WTF have I been doing lately?

Not much when it comes to blogging here, that is for sure.  I always have these great intentions about blogging about this, that, or whatver, and then something else pops up and before you know it, it’s months later.

Well, I have been reorganizing and rethinking some stuff and I’ll share it with you.

When I first came into the Internet marketing scene I used the moniker Internet Renegade, because I have always fancied myself someone that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about what other people think.

I generally don’t do things because I am worried about what someone else might think of me — but here is what I am thinking today.  By definition a renegade is an outlaw or rebel.

Well, while I think I tend to steer clear of herd like movements, I have been pondering, would a real renegade call themselves a renegade?

Umm.  No.

So, while the company name will remain Internet Renegade LLC and while I will still use the Renegade brand for my solo products, this blog will be kicked to the curb, in lieu of another one, using my name.

Now, in one sense you might be reading this and thinking, “Great, thanks for the hellacious marketing insights John…”  But there is a marketing message here and I will explain.

One of the problems most people have that prevent them from truly succeeding is that they are scattered all over the frickin place.  It’s not hard to be scattered when there are so many marketing messages polluting our inboxes every day.

Hell, I get caught up in this stuff sometimes too.

The reality is that you need to step back, write down a plan, and then follow through on that plan if you ever hope to succeed.  Common sense?  YES.  Boring crap to talk about?  YES.

But hell if it ain’t true my friends.

And stick with me here, because I’m gonna transition back in my whole getting rid of the Internet Renegade blog thingy into this discussion.

What is the point of this blog?  Well, I know what the point was supposed to be, but I am not using it so it has no real value to anyone.

How does this blog fit into my business?  Right now, it does not.

Is this blog a hub page that get’s people from all over the globe hopping into my sites to see what I am about?  No again.

You see, I got a little scattered… blogs here, blogs there, blogs everywhere… and nothing tying these bad betty’s together.

Well, I’m gonna make the effort to get my digital life a little more organized and in line with my plans here.

To the people that DO look out for my occasional rants, I will be ranting once again on my soon to be released hub blog that actually does things besides collect digital dust bunnies.

To those that don’t care either way… well, thanks for wasting your valuable time on me for a few minutes anyway;-)

My last post on this blog and as the “Internet Renegade” is coming soon.  It will be officially close up shop and tell you where you CAN find me, John Hostler.

Thanks guys.

Peace,

Hostler

PS - JV’s are ridiculous, assinine, and a waste of your marketing efforts.  Remind me to explain why — and how you can make more money without all the typical JV hassles.

Hey gang,

I know a lot of people in the IM world have heard about the chipmunk sound that you hear over some Camtasia videos and many already have heard about the fix.

The ONLY reason I’m writing about this now is because I am still getting emails from people asking why the chipmunk sound in certain videos and I’m seeing videos that still have it.

So, here’s the dilly. Adobe Flash Player 9 apparently has some sort of bug that does not jive 100% with the audio on SWF files created with Camtasia version 5.0 or newer.

That would be the John Hostler ‘non tech’ explanation of it.

For a more technical description of the error and for an upgrade to Camtasia 5.2 (if you have 5.0) and the Tech Smith (makers of Camtasia) fix for this issue, click here:

If you have purchased a product which contains Camtasia videos and you’re hearing the chipmunks then shoot the product owner an email with a link to this blogso they can fix it.

I’m hard and heavy with copy and other projects so I have a clean plate for the UG4 event happening at the end of the month. I already have a couple takers on a beer while we’re out there, so if you are attending and haven’t reached out to me please let me know.

Talk soon.

Hostler

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Ok. I’m ready to quit smoking. Well — my mind tells me that it’s time and my body at 36 ain’t what it used to be, so I guess it’s time to finally kick this habit and replace it with something a little healthier.

I’m posting this here because I need to make this goal public so that I can get some support from my friends.

Now, I have tried cold turkey before and was unable to pull it off. That’s why this go round I’m going to attempt it with the help of some laser therapy.

These guys are hard to get into (hopefully them being busy means they got the goods) and my first appointment is on April 2nd 2008. This is right after Yanik’s UG4 event, so I’ll even get in one last hoorah before d-day.

Wish me luck:)

Peace,

John Hostler

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Hey there…

As you can see by the date of my last post, the title of this post is quite relevant:) I have long battled with the dreaded monster known as procrastination and as my business grows it became an issue that simply HAD to be addressed.

1st - did you know that almost everyone suffers from some form or level of procrastination? And 2nd - did you know that for some folks it can be severe enough to be considered a behavioral trait?

Well, I only know this because I have done some research, in my effort to overcome my own personal procrastination demons. Based on my research it turns out that I have some traits that would lend themselves towards a person with a behavioral issue.

Recommended solutions that I found? Behavioral therapy.

Well, I am not a go to the therapist kind of guy so I have made it my mission to retool my behaviors and greatly reduce, if not completely eliminate my procrastination.

And here is one of the steps I am taking.

Previously I looked at blog posts as a task… an effort… a bit of work because I wanted to only blog about marketing topics that were going to provide you with some kind of takeaway.

Well, today I am reframing my outlook on this in an effort to blog more and still add value to you as my reader. I certainly don’t want you reading this and thinking, “ok - this is crap”;-)

Here’s how I am reframing this in my mind. I’m going to spill my guts (hopefully) a couple times a week but I’m going to tell you what’s going on and add my thoughts about how you can improve your business as they occur to me.

The result - this task becomes fun. The result of that is that I’ll blog more.

Do you have issues with procrastination too? Well, if you do, I can assure you that it will impede your business success. Because you’ll always put off till tomorrow what you should be doing today.

Here’s one helpful tip — at least it has worked for me.

Previously I had this GIGANTIC list of to-do’s that was frankly quite frightening. And it seemed like none of the stuff on that enormous list ever went anywhere.

From time to time I would actually rewrite my to-do list so I felt like I was actually addressing it and getting something accomplished. Unfortunately it wasn’t an accomplishment — it was busy junk.

Now, I look at my big to-do list and I grab 3 items I want to complete today. I jot those down on a post it note and pop it right on the upper right hand corner of my laptop.

And you know what? My completion of these tasks has been fantastic. I love the feeling of pulling that post it note off my laptop at the end of the day and tossing it into my shredder and then shredding the hell out of it.

Do you need to shred it? Nah, but it’s like killing the tasks for me and makes me smile. Try it yourself and see if it doesn’t help YOU to eliminate procrastination, or at least help you get more done in the same amount of time.

On a side note, March 27th - March 31st I’ll be in Los Angeles for Yanik Silver’s Underground 4 event. If you’re gonna be there drop me a line and let’s meet.

I’ll buy you a beer.

Till next time.

Hostler

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I think that the real divide between the money makers, and the money wanters… between those that make a living online and those that only dream about it, is whether they love marketing or just the idea of making money through marketing.

I took a quick trip up to Janesville Wisconsin last night and grabbed dinner and cocktails with a customer of mine and we ended up having a terrific discussion.

One of the things that came up during our conversation was that we both love marketing - and I mean really LOVE it.  We get excited over the way certain companies market their products.

We watch commercials and infomercials joyously, sometimes taking notes, and sometimes just getting caught up in whatever it is that is being sold.

For example… about a month or so back I caught an infomercial for a product called P90X.  It is  hardcore diet and exercise regimen, done from home, using DVD’s and their meticulously crafted eating guide.

Well, this infomercial was fantastic.  I knew I had to get online and see more behind how these guys were marketing their product. 

And I was not let down at all.

I was seamlessly guided from one upsell to the next - and depending on what choice I made, I then received a relevant upsell or downsell to try to monetize me further.

Add in a splash of “one time only” discounted pricing on these upsells and downsells and I was in heaven.  Now getting excited over ordering a product so you can see their sales process - that’s a love of marketing.

For me it goes even further than that.  I enjoy figuring out what makes people tick.  I relish the idea of knowing what influences people to do one thing or another.

The bottom line with all this is that I have a blast trying to figure out how to get my customer open to my offer and seeing what method will monetize them to their full potential.

You know what they say, right?  “Do what you love and the money will follow.”

On the other hand, if you could care less about everything I just said and the only thing you’re thinking about is your desire to make money, well, chances are that you aren’t making it yet.

Because you’re not dedicated to figuring out why your customer does what he does, or how to get him to do what you want him to do…

And as a result, you’re missing the keys to creating the customer relationship and opening that customer to your offers. 

To simplify a bit - you’re only thinking about the after and not the before.  But if there’s no before, then there certainly is no after.

So go give some love to marketing and try to find some joy in the processes.  You may just find that money begins flowing a little easier.

Cya next time.

Hostler

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It’s been a while.

I’ve been ass under a pile of copy and 2 launches of my own and frankly have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off - so I have been pretty slackadasical (yep - Hostler term) on the whole bloggity blog.

But, I realized it ran deeper than that - my whole not having enough time in the day to get crap done.  I was doing a ton of the wrong things and had so little time for the right things.

That was when I got a call from my close friend and client Billy.  He said, “John , go to audible and grab the audio book called Getting Things Done by David Allen.”

I did… and it has helped me tremendously.  I still have the same amount of stuff to do, if not more, yet my mind feels uncluttered and ready to kick serious ass.

If you’ve been feeling trapped under a pile of “to-do’s” and no amount of “to-do lists” will save you, I highly recommend this book.

And that leads me back here once again, with you, my blog buddies.

So, I was on the horn with my friend Mike yesterday and we were talking about his desire to take a product he had been working on and build a solid launch around it.

As we chatted I reminded him of a slick little piece of software he had which had converted really well with his own list, and made him a few thousand dollars.

I asked Mike why he didn’t just take that software to town.  It converted well and had very broad appeal (plus a pretty cool and catchy little name).

He replied that he had asked some people and that some of them had said they would, but had yet to do so, and some of them he just wasn’t sure if he should call in the favors.

It was at this point that I handed Mike his ass.

Without going into the gory details of our conversation, I reminded Mike that people are lazy… people are forgetful… people will commit to things they are not even sure if they can do, if it will placate you.

I then explained to Mike that the most successful launches I have been privy too, and I have been privy to a few, are the ones in which the product owner(s) follow up like mad with prospective JV partners.

This means, send emails, make phone calls, and then send more emails, and make phone calls, until those JV partners either mail out on your behalf, or tell you outright, “No”.

There is nothing wrong with following up with people.  And this is the dirty secret behind landing those whopper JV deals.  It is the folks with the follow through and the fortitude to go the distance on behalf of their products that make it happen.

Sounds lame right?  I mean there has to be something else… some cool tactic, trick, technique, method, magic?  NO.  You simply need to establish your contacts and follow up with them.

Be sure they have the info they need to send out a mailing.  Offer to help them.  But, at the end of the day, your follow up will be what brings in the mailings and the money.

Now - normally I would end my rant here and bid you a fond farewell until the next time I was struck with something I thought was worth saying…

But, I have to share this too.

I was clickity clacking away on my keyboard at about 2:30 AM this morning and my inbox did it’s little ringy thingy which lets me know I have received a new bit of mail.

And to my surprise it was a promo from one of the biggest marketers in our industry pitching my friend Mike’s cool little software program.

I can say with certainty that the one mailing alone made Mike a good deal of money.  And I can also say with certainty that I was damn proud to see he had done it.

He didn’t mull around or wait a week.  He went in with guns blazing and followed through like nobody’s business.  Good on ya Mike.

Ok, that’s it for this go round.  Till next time.

Hostler

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Hey,

Thought it was about time I hopped into the vLogging rage;).  Check out this 7 minute vid on what it REALLY takes to create a profitable list.  And it just may not be what you think…

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Peace.

John

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I’ve been busy busting some ass so that I can clear my plate of all copy assignments and take a few days to chill next week, thus the lax posting as of late.

Quite frankly I didn’t expect to be posting here today either, until I checked out the Fathers Day gift I’m buying myself.  A new Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi…

10.1 Megapixel of picture taking fun.  Now, you might be thinking… ok, John so, why post just because you ran across the camera you like?

Well, pretty simple really.  It’s because I was checking out this camera over at Tiger Direct and I was reminded why I love these guys.

I love Tiger Direct for 2 reasons.  First, I just can’t seem to beat their prices.  Even with shipping these cats are always crushing the other electronics players.

But secondly they are badass Internet marketers.  Check ‘em out and look at any one of their products.  Scope out the level of detail, and the number of images you can look at.

Sometimes, such as in the case of my camera, they even offered digital photography courses.

And a new addition to their already potent ass marketing arsenal is the use of vids.  Have a look at some of the higher ticket stuff, like flatscreen TV’s and whatnot, and then pick one you like, and scroll way down…

Surprise, full on FLV video in players that look like they can be embedded in your own sites or uploaded to YouTube or Google.

I have not seen any of the big chain stores get anywhere near this, and dammit I love it.  I hope Tiger Direct kicks all their asses.  They are a lesson in marketing online.  Study them and put seom of their techniques to use for you.

End of rave/rant for me and back to pounding out copy.

Peace.

John

PS - Yes I am an affiliate of theirs.  Because I get behind quality products.  And these guys are quality and then some.

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Several weeks ago I received a whiny email from some cat where he ranted on and on about how making money with the Internet was crap, and that everybody was scamming him, and that he was tired of it, blah, blah, and one more blah.

Now I don’t mind helping folks that struggle with something, but negative ass whiners do nothing but piss me off.
That said, I still took the time to reply to him and explained that he needed to step outside of himself and try to find the opportunities, because they are everywhere.

His reply, and I am paraphrasing here, “You’re just like them and you’re full of crap too.  It’s easy for you because some people know who you are, and you know how to write copy so you can always make money with that.”

After some thought and a few Corona’s I decided that this dude was just a crappy ass whiner and I was going to step as far outside my comfort zone as possible to prove it.

I tried to come up with something that night, but I hit a brick wall (brainstorms and Corona’s = zilch).  Did some more brainstorming the next day… and the next… when out of the blue it hit me like a ten ton truck.

My office window was open and I could hear one of the neighbors out mowing his lawn… for what seemed like hours.

After about the 3rd time I consciously realized he was still cutting, I hatched my evil plan.  And here’s the gist… yep, I’m spilling the whole “technique” so if you feel like using this one yourself then get crazy…

Anyway, there are 5 neighborhoods that kind of blend into one another where I live.  It’s not quite cookie cutter, but “consistency” and conformity are prevalent in these parts, where the almighty neighborhood committees reign supreme.

All of the yards are fairly identical in shape and size, and to use a lawn service would be pretty much the exact same price at every one of the several hundred houses in this area.

So, I thought, “What if I signed up a bunch of the residents as lawn care customers for my lawn care business and started generating a monthly residual off of it?”

Now, mind you, I don’t have a lawn care business, don’t know ass about it, and if you think I have an upper hand because I’m attacking the neighborhoods I live in or nearby, well forget it because my face rarely sees the light of day and 99% of our neighbors wouldn’t know me if they were 2 feet away from me.

Oh yeah, one other thing… I never had any intention of mowing any lawns.

So here’s what I did.  I called 10 lawn services in the area and got a price from 6 of them.  4 either didn’t return my calls or sounded like they knew less about lawn care than me.

The ranges in price were $27-$40 per week.  Some wanted contracts and some did not care.  But, they were all full service, meaning they edged, weed whacked, and mowed.  No blade of grass was left unturned with any of these pro’s.

Once I had my prices in hand I went back to the services and began to work them.  I inquired about discounts for multiple homes, figuring they would save by hitting a number of homes in close proximity at one time.  I also inquired how many lawns they could handle, and if they would be willing to work multiple homes, with me as their only account.

Basically I’d pay them as sub contractors to work my client’s properties.

I got a few “maybe’s”, a couple “no’s”, and a big fat “yes” from my $40 guy.  He was willing to knock it down to $30 and let me pay him to handle all the homes.

Excellent… so I had my subs and knew how much I was gonna pay them.  If I charged $40 and paid them $30, I’d gross $10 per house, per week, which was mostly profits, since I’d only be advertising to get the accounts initially.

Next, I created a flyer (yes a flyer) for weekly lawn services.  And here’s how I handled that…

I went and played up the “full service angle“, talking about the convenience of letting my company handle it all for them.  We wouldn’t just be cutting grass, nope… we’d be mowing, weed whacking, and edging for them with our “Premier Package” created especially for their semi-custom homes, which deserve “special treatment”.

Didn’t hurt to elevate their status in the copy a bit either;-).

Couple other things I went after was that we paid for the gas, which is quite standard already, but given that gas is at $3.56 a gallon these days, and only moving upwards, I figured it couldn’t hurt to tickle that nerve a little.

Also, I did something that I’ve not seen anywhere else before… I offered a money back guarantee on the first service.  If they weren’t satisfied, I’d give them their money back, no questions asked.  I made payment convenient by accepting credit cards, cash, or checks… and I advertised as being a locally run company so if they needed me I was within arm’s reach at anytime.

And with that, my new flyer was ready to go sell for me.

Next was delivery.  I wasn’t gonna do it because ROI for me on that is minimal even if I was proving a point to the whiner that started all of this.  But my neighbors have a 15 year old and I was willing to bet that for $100 he’d hit every house in every neighborhood.

My guess was spot on, and I had my delivery guy.

I really had no idea what to expect as far as results, but I was pretty pleased that within one week I had 17 new clients for my lawn care company.  17 @ $10 per week after I pay the crew, is $170 per week, or $680 gross a month for other people to work for me.

Yes… I jumped way way way out of my comfort zone and created a profitable little business from scratch in just days.  Granted it was not an online business, but the point again is that opportunities are just waiting for you to create them.
While I hate the term “think outside the box”, you do need to get out of your box sometimes and give that thing a foot up the ass.  And you don’t have to be an expert to make it happen.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “But John, what if the crew doesn’t show up, or what if someone doesn’t pay you, or what if…blah blah blah”, then you may want to reconsider being a business owner.

To make money you have to risk something.  Something can always go wrong, and you have to accept that, protect yourself as best you can, and go about running your business… period.

And to my friend that started this all off with his whining and crybaby crap…  You really can do whatever you want to do, even if what you want to do is whine and fail.

I’m out.  Peace.
John

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I was on the phone doing an interview today, and while the topic was copywriting, which was supposed to be what I was chatting about… I was asked what one thing stands in the way of most marketers’ success.

What did I think was the biggest barrier?

Let me table that for a second and share a little story with you about me and my shiny, badass BowFlex.

About 3 months ago I was feeling kinda tubby.  I sit on my ass 18 hours at a shot, I eat crappy foods, and the winter weight I picked up was more than just added insulation in this, my 35th year.

Well, I was going to do something about it.  I was ready for 6 pack abs and ‘glutes’ to match.  Did a little research and found a great deal on BowFlex through Amazon, and dropped the several thousand dollar hammer.

And oh shit did I feel good about myself right then and there.  I was actually RELIEVED to spend that money because I knew I had just done something wonderful for me and my soon to be toned body.

Frankly I was feeling high.

Flash forward three months later and that BowFlex has become the best damned clothing rack I have ever seen.

Its smooth sleek lines give my jeans the high classed air dry they deserve.  Meanwhile, I haven’t done but one exercise on it, the one after I was done setting it up and wanted to make sure it worked.

Guess what?  That’s how people that want to make money online act regularly, sometimes on a daily basis.

They see the flashy ‘gonna make you so much money it’s stupid’ ads and offers, and they feel brilliant buying them because they know they’ve just initiated a change in their life.

They’re going to get their business ‘toned’ now and make things happen.  They’re ‘taking action’.  Then… weeks later, whatever whatjamajig they bought is just a clothes hanger on their hard drive.  Doing nothing but sucking up space.

This… this false high that people get when they buy these programs is THE road block.  This is the barrier that keeps them from doing.  This is the killer of real dreams.

That’s the crap news.  Now here’s the good.  It’s a really easy fix.  Don’t buy any more stuff.  You have enough stuff.  Take the stuff you have and go do something with it.

Hell.  Even if you only make a few bucks the first go round, it’s better than wasting more money and not bringing any in.

So… if this rings true for you… if you get that high, and you know who you are… then here’s your intervention.  It’s not working for you and it’s about time you did something about it.

Go get ‘em.

Peace.

John

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