If you're in the digital space, then the last month you've heard the tremors, the shake ups of a potential Facebook fallout. 

As we've seen with Google search as well as their paid platforms making continuous updates, it's naive to think any platform would be exempt from such an update. 

I know people that were hit by one of the notorious Google updates years ago that had a thriving business to wake up to starting all over. 

With nothing. 

It's not a fact of "if" but when? 

A better questions should be... 

How can we safeguard our digital businesses from a Facebook fallout? 

That's what we'll be covering in this posts.

This will help you if you're just starting out, a seasoned vet or for even local marketers that have tapped into Facebook's ad platform to not only survive, but thrive from a potential Facebook fallout. 

First, what's happened that's made all of this come to light? 

To make a long story short, a company called Cambridge Analytica harvested over 87 million Facebook profiles to develop psychographic profiles as it related to the 2016 election. 

And now, the FTC has launched an inquiry into Facebook. 

Which has resulted in changes and modifications to Facebook's API and advertising platforms.

This doesn't even take into account all those that are currently deleting the app all together starting the hashtag #deletefacebook.  

The Most Dangerous Number in Business

Dan Kennedy points out in his No BS Sales Success book, "One is a very bad number, anywhere you find it … if one media produces a disproportionate percentage of your customers, you are subject to being summarily put out of business."

This is true with your digital marketing business. 

For those of you that rely solely on Google as your traffic source, you're one slap away from losing it. 

Those fans of Facebook, you're also subject to the same slap.

Here's what to do about it. 

Step # 1. Leverage The Platform To Build Your Fans

For starters, Facebook is something we can't control.  

It's merely a platform.

A channel. 

Platforms and channels can come and go. 

However, relationships with your audiences don't. 

If you look at the WWE (yes wrestling) they've went through a number of channel changes over the years. 

USA to Spike then back to USA. 

Think about it for second...

What happens when your favorite show switches to a new network? 

You simply change the channel till you find them.  

WWE is still running strong and now making a move to their own Internet channel. 

While Spike has rebranded itself countless times and is now known as Paramount. 

So, how does this apply to me?

Good question. 

What we want is to use these channels or platforms to bring people in, get them on our list, show them our best stuff...

Build, create and nurture relationships. 

And then move them to our other channels. 

Step # 2: Leveraging Other Channels

When you're bringing people in from Facebook, Google, Twitter, or any other platform, start working to get them to the other channels of your brand.

Here's where you should be focusing right away...

The post How to Protect Your Digital Business from a Facebook Fallout appeared first on Search Stacks.

A hype man!

He’s the one that rides the coat tails of the headliner interjecting to build the rapper up – however he secretly thinks his rhymes are better and that one day he’s gonna get his big chance.

You see the same thing happening in the great land of Google.

Actually there’s two types of these you’ve got to watch out for…

First, there’s the Official Google hype man.

He’s the one that is letting you know what the company is looking for, when they release an update, and what the updates mean.

For example, recently Google rolled out a new version of Penguin and the “official” hype man was spilling all the secrets.

The only thing is – these aren’t real secrets.

They’re what the company wants you to believe and in reality its nothing more than disguised propaganda.

The next type of hype man is what I call “The Regurgitator”

These are the guys and gals that basically tell you what the “Official Hype Man” says.

Back to our example of the latest release of Google Penguin, you’ve got bloggers repeating “the disguised propaganda” from said Google official as the truth.

I saw it happen this morning in a couple of groups and before you know it – the posts where getting passed as the gospel.

Great Googly Moogly!

All the propaganda has now spread as TRUTH.

Sounds kinda scary-  right?

Well, it happens every day.

And people are more frightened of Google’s penalties than any Halloween spooks.

I had a buddy of mine tell me something that stood out in my head..

He said, “You can’t loose what you don’t have.”

Lots of folks are facing this obstacle – they’re terrified to make a move because of what could possibly happen.

That’s why I get super pumped when I see someone break through and start actually implementing some of the techniques I teach.

As a matter of fact, I was just talking with someone yesterday that I have great respect for in the space, who’s seeing similar results using one of the techniques I taught to Inner Circle members last week.

The technique is what I called the Hillary SEO formula.

And it has nothing to do with link building or on page SEO, however I’m seeing it work on one site after another.

Now, here’s the catch though…

This training will be locked away in the vault very soon and will not be available unless you’re a member of Black Ops Elite…

If you’re looking to get over the hebbie jebbies when it comes to your SEO, then I can’t recommend this enough.

Hit me back with a reply and lets chat to get you the good stuff.

Derek Pierce

PS – This past week I unplugged for a few days.

I went out of town, didn’t touch a computer, and avoided all gadgets..

And I come back in and all my sites had moved up..

I guess that’s a sign I should take more time off – huh?

The post Beware of the Great Hype Man! appeared first on Search Stacks.

It’s sometimes hard to see beyond your current situation.

Work, debt, family.

But what happened to my dreams?

What happened to the super fancy car I was destined to drive?

And what happened to my body?

These were all vows I’d take as a teen and a young adult that I’d never let myself fall into that trap of being overweight, broke, and scared.

But somehow I was facing all of these and even contemplating suicide.

A picture they say is worth a thousand words and that was true for me.

I’d just gotten back from a short trip with the family and began looking back on some of the pictures.

As I glanced at the picture my initial reaction was – “is that me?  It’s got to be the shirt!”

Hello Moobs.

For those that are unaware, moobs is short for Man Boobs.

My heart started to race, sweaty palms because this was completely against what I stood for.

Pulling the curtain back even further – my finances were a mess.

And my family life was even worse.

I’ll spare you from the family drama, but it was something I was dealing with daily.

Everyone has a picture in their minds of family and how it’s suppose to function.

The first thought for me is the Andy Griffith show.

Everyone says grace.

And everyone is at the table eating together.

And everyone shows respect for each other.

The fact is sadly this is not always reality.

Some of the most painful experiences in my life have come directly from the people that should love you the most.

The Big Decision…

That’s why my wife and I made a decision years ago to cut out the cancers in our lives.

I'm talking about all the people that are non-supportive.

The ones that keep something stirred up with nothing better to do and that take pride in your failures.

And as hard as it would be, remove all the negative people – family included.

At that point in the game which was somewhere around the year 2007, I topped the scales at 197 lbs.

My credit card debt exceeded $100,000.

More Trouble – This Time with the IRS

And in addition to being 6 figures in credit card debt, I was also being audited by the IRS.

I couldn’t even run around the block I was so bad out of shape.

All the negative people and my real estate investment business had officially kicked my ass.

Welcome to my own personal hell where I honestly wondered the meaning of life and my place on it and if I’d be better off ending it all.

It was dark.

And I feel it as I type this post.

3am mornings were the norm because I couldn't sleep because I had so much anxiety.

I’d been so beat up and bruised, I was scared to even face how much we owed.

Big Changes!

But something changed once we eliminated all of the non-supportive, negative people out of our lives.

And it changed rather quickly.

For starters, I was a lot more level headed.

I could think.

I could focus.

And I could actually work.

Stop Being A Weak Ass…

So, the first course of action was to get out of this fetal, weak position, and starting making decisions instead of just letting life happen to us.

Never think for one moment that life just happens and that you’re a victim of circumstance.

We’ve all been dealt with a different hand – some are better than others but all you can control at the end of the day is what you do with what you’ve been given.

“Yeah but – this happened to me…”

If that’s your response, then I’d encourage you to began studying successful people.

Dig into their background.

Learn from them.

You’re going to find some pretty amazing stories of how people overcame obstacles to make a huge comeback.

You’ll also see people that were handed a silver spoon in their mouth.

And had an amazing life – but squandered it away.

The reason I bring this up is that having success has nothing to do with what’s happened to you.

If others have found a way to make it work, then you can too.

It’s all up to you to push forward.

If you’re not happy with your life – change the scenery.

Not happy with where you live?

It’s simple – buy a map and move instead of bitching.

I’d decided if I was going to go down – it wouldn’t be passively.

I’d never fold without a fight.

Instead, both fingers would be flying to the world.

And I told my wife that if we made it out in one piece…

This would make for a heckuva story…

And I thought about that – what it would be like once we were out of this disaster.

I focused on it.

The first course of action was to commit to being accountable.

And not just accountable for our actions, but also accountable for our money, and our health.

And accountable to each other.

I had to take a long look in the mirror to see all the areas I’d failed and take responsibility for everything.

That’s the only way I could grow – by taking responsibility.

Some of the things that happened were out of my control but you know what – I should have been better prepared.

I should have taken other steps to preparing for the moment.

See, that's the difference.

Instead of saying, this happened to me – I'm saying I should have been prepared.

I should have known.

There's power in that.

For me, that was bad business deals, not cutting out negative family members sooner, investments, poor eating habits, and failing to exercise

Stare The Number Down…

Secondly, we had to face the number and come up with a plan.

I had no idea how much we really owed.

For years, I’d ducked my head in the sand telling myself that I’d get to it someday.

No matter how uncomfortable you may be, realize that this is the worst day of your situation.

We’re all in this thing we call life which is a marathon.

Stop comparing yourself to your friends, the experts and start focusing on getting better every single day.

Here’s the payoff plan…

First, I stopped blowing money like I was a kid that just got his first allowance.

And we began by making a realistic plan.

Here’s how it would go…

Step # 1. Start chipping away and change your habits…

For every dollar I brought in, 10% would go into a can’t touch ‘savings’ account.

20% would go into a debt reduction mode that we’d use to pay off our debts.

And any left over would go to chunking down the lowest credit card balance.

This is key – getting that first card eliminated.

Once we’d pay one card off, they’d instantly send us a letter offering us 0% interest and we’d ask them to up our credit limit.

We’d then transfer the balance of the card with the highest interest to the 0% interest offer.

And we’d then continue to chunk down the debt on the remaining cards and do the process over and over again with 0% interest offers.

Also, I worked on projects I wasn’t willing to do beforehand to get my income up.

Step # 2 – Became Active and started exercising slowly

None of us are one dimensional, so at the same time I was getting my finances in order, I started walking.

Walking became very therapeutic.

At first, I struggled to even walk a mile.

It was rough.

But I kept pushing and eventually cut out sodas.

Just doing these two things eliminated 15 lbs in a matter of just a few months with no real “magic” diet or extreme exercise.

And some amazing things started taking place –

I started making more money than ever before.

And I was down to 182 lbs

In roughly two years, we were free of the 6 figures in credit cards and my weight was fluctuating around 180 lbs.

Step # 3 – Clean up my mess.

I had to clean up my messes.

This started with the IRS.

My taxes were a disaster.

So, we got everything to the accountant and with his help in 6 months we were able to clean up our taxes.

Step # 4  Trust In Yourself and Be Willing to Bet On Yourself Again.

Be willing to make mistakes again.

It took a while, but I had to learn to bet on myself again.

After getting the shit kicked out of me, it took a while before I began to be willing to really go for it.

Stop playing the ‘what if’ game in your head to the point of not doing anything.

The quicker you get back up, dust yourself off the better you’re going to be.

Be willing to make mistakes, forgive yourself and keep pushing forward.

In closing, I don’t have everything figured out and don’t have all the answers.

However, I’ve built an online business that’s having its best year to date – all from the comfort of my home, my finances are the best they’ve ever been, and I’m now in the best shape of my life at 165 lbs at roughly 12% bodyfat.

If you’ve been shoveled a pile of shit, keep digging because it’s going to make for a heckuva story.

The post How I Eliminated Over $100,000 In Credit Cards and Lost Over 30 Lbs appeared first on Search Stacks.

This past week I had to fire the landscaping company that I'd been with for almost 3 years.

The reason?

It all boiled down to the fact I felt multiple issues remained unresolved and that my concerns were going unheard…

For example, it was the 3rd time my For Sale By Owner Sign had been hit.

You can see the results here – 

Now, you may be thinking -” big deal – so you fired your yard guy?”

Well, it just so happens this was someone I'd paid monthly to take care of everything – weeds, the lawn, flower beds and this was the same company I'd hired for the initial install when building our house.

And now, that the house is for sale – guess who I'd planned on using?

You betcha – It was these guys.

That is until multiple issues like the one I just explained.

Now, here's the reason for this post and the takeaway…

First of all, I'd spent almost $12,000 in 3 years with this company as they were the only ones to touch my grass.

Plus, I'd planned on using them for the next build – which if we calculate that into the equation that would be roughly $5,000 (if we're figuring it low).

That's a $17,000 customer gone over a $20 sign.

Sounds crazy – right?

But that's not even counting the revenue from the future maintenance of my yard while we sold our home or after we build our next home or the fact that I've been responsible for getting them other jobs with other builds.

Most businesses are so consumed with getting new customers that they often overlook the real profit center which is maintaining, nurturing, and encouraging repeat business.

You've probably heard it before – the real money is in the back end.

And it all boils down to knowing the Lifetime Value of a Customer.

No one taught me this in college.

The first time I'd even heard the words where from a Jay Abraham training I'd bought.

I've embedded one of Jay's videos below that I highly recommend you watch right now.

This one concept can literally change your business immediately no matter if you're an affiliate marketer, local seo company, a local gym, or a landscaper.

So, how do you figure the Lifetime Value?

1. Figure out what the average price per transaction X
2. How many times the customer will make these purchases over a month (or year)  X
3. On Average how long they'll stay a customer =

Lifetime Value.

So, if the average ticket is $50

And the average customer buys 2 time per month.

And the customer sticks for an average of 5 months.

Then the Lifetime Value in this case is $500

Let's use a real life example.

Suppose we're helping a local gym.

And the average ticket per month is $55.

And suppose the average customer stays for 18 months.

So, $55 per month X 1 charge per month X 18 Months = $990.00

In this case, the lifetime value is $990 per customer.

Now, the business owner can decide how much to spend to get their average customer.

We'll go more into those options in a future post, but for now…

Let's take this one step further.

What if hypothetically we could get the customer spending more than just 1 time per month?

That's where we'd really start to grow the business offering them other products and services.

Our goal would be to increase the amount they spend per transaction and to boost the number of transactions they make.

For the gym example, these include…

• Personal training
• Supplements
• Protein Shakes
• Additional group classes
• Creating online content from your training (you can record your training, your advice – repurpose it into an online class or book)

While this seems rather simple, this is how you scale.

The bottom line is that you know your numbers in the first place.

This is the same process I took to turn around a local, struggling business that I knew nothing about.

The first week we took over, I figured the average ticket per person was $45 and some change and I knew how many times they were repeat customers.

Most businesses have no clue what their numbers are.

Once you get the numbers, it's now a matter of simple math on how much you're willing to invest in order to bring in new customers.

It really is that simple.

Advertising and marketing is an investment in your business to bring in new faces while building a herd of hard core fans.

And if you're able to have the highest Lifetime Value of your competition – then you can afford to invest more in your marketing for bringing in new customers.

You can outspend them to buy new leads.

But again, it all starts with knowing your numbers.

In closing, if you want to really help your business, the company you work for, or for your clients – the first thing you can do is know the numbers.

Not only will this help them by knowing their numbers, but once you figure it out – you're able to use that in negotiating your services.

For example, lets suppose you're pitching your SEO services to a cosmetic dentist.

And you find out the average client is worth $4,000.00

Are you still going to pitch your services for $400 per month?

I think not.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below…

The post Determining The Lifetime Value of Your Customers appeared first on Search Stacks.

And the ads promising Government seized homes, boats, and vehicles for pennies on the dollar.

It continued on when I'd watch the infomercial from Carlton Sheets to Tom Vu.

Now, you may be wondering what the logic of this post is?

The first idea is to have some fun and at the same time to illustrate a point.

We make fun of these infomercials and see that they're kind of corny – but the product creators had the balls to go for it with some of the most ridiculous ideas.

So – what's stopping you?

It's now easier than ever to create your own product, launch it and reap the rewards.

Now back to the fun part – here goes my favorite infomercials list and I'll be back in a few days with some good content you can use and apply…

I hope you enjoy and I'd love to hear your favorites in the comments below…

# 1 – 3 Tommy Vu's Real Estate Riches

# 4 Shake Weight

#5 Shake Weight For Men

# 6 Thigh Master

#7 Sticky Nips

#8 Sham Wow

#9 Dr Ho

# 10 Rejevunique

The post Top 10 Infomercials of All Time appeared first on Search Stacks.

This post is about a reflection between two different software companies and some of the craziness that goes on in the internet marketing space from a customer's perspective.

One company completely dropped the ball while the other over delivered and how you can apply this to whatever it is your doing in the online world.

First of all, let me explain…

Two months ago I asked in a private Facebook group for the best Automated Webinar software…

An automated webinar is where you can pre-record a video and it will play as a webinar.

The idea is do something once and continue to be able to use that piece in the future instead of just always creating.

Anyway…

I get a couple of suggestions but one was highly recommended by someone I trust so I went with it.

This is something I'd been meaning to do for a while, so I dove in and started creating my first webinar.

Except everything wasn't as easy as outlined in the sales letter..

My expectations were set that there'll be a learning curve but nothing quite like this…

No joke I invested several hours trying to figure it all out and was ready to pull my hair out.

I kept getting an error message that the script couldn't connect to the server.

Very rarely do I ever put in support request because I can usually figure things out but I had to resort to a support ticket.

It took over 4 days to get the issue resolved.

And it was nothing more than a simple permissions issue.

Meanwhile, I see others complaining of bugs and glitches in the system in the Customer Only Facebook group and observe that the creators responses seem to be a bit short or incomplete.

Anyway – back to my issue.

They get it resolved and I'm ready to rock out my first webinar.

So, I plug in my autoresponder code to test the page out and…

IT DOES NOTHING!

At this point, I've spent more time with their support desk than I have on creating with the tool that was suppose to be easy and save me a ton of time.

Instead, another support ticket.

And I outlined all of the details that I was having and included my autoresponder code.

The reply was your typical generic reply – make sure your using the “Name and Email” Fields and make sure you have the right Thank You page.

If the support personal had read my ticket completely – they'd seen that everything was correct.

Finally, this gets hammered out with no real explanation except – “that is weird”

I'm very frustrated to say the least but it looks as if everything is good to go.

And by now, it's time for the first webinar with this new service.

I begin by sending emails to the registration page and wake up the next morning with several emails and complaints.

“Your page is down..”

“Your Link is Broken…”

And then I log in and it the service claims to be having an issue connecting with my server (again).

They tell me there's a permissions issue again and need my server to whitelist their domain again.

At this point, I'm like “F” it. Right?

So, I ask for a refund and move on to service # 2.

I never ask for a refund unless something is terribly wrong.

The funny thing is even when I'm asking for a refund, the seller is a pain in the neck.

They tell me to contact Clickbank.

Unbelievable! 

In my opinion, if you're asking for a refund and I've known you've had issues – I would want this last communication to be over the top and positive.

Because, there's a chance if they take care of the bugs and issues – I'd be back someday – right?

Or I may buy another product from them.

But, if the experience is bad.

I'm not going to trust this person again.

If there's a pain from everything from buying their product, implementing it, and then even asking for a refund –

I'm writing them off for good.

And as of the writing of this blog posts, I've yet to receive a refund and just yesterday resorted to calling Clickbank.

Now, I'm not going to bash this business – that's not what this is about and I don't want anyone trying to guess which service it is.

It's not important.

It's more about what you can take away from my experience and apply it to your business.

I will tell you about the 2nd service which is Stealth Seminar.

I make the purchase and no joke in less than 30 minutes, I've got my webinar ready to roll.

The only issue I had was that my autoresponder code did not match my registration page, so I send in a ticket and I get 2 responses within 2 hours!

And they're offering to set it all up for me!

And later that day, I get a phone call making sure I've found everything I need and asking if I need help setting it all up.

And just a few days after I buy, I get a thank you postcard from them.

A complete 180 from company A.

The reason I bring this up is – Which business are you?

The one that looks at customers as a problem and dreads answering support?

The one that seems agitated with support and delay with your responses?

Are you outsourcing the task to someone that's not qualified to take care of your customers?

Or are you the one that welcomes questions, hammers any technical issues and willing to do it all for you?

Only the latter will survive in today's world with social media and business transparency.

And kudos to Stealth Seminar for going above and beyond which is what inspired this post to begin with…

I highly recommend them if you're looking for a way to run Automated Webinars.

Bottom line is – once you've acquired a customer – over deliver.

Doesn't matter if you're selling Personalized Wine Boxes, SEO services, Self Defense DVD's or Golf Training.

It's all about over delivering.

How do you over deliver?  Or how do you plan to over deliver moving forward?

Let me know in the comments.

Also, if you enjoyed this, give it a share

The post Finding The Best Automated Webinar Software appeared first on Search Stacks.

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Build Grow Scale event in Orlando and for every event I attend I’m reminded by how important networking has been for my business.

And I want to share some “Do's and Do Not's” for events in just a bit.

But first, I want to let you know that years ago, I was afraid to even pick up the phone much less go to an event and talk to complete strangers. 

I’ll share more on that in a future post but I had a couple of guys that I was in a mastermind with that really pushed me into start going.

Sam Bell basically forced me into going to a JV VIP party for a launch.

And Anthony Aires was very instrumental into helping me get started selling my own stuff and introduced me at my first Warrior Event.

And for that I’m extremely grateful because without those nudges and pushes, I might not be here writing this as we speak.

Now – I go to a couple of events every year just for networking and connecting.

And the last couple of years of event- going, I’ve had some really strange encounters and that’s what’s motivated this blog post with some Do’s and Dont’s to get the most out of events.

1. Don’t Be An Ass…  

Make sure your JV building helps promote you instead of making you look like a dick.

Here’s the back story…

This was the first Warrior Event that I’d went to in Orlando, Florida.

Everyone ended up at this club and there were 2 VIP rooms because there was a riff between two guys, so they basically had separate parties.

The only problem was that not everyone knew what was going on.

You had guys like me there that was out of the loop.

Once we’re there, I’m following whoever was in front of me to the VIP room. 

There’s girls that have been hired for the VIP room, a hookah bar, and plenty of booze.

I’m sitting there with Rob Jones, Joshua Zamora, and Damian Rufus.

All of a sudden, a guy comes up and says – “You guys get the fuck out of here”

We all looked at each other somewhat confused because no one knew what the hell was going on.

Everyone was just hanging and not causing any trouble – but the guy insisted –

You guys have got to go. 

I’ll not name the people that was behind this because I’m sure at this point – it’s one of those ‘What was I thinking” deals.

So, what was suppose to be a JV building party with girls, drinks and a good time turned into right the opposite.

How much do you think this cost him?

Think about it now.

Several years later, you’ve got 4 super affiliates that could really bring some major traffic and heat to your product launch but you’ve pissed it away over something stupid.

The reason we were kicked out was supposedly because he didn’t know us and we weren’t affiliates. 

And was afraid we were siding with the enemy.

Truth is we didn't know there was an enemy.

We moved on to VIP room # 2 to finish out the night.

All in all – it's one of those things that those that were kicked out of the VIP room laugh about now.

2. Never shake hands in the bathroom

I’ve just zipped up and making my way to the sink to wash my hands when some guy I’d never met before approached me all nervous like.

He was fumbling all over himself –

‘Hey Derek, uhhh, man, uhhh I’m a big fan”

And reaches his hand out to shake mine.

I finish up and make it out of the bathroom.

But, not by first being totally weirded out.

Be cool.  And Relax.

And don’t put too much pressure on yourself to the point you can’t even function and most importantly – ‘Don’t shake hands in the bathroom.’

3. Know thy liquor…

This is rather obvious.

But at every event I’ve attended, there’s the guy that doesn’t know his liquor limit.

And somehow makes a complete ass out of himself.

Realize these are your colleagues and partners.

Have fun but don’t get so sloppy that you’ll do something that can hurt you for years to come.

I’ve seen it happen on more than one occasion where guys end up almost going blow to blow. 

4. Listen More at the bar.

First of all, all I drink is water.

You can still go to the bar and benefit if you’re a non-drinker like myself.

But here’s the deal.

You’ll learn so much more from hanging at the bar than you ever will listening to someone with a prepared speech from the stage at a seminar.

People loosen up after a few drinks.

It’s a more relaxed environment and are willing to share way more.

Not to mention, this is where REAL deals are made.

So, step out of your comfort zone, start connecting and making things happen.

5. Leave Your Ego at the Door

In the internet marketing space, many egos are out of control.

Many are more worried about their ego than what’s in the bank.

And you can’t let this happen.

I’ve seen multiple partnerships go awry because one felt they weren’t getting the recognition they deserved.

Just this past week – I was talking with someone and he introduced me as being “a brilliant mind, but the most down to earth, humbled guy…”

That’s not a mistake that he said that because that’s exactly how I am.

See, I’m not amused by who gets credit for what.

All that matters is what’s in the bank.

If I get credit for something – great. 

If I’m responsible for doing something cool – I’ll tell you.

But I’m not so fragile that I don’t respect and love to see someone else succeed.   

If you begin to think – “I’m better than them… or I’m not as good as them”

Stop it.

Don’t compare yourself too much.

Comparisons in my opinion are one of the biggest factors that cause people to fail.

They begin to think – “if I can’t do this or that like this person did, then I’m a screw up.”

If you find that you compare yourself to much, then become aware then shut it down.

You’re here for a reason and can bring something special to the table.

Even the most successful entrepreneurs face obstacles.

Marriage problems, cash flow issues, health challenges – you name it.

No one is exempt from problems.

It's all in how you deal with it.

In closing, if you've enjoyed this, then give this a share and signup for the What's Working Now.

I'm planning some Online Events of my own in the near future that you'll benefit from and the only way of being in the know is from signing up..

Also, if you've had a weird encounter at an event or having something you want to share, let me know in the comments (just don't name names).

The post 5 Strategies For Getting the Most From Events appeared first on Search Stacks.

You may be wondering – why should I setup a blog?

For most it’s in order to start making money online and it’s a great way since you’re able to work from anywhere in the world and live the internet lifestyle without punching a time clock.  I've used blogs for years as part of my SEO campaigns.

But regardless of what you’re looking for whether it’s to setup a company website, a personal blog, or setup an affiliate site – a blog is the way to go for simplicity.

The fact is for many sites, blogs are the underlying infrastructure to their site even though it may not appear to be a blog.

You have several choices – however, I’m going to make recommendations on what I’ve had the most success with.

If you're the type that prefer to watch a video, then watch the video here that shows you exactly what to do…

How to Create Your First WordPress Blog In Minutes

The recommended hosting from the video is Bluehost – click here to grab an account. 

It's solid hosting for very little.

Secondly, the WordPress theme I use and you even see it here on this site is Thrive Themes.

I have the full Thrive Themes membership with access to all of the themes and plugins.

Click here to get access to Thrive Themes.

For starters, you really need to buy your own domain name and have it hosted.

There’s several free blog platforms out there – however you have little to no control.

If you’re putting the time into writing great content and develop a following online, then you need to remain in full control.  And not be in jeopardy of losing your content if they shut their free service down or if they remove your blog for a complaint from competitors –

And yes this happens.

This way you’ll never be at the mercy of a 3^rd party service.

The good news – starting your own blog is very inexpensive.

Step # 1 – First, you’ll need to get your own domain name.

I use Godaddy and Namecheap, but when you buy a domain, it will cost you roughly $10 per year.

Now, really put some effort into picking the right domain – this can be focused around your keyword or it can be something brandable and reflect what your blog is going to be about. For example, I named my blog Traffic Diesel because that's where my focus is – generating massive traffic and the latest internet marketing strategies -mainly revolving around SEO and traffic.

I'd also focus on getting a .com domain.

Step # 2 – Purchase Web Hosting

Now, that you’ve got your very own domain, you’ll need webhosting – this is simply what allows you to publish your blog for the world wide web to see.  I recommend getting Bluehost or A Small Orange to start off with – both are very inexpensive and very easy to use and the support is like none other.

You can always graduate later however these will be sufficient to run most websites.

When you buy your hosting, be sure to hang on to the emails they sent you because it will have your login info as well as other important information.

Now that you’ve got your domain and your hosting, all you have to do now is point your domain to your hosting and let them match up.  It’s very easy to do.

Step # 3 – Point Your Domain Nameservers to Your New Hosting Package

Just go into your Godaddy Account and click on your domain name, then look for the Nameservers field – you will see something like this –

Open a new tab, and grab the emails from your new hosting company (Hostgator, A Small Orange or Bluehost) and you want to look for your nameservers.

It should look something like this.

Copy the NS1.whatevernameservernameis.com

Select “I have specific nameservers for my domains.

And then past that into the fields at Godaddy as shown below and click OK:

Step # 4 – Relax For a Bit…

Now, step away, have a cup of coffee or your favorite brew for a couple of hours.

When you come back, type in your domain name in the address bar and you will see that it looks something like this – white screen that says Index of/ .

We’re half way there my friend.

Now, it’s time to publish your site to the world and that’s where we will use WordPress.

WordPress is the most popular blog platform and it’s actually what we’re using here on the Traffic Diesel blog. WordPress is an open source, Free software that runs on your site.

Don’t get all bogged down with the technical side of things – just know that WordPress is the underlying infrastructure.  If it were a car – WordPress would be the engine.

And it’s super easy to install so don’t be worried if you’re not the tech type.

Step # 5 – Login To Your Cpanel Account

Login to your Webhost Cpanel – that info was in your login from your hosting company.

Typically its yourdomain.com/cpanel

Once you login you’ll see something that looks like this –

Next you will want to look for an icon that says Fantastico, Softaculous or a Site Software icon-

They look something like this:

Hosting companies typically use one of these.  They all work, so just pick the one you see and click the icon.

Step # 6 Install WordPress

And now we’re finally ready to install WordPress.  You will see an image that looks something like this after you click on Fantastico:

Click on WordPress like I have outlined above.

Then Click on New Install –

Next, you will simply fill in the fields it asks for, then click install as shown in the pictures below

It’s all pretty self explanatory…

If you plan to install on the root of your domain – www.yourdomain.com then simply leave the directory field blank.

Next, on the admin field – do not use the word admin.  Use something else – it could be something related to your keyword or your brand.  If you use admin as your username – your making it easier for hackers to attack your site.

Then set up your password – come up with something better than password or 1234.  I would advise to use a mixture of Capitals and numbers for your password to help prevent attacks on your site.

The admin nickname and email is self explanatory.

The Site Name and Description should be what your site is about – what your targeting.  Integrate your primary keywords into your title and description.  Note – the Site Title and Description can always be changed later…

Hit Install WordPress and now your site is published!

You're Now Online!

I'll be adding some more posts about how to customize your site with the use of Themes and Plugins.

If you're not familiar – WordPress allows you to install Themes – these are what gives your site a certain look.

Again, if you think of a car – this is the exterior paint of the car.  I personally use a premium theme called Genesis from Studiopress.  I'll be showing you why in some future trainings.

And finally, plugins are gives your site certain unique functions – these are the features.

Again, if we're using a car as an example, the plugins are the features – like heated seats, air conditioning, etc.

Anyway, in closing, I'll be showing more of these functions within WordPress.  I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial for starting your first blog.

Let me know how it goes.

The post How To Start A Blog appeared first on Search Stacks.

Chapter 1 – All Alone

Chapter 2 – Going Broke

Chapter 3 – Dumb Idea

Staring at any amount of debt is tough to do.

It got to a point where I was so scared to even look at it – I had no idea how much we had!

It's a very scary feeling.

One day, some guy sends me an email out of the blue wanting to connect because he'd seen my real estate book online and had read some of my blog.

WTF?

I really wasn't accustomed to someone calling or emailing me out of the blue unless something was wrong – so I was a little freaked out.

Call me weird…

But after all, in the real estate business, some of the calls you get are from people facing foreclosure, divorce, or have experienced the loss of a loved one.

Not your ideal calls.

And that was the one thing I hated about buying and selling houses – sometimes I would get to emotionally involved.

Anyway, back to the guy – we talked for a few minutes and he told me that I needed to get linked up with this Real Estate guy from this JV Site.

He said it was several real estate investors doing some product launches and thought I would benefit from the connections.

So I signed up and started watching some of the emails come through.

That's when I realized how “small” I was thinking with this Internet gig – these guys were knocking out some major coin.

I'm talking KILLING IT!

Here's what would happen.

First guy emails the group about launching his product.

Everyone books it on their calendar to mail their email list all at the same time.

Usually there's 4-5 touches with pre-launch content to warm the list up to their particular strategy.

So – its a full frontal attack from all the big dogs in the industry.

They have prizes for the guys that sale the most.

Then the next guy is in line to do their launch – and they repeat this process over and over again.

Each time killing it – at the time generating high 6 figures – 7 figures in a 7-10 day time frame.

So I decided to signup to promote the next launch.

Didn't expect anything at all – honestly.

But I had built a list of about 5K people from my book sales, to optins over the previous couple of years.

I began by mailing all the pre-launch content to my list.

Also, I would watch all the videos and write a blog posts about each piece of the pre-launch content.

On the day they launched the product, I started getting some unfamiliar emails with the subject line

“Cha- Ching – you just made a sale”

Now I loved getting these emails because that meant I had just made a commission – and a commission on a $2K priced product!

At the end of the launch, they send out the leaderboard for all the jv's.

“Who The F!$K is Derek Pierce?”

Was some of the responses..

Because my name appeared right with some of the big dogs that I had respected the most – you know guys that had written best sellers, and guys that I listened to at a seminar.

And my name was in the midst of these guys that were my idols.

I had sold 5 – at $2K price points – so my commission was $5,000.00 and I got a cool prize – a MP3 player that my I gave to my little boy.

So for the next couple of weeks-

I'm thinking I'm the shiznit.

Even though my financial position wasn't pretty – it was something positive and for  everything going on – from my mound of debt to the family drama –

I needed to focus on the positives!

Next product launch – I was ready to roll.

So I gear up and email my list all the pre-launch stuff and once the launch opens –

No cha-ching messages come through.

A week goes by and the launch closes – No cha – change emails.

I was puzzled to say the least.

Was it all luck?  Did I really earn that much on the first launch? – these were all internal thoughts going on in my head at the time.

So I began to study what I did differently in the first one and there was something drastically different –

I didn't make the blog posts.

After doing some heavy digging into my email stats and my website stats – it was clear where the sales came from –

They all came from my blog!

I checked and I was ranking in the top spot for the name of the product along with several other buyer keywords.

With everyone mailing for it – people were going to the web to dig for more information – and found my site and when they clicked through to buy – I was getting a commission.

This was how I stumbled upon Search Engine Optimization.

So, I began to test new stuff –

I could make a blog post for any one of these guy's names and would appear on the first page within a matter of hours!

I had stumbled upon something big…

This was before any course come out or anything like that on targeting launches – this all happened by mistake.

So for the next launch – I was ready.

I had even bought some new domains to test my method.

And the messages started to roll in –

“Cha-Ching, Cha- Ching, Cha- Ching”

I made over $12,000 in commissions from that launch.

I remember vividly, going out in the backyard with the missus and looking up at the stars and I actually cried because of seeing some form of success.

But was it too late?

In the past it seemed ever step forward I took, I was taking two steps back.

I was buried with the $100,000 in credit card debt and the family drama I was going through made the debt look like a walk in the park.

How the F@$K will I ever get out of this?

I'm going to hold a special webinar to show you how I did just that, paid off all my vehicles and was able to build the house of my dreams…

Go here to to register –

https://searchstacks.com/go/liveworkshop/

The post Chapter 4 – The Stare Down appeared first on Search Stacks.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2

I've never really told any of this stuff publicly because it's extremely humiliating…

The missus was not happy about me putting more on the credit card.

And I felt so beat up – like a total failure chasing nothing more than a pipe dream..

I clearly remember the day I put up the auction – it was a duplex that needed a lot of work.

I was doing something pretty unique – I had set the price of the house, and was letting the people actually bid on the down payment.

The opening bid was $1.

The reason I did this was to attract as many people as possible and hoping it would result in a bidding war.

I kept refreshing the page to see the amount of hits and to see if we had any bids…

Within a couple of hours I had a bidder for the buck… (Woo Hoo)

Of course I still wasn't sold because – it was only a buck and the auction was a week from being over and I knew I couldn't celebrate until I had money in hand..

Before the end of the day – the bid had jumped to over $300

Every day that week I would wake up checking the auction and go to bed checking the auction.

I'd check it out multiple times a day –

All because I was struggling to make ends meet and just hoping and praying that this would all pan out.

Finally the last day of the auction was here – I was more excited than a kid on Christmas Eve…

The bid had skyrocketed to over $3K dollars and had over 7,000 hits with over 150 people following the auction.

The Dumb I Idea wasn't feeling so dumb at this point.

My wife sat in my lap at the computer – while continuously refreshing the page the last hour 30 seconds, 10 seconds, 5,4,3,2,1

I gazed at the computer in complete disbelief –

the auction was finally over and I had just seen the price go from $1K to $3K to over $7,000  when the auction finally closed!

The price doubled in the final hour.

So here's how it would play out.

The buyer now owed me the $7K and some change due within 7 days and they had to pay the remaining $45K in payments which would be enough to cover our monthly mortgage payment.

My wife hugged me and I couldn't stop smiling – I had that feeling of victory all over again.

I collected the $7K just before my payment to the mortgage company was late (literally it arrived 5 days before it was default.)

Once that deal was done, I started putting these houses up one by one, selling them off.

Each time, I was pulling in $3K or more as down payments.

This “dumb idea” literally kept me from going bankrupt and put me back in the game…

This proved 2 things to me..

1. What I thought was a dumb idea – turned out to be the best idea yet, one that was about to open so many doors. Now I'm less to judge before I test.

2. I knew if I could sell a bunch of dumpy house on ebay from Florence, Alabama, then I had to shift gears into the online world and focus more on my blog and books.

But somewhere along the way of buying and selling houses like a madman, I ran across a deal that seemed just to good to pass on – it was a failing local business.

And since I knew nothing about the business, I thought I could turn it all around.

And luckily we did.  

Within 120 days that business was running, bringing in a nice cash flow every month that was paying for itself plus putting a little cash flow in our pocket.

Even though the cash flow was fair at the time – it still needed investments in inventory,  paying off old debts, and regular maintenance because it was full of more drama than TNT had to offer.

And I hated every minute I spent there.

In the meantime, my blog had also started getting some love from the “Big G” aka Google.

There's a big problem though – I'm now staring at…

over $100,000 in credit card debt alone

It was from having to keep the 10 houses afloat, ordering inventory for the new business, and all the fixup costs from the real estate.

Plus, I was going through some of the biggest family chaos that would literally shake us to the core!

Watch for tomorrow's email / blog post titled – The Stare Down.

In the meantime – what's the most credit card debt you've personally had?

The post Chapter 3 – The Dumb Idea appeared first on Search Stacks.