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Bomb Cyclone - January 2018 — Photo credit: twitter.com/ryanmaue

Yer da BOMB (Cyclone)!

So, it’s been cold as a penguin’s posterior across most of the United States of late due to a “Bomb Cyclone“. The Snow Miser has been working overtime…

… and so have I.

I’ve been burning the midnight oil to get my autoresponder series wrapped up for the survival/preparedness niche site I’m working on as part of a project I started a few months ago. The idea was to set up a simple niche site to demonstrate how anyone could make a supplementary income online in a category in which they have an interest and/or some actual expertise.

The premise is simple.

The steps are simple.

I recorded each and every step and will be providing software to help students execute a site that functions exactly like mine. The squeeze page offers an ebook and redirects to a related ClickBank offer. Subscribers receive 21 newsletter entries via email all centering around the 5 key concepts I outlined in the ebook.

It’s information marketing 101.

I’ve only got autoresponders 20 and 21 to finish up before I move on to the traffic generation part of the course. I’ll be recording the setup of a YouTube channel, creation of complementary video articles and how to configure those videos to direct traffic to the squeeze page. Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but there’s nothing new under the sun now is there?

It’s just a matter of who I appeal to and who I resonate with:

People who like high-pressure gurus and want their own Lear jets and Lamborghinis aren’t going to give me a split second. GOOD!
People who are low-key, normal people just looking to make a little extra money will probably identify with me and consider my offer.
Millenials? Probably not. Maybe, but probably not.
Boomers and Gen X folk? Probably so.

It’s a matter of finding your tribe and giving them what they want.

As for the weather? ❆ ⛄ ❆ I loves me a good cold snap. ❆ ⛄ ❆ The great thing is I don’t technically have to go out all that much, so it doesn’t bother me. Taking the dog out to do his business is a refreshing break. All the rest of the time, I’m head down on my laptop trying to get this content done so I can get my course done and start helping people for real.

Well, why do you want to do that, Rob?

I’m glad you asked. That’s how I roll. I like to help where I’m able. The best way for me, personally, to help is to provide information to people.

I’m not a great hands-on helper. I can do brute force tasks to some extent, but manual dexterity is not one of my key attributes. I was given a fairly remarkable brain and it’s best if I use it the best I can for the benefit of society in general. This is what I was meant to do at this point in my life.

I had two decades in the chair as a programmer. That was fun and interesting and whatnot, but circumstances changed and so did I. The industry has moved on without me and I still need to make a decent buck.

Trudging around warehouses and factories for half of what I was making before isn’t really going to cut it.

Sitting in an ergonomic chair trying to pretend like I care about .NET or Object Oriented programming or status reports and team meetings for half of what I’m really worth per hour definitely isn’t a winning strategy.

I’ve moved on.

❆ ♪ ♫ Let it go! ♬ ♪ ❆

Why?

Why not? I love that song!

Some More Rules

Rule #86: Not yet cited in Star Trek episodes, movies or novels

This is really meaningful for me.

I can totally identify with this guy and the 12 Stages are horrifyingly real.
I’ve been through each and every one of them.

Rule #87: Learn the customer’s weaknesses, so that you can better take advantage of him

Well, that’s a typically Ferengi approach to the true purpose of marketing:

Learn the customer’s problems, so that you can better provide meaningful solutions for him

This is the absolute gold standard of effective marketing!

When you know what a person needs, you know whether or not you have their solution:

When you have that solution, you can craft a very effective sales message.
- When you can craft an effective sales message, you move product.
When you do NOT have the solution, you can’t sell.
- You can only terrorize people into buying so you’ll leave them alone. That sucks.

No, when somebody needs what you have they’re going to thank you for selling it to them and ask you if you’ve got any more of it.

Rule #88: It ain’t over ’til its over

C’mon, son! Even the Ferengi love Lenny Kravitz…

Rule #89: Ask not what you can do for your profits, but what your profits can do for you

Okay, that’s funny but it’s not entirely off base.

You know what you can do for your profits:

Provide more and/or better service to your customers.

What can your profits do for you?

Pay your bills
Pay your support staff
Reinvest in business
Buy luxuries
Pad your savings for retirement

Rule #90: Not yet cited in Star Trek episodes, movies or novels

Here’s more on burnout. She’s not kidding.
It happens quick and it takes a loooooonnnng time to recover,
particularly if you made it all the way to rock bottom.