If you want to learn more about WordPress SEO and the powerful WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast, click here and register for the free webinar that Dan Thies and Leslie Rohde are holding with Yoast creator Joost de Valk.  This webinar will take place on Tuesday, February 28th at 2:00pm EST.

According to Dan and Leslie, WordPress does a lot of things well.  However, there are some important things missing in the functionality of WordPress.  This is where Joost de Valk comes in.  On this webinar Joost is going to provide the missing pieces that will make you more proficient with WordPress SEO.

The reason I will be attending this webinar is simply because I am seriously thinking of switching to the WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast — and I want to learn more about it from the creator himself, Joost de Valk.  Also, I have attended Dan Thies and Leslie Rohde webinars in the past and they are always educational from both a general business perspective and a SEO perspective.  They are smart marketers and they are excellent teachers, especially when the subject has anything to do with SEO.

Now . . . I have absolutely no idea if Dan, Leslie and/or Joost will be promoting a product at the end of this webinar.  I will not be surprised if they do make an offer.  After all, they are marketers.  However, if you are like me and you want to take your knowledge of WordPress SEO to another level and beyond — register here learn from one of the top WordPress SEO experts on the planet, Joost de Valk.

If you don’t have time to attend the webinar or if you believe that there is a chance you may miss it, be sure to subscribe to Web Business Research (the opt-in box is just below this post).  After the webinar has been completed I will doing a post at Web Business Research that details what Joost de Valk, Dan Thies and Leslie Rohde reveal on the subject of WordPress SEO.   I’m quite sure this will be very educational.

All the best,

Jon Poland

Marketers who are succeeding at a high level in competitive markets are great teachers, even if they don’t realize it.  A terrific way to learn internet marketing is to simply reverse engineer the marketing campaigns of these successful online business builders.

Look at the Adwords ads and Facebook ads in your market.  Who is selling what?  What do their sales funnels look like?  Are they focusing on generating leads or are they trying to sell directly from the ad?  Once they generate the lead, how are they monetizing the lead?

Look at the top ranked sites in your market.  Get on their lists and study their email campaigns.  How are they list building?  What are they offering their subscribers?  How are they differing themselves from others in the marketplace?  Do they have any recurring income streams in their business models?  Are they working the back-end (i.e. are they selling anything after the initial sale)?  Are they up-selling and/or down-selling?

Study everything these successful internet markets do.  Remember, success leave tracks.  Learn from them and model them.  Then look for ways to do it better and look for ways where you can add more value to the marketplace.

“I believe that we as marketers can learn more by watching successful marketers work than we can by purchasing the latest “Guru” e-book or $2000 course.  The marketplace is a great teacher.  But in order to learn you must first become a serious student.”

Many of today’s leading internet marketers owe much of their success to the legends of direct marketing.  I’m talking about legends like Claude Hopkins, John Caples, Joe Sugarman, Ted Nicholas, Gary Halbert, Robert Collier, Jay Abraham, Dan Kennedy and Dr. Robert Cialdini.   The modern day gurus have studied these legends and then applied their time-tested direct marketing principles to online marketing.

Here’s an idea:   The next time an internet marketing expert has a $2,000 product launch, get on his (or her) list and study every aspect of the launch.  Learn how he markets. Believe me, it can be very educational.

Then go to Amazon and invest $20 in a classic from Claude Hopkins, Robert Cialdini, Dan Kennedy or Joe Sugarman.   This is the way I look at it:  You can either spend $2,000 on an over-hyped internet marketing product or you can invest $20 and learn directly from the master who taught the internet marketing guru.  I believe you will find the later to be much more educational and a lot less expensive.

The key is to always be learning.  Remember, even the great teachers continue to be great students.

All the best,

Jon

P.S.  As I have become more interested in learning SEO I find it very educational to reverse engineer the page one rankings of the top sites in my chosen markets.  Again, very educational and it does not cost me a dime.

I will be doing a post in the near future on how I reverse engineer the SEO of top ranked sites in Google.  Be sure to subscribe to Web Business Research and this post on “How To Reverse Engineer Top Ranked Sites in Google” will hit your inbox as soon as I publish it to this blog.

I just have one piece of advice:  “Look Before You Leap.”

I was going purchase SEO Link Monster and then do a case study just to see if this new blog network lives up to all the hype.  But after doing some research, I see that Dave Baker has done an excellent review and case study of SEO Link Monster at DBPMarketing.com.  My advice to you is to read this detailed case study and do your research before you consider purchasing SEO Link Monster.

If you are short on time, Dave’s conclusion is this (I’m paraphrasing) :  “This network is does have value and it will get your pages indexed and your rankings will improve.  But at $147 a month I think the price is too high.”

My concern is as follows:  The launch of SEO Link Monster has been huge.  And with this huge launch there will literally be thousands of marketers pumping all kinds of spun content (i.e. garbage content) into their network of blogs.   That is a huge strain on a blog network and I’m not sure it will be able to stand the heat.

In addition, there is the issue of quality control.  With several thousand new members submitting all kinds of spun content into this network, how are they going  control the quality of the content that is being published on their network of blogs?

I could be wrong, but this could cause massive problems down the road. Successful blog networks like Build My Rank have remained successful because they have strict standards on what content is allowed into their network.  If SEO Link Monster does not get a handle on this right from the beginning, there could certainly be major issues with the quality of their network in the future.

Here is something else to think about.  Google hates blog networks with an unbridled passion.   Blog networks manipulate rankings and there is nothing that Google angers more.  With that in mind, I’m a nervous utilizing a network like SEO Link Monster that has received so much hype and attention this past week.

For me this is the bottom line:  I’m going to let the dust settle and see where this network is a month or two down the road.  SEO Link Monster may prove to be an excellent service.  But with excellent options like Authority Link Network, Build My Rank, Linkvana and Traffic Kaboom, I see no need to invest $147 a month on an unproven network when there are other proven networks in the marketplace.

If you get involved with any link network / blog network, be smart.   As I mentioned above, Google hates these guys.  With any backlinking strategy you want to diversify your link building.  If you are using a blog network to build links, make sure it is a small part of your overall link building strategy and not the dominate method you use to build links.

You want your links to look natural.  If all you are doing is pumping out links from a blog network, Google is going to sniff that out in a heartbeat.  They will devalue those links and drop your rankings before you know it.

Two final points.  First of all, if you are short on funds and want to use the power of a blog network to boost your rankings, check out Fiverr.  There are people in Fiverr who have access to blog networks that will build PR2 to PR 6 links to your blog for $5.

Lastly, don’t become obsessed with link building to the point where you lose sight of the most powerful thing you can do to improve your search engine rankings — and that is to add “CONTENT” to your blog.

That’s right — good old-fashioned content.  I’m talking about unique content that adds value to the marketplace.  That right there is the “Silver Bullet” to rankings that last.

Note:  Traffic Planet, Black Hat World and Warrior Forum all have active discussions on the subject of SEO Link Monster.  If you are seriously considering the purchase of SEO Link Monster, I highly recommend that you take a look at the discussions on these three internet marketing forums. Here are the links:  Traffic Planet.  Black Hat World.  Warrior Forum.

All the best,

Jon Poland

There are very few people in the internet marketing world that I respect more than Michael Campbell.  He is one of the true pioneers of online marketing.  Michael is well known for his highly regarded books Nothing But Net, Clickin It Rich and Revenge Of The Mininet.  He is one of the smartest SEO guys on the planet.  He is a serious student of marketing and advertising.  And most of all,  Michael Campbell is a man of high integrity.

I have never met Michael, but I have followed him for years.  I listen to Michael and I read his content because he knows his stuff and I trust him.

Several months ago I unsubscribed to many so-called internet marketing gurus simply because most of these guys do nothing but promote one offer after another.  Michael is one marketer I continue to read because his excellent Internet Marketing Secrets newsletter delivers great content month after month.

If you are not on his list I highly recommend that you go InternetMarketingSecrets.com and subscribe to his newsletter.  I truly believe that if you listen Michael and unsubscribe to at least 90% of the lists that you are currently on, your opportunity for Internet Marketing success will increase tenfold.  And I’m not kidding.

Another way to dramatically increase your opportunity for success is to become a member of Michael Campbell’s Dynamic Media Vault.  “The Vault” is a collection of Michael’s best stuff that he has published over the past 17 years.  A lifetime membership to Dynamic Media normally sells for $197.  However, for limited time Michael is discounting the membership to his Dynamic Media Vault by $50 — which means you can have access to all of Michael’s “Proven & Tested Internet Marketing Strategies” from the past 17 years for only $147!!

Click here to gain access to Michael Campbell’s Dynamic Media Vault.

Michael Campbell is respected by more people in this industry than just about anyone I know.  For example, here is what Ken McCarthy, the man behind the legendary System Seminar, had to say about Michael Campbell:

“There are several high priced training systems out there, that are little more than repackaged crumbs that have fallen off this guy’s table. He is the real – and largely uncredited – source of 99% of the good info in our market and has been since the 1990s.”

Ken McCarthy, SystemSeminar.com

With Michael Campbell’s Dynamic Media Vault there are no monthly recurring payments.  For today it’s a one-off payment of $147 — and you are a member for life.  But you must act today, because Michael is ending this special offer at midnight, December 2, 2011.  (By the way, if you are reading this after the special offer has expired — Michael’s Vault is still a bargain at the normal $197 price.)

Michael Campbell has worked in marketing and advertising for 25+ years and he has been at the leading edge of internet marketing for more than 17 years.  And now you can gain access to his private site and leverage the knowledge and experience Michael has developed over the past several years.

According to Michael Campbell, this is what you will find inside his Dynamic Media Vault:  “What you will find inside the Vault is 17 years worth of tested and proven strategies. Real actionable advice that leads to results like more traffic, better conversions, increased sales and strong brand recognition.”

Here is a list of some of the strategies, techniques and topics Michael will be sharing with you once you get inside his Dynamic Media Vault:

• Ultimate Heatmap 2.0 — you’ll learn how to triple your ad revenues without any increase in traffic.

• Taking Advantage of Opportunities — this is an hour long converstion Michael has with marketing master Ken McCarthy where they discuss how to take advantage of opportunities when they arise.  (Note:  this is incredibly educational!)

• Goobert 2.0 – The Original Conversational Marketing Method that teaches you “The Fastest Way to Get Risk Free Traffic so You can Make Money with Affiliate Programs.”

• Color Persuasion, the Science and Influence of Color on Purchasing Decisions

• The Digital Organizer – How to Get Your Digital Life Organized and Find Things Quickly

• From Rags to Riches in Less than One Year

• Internet Marketing and Selling to the Chinese Market

• Top 10 SEO Tips for a #1 Ranking in Google

• How 4 Minute Videos Convert into Sales

• Ultimate HeatMap Ad Placement Guidelines

• Email Spam Triggers – 175 Things You Cannot Say in Email

• 10 Steps to Improving Your Conversion Ratios

• The Most Powerful Motivator that Will Drive You to Success

• Standard Ad Unit Sizes that Maximize Revenues

• How to Produce Awesome Video on a Budget

• Preparing Your Video for Syndication

• How to Syndicate to Dozens of Sharing Sites

• How to Advertise and Profit Like Crazy with CPM and PPC

• How to Write PPC Ads that Convert Like Crazy

• Recurring Revenue with Sequential Selling and Continuity Programs

• How Incorporating as a LLC Can Bring Big Profits

• Two SEO Tips Worth 80% of Your Rankings

• How to Make Your Website Google Friendly

• Using the Meta Description Tag to Sell the Click

• How to Choose Keywords for Themed Pages Using LSI

• How to Use Title Tags for a Powerful SEO Boost

• Protecting Amazon S3 Content From Theft

• How to Trick Out Server Side Link Redirects

• Affiliate Link Redirects and Cloaking with .htaccess

• How Social Media Marketing Trumps SEO

• Five Things You Must Do When Jiggling the Web

• Jiggling the Web – Social Media for SEO

• Anthony Robbins Insight on Info Product Marketing

• The Uncovery – Finding Hidden Revenue Streams

• SEO Tools for Competitive Intelligence

• SEO 2.0 with Social Media = Top Rankings in 30 Minutes

• From Market Research to SEO in No Time Flat

• Marketing Gems Mined From the System Seminar

• How to Get 125 More Productive Hours Per Year

• Creating Advertisements for Maximum Response

• Mastering Internet Marketing in 80 Minutes

• Link Sculpting 101 (aka Pumper Linking)

• Link Sculpting 104 – How to Aim Link Juice

• How to Improve Your eMail’s Deliverability

• How to SEO and Improve Your Google rankings

• Tips on How to Become a Good Writer

• How to Earn a Passive Income with Video

• 15 Profitable Niches You’ve Never Thought Of

• Opportunities in Google’s New Search Options

• How to Stay Organized and Manage Affiliate Data

• How to Find Recurring Affiliate Commissions

• What is the Best Autoresponder / Bulk Mailer

• How Often to Send Autoresponder Emails

• How to Market Your Products with Whitepapers

• How to Create a Product

• Top Search Engine Rankings with a Single Blog Post

• How Marketing Related Niches = Bigger Profits

• How to SEO with an Article and Blog Combo

• How to Sell Digital Products with Clickbank

• Which Markets are Ideal for List Building

• Why Public URL Shorteners are a Bad Idea

• Do Keywords in URLs Help with SEO

• Escaping the Supplemental Index

• A Simple Recipe for SEO

• What’s the Best Way to Learn New Ideas

• How to Optimize Your Pages with Keywords

• Why Directory Submissions are Worthless

• How to Persuade People to do What You Want

• The Ultimate Niche Market for Affiliates

• What’s the Best Way to Structure a Website

• 8 Tips to Maximize Your Email Marketing

• How to do Affiliate Marketing with Mini Sites

• Why Sending HTML via Email is Dangerous

• How to do PPC Marketing Like a Ninja

• Market Research vs Keyword Research

• How Search Engines Treat Nofollow Links

• How to Blog in a Competitive Market

• How to Get Your Press Release Noticed

• Making Google Show American Search Results

• The Hidden Revenue in Long Tail Keywords

• Why Adding a Blog Helps with SEO

• Preventing Overwhelm by Practicing Fundamentals

• Why Auto Bookmarking Services are Worthless

• The Natural Advantages of Women Marketers

• How to Learn SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

• The Psychology of Framing an Offer

• 50 Ideas for Generating Content

• How to Force Google to Accept Your Description Meta Tag
• Top Secret Ping List to Keep the Search Engines Hopping

• Top Secret Ping List to Keep the Search Engines Hopping

• Video Syndication Software to Distribute Your Content

• How to Use Categories and Tags to Organize Your Blog

• 6 White Papers Sharing Internet Marketing Techniques

• Nothing but ‘Net – $750,000 in Less than 1 Year

• Revenge of the Mininet – Link Sculpting with Mini Sites

• Clickin’ it Rich – Affiliate Marketing Strategies

Let’s just say that you are about to find a treasure trove of traffic-getting, profit generating information inside Michael Campbell’s Dynamic Media Vault.

Michael could easily re-package this information and turn it into a $2000 product launch like many of the so-called IM gurus.   If Michael did go the route of the $2k product launch his offer would have at least twice the value of just about every product launch that has hit the market in the past few years.  But that is not how Michael does business.  He believe in offering great value at a very fair price — and that is exactly what he has done with the powerful content inside his Dynamic Media Vault.

Now, if you are literally on your last dime and you have to max out a credit card to get access to Michael Campbell’s absolute killer offer, please don’t do it.  Wait until you have the money.  In the meantime, get on Michael’s email list and subscribe to his free newsletter at InternetMarketingSecrets.com.  It is an excellent newsletter with a lot great free content.

But if you have the funds and you are “Serious” about transforming yourself into a “Professional Internet Marketer” — get ready, because you are about to get a first-class internet marketing education from one of the best teachers and brightest minds in this business.

Click here to gain access to Michael Campbell’s exclusive Dynamic Media Vault.

I’ll see you inside “The Vault.”

To your success,

Jon Poland

Much of the training inside Wealthy Affiliate was geared toward pay per click marketing.  At the time I began to take an interest in SEO so I decided that to leave Wealthy Affiliate.  The training was very good, but it simply was no longer a fit for what I wanted to do.

Well, this past weekend I received an email from the Wealthy Affiliate guys (Kyle & Carson) and I learned that WA is offering a $1 trial membership for 30 days.  After taking a look at what is inside Wealthy Affiliate, I realized that WA is much more than a PPC membership site.  Since I left three years ago the training inside Wealthy Affiliate has grown substantially, now including over 500 training videos on just about every aspect of internet marketing.

Now, let me be clear — I am not fully endorsing Wealthy Affiliate because I have just rejoined and I have not had an opportunity to go through the training in detail.  However, I firmly believe that if you are a struggling web entrepreneur and you want to join a membership site and a community with a track record of success — you may want to seriously consider this terrific offer that Wealthy Affiliate is making.

But you must act fast because the $1 Special Offer ends today at midnight.

This is what you are going to get in this upcoming month when you join WA for $1.

•     4 Live Video Training Sessions

•     4 Live Chat Sessions (Hosted by Carson and Kyle)

•     30 day success club, with daily actionable tasks

•     State of the Art Web Hosting (for up to 3 domain installs)

•     3 WordPress Express website installations, install an awesome looking website in seconds

•     Access to us (Kyle & Carson) personally if you have any questions

•     Over 500 training videos, manuals and resources

•     Our database of over 60 hours of Live Video Training

•     Your own social profile, your own space, and your own WA blog

•     Our famous forum, with 447,168 posts!

•     Ability to create LIVE chats on any topic and join 100’s of active training discussion

•     INSTANT support.  If you need help, there will always be someone there!

•     Acclaimed keyword research and niche finding tool, in fact FIVE of them

•     Article Writing tool, keyword density checker

•     Link cloaking and traffic analysis tools

•     Campaign and task management tracking

•     Network with 1,000’s of other Internet marketers

•     Hot Affiliate Program finder, find the trending affiliate programs

•     Facebook and Twitter revenue generation system

•     WA Jobs, outsource your work or get paid to do jobs right within WA.

and this is just the start…

If you want to join Wealthy Affiliate I highly recommend that you join through Travis Sago’s affiliate link that I have posted below.  Travis is offering a very interesting bonus, a copy of a report titled “$1000 Free And Clear In 30 Days.”

Travis is a savvy marketer and he is one of the good guys in this business.   And when it comes to marketing strategy and identifying “opportunities” in the marketplace, few are better than Travis.
Click here for  Travis’ affiliate link where you can get a 30 Day Trial Membership to Wealthy Affiliate for just $1 — and you can get Travis’ report, “$1000 In 30 Days.”

By the way, I get absolutely nothing for recommending Travis’ report and his link.  I just believe that the right thing to do is to point people in the direction where they can get the greatest value.  And in this case the greatest value is being offered by Travis Sago.

However, if you want to test Wealthy Affiliate for $1 and not join via an affiliate link, simple click here.

But remember, you must act fast — this Special $1 Trial Offer closes at midnight on November 28, 2011.

Eben is known for giving away a lot of high-value, free content whenever his is launching a new product.  And the launch of his Guru Masterclass is no exception.

Eben Pagan is a super-successful internet marketer having sold in excess of $100 million in information products that he has personally created.  When it comes to creating information products and then selling them online, Eben has few peers.  With his latest product, Guru Masterclass, Eben Pagan is teaching his students everything he has learned over the past 10 years about info product creation and marketing.

During the launch of Guru Masterclass Eben has posted three videos that cover the following subjects:

• How To Turn What You Know Into Money.
• How To Target Profitable Niches.
• Creating High-Priced Information Products.

Even if you are not interested in purchasing Eben’s Guru Masterclass, I encourage you to watch the sales video (click here) and learn from this master marketer.  After the video is over you can opt-in to get access to the three videos listed above (note:  try to leave the page first — then you will be given the option to opt-in to get the free video training).

One of the biggest takeaways I got from this launch is something Eben wrote in one of his promotional emails.  In Guru Masterclass Eben is putting on a 2-day virtual seminar on the subject of  “Persuasion & Communication.”  In reference to this live 2-day virtual seminar, Eben wrote:

“As you know, becoming an expert communicator and persuader is vital to business success.

If you can’t communicate your message and persuade, then you can’t LEAD. And if you can’t lead, then no one will follow – and no one will buy what you’re selling (this includes when you’re selling yourself, as well).”

In this statement Eben nails it . . . . “If you can’t communicate your message and persuade, then you can’t LEAD.  And if you can’t lead, no one will follow.”

I believe there are many internet marketers who struggle because they have a tough time with this idea of “being a leader.”

Folks, I’ve got news for you — if you want to build a successful online business,  if you want to have influence and authority in your market, and if you want to make a difference in the lives of those you serve . . . you have to “Lead.”

And if you are going to lead you have to be able to communicate and persuade.

Most aspiring web entrepreneurs give very little thought to the idea of being a “Leader.”   With leadership comes responsibility — and quite frankly, most people would rather start their hair on fire than take on more responsibility.

Let me just say this –  “If you want to build a successful business you better get ready to lead.”

In his excellent book “Tribes”, Seth Godin states:  “People are waiting to be led.  People are hungry for a leader.  Why not you?  Why not now?”

Eben Pagan clearly understands that if you want to be a success in business, you must have communication and persuasion skills — and you must ready to take on the role of a “Leader.”

If you get nothing else from the launch of Eben’s Guru Masterclass, please understand this:   “If you can’t communicate your message and persuade, then you can’t LEAD. And if you can’t lead, then no one will follow – and no one will buy what you’re selling.”

 Mail this post]]> http://www.webbusinessresearch.com/2011/another-takeaway-from-the-launch-of-eben-pagans-guru-masterclass/feed 0 http://www.webbusinessresearch.com/2011/eben-pagans-guru-masterclass-a-valuable-lesson-internet-marketers-can-learn-from-this-launch http://www.webbusinessresearch.com/2011/eben-pagans-guru-masterclass-a-valuable-lesson-internet-marketers-can-learn-from-this-launch#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:53:32 +0000 Jon Poland http://www.webbusinessresearch.com/?p=401 Eben Pagan has just launched his latest product called Guru Masterclass.  This post is not about the actual product.  This post is about a valuable lesson I learned while watching the Guru Masterclass sales video (click here to watch it).

First of all, there is no denying that Eben Pagan is one of the brightest minds in internet marketing.  He is a great teacher and a terrific marketer.  His products are always well received in the marketplace and there is never a shortage of people singing his praises.

In the world of “Internet Marketing” Eben Pagan has very few peers.  He started his online business career 10 years ago from a computer in his bedroom.  And now he runs an internet business empire that has generated more than $100 million in sales over the past 10 years.  Impressive — to say the least.

But let me ask you a question:  “What makes Eben Pagan so damn good?”

He never graduated from high school or college.  He doesn’t have a dynamic personality like Tony Robbins.  He doesn’t connect with people like Frank Kern.  He doesn’t have any special technology skills (that I know of).  He came from a very modest background growing up in rural Oregon.  He is a pretty normal, ordinary guy.

But what is it about Eben Pagan that has made him such a great internet marketing success story?

I have been watching Eben for quite some time and I have long held the belief that what separates Eben Pagan from others is the fact the he is a ferocious learner — and he always shares what he learns.

After watching the sales video for Guru Masterclass, I realized there is one more reason why Eben Pagan has climbed a level higher that almost all of his internet marketing peers.  At the end of this video Eben included about 15 minutes of testimonials from some of his students.  One particular testimonial caught my attention.

Unfortunately, I could not understand the woman’s name who gave the testimony (she is an event planner from Hawaii).  But what she said about Eben was crystal clear:

“If you take what you are doing to a level beyond what everyone else in your market is doing, you will shine and you will own your market.  And that is what Eben is doing.”

That’s it!  What Eben has done is simply take what he is doing to a level beyond what everyone else in the marketplace is doing.  He is a very successful entrepreneur.  He is a terrific marketer.  He is a serious student of this business.  He is great at teaching what he learns — and he is doing it at a level above and beyond everyone else.

This leads me to one very important question for you:   “What can you do in your business that will allow you to outshine your competition, own your market and take your business to a level beyond everyone else?”

I’ve heard both Yanik Silver and James Schramko say that if you want better outcomes you need to ask yourself better questions.  Well, I believe the above question is a critical question that all serious business builders should be asking themselves every day.

Eben Pagan is about to have another multi-million dollar payday with the launch of his Guru Masterclass.  And he is able to have this success in large part because he does everything at a level higher than almost everyone else in his market.

Eben is a master at identifying what people want and then creating information products that help people get to where they want to go.   And he is equally skilled at marketing the information products that he creates.   I firmly believe that if you want to be a successful internet marketer, it is important to learn from high-level marketers like Eben Pagan.  But don’t just study his products.  You also need to study how successful entrepreneurs like Eben Pagan  “DO” their marketing.

Can you do what Eben has done and take your business to a level higher than almost everyone else in your market?  If your answer is “Yes” — then it simply comes down to identifying what you need to do to get your business to that elite level, and then doing the work.

But if the answer is “No” — you may need to seriously consider this question:  “Are you in the right business?”

I have some great things planned for Web Business Research that I believe will allow me to take this blog to a level higher than 99% of other blogs in the internet marketing space.  And if I get to the point where I don’t believe I can do it, I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s time to fold up shop and try another business.

“If you are going to do it, do it at a high level” –  that is exactly what Eben Pagan has done the past 10 years and that “pursuit of excellence” has allowed him to shine and own his market.

Eben is a great teacher.  But don’t just listen to what he says, pay very close attention to what he does.  It’s a great education just watching this guy market.

There is a short paragraph in this post that is incredibly powerful.  Here it is:

“If you’re serious about building a real, sustainable business online, you need to focus on tomorrow, not today. In other words, try your best to make everything you do today result in a residual benefit for the future.

In that one short paragraph, I believe Big Mike hit on one of the primary reasons why most internet marketers struggle.  They are focused on making money “today” and they are not focused on the one thing that can get them to where they want to go, and that’s “building a business.”

The problem many internet marketers have lies in the fact that they think like “opportunity seekers” and not like “business builders.”   I suffered from this limited thinking at one time — and believe me, it takes you absolutely nowhere.  You jump from one opportunity to another in an effort to find an easier way to make money.  You never stick with one opportunity long enough to see it through because an easier path is presented to you literally on daily basis.  It’s an vicious cycle that leaves you completely frustrated and in a state of mental paralysis primarily because of massive information overload.

This short-sighted, opportunity seeking mindset along with information overload kills more internet marketing dreams than anything I know of.

One of the first things that new internet marketers must do is make the transition from “opportunity seeker” to “strategic thinking entrepreneur.”  And the quickest way to make this critical transition is to answer one simple question:  “What business do I want to build?”

Then, the aspiring entrepreneur must focus on building that business.

Start “serving” a market and start helping people in that market solve problems.  I know it’s not sexy and I know it’s the slow road to success.  But it’s lasting — and it has been proven to work time and time again.

Last year I read an article in Success Magazine from Robert Kiyosaki  (author of  “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”) on the subject of “The Law of Compensation.” In this article Robert Kiyosaki wrote . . .

“I explain The Law of Compensation like this:  Returns are minimal in spite of massive effort at the start, yet returns can be massive with minimal effort over time.”

That’s the same message Big Mike Kotzakolios delivered in the above quote where he stated . . . “try your best to make everything you do today result in a residual benefit for the future.”

There is great power when “The Law of Compensation” is diligently applied to your business.  Your returns in the short term may be minimal.  But if you stay disciplined and deliver value to your market day after day, your profit can be very high in the future as you methodically build assets that generate residual returns over time.

I believe one of the best examples of “The Law of Compensation” is an authority blog.  In the beginning the blogger spends countless hours posting content to his or her site with the hope of developing a readership and gaining more authority in the eyes of Google.  In the beginning the returns are minimal.

Fast forward 12 months.  The blogger has posted quality content every day for the past year and now the blogger has a large readership, along with authority and influence in the marketplace.  Whenever he or she makes a post to the blog, the Google spiders come crawling and the new post is ranked in the SERPs in a matter of hours, if not minutes!  Now the blogger is able to generate a great return with minimal effort.

That’s “The Law of Compensation” at work and that is exactly what Big Mike is talking about:  “Massive effort upfront with minimal returns, then massive returns in the future with minimal effort.”

Most successful internet marketing entrepreneurs and business builders understand this powerful concept.   They are willing to make sacrifices today and do the hard work that will provide residual benefits in the future.

Unfortunately, too many aspiring web entrepreneurs do not have the patience and discipline to build a business in this sort of methodical manner.  It’s much easier to chase the latest internet marketing product offer from some “so-called” guru who promises an instant 5-figure monthly income if they will just buy his push-button, instant-traffic software.  They end up on the internet marketing treadmill chasing the latest guru money maker.  Each offer makes them more confused and frustrated — so they buy another offer hoping it will be “The One.”

Please . . . do not fall into this trap.  Focus your mind on building a real business.  And then, every morning, ask yourself this one simple question:  “What can I do today that will provide residual benefits for my business in the days, months and years to come?”

If you are ready, that one simple question can completely shift your thinking and help you make the critical transition from “opportunity seeker” to “Strategic Web Entrepreneur.”

To your success,

Jon Poland