that after failing miserably in the past to earn a real income online as promised. That this program will anything more than a effort of the “Usual Suspects Gurus” taking advantange of the great many newbies coming online through another JV Mastermind Group?
It seems you guys are joining forces and cornering the market and all the newbies are eating it up but are not getting the results. Just like myself ove rthe past few years, it only works if you have the right friends and unless they can use you, you don’t get into that circle. How much more money do you guys need anyway?

Will I as a newbee with a small budget be able to participate in a effective way?

I am really just stumbling around trying to get started. What I really need is to cut down the learning curve and get going. How do you start to become profitable?

Fran
http://www.fitnesshealthandwealth.com

I am a ebay merchant with a niche market that may be too small to build an internet business by itself. I am struggling with the decision to keep building my niche and content to get a bigger share of the small market, or go to a completely new market that has better demand. My head and heart say I should build off what I have, and yet I usupect your advice may be to stop wsting my time on a dinky market and focus all my time on building a new market. I sell covers of collectors of postal history. There are hundreds of sub specialties, one of shich is ship covers. I have built out the ship coves idea somewhat, and could do similar with other related sub categories. Or I could leave what I have standing and focus all my time on new markets with stronger demand, demand that could turn into a significant business, which my cover business is unlikely ever to do.

I have purchased tons of information, followed the expert steps exactly as defined and I’m following my passion. Will you be able to tell me EXACTLY what to do to bring success to my current projects?

I am in a B to B business,will this help me to build a list and maximize my investment in a competitive industry

As the saying goes “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”….. My question is which way?

How will this be different from your first/existing program?

Will it offer more detailed ways to actually APLLY the strategies you share.

While the quality of your information is EXCELLENT, I resigned from the program because I couldn’t understand how to APPLY what you were teaching.

This all sounds good if you already have an internet business/website with something to market, but what if you don’t and have no idea what you could possibly sell? How could this program help you?

Rich, first of all, let me say I stand in strong appreciation of what you say, and what you are trying to accomplish. I see that you see the bigger picture, and in addition to achieving personal success and success for a limited number of high-fee paying clients, you have been kind enough to make your manifesto trilogy available free, publicly to those of us who are not currently in a position to become your clients.

The reason for that, in my case, is that I had to give up employment with the UK health service, where I worked as a psychologist in 1990, and suffered a long-term abdominal illness for 13 years. I have two first class honours degrees, in English and Psychology, but as I have pretty much always worked in the public and voluntary sectors before, your knowledge and skill base is exactly what I need to help me secure a financial future for our family of seven.

I too am a missionary. You can see the initial 32 page project which dates from 1986 and I guess constitutes my ‘manifesto’, from here:

http://coalesce.jxta.org/files/documents/404/200/CreativeSynergy.pdf

I have had the difficulty, over the years, of getting people to actually understand the breadth of my vision, of what people have actually accomplished in terms of turbocharging their creativity and achievement in the historical examples I have studied, and how it could be applied by closely interacting communities today. You may have suffered something of the same problem, but I guess you have had less trouble attracting support for your ideas because they are specifically oriented to helping people achieve financial success.

During the recent ‘Stompernet’ launch, I had a couple of email exchanges with Andy Jenkins, and I think he could appreciate the parallel I drew between what they were accomplishing with Stompernet, kind of getting a group of people to ‘hoist themselves by their own bootstraps’ above the general level of internet business success. I see it is very similar to the model you are proposing, and the general principle, which I call creative synergy or social synergy, is encapsulated in a diagram on the first page of chapter 3 of my project, page 13, I think. I know that you are a big fan of mindmaps and diagrams. I am too. It is true that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, more actually.

So it is clear to me, from my viewpoint, that you have are, what I call ‘planing’ (you know, like a hydrofoil) You are a missionary, have what my coach used to call ‘a bit of a blurred vision of a better world’ in that its best to not overspecify too much, but let circumstances and serendipitous occurrences - such as this post, maybe? - feed into and help shape your action, very taoistic, very zen, actually, which I think is very wise and thoroughly approve of. It also keeps things exciting and fresh, doesn’t it? - which you clearly comes across in all you write, by the way.

So I feel like we are standing on two high hills, our outlooks have been somewhat different throughout our lives, but if you read my project - and anyone else interested is welcome to, too - you will see that I also have a global vision for using the same kind of synergising methods you are advocating to change not just the business climate, since that has never until now been my focus, but the global social climate, and of course the internet is the most brilliant tool for doing that.

But if you skim to the conclusion of my project, you will see that in order to effect widespread change in the social climate (in your own case specifically the business climate)it would be good to provide resources to those potential achievers and knowledge and skills resources that do not have them due to accident of birth, illness as in my case, or other reason. That is what many net companies have been doing, from mozilla and netscape through hotmail, and it is of course in line with the original ethos of the net pioneers.

I see that you are already doing that to a great extent, through your 3-part manifesto, your blog and your google video, which is the first time I saw you, and really enjoyed and took on board.

I am currently gearing up to promote two products, an extraordinary book written by my wife which has been 13 years in preparation, and a range of electronic music CDs composed and produced by my 18 year old son. The link I provided is to his website homepage, which is not yet public.

SO (sorry to say so much, Andy Jenkins was kind enough to comment that I *am* ‘to the point’, I just have a lot to say - to answer your question, which prompted this post:

Q: What is the one question that you absolutely need to have answered, in order for this program to be THE best investment of your life?

A: I would absolutely LOVE to be part of your program. I do consider you my business coach, since you are the best one I have found. But, as in the case of many in every other way eminently suitable people, who would actually contribute insights to your mix (I *love* dialogue, its the most helpful thing, as my project shows) I I feel, to some extent ‘locked out’ by the realities of my limited finances, resulting from my previously long-term ill-health, from which I have recovered fairly recently, due to surgery. What I would request, and urge you to do, is be kind enough to at least skim my project, and continue to provide a kind of ‘bread crumb trail’ that those of us with intelligence and the other necessary qualities, but not currently the ‘cash’ can link in to, follow and learn from. I see that the emphasis you put on requesting feedback here as payment for your manifesto, and through your emails, shows that like me, you are completely aware of the crucial part that feedback and two-way interaction play in giving you wide-ranging and timely intelligence to feed into your creative ‘psycho-cybernetic’ decision-making and success seeking subconsious process. I was started on the path to business success by a little dialogue I had in a teleseminar with Stuart Lichtman (anything-fast.com) who, if you know much about him, I don’t think you would be insulted if I called you the Lichtman of Generation X I was astounded to learn from him that he made a successful pitch to Margaret Thatcher and came over here to England to teach his cybernetic transposition success method to the captains of British industry. It is interesting to speculate how much of a part that played in the clear rejuvenation of British business from a pretty dire state in the seventies. But re: Mike’s ‘Butterfly effect’ take, it could have been a crucial. He’s 67 now, but like you, he’s a ‘thoroughly nice bloke’, and was pretty much unknown due to having spent his career consulting to the corporate sector until he went online with an e-book co-written with Joe Vitale, due to his prose being academic (he started at MIT with Norbert Wiener, no less).

Anyway, I just mention that to show that, although they are rare, there are a few absolutely first-class, top-notch resources and predecessors around, but I see, as does every other intelligent person who comes across you, that what you are doing is absolutely ‘on the money’, and naturally I would like to learn from you, and collaborate with you, to whatever extent you can make available for people in my position who can’t currently afford a high-level coaching program. As I did with Stompernet, I am going to advocate some kind of ‘Shefren associate’ or second-tier membership for people who just haven’t got big bucks to spend on a coaching program, even if it is worth every penny, which of course I know it is, and more. It’s just the hard realities of life and people’s family responsibilities or other contingencies. Off the top of my head, I would suggest a pricing level of around $50, although you could edge towards £100, for that kind of associate program, which would provide an additional revenue stream, and have the additional very important function of allowing people who can’t easily afford more to be part of your program, have some access to resources, maybe through secondary level coaches - I’m guessing this is what you had in mind by systematising your coaching progam. I know this is a good suggestion - not only for me It’s win-win, Rich, and how many people do you think would buy in to a Shefren associate student program priced between $50-$100. It would be interesting to see, wouldn’t it?

I’ll close now. Just to re-iterate, I stand in absolute appreciation of all you are doing, your ongoing learning process and mission, and especially appreciate that you are making it publicly available. Thanks for reading, and more power to you, man.

Theoretically the 4 Steps make sense. But what/whose tools do we use to handle the opt-in & opt-out of the list, control the eCommerce transaction and evaluate marketing results?

How, specifically, can newcomers get a quick start, giving them the cash flow needed to move forward with building their business?

I’m hoping to focus on Africa, and need to figure out how I can link globally.

Hi Rich,
Your infomation has already been overwhelmingly comprenhensive and informative. I suspect, however, that your new program will be even more oriented to marketeers who have already “made it on line” and are looking to “grow up.” My question is - can I afford the tab and can I apply the lessons while getting started, before I have made a big time impact on the industry?
Thanks for your intelligence
Martin
www.monthlywealthclub.com

I’m grateful for the active thinking that your ideas spark in everybody concerned. You’ve helped me, for one, to further clarify objectives for http://AlterAbilities.com -

This is ” A Humble Request for Your Beneficence” - Basically, I came to wake your angels…

I trust you can see your way clear to issue a gratis copy of your program, or at least a portion of it.

The Manifesto Trilogy is so damned useful for us folks with beneficence in our hearts and solid plans to work on, and it costs you so little to donate at least the downloadable items to worthy individuals - or perhaps the entire package.

I trust that our project will awaken your angels, and that you will see fit to join Jack Humphrey in our benefactor’s group, by blessing us with your good graces and donating a free copy of whatever you can justify in your deeper heart.

FYI - Below are some recent refinements for alterabilities.com

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ALTERABILITIES UNLIMITED - A Prospectus

. Aggregate the rare wisdom, strategies, tactics and tools of the Cashflow Elite, the ultimate contributors within each online, business sector.

. Review and promote proven business systems that create quantifiable, positive results.

. Spotlight inspiring case studies of folks who rise above challenging circumstances to issue value worthy of devotion.

. Organize story ideas and interview candidates, and buzz for print and broadcast media.

. Maintain the premiere, online, networked community for discovery, expansion and monetization of alternative abilities.

. Create the world’s leading infoproduct for transformational growth, self-motivation, value facilitaton and cashflow production based on timeless, fundamental principles that endure.

. Channel the inherent good in successful people by offering ways for them to leverage charitable contributions to power a better world.

==================================================

Voice communication may generate more alternative ways we can move forward together, so please shoot me a phone #, so I can call you on my dime, OK? I can be a fun, productive friend to have…

Just know that I humbly appreciate this opportunity, and thank you in advance for anything you can do, my brother. Until then, I remain…

Yours Most Sincerely,

/ Clay Cotton
skype: ” claycotton “
claycotton AT yahoo DOT com
http://www.alterabilities.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/claycotton

“You’ve got to ask! Asking is, in my opinion, the world’s most powerful - and neglected - secret to success and happiness. A clever, imaginative, humorous request can open closed doors and closed minds. The world is full of genies waiting to grant your wishes.” - Percy Ross

“In the long run, we get no more than we have been willing to risk giving.”
- Sheldon Kopp

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.”If you could only love enough, you could be the most powerful person in the world.” - Emmett Fox

“Any business arrangement that is not profitable to the other fellow will in the end prove unprofitable to you. The bargain that yields mutual satisfaction is the only one that is apt to be repeated.” — B.C. Forbes

“Whoever performs ONLY his duty is not DOING his duty.” - Bahya Pakuda

“When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

“It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.”
- Pablo Casals

“In nothing do men more closely approach the Gods than by doing good to their fellow man.” - Cicero
“Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most.” - Pablo Casals

“Our acts of kindness are whole unto themselves. They require no acknowledgement and no reward, for the act itself returns us once again to the heart of our own humanity.” - Anon.

“If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” - Vincent van Gogh

I’ve been around the web a little for the last few years and generally have loss money. As you know 97% of IM’s fail. I am one of those a few times. Will your final chapter have an actual business plan in that if I or anyone follows a set of steps and pay zero dollars upfront I and whoever will make money and from that money follow a set of steps to build a ‘real’ business.

How to convert an existing offline centric business and convert to on-line? …also, if the market is something OTHER than bus-op, ora internet marketing course.

Rich,

Several people have touched upon my question in one way or another.

It is: Can you teach me, through a systematic approach, how to differentiate myself from other people/marketers in my chosen niche/passion in a way that focuses primarily on creativity, rather than competition?

To clarify, most of the marketing sales letters I read include some implied message about conquering or dominating your competition.

The thing is, I DON’T WANT to compete (at least not directly), because I feel there is more than enough room for new products, methods, technology, etc., to allow each of us (those of us with vision) to create our own unique empire (of whatever size and scale)- to include multiple continuity offerings.

And all this IM hype about getting a leg up on your competitors can be made obsolete.

Like the little bald kid on “The Matrix” said to Neo: “There is no spoon”. I say, “There is no competition” (except that which the marketing hypsters have brainwashed us into believing exists).

A pollyannaish view? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

What do you think?

PS: Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge and vision with us through your profoundly revealing Manifesto Trifecta!

Being a fairly green internet marketer, will this program provide a structured guide that tells me what to do first, second, third, etc. to build the foundation for a million dollar plus business? For newbies, the most intimidating hurdles are 1) what is the best business model for ME to start with NOW, and 2) How do I proceed to build the business to the point where it is actually viable and making money. Between the 3 reports and this program, I hope that everything would be covered.
Kurt Hagemeister

I’d like to know the marketing subtleties that can kill or promote a business as well as making milestones, how to know you’ve hit them & what it means when you do.

I guess I’m interested in your idea about exit strategy including ways to find out buyers.

Dear Rick: You asked: What is the one question that you absolutely need to have answered, in order for this program to be THE best investment of your life?

The best places to advertize our landing pages or squeeze pages to collect names and email adresses of keenly interested parties.

George