I’m a dumb ass I openly admit it, I’m actually quite proud of it and my background. To me coming into this market 6 months ago with no prior training or education means I’m coming in on my own style and I’m learning everyday, admit you can’t do something then learn how to do it;

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Below are two very quick videos, the first just talks about the fact if I can do it, you absolutely can. I see myself as the motivator, not because I’m trying to be the authority, or because I want the ego boost, but to show you that if a dumb ass like me can do it starting from nothing, then you have no excuses.

Below is the promotional video for my new work book which will be released soon;

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Recently I put a post out that asked what you struggle with most, the amount of form submissions from that one post was fantastic and it really helped me to get to know you a lot better. I will cover the point that were raised in those emails another day, but I just want to focus on one over riding factor that most people said they are suffering with and that’s belief.

I openly talk about who I am and where I’ve come from and for me belief comes easy, but how can I make sure you believe in yourself? I’m going to try two different ways and see how we get on, because it’s clear some of you out there despite talking the right way on your site or through your business, you still have doubt in your mind.

• Attitude

Some of the email submissions from the post asking what you where struggling with where really quite detailed, one in particular was nearly 800 words and ultimately asnwered their own problem, but couldn’t see it. The problem with beleiving you can do it is the results side of things.

Quite often if you don’t get near immeadiate returns for the time you have invested then it can be difficult to actually think it will pay off in time. To date I think I have put a total of roughly a 1000 hours of work into this site (averaging 6hrs a day since the first day 27th October 2009) and only now am I seeing the type of returns that will take this site forward into a bsuiness.

You will sometimes get quick returns like comments and traffic spikes no matter how big or small, but like Chris Brogan said it’s a long game. Think about where you want to be 12 months from now not 12hrs from now. I haven’t written a business plan but I’ve got a rough guide on my calender where I want to be at what stage, then I’ve got a breakdown of how I’m going to achieve each goal. Some goals are weeks away, some are years away, the point is you simply won’t achieve anything unless you put the hours in.

I keep banging on about the amount of time you have to put in, now I’m not saying it’s going to take you 1,000hrs, to be honest I could have started this phase of my business a lot earlier, but I wanted to wait until I felt I had educated myself to a level that I was comfortable with, which in turn gave me the experience I needed to talk about certain things. You could achieve the results you want after only 100hrs of work, but the point is have a goal and think about achieving that, not gettign over the latest traffic slump or why Wednesday is your quietest day out of the way.

• Trenches

A good friend of mine, who happened to be NATO’s ugliest man (inside military joke) trained for a whole year before he went on a arduos selection course and I can’t stress the word arduos enough, the course is hideously tough, 99% failure rate, it’s not really a question of how fit you are, it’s a case of how lucky you are. Anyway back to my point, he made it onto the course in the best possible physical and mental condition of his life, he broke my record of a 1.5 Mile run and over distance with extreme wieght he was fenominal.

Half way through the first phase of the course, which is pretty much all physical tests he fell down the side of one of the mountains the course revolves around, he was lucky to survive but he did break his femur in two places. He snapped his IR Cylume (InfaRed Glow Stick) knowing that the search helicopter would be up as soon as the training staff knew he was missing. Now he should have just laid there in pain waiting for the pick up, did he?

Of course he didn’t, he put the cylume on the back of his bergan so it could still be seen from the sky and then crawled back up to his check point which was nearly a mile away. The search team picked him up hours later about 500 metres away from where he fell. I spoke to him once he got out of the rehab unit and asked him why he tried to make it to the check point knowning he now wouldn’t pass the course.

Would you want to be know as the guy who broke his leg half way through selection, or the guy who crawled 500 metres on a mountain with 40kg of kit and a broken leg?

That stuck with me ever since, you have two types of people on this planet, the ones who do and the ones who watch others do. This life, your life could be over in a flash, you have to take action, no one is going to haul you up the mountain, no one is going to put the hours needed into your business, there is no magic pill, no silver bullet, just you.

Think about what you have done so far. Have you got a domain name, website up and running or even a business name and trading account. Do you realise how many people don’t even know how to do those things never mind how to get one for themselves? Be proud of what you have achieved so far, but you absolutely have to get your hustle on!

photo credit: gbaku

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Recently I have read a couple (about 4) different posts all talking about the same person in a negative way and to be honest that person wholeheartedly deserves it. Let me give you the outline, someone is releasing a product, a popular website then reviewed that product and found fault with it, but wrote an objective and well written post about it all. The person selling that product flew of the handle and publicly threatened to sue the website which is a one person site.

Now I’m not going to link to the post in question because I have vowed never to get back into the ”blog bashing” scene again, not that the post in question was, I just think it’s better to focus on this message than directing you to quite a hostile comments section that will potentially distract you from you building your empire.

Predictably the websites readers and fans rallied round and told the product seller where to get off. Now that website has an Alexa ranking of about 60,000 and a few hundred subscribers. This in it’s self is a huge problem because that means thousands of visitors are going to read that attack every month.

The bigger problem with that is because the site is popular then it automatically attracts extremely popular sites who also hold a lot of weight. Before you know it you have 10 very popular websites all talking about what an idiot you have been.

So how can you stop this happening to you?;

• Don’t be an Idiot!

Seems like an obvious thing to say right? Yeah it is, because it’s so obvious, if you running an online business then you have to talk to people properly just as you would in person, you wouldn’t want to walk into a bricks and morter shop taking a product back because it didn’t work, to be met with a barrage of abuse and to be told you would be sued for libel would you?

The way I approach everything in life is two fold, Treat everyone how you would want to be treated yourself and don’t do or say anything you would be ashamed for your family to see. It’s so easy to treat people properly and like human beings, don’t puff out your chest and push past everyone thinking you are the authority.

• Talk

I accept advice or suggestions from everyone, I’m quite happy to admit I’m the original dumb ass who grew up with nothing. The only thing I know how to do is my own way and that’s head down and go for it, but I do know that you have to listen to people when they are trying to help. Having no qualifications to speak of I openly admit this is a massive learning experience for me, but by being honest about it, others can see the journey of this site and draw from it.

The other thing this site serves to do is let everyone talk to everyone else which is really important, the last thing you want to do is speak down to someone like you are the ruling authority on everything ever said. Being in the social media, motivation, traffic market place I talk about it all the time. The one thing you can’t do is to talk with such arrogance you create a divide between you and everyone else beneath you. David Risley is a great example of someone who has made it and making a great living online but keeping it real, he understands that humility and the importance of giving back.

When you start ignoring people, thinking that you are right you are heading for a huge fall, no one ever starts knowing everything or having thousands of subscribers so remember where you come from.

• Humble

Do you remember your first comment? I do , in fact I know the last comment I got when I checked 20 minutes ago, I have also emailed the same person 5 times today helping them get a guest post just right for this site. I remember speaking to a good friend of mine the other day who has guest posted here and everywhere else it seems like. He sent a guest post into a very famous problogger in the hope to get new exposure, no reply after a week, he chased it up still no reply, nothing on twitter either.

Now sometimes I have the odd time when it takes me longer than 12/24hrs to reply but I always reply. People who don’t reply to emails or any other form of contact because they feel their time is too valuable wasting it on people who are trying to climbs the ranks are massively out of line.

Do you remember your first traffic spike? Do you remember the time when you got your comments into double figures for one post? Do you remember the first time someone you admire commented on your site? Maybe some of this is yet to come, but remember that feeling because if you ever lose it and start to think you are special, you’re heading for failure.

Your readers and customers make your site and business what it is, you’re simply showing them what you have to offer.

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OK seriously and honestly I wish I could name and list every single person who has ever visited this site, commented or told their friends about it, but to be honest I don’t think it would hold enough impact. I love the people who visit this site, it’s the reason why I am still here banging out content and pushing on, without you guys this site would be nothing.

I honestly mean that, yeah the site would have posts on the site still and maybe the odd mention but without the continued effort from you to visit this site every day, it wouldn’t be where it is today and where it will be tomorrow.

• Passion

I’m madly passionate about all this, I love it I really do. I love writing, I’m loving doing the videos I love doing the interviews I’m getting asked for, I’m even loving the fact I’m being compared to Gary Vaynerchuk, ha ha me a dumb ass from the wrong side of town.

Being passionate about your subject matter is something I bang on about all the time, but it’s really important because that passion attracts others and you in turn should become passionate about them, not in a scary stalker type way but in a big brother protective, will do anything for way.

• Mental

Some think I’m mental with the way I approach things, some of the professionals even say I’m too accessible to the readers of this site, bearing in mind I’m monetizing soon. I have always said and will continue to say it’s you guys who have put me in this position so it’s only right I give you as much attention and focus as you are giving me.

When I monetize the site, the posts won’t change, neither will the site in any great way. Everything will carry on normally except for the fact if people feel they need more help there will be products and services available. I will still reply to everything, speak to everyone and be here 25/8.

• Honest

I think the key to having a family like community is being honest. When I make mistakes I own up to it, it’s a great way to show people how not to do it and your learning points. Being honest also shows you playing all your cards and not holding something back. People are ridiculously clever these days and can see through a lie instantly.

I just want to add that you guys mean everything to me and this site and I really want you to take away from here the fact that you have to reply to everything (within reason) and look after those who visit, because without them you are nothing.

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On the 27th of October 2009, I published my first post on this site and haven’t been able to stop. OK I know the official 3 month birthday was yesterday, but I only realised today. Hopefully this post will show that anyone with a passion for telling the world what they think, who works 60hrs a week can build a site that people come and read and contribute to. So what have I done, what things have been a success and more importantly what mistakes have I made?

• Posts

170 post have been published here in 3 short months, which include a good amount of quality guest posts. The average length of my posts are around 600-750 words long. I find this is the perfect mix for me and the readers of this site.

• Tutorial

I wrote ‘7 Days to better traffic’ which has had a really good response, it’s free when you subscribe to my mailing list (which you don’t get bombarded with, in fact I haven’t actually sent an email broadcast out yet) Nervous moment for me this as it was my longest piece of work so far, but thankfully it was received well. Matthew said by employing the tactics I talk about, his traffic went up by 40%. Proof is in the pudding I suppose. It’s not going to suite everyone, but it works for me.

• Comments

2,575 comments have been left over the 170 posts. The amount of comments being left rocketed just after Christmas Day, I put this down to me guest posting for other sites and installing certain plugins. Commentluv and Top Commenters. Commentluv is a fantastic plugin which allows people who leaves comments to produce a link for they site. I think having the commenter plugin which shows the top ten most active people on this site is great too.

• Guest Posts

I have written 17 guest posts so far with 3 more pending. The majority of these was done this month and really has increased awareness of my name and this site. Guest posting is a great way of showing your off your work in front of other peoples audience. When a guest post of mine is published I bookmark it and check it regular over a few days to a week and reply to the comments to maximise exposure to their readers.

I haven’t only targeted high traffic sites to guest post for, I guest post for sites I really like that don’t necessarily get a ton of comments but it’s the quality of the site and the atmosphere that draws me in.

• SEO

Now in the early stages of this site (still am early stages really) I ignored the search engines, thinking I could do it all via social media. Granted social media helped me get going a lot quicker than the norm, but search engine traffic is where it’s at. All I have done to focus on search engine is make sure I have entered my key words etc etc in my thesis theme post editor.

It is slowly getting better and my traffic plugin StatPress shows that I am getting referring traffic from Google etc. Ideally over the next few months I want search engine traffic to start producing close to 80-90% of the sites traffic.

Mistakes

• Fighting

I never meant to go out and start blog bashing and to this day I actually still don’t think I ever have, not really. I voiced my opinions on how I think website and business owners should reply to everything and how I think products should be marketed. I have admitted all the way through this site, that I am a dumb ass and not in any way a marketing guru. I’m a motivated guy who is finding his own way of doing things.

That said, I have been in the middle and on the out skirts of certain ‘heated’ discussions about probloggers etc. This, if I’m honest was a bit childish of me. I’m uber passionate about this site, it’s readers and about life in general, which sometimes means I don’t engage my brain before my heart takes over, but no more getting involved in all that.

For a twenty something ex-military guy with an IQ of 94, I’m really proud of where we as a community have put this site and I can tell you all that I am dedicated to pushing this site forward and obsessed with helping everyone I can.

photo credit: nosha

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I see a lot of websites that have great content but no real interaction from the readers or business with amazing products but no real sales to speak of. It’s not because their content sucks or their product is rubbish, it’s largely down to how they present themselves or their business. A lot of the time you only get a few seconds to make an impression with people, so make sure the way you are viewed by people is favourable.

• Confident

Confidence is everything, imagine a military patrol that gets cut off from their support and is pinned down by heavy fire. No communications, running out of ammo and the enemy is moving in. Would you want a fumbling quiet little officer who had no idea what to do, or a confident officer who still didn’t have a plan, but was willing to do something? I know which I would prefer.

Being confident and arrogant is a fine line, so be yourself, but believe in who you are and what you stand for, others will gravitate towards you.

• Presence

Presence can sometimes be confused with confidence, but presence to me is the ability to walk into a room and look like you belong. As a Physical Training Instructor I used be able to walk up to a platoon of soldiers and instantly command respect, not because they had to do what I said, but because I had presence. Leading by example and talking straight without arrogance is the key to it all.

• Attitude

I have a simple approach to this site, work as hard as I can to give the best value I can. I have the same attitude in my conventional life (as in not my elife) I treat people how I expect to be treated and I put everything into what I do. If you’re a pessimistic person, acknowledge the fact and be aware of that when you update your website or make new business plans. Equally if you are over eager (like me) then remember not to over stretch yourself, whatever your attitude to life is, be yourself.

• Language

I openly admit that I’m a Dumb Ass and no literal genius. I have no qualifications and write exactly the way I talk. For instance, if I ever talk to any of you via twitter or emails, or even on the comments then you would have heard me say ‘brother’ and ‘dude’ etc. To me I don’t think there is anything wrong with this, as it adds personality to the site, it makes the words come alive and make sense, plus this is me. I don’t use long intelligent words, I never earn heard procrastinate, before I started this site and still don’t fully understand what it means.

I’m a pasionate guy, one of those guys who always says to his mates and family that they can do it, what ever their plan is, they can absolutely do it. Write in the same way you talk to people everyday to add that little bit unique personal quality to your site.

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This post was very nearly called ‘The Mistakes Probloggers are Making’ after a debate kicked off on You Are Nothing Without Your Readers. I decided to turn it into a more positive post that still hammers home the point. I have plans for the future (everyone should) but I will never go down the lines the rest of the ‘pros’ have.

I accept that they are making great money through their sites and mailing lists. But later this year I will prove that you can make money through your website without screwing your readers for even more money or selling the same expensive ebook that everyone is selling, which contains information which can be found everywhere.

• Reply

I promise to reply to any request for help, comment, tweet or email (as long as it needs a reply and it’s not spam etc). I can’t tell you how passionate I am about looking after my readers and know the only reason why this site is doing so well is because of it’s readers. I talk a lot about how I will help anyone and continue to help anyone I can. I’m no expert on anything, but I’m motivated and if a dumb ass like me can do it, I’m more than happy to help anyone else do it.

The ‘pros’ that say they just don’t have the time to reply to everything because they are so busy, is ridiculous to the point of insulting. Yeah Darren Rowse, John Chow, David Risley, Yaro Starak all great money makers, but all of them will be the first to say they just don’t have time to reply to everything. Get a grip! Look at Sire, he has great traffic, a tremendous following and replies to everything, he has a full time job, a family, which all in all probably doesn’t leave him a lot of time to work on the site, but he does it perfectly.

Maybe if the ‘pros’ didn’t earn $210,000 travelling the world they could earn $210,000 actually committing to the very people who put them in that position in the first place.

• Help

I promise to Help. I’m always banging on about helping others and it could come across a bit wet. Honestly though I must get 20/30 emails a day asking for advice or help with getting to the next step etc. As I said I’m no expert, but I’ve made a ton of mistakes which can be used to help others. No matter how busy this site gets (It will get just as busy as the problogger’s websites in a few months) I’m dedicated to helping everyone, providing they want to help themselves. I have read a statement on the ProBlogger site which basically says, due to the large amount of emails I get etc etc I can’t reply to everything, why the hell not?

If you have bought anything from these guys then that should be the golden ticket to getting their attention. Sold over 16,000 copies of your ebook? Get ready to earn your money!

• No Sales

I promise no ridiculously priced, regurgitated information wrapped up in a clever little ebook, no selling you something then immediately try to sell you something else you don’t need and definitely no affiliate emails that they all send out at the same time (just re-worded). Don’t get me wrong I will monetize the site in coming months as I want to do this full time (currently holding down a full time job 12hrs a day) and I completely understand how sales work. I get why these guys are squeezing every last cent out of their readers, it’s big money, in fact Darren Rowse, David Risley and Yaro Starak all talk about how much they earn, which can be a great motivator.

But read between the lines, what are they selling and is it really worth what they are selling it for.

• Heart

I promise you my heart. The passion for this site is complete and utter obsession, I’m obsessed to a scary level, maybe that’s why I write so much, not only on the site but to everyone who asks me for help. The readers are the blood of this site, of any site. Without blood pumping into a healthy heart (the site) the whole thing will die. I love being the motivator, the guy people turn to when they just don’t where to turn or need a quick push in the right direction.

I will never be the guy who thinks ‘I could sell them this to them to make a quick buck here’

• Me

I promise as much of me as I can give. What you see is what you get with me. I was in the military for 10 years, joined straight from school. I have no qualifications and I don’t mix in executive circles. I love spending time with my family and my wife’s brothers and sisters. I’m a normal guy, who has lived. The old saying of ‘university of life’ could be used here, if it weren’t so cheesy. I know what it’s like to grow up with nothing, I know what it’s like to be scared to my very bones and I know what it’s like to be grateful.

Look at the people I have been talking about (although not a specific attack on any, just using them as well know examples) can you really relate to them. Did they go down the same path you have? Do they sacrifice earning a few more dollars to actually help just one more person.

As I said it’s not a specific attack on one person or a group of people. I have used Darren, David, John and Yaro as examples of ‘probloggers’ who have been mentioned in the past as the very people who aren’t giving back.

The aim of this post as well as putting it in cold hard text is to show that by being committed to your readers is the only thing that should be on your mind. Everything else will come.

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Consumer confidence is the biggest cog in this whole machine. So many scams, cheats and liars on the net these days, personally I think the cheats out way the saints at the moment. Every day we hear about a new internet scam, it’s the reason people now recognise ‘landing pages’ and are wary of virtually everything they read.

So how do you get your readers to believe in you?

• Honesty

I am honest with everything I do, I’ve been scammed a few times over the years and how vowed to never let it happen again. I read so much rubbish about ‘make thousands a day with only 2 minutes work‘ or ‘Check this system out, it really works – buy now‘. It’s annoying to me and it must annoy others, which is why I dedicate so much time to this site and it’s readers by being honest.

I’m no web 2.0 guru or a marketing expert, I work hard and I’m honest about everything I do, even when I make mistakes. This honesty has given me a loyal following which has given this site over 710 comments in 8 weeks. Your readers and customers will appreciate honesty in today’s market!

• Public

Everything you do, needs to be public. If you are learning how to optimise the ISO setting for the new Canon SLR camera in order to give your photography site better content, then tell people about it. If you know you don’t understand SEO or how to install plugins, put it out there and learn. By making everything public, you gain the respect of your following.

This does come with a caveat though, there will be certain instances in which you wouldn’t want to make public issue that could potentially harm the future of your business. I would say though that in 99.9% of the time, if you make public everything you do, it backs up what you are saying is true and compells your followers to stick with you.

One of the things I will do from now on is at the end of every month I will post my traffic stats. This will motivate me to ensure they are worth showing and more importantly show the readers of this site what they read is accurate.

• Help

Reply to everything. Help everyone you can, who is willing to help themselves. You are nothing without your readers , absolutely nothing. Your readers push you up the rankings, contribute to your site and in some cases make you money, so look after them.

Think of the website you visit the most, the one place you go to first when you have opened your web browser (not including social media etc), now imagine if that place is dedicated to helping you, now matter how dumb you think your question is, they are always willing to help. Your site needs to be the one place people turn to.

• Agenda

I hate it when I read an excellent site only to find at the bottom they are either trying to tap me up to buy something or even worse buy someone elses garbage. If you are writing a post, be up front about what the post is trying to achieve. For instance this post is about getting your readers to believe in you. There is no surprise sales pitch, no annoying pop ups, nothing but the truth.

Agenda goes further than just your content though, take my tutorial download for example. I ask people to submit their email address and in return they get my free tutorial. I don’t then email them a ton of spam, sell the details on or hit them up for a sale in the tutorial. I have unsubscribed to a ton of mailing lists recently because I’m sick and tired of getting the same sales emails from the same three or four ‘pros’. Do what you are doing straight down the line, treat others how you expect to be treated!

photo credit: n0nick

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