What Could You Learn In A Room With 20 Self-Made Millionaires? The Power Of Masterminding
by Francis Ablola
Sep 10, 2008 Copywriting, Dan Kennedy, Direct Response Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Personal Development
I noticed my brother was posting in China so I decided to join in the fun. If he could write while scaling the Great Wall, what excuse do I have? So here I go…
This is my first post in over a year. It’s actually pretty coincidental because I’m writing this in the very same hotel in Cleveland as my last entry.
So why so long and why the heck am I in Ohio? (Where it’s a lot chiller than Florida right now…I forgot what seasons are.)
It’s been a crazy year since my last update. Changed company, changed again, went out on my own …and learned a whole lot in the process about marketing and lifestyle.
I’ve had the privilege to work closely with a self-made millionaire and marketing GIANT and learned a lot about myself in the process. I hope to share some of that here on the blog in the near future (I promise sooner than later.)
That takes me to why I’m in Cleveland.
As I write this I’m sitting in the back of a small hotel room listening in on a group of 20 self-made multimillionaire entrepreneurs around a round table all sharing ideas on how to increase their business.
This group meets about 3 times a year, lead by direct response marketing LEGEND Dan Kennedy. This is his Platinum Mastermind group and members include some of the elite of the elite direct response info-marketers in the world. The Navy SEALS of marketing, in fact there’s an active SEAL in the room. The members include the top of their respective industries, from Internet Marketing to Auto repair, they run the gamut.
Someone told me once, your income reflects the average income of the people you spend time with…the average in this room would be astonishing.
This is my 6th time at the Mastermind and I’ve noticed 3 very specific things that make it clear why every member of this group is super successful.
1. The Fundamentals. These guys are masters of the Fundamentals. They practice time tested direct response marketing, and do it day in and day out. In the round table they don’t discuss too many cutting edge strategies or the latest fly-by-night tactics, instead they share examine holes in entire strategy and share ideas on how to improve what works even for the slightest gain.
2. Speaking of slightest gain…these guys are all after the Slight Edge. I mean they all constantly looking for and are willing to invest BIG bucks in even the smallest ways to improve what they already do and perform. Think about it…even the smallest gains add up over time. One slight improvement on top of another slight improvement on top of another can dramatically change a business and a person. This group is die-hard dedicated to their own development. As Tony Robbins calls it…CANI Constant and Never-ending Improvement.
And by the way, one small change in a BIG machine can equate to GIGANTIC results.
But none of those improvements mean anything without action. That’s number 3. These guys take MASSIVE ACTION. At ever meeting each attend reviews the results of the what happened when they applied the changes of the last meeting. If it worked, if it didn’t, challenges and triumphs…AND what they plan on doing next. They throw stuff against the wall and not just see what sticks…they MAKE stuff stick. The act quickly and prove theory with results. Then they come back to the meeting a couple months later to share and help the others succeed in the same way.
I have to tell you, there’s POWER in meeting with likeminded people who have an interest in your success. I’ve heard it for years in books like “Think and Grow Rich,” and a ton of self-help seminars and programs, but never really understood the power of mastermind until witnessing firsthand a high performing group like this.
*Interesting note, with the exception of one or two, these guys work mostly in direct mail, not the Internet. Although I know it’s because these guys are more old school Kennedy types…but it’s a smart thing. With more and more Internet only marketers coming online and postage getting more expensive, mailbox space is becoming less competitive. Something to think about.*
I’m leaving tonight but I get back to JAX, I’m hoping in the can and heading to Orlando for Izeafest. While there, I’m meeting up for the first time with my own mastermind group. A group of sharp, young marketers all out of Florida. I met these guys a few months back at a Rich Schefren seminar and looking forward to seeing them all again and what they’ve done since the last time.
So tell me, do you have your own mastermind group? How often do you get together? And have you seen measurable gains? Leave me a comment and let me know.
To you extraordinary life,
Francis
P.S. If you’re going to be at Izeafest let me know. I look forward to seeing you there!
P.P.S. Next week, I’m heading to LA for a HUGE event that we have 2500 people registered. Headliners include Jay Leno, Henry Winker, and Terry Fator and many more. I’ll let you know all about it.
Good Bye Gary
by Francis Ablola
Apr 11, 2007 Copywriting, Direct Response Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing
I got an email this morning from John Carlton’s subscribers list titled, “Its John Carlton about Gary Halbert.” The first sentence, “We’ve lost one of the great men in advertising today.” You can read more on John’ blog.
While I’ve never known Gary personally, through his legendary copy, I’ve always thought of him as a marketing mentor. And while I’ve only had one opportunity to learn from him in person, I can honestly say no one has influenced my passion for marketing more. His legend and his masterpiece copy will live on.
Tags: Copywriting, Direct Response, Gary Halbert
Optimizing for Blog and Feed Engines – Part 2
by Bernard Ablola
Dec 18, 2006 Bernard, Conferences, Direct Response Marketing, Internet Marketing, MSN, Marketing, Microsoft, Networking, Search Engine Marketing
Here is part 2 of my SES Chicago recap. These are my top ten “take-aways” from Stephen Spencer’s presentation on “Optimizing for Blog and Feed Engines”. His entire presentation is one hour and can be found on the Netconcepts’s website under “Blog and Feed SEO”. It is definitely worth viewing. If you are pressed for time, here are my notes.
Blog and Feed SEO – 10 Things to do to:
- Change URLs to include important keywords. Remember to use hyphens not underscores in your title tags. A more detailed explanation is found on my previous post - part 1 “Optimizing Your Blog.”
- Don’t put tracking codes into the URLs (e.g. &source=rss). This confuses the search engines.
- Older posts have a disadvantage with the search engines because they are archived. Place a “Top Ten Post” or “Most Viewed” post on your homepage to keep your best articles in circulation. See problogger.net for examples.
- Develop a robust internal linking structure by placing ‘tag clouds’ on bottom of your homepage, add ‘next and previous’ post links below your articles, and remove the ‘permalink’ links and rewrite them to actual keyword links.
- If you are using WordPress as your blog editor, change the “tagline” under the options tag from “Just another WordPress weblog” to a specific description of your website.
- If your website loads without a ‘www’ and it appears in a browser, make sure to use a 301 redirect from yourblog.com to www.yourblog.com. By using a 301 redirect, search engines will not have to re-index another website.
- Download and use the “SEO Title Tag” plug-in for WordPress. This allows you to define a custom home page title for your pages.
- Create separate RSS feeds for each category on your blog. This gives your readers options to subscribe to certain topics.
- Use the Neat-o-tool to look for opportunities to request revisions in your anchor text and inbound links.
- When creating internal links to old post, don’t use the phrase ‘click here’ or ‘previous’, use descriptive keyword links.
I hope this list helps in your search optimization efforts. I have plenty to tackle myself and will report my results to you soon. Have fun!
To your success!
Bernard Ablola
Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2006 – Recap Part 1 “Optimizing Your Blog”
by Bernard Ablola
Dec 11, 2006 Bernard, Conferences, Direct Response Marketing, Google, Internet Marketing, Microsoft, Networking, Search Engine Marketing
Okay, I just got back from my first Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago. It was wonderful to see some old friends and meet some new ones. My top “takeaway” from SES Chicago was Stephen Spencer’s presentation “Optimizing Your Blog”. Spencer is the president of the web design and search marketing firm, Netconcepts. Spencer offered extensive “behind the closed door” advice. The following are the top 3 key insights from his presentation.
1. Using Word Press and other blog tools to create a dynamic website
2. Optimizing Your Blog/Website for SEO
3. Building Inbound Links
Using Word Press and other blog tools to create a dynamic website
Netconcepts.com recently redesigned their site using the Word Press platform. The website includes various plug-ins, such as Ultimate Tag Warrior, rss, tag clouds and related posts. Most websites are not developed using a blog platform. However, after they redesigned the site, the amount of traffic dramatically increased. Due to this restructuring, netconcepts.com became digg and del.cio.us friendly, enabling the users to tag specific pages and create a robust social networking experience. This also allowed for the site to exponentially grow in size. Each post, entry and testimonial became a separate page, thus creating more pages for the search engines to crawl.
Optimizing Your Blog/Website for SEO
When structuring your blog/website, keep it SEO friendly by being aware of the internal hierarchical linking structure and utilizing keywords in your title tags. Find a balance between writing creative titles and creating titles that users will most likely search for. Keep pages close to the root folder. For example, www.yourdomain.com/category/page.html. When creating titles for your pages, include keywords in your URLs and use hyphens not underscores. Including a “Top Ten Post” as seen in www.problogger.net makes popular content available to new readers. Also, make use of “previous” and “next” links to insure optimal navigation.
Building Inbound Links
When building inbound links don’t just rely on the web and email for communication. Meet influential bloggers in person. Many bloggers attend SES, Pubcon, Blog on, and Business Blog Summit conferences. If you are the introverted type, use my networking tips from my previous post. Also, read and comment on other blogs and become active in these communities.
SES Chicago, in general, and Spencer’s presentation, in particular, was worth surviving the Chicago Airport and the below freezing weather. I look forward to implementing these changes on this blog and other web properties. I highly suggest attending the Search Engine Strategies Conference and expediting the implementation of these tips to increase your traffic.
To your success on the web!
Bernard Ablola
P.S. Here are my photos from SES Chicago 2006
Tags: Search Engine Strategies