Back in “the day,” I was a musician and hung out with a lot of musicians and other arty types. A lot of them had the mindset that it was noble to be poor. There was a fear of selling out.

The joke about selling out is that nobody was buying, because nobody was selling.

But, some of the musicians, including me, finally started finding a little success. Some, like Stevie Ray Vaughan, became seriously rich rock stars. It’s hard to believe now, but right after he started getting successful there was a serious backlash. Other Austin blues-guys talked about how he wasn’t really playing blues (as if he ever really had. He was a rocker.) and how he had “sold out.”

Like I said, it’s hard to believe, now.

But, Stevie hadn’t changed. He was pretty much playing the same show that he used to play at the Continental Club on Congress Ave. What did change was that he got management, an agent, a record company, and a team of people who solved the business problems.

We’ll look at that mind-set in a later post. Today, I want to talk about the “right tools for the job.”

What I, and the arty types I was hanging out with, didn’t understand was that you can’t solve an income problem with an artistic solution.

You can solve an artistic problem with an artistic solution. To solve an income problem you need an income solution. You need the right tools for the job.

This is true in Internet Marketing, too. There’s a lot of art, and a lot of artistic fulfillment, in creating products. Copywriting is a form of creative writing. It’s just as strict as an Italian sonnet, and more complex than a haiku. There is an art to crafting a great sales page, and I’m still learning it.  More importantly, I’ve learned that a great sales page is absolutely worthless if nobody sees it.

I create a lot of original music, either as stand-alone products or as background music for videos. To do that, I start out with an artistic problem- I know that I need a certain kind of music. I know what the bpm (beats per minute) needs to be. That leaves a lot of decisions: chord changes, modulations, melodic choices, instrument choices. It’s a lot of fun to wrestle those problems to the ground and solve them. When I’m through, I play the music back through the studio monitors. Sometimes i dance- if I’m absolutely sure nobody else is home.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. You had a great idea for an eBook. You did your research, put together the eBook, formatted it, made or acquired cover art- and voila! You’ve got a finished product!

You’ve solved the artistic problem. Congratulations.

The Internet Marketing world is full of people who have lovely products and no money because they think that solving the artistic problem will solve the financial problem. It doesn’t work that way.

The Beatles were a damn good bar band. They could fill a large club, and rock the house. But they didn’t start making money until they hooked up with Brian Epstein. The Beatles went on to become fabulously wealthy, and deservedly so. Their products were stunning. I could go on and on about how stunning they were, but the point is that without somebody solving the income/financial problem for them they would never have had the resources to solve their artistic problems. Time in Abbey Road studios cost money. The instruments cost money. The free time to write, and have amazing life experiences to write about, costs money. Mr. Epstein concentrated on selling the art. The Beatles concentrated on making the art. When Brian Epstein died, the Beatles pretty much were over as far as being a functioning business. They continued making excellent art, and collectively almost went broke.  Ringo, and George and John’s estates, can be grateful to Paul for saving their collective bacon by (eventually) finding good management and salvaging their business.

That brings us back to Internet Marketing, although we’re taking the long road.  Most Internet Marketers are solo acts.  We create our own products, write our own sales copy, make our own sales pages, and are both product creators and marketers.  From my experience coaching hundreds of people through my coaching program and thousands (!!!) of people through my UnSeminars, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend- and that trend is why most Internet Marketers don’t make any money.

Let’s say it again:  You can’t solve your income problem with an artistic solution.

Yes, you definitely need to make products.  But, you also need to effectively market those products.

It’s amazing how many parallels there are between the music biz and the Internet Marketing Biz.

Bars, all over the world, are full of bands who suck at marketing, playing for chump-change.  Why would they do this?  Because they have a fantasy that somebody is going to save them.  The cliche would be a big guy in a nice suit smoking a fat cigar drives up in a limousine, walks into the dive they’re performing at, and sees/hears that they are (obviously) the next big thing.  He hears their version of “Sweet Home Alabama,” or whatever cover song they’re playing, and recognizes their undeniable talent.  A phone call is made.  Studio time becomes available.  The machine goes into action.  Money for nothing and chicks for free ensues.

The odds of that happening are smaller than the odds of you winning the lottery.  It’s cheaper to play the lottery.

In Internet Marketing, the ‘net is full of people putting up products.  Most are derivative, but some are damn good.  Then, the marketer fantasizes that some rich marketer with a million-name list will see their product and recognize the (obvious) value of it.  (Sound familiar?)  The suit, cigar, and limousine are probably common to both fantasies.  The marketer with the list “saves” them, and emails circle the globe forcing unbelievable amounts of cash into the poor marketer’s bank account.  Money for nothing, chicks for free, etc.

Again, you might as well buy a lottery ticket.

What’s the answer?

Well, in the music business, there are some very savvy marketers who also happen to make music.  The first story that came to my attention was the Dave Mathews Band, who managed to sell a whole lot of CDs before they got a record deal.  They had a huge email list, and were selling out concerts.  The guys with suits and cigars noticed quickly and made them an offer they couldn’t understand, and the rest is solid-platinum history.

Here in Texas, Pat Green is a more immediate example.  He was selling hundreds of thousands of CDs from the stage and to his list long before he got a record deal.  I’ve met Pat Green, opened for him a few times back when I was playing bars, and I can tell  you that he puts on a great show (makes good products), and he’s a nice guy.  I can also tell you he’s dangerously smart and has a marketing team that’s been with him from the beginning.

There are lots of other examples.  The growth of online marketing in the music business has been a real opportunity for unknown bands to become known bands, and broke musicians to become rich musicians.

The same is true in our world- the world of Internet Marketing.  My dad was a writer.  I used to take his typewritten manuscripts to the neighborhood mailbox for him, on my bike.  The rejection slips came to the house.  To get his writing to the world, he had to go through a publishing company.  Self-publishing was harder back in the 50’s and 60’s.

Today, I can write an eBook, put it online, hit my list, and be making money almost immediately.  It’s a great time to be a writer, musician, artist or marketer.

But, only if you use the right tools for the job.

So, what do YOU do?  Depends on where you are.  You need someone to sell to and something to sell to make money.  You need a communication method that allows you to find out what people will actually pay you to create.  You need the ability and tools to create that.  Luckily, almost any computer, Open Office, and a connection to the internet will be sufficient, and you’ve already got that, or can get it free.

Then, you need to decide what problem you’re going to solve and use the appropriate tools.  If you’re solving the “product creation” problem, use the right tools for that.  But, when you’ve got an income problem, use income problem tools to solve it.

This is the sort of thing we talk about in the Portable Empire Coaching program.  You need somebody to sell to, and the way I like to do that is by building and creating rapport with my list.  The tools for building a list and building rapport with that list are pretty simple, but they take time:

- opt-in pages with ethical bribes

- autoresponders.  There’s a right way to use these and a lot of wrong ways.

- article marketing.  You can build a huge farm of incoming links and enhance your reputation with articles.

- other free online traffic solutions, like squidoo, stumble, etc.

- viral videos- Google loves video.  Google will also host and promote them for you for free.

- social networks (this is getting more importantly daily.)

- blogs.  This is where you share your life with your customers.  People buy from people they know, like and trust.  Use your blog to let people get to know you.  Some of them will like and trust you.  The others aren’t your customers.

Bottom line:  you need to spend at least as much time marketing your products as you spend making them.

For more information about the coaching program, click HERE.

This is the Video Link Generator version:

YouTube version:

Since I love travel, writing, making videos, exploring nature and meeting interesting people I’m exploring ways to combine those things in a way that will make money. I may just be forming a new business here.

Of course, one of the coolest things about the Portable Empire lifestyle is that I can afford to take vacations- travel and do the things I love- and still keep my current businesses running.

That brings us to the theme of today’s blog post: Questions. Let’s start with the vacation.

Conspicuous Consumption:

One of my readers sent me an email and among her various complaints was the fact that I mentioned my “opulent vacation” on my blog and in my emails. That’s an interesting comment. First of all, to me, the vacation wasn’t all that opulent. We drove my personal car, a Toyota 4Runner. We stayed in hotels. We ate in restaurants. If we had chartered a private plane, stayed at resorts and carried a personal chef with us- that would be opulent. It all depends on your point of view, I guess.

But, I’m real interested in your point of view about this, because it brings up a bigger question. In Internet Marketing circles, one of the things you’re “supposed” to do is establish your credibility. If you’re going to teach people how to make money, you’re “supposed” to prove that you know how to make money. That’s why you hear Internet Marketers talk about their houses, cars and incomes.   That’s why some of us pose for pictures with our cars, or in front of our houses.  Yes, our mothers told us it was impolite to talk about how much money you make, but this is a special situation.  Or is it?

If I was auditioning a financial planner and they drove to the interview in a rusted Ford Pinto, it would be a short interview.  I want my financial planner to drive a nice car.  I want my attorney to drive a nice car.  It makes me believe that they might actually be good at what they do.

What do you think?  If I buy a new car, does that make you feel more confident about my ability as an Internet Marketing coach?  Or does it make you envious?  Does it seem tacky?

Where’s the line?  For example, I like guitars.  If I talk about my D’Angelico guitar, which I use in my business to make video sound tracks and other audio products, is that interesting to you, or is it bragging?  What if I mention that it’s just one of the 20 or so guitars I own?

Before I was an Internet Marketer, I was a fairly successful musician (musicians don’t equate money with success).  Before that I was a broke college student. Before that, I was a street hippie in Houston, Texas.  I left home at 16 for a few months and permanently when I was 17.  I’ve been hungry, on foot, penniless, and watched an expensive car drive by.  At that time it pissed me off.  My thinking was that if that guy had bought a Ford and given me the difference between what a Ford cost and what that fancy car cost, I could live for years.  That was before I read Ayn Rand.

Today, if I wanted a fancy car I’d figure out a way to get one.  But, I can remember that hot, sad anger I felt when I was a street hippie almost 40 years ago as if it was happening right now.  I was hungry, it was hot, and I wanted somebody to do something about it.  It took decades before I realized that if anybody was going to do something about it, it would have to be me.  So, I did.

That’s my thinking on it.  What do you think?

I do a lot of things, but one of the things I do is teach people how to make money online. Some of the people I teach actually DO make money online, which brings us to point #2.

Taking responsibility for the outcome of others.

Over the years I’ve had this conversation with many Internet Marketers.  I know two marketers who left the business because they couldn’t come to grips with this problem.  As recently as yesterday, Marlon Sanders and I were talking about it.  What do you do about the people who don’t use the information you sell them?

I know that the Portable Empire system works.  I’ve got clients who use it and it works for them.

However, I’ve got a lot of clients who buy it and don’t use it.  For example, there are over 100 people in my coaching program right now.  That’s about how many I think I can handle and I stop promoting it when it gets over 100 members.  Every Tuesday, we have a coaching UnWebinar.  I do a 15 minute rant on an Internet Marketing or Inner Game subject, and then we spend up to two hours on questions.  I answer questions until they’re all answered.  We do website reviews.  We look at sales pages.  It’s a very valuable resource and you’d think that all 100 of the people who paid for it would show up every Tuesday, right?

Wrong.  Irritatingly, infuriatingly wrong.  There are usually about 20 people on that webinar.  These are the same 20 people who actually are getting their businesses online.  Some of these attendees are making real money now.  A few of them are making real good money.  They’re the ones that come to UnSeminars, do their homework, listen to the critiques and make the changes to their web pages.

Funny story- a few years ago I had a different, more expensive coaching program.  I noticed that a few of the students had NEVER logged into their account so after a few months I stopped charging them and deleted their accounts.  They automatically received emails saying their accounts had been deleted and their recurring payments had been stopped.  They ALL were pissed off at me.  I got emails saying, “I was just going to log in.  How DARE you delete my account!”  Some of the emails were quite colorful.  I was a scoundrel.  Just goes to show you, huh?

What, in your opinion, is my responsibility to the ones who don’t show up?  They can log onto the coaching site any time they want and watch UnSeminar videos, private training camtasia videos, ask questions in the forum and participate in the mastermind groups.  They can attend the webinars if they want to.

Another funny story.  A well-known information marketing publisher offered an 8 CD course through mail order and sold hundreds of them.  Possibly thousands.  The reviews were stellar.  Some time later, it was discovered that the last 6 (or seven… it’s been a while since I’ve heard the story) CDs were blank.  Research showed that ALL of the packages were delivered with at least 6 blank CDs.  There were no refunds.  Nobody listened past the first or second CD.

Short of going to their homes and grabbing them by the scruff of their necks and forcing them to participate, what can I do for them?  What would you do?

Wider Skies-

In private conversations with other marketers I’ve disclosed some of my new projects. I’ve got some exciting new Internet Marketing products coming out soon, but I’m also working on some other projects.  Some of them are only peripherally associated with Internet Marketing,  like Video Link Generator.  Some of them have nothing at all to do with Internet Marketing.  Last night I was sitting in an outdoor mall with Marlon talking about this.  I pointed to a large crowd of people sitting in the bar across the mall and said, “if you were to walk over and ask that crowd how many of them are interested in optimizing the conversion rate of their opt-in pages using advanced SEO techniques, how many do you think would raise their hands and ask for more information?”

We agreed:  none.

What if you asked, “how many of y’all are interested in travel?  Cooking?  Home repair?  Relationships?  How many hands would be raised?”

We agreed:  a lot.

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s useful information.  One of the biggest mistakes we, as marketers, can make is trying to sell people what we think they need as opposed to what they want.

I get two things from this observation.  1) I’m going to continue preaching to my students that the smart money is in learning Internet Marketing and then taking what you learned to other niches where the demand is stronger and the competition isn’t so damn good, and 2) I’m following my bliss where it leads.  My Internet Marketing business is doing just fine (what recession?), but as I look around for new projects I’m allowing myself to look at wider skies.  The fact that you’re active in one niche doesn’t stop you (or me) from playing in other niches.

What do you think?

I was only supposed to be on for a few minutes, but I hung out for the full hour because… well, I was having fun. Cool people, good questions.

One of the questions really intrigued me. It was, “there are so many opportunities, so much to do- especially when you’re starting out- how do you choose which projects to do first?”

First of all, I can tell you that the farther you go in Internet Marketing, and the more you learn, and the more people you get to know, the more opportunities there are. But, I remember when I started out. What on earth is an autoresponder and how do you use one? How do shopping carts work? How do I build a list? PDF? FTP? LSD?

How do I make money?

That was the big one.

The answer I gave kinda surprised me, because I had never put it into words before. I would have written this blog post last night right after the call except I knew I was starting another round of my diet today and I definitely needed to drink that last bottle of Malbec, because it’s going to be at least three weeks until I can have another. I’ve learned not to drink and blog.

Here’s the answer: decide what problem you’re trying to solve, and then do the thing on your list that solves your most pressing problem. For example, on a macro level, if you’re like most beginning Internet Marketers, your most pressing problem is making money.

Make a list of all your opportunities and projects. Just making the list will help you get things clear in your mind. Next to each opportunity, write down what problem it solves. If your problem is making money, this should simplify things.

Then, chunk down. You’re probably going to need a web site. You’re going to need to identify a problem that people will pay to have solved and come up with a solution to sell them. You’ll need some way to notify people that you have the solution, a method to deliver the product, and some way to get their money into your bank account.

That’s several problems.

1. Web design and implementation
2. product research
3. product development
4. product delivery
5. traffic/list
6. sales copy
7. paypal or a merchant account

Now, look at your list again. What project or opportunity solves the first problem? That could involve learning Dreamweaver or Wordpress. It could involve partnering up with somebody who is already good at making web pages. You could zip over to http://rentacoder.com and outsource that.

Problem solved.

Do that for each of your problems.

By laying it out logically, you’ve turned a seemingly impossible and endless group of choices into resources.

Of course, this works for other problems, too. Sometimes, it’s not about money. It might be about exercising your creative muscles. When I’m feeling that way, I usually write and record music. You might write, or paint, or sing… when you’re going through your opportunities and making your list, be sure to leave room for the self-actualization stuff and the learning stuff and the creative stuff. It’s all important, or you wouldn’t put it on your list.

The trick is to organize it into rational groups, so that it’s not overwhelming.

Another way to organize opportunities is to ask yourself “what’s my revenue model.” I first ran into this concept as stated during an informal mastermind meeting in Houston, Texas. We were listening to one participant talk about her projects, and Bill Hibbler’s sister, Misty, asked, “what’s your revenue model?”

(from wiki-answers) Revenue model- Describes how the firm will earn revenue, generate profits, and produce a superior return on invested capital

.

That pulled everything into focus. I love that question.

What’s your revenue model? How will you make money with this? How does this fit into the puzzle that is your business? Does this piece fit?

I use it all the time in my business. Of course, it doesn’t apply to everything. If I just feel like playing guitar, there is no revenue model. I’m just relaxing. But, when it comes to choosing which project to tackle next, that question is solid gold. When it comes to how to spend the time I’ve alloted to “working,” it’s the most important question.

On last night’s radio show, some of the callers were talking about a project they were considering. They had thought of almost everything except their revenue model. Just asking the question will focus your mind.

In life, to be successful you need to be well-rounded. Creativity, self-actualization, relaxation, inspiration, family time, friends- they all have their places and they are all important.

In business, every step you take (every move you make…) needs to be examined under the harsh light of the question, “what’s your revenue model?” And, “does this fit with the model?” If you’re not making a profit from your business, then you’ve got a hobby. Hobbies are nice, but they don’t pay for web hosting, advertising, outsourcing, etc., not to mention new cars and vacations.

That brings us to another really cool piece of terminology I picked up in college: opportunity cost. Every moment is a choice point. You can choose from an infinite number of actions at any moment, and it’s important to remember that your choices are infinite. Sometimes, examining the non-obvious choices will lead you to some interesting places, and help you get where you want to go faster. However, the opportunity cost is that you can only do one thing at a time. When you choose one action from the infinite possibilities, you give up all the other possible actions.

So, how do you choose? Well, if your goal is to make your business profitable, you look at the choices and ask, “what’s my revenue model?” If the choice fits into that model, it works. If it doesn’t, choose something else.

Of course, there are many models. It’s a good exercise in mindful living to examine what you’re doing with your life and ask yourself good questions. For example, let’s say your goal is “fun.” You can then ask yourself, “what’s my fun model?” Then, examine the possibilities and choose the ones that fit your fun model.

Since I spend so much of my time working with beginning Internet Marketers, I find myself talking about revenue models a lot. It’s easy to get lost in the minutia of Internet Marketing. It’s also apparently real seductive to do stuff just because some other marketer is doing it.

Mistake.

Putting together a membership site, for example, might fit in perfectly with somebody else’s revenue model. I’ve got several. There is a time when that’s the right next move. However, if you’re just starting out and you’re still building your first list and discovering the joys of traffic generation, that may not be the best way to spend your time and resources. Even if a marketer you really admire is doing it. They’ve got their business, you’ve got yours. Your job is to grow your business and increase your revenue. Choose wisely.

This is the sort of stuff we talk about in my coaching program. If it sounds like something you’d be interested in, click HERE.

Check out the video. Betsy recorded it with a little Kodak “flip-cam” thing. I added some music. Enjoy.

Reading back over this blog post later, I get the feeling that it may be a little too “in your face” for some. I’m just calling ‘em as I sees ‘em. Hope it does some good. p

It was also a “proof of concept” experiment.

Over a prime rib dinner in San Francisco with one of my heroes, Mark Joyner, and his lovely wife Sujen, I finally put it into words: “my goal is to be permanently mobile.” I want my life to be (look out, Aerosmith fans) a permanent vacation. That was the goal with my music career, too, I think, but the vacation part of touring is too short and structured to be much fun. What if I (you?) could just go? Find a cool town- I found a bunch of them along the central coast of California- and stay until I was ready to move on? Then, pick the next cool town and “do” it?

The pics in this post are from Santa Barbara, Ca. See my Facebook page for LOTS of pics.

On this trip, we started at Half-Moon Bay, which is just 28 miles South of San Francisco. Drove along the coast into town, and walked around China Town. Had Italian food on the sidewalk at a little bistro. Drove over the Golden Gate bridge, had dinner on the water, and then back to the beach at Half-Moon Bay. I could easily spend a month or two there. There’s a cool coffee shop with internet access. Several hip restaurants. And beaches. And, it’s cold. To NEED a jacket in mid-July was… interesting.

Then, we sloped down to Monterey. Again, I could spend a few months there. Fisherman’s Wharf. Cannery Row. 17 Mile drive. And Big Sur just a few miles away.

Big Sur is it. Every little road takes you to another secluded beach. Huge trees frame the night sky. Dinner at the Big Sur Inn. Bixby Canyon, and all the Jack Kerouac history there. It would take months just to explore Big Sur, and probably years to get to really know it and feel it.

Then San Luis Obispo, which is a lot like Austin, but with better weather and beach access. We spent two days, and that was nowhere near enough time to really explore it. But, we were on a mission. Neither of us had been to California as adults, and we wanted to see what was there. This trip was much more relaxed than a music tour, and I don’t regret moving on. But…

We ended up in Santa Barbara, which was a delight. Again- beaches. Miles of ‘em. A huge pier that juts out into the ocean. Every night, the moon rises over the bay, and crowds gather on the shore. Sailboats drift out onto the water to get a better view. We watched an almost full (waxing gibbous) moon come up big and golden over the water from a great Mexican food restaurant, with tequila, Negra Modelo, and dinners that would make most Texas Mexican food chefs cry in their pico de gallo.

Of course, getting to and from California had its moments, too. On the way there we took the Northern passage, through Albuquerque, NM (great live jazz and the plaza at night), Flagstaff, Az., which was a delightful surprise and had the best coffee of the trip. Like a little bit of Colorado hidden in Arizona. Then, the Mojave desert, which is way too big to be interesting. On the way back, we took the Southern route, through Phoenix. Southern Arizona is nice, but Southern New Mexico is stunning. Spent our last night on the road in Las Cruces, which was as surprising as Flagstaff. Great college town with mountains.

Above, I mentioned that this was a “proof of concept” experiment. Well, the concept works fine. In every hotel we stayed at, except the Bing Crosby memorial hotel in Cambria, there was functional internet access. Everywhere but the Embassy Suites in Monterey, it was free. I was able to keep my Portable Empire running just fine from the road. Most days, I worked about half an hour. Joe Vitale and I launched a new product while I was in Albuquerque. No problems. At all. I was able to do three coaching UnWebinars from the road. I recorded some video for a new product.

Bottom line, I more than paid for the trip during the trip. That’s what a Portable Empire is all about: the ability to go where you want, do what you want, and be what you want. Freedom.

While I was on the road, I also kept up with the news. I’m a news junkie. If you read between the lines, you can watch “the end of the world as we know it” happening in real time. The multi-national corporations have used the financial crisis as an excuse to get rid of a lot of unwanted/unneeded labor. The old model of management vs unions is gone. The old model of relying on a job to support you and your family is broken.

Hallelujah.

It’s about time. Horses and buggies and gaslights are gone, too.

It’s time to start thinking about “You, inc.” This can be a flash of freedom for you. The old model is gone, all that’s left is everything else. The medium is the message, and the medium is… well, you’re reading this online. If you’re like most people, you’re getting your news online, buying your books online, buying (or stealing) your music online, and if you want to, you can make your living there, too.

That’s what I proved to myself on this trip. I love having audio and video studios in my house. I’ve got walls of books, guitars and synthesizers stacked up around the walls, and I kinda missed my grill. I do love to cook. But, I don’t need any of that stuff to live a very interesting life. A duffel bag and a backpack, and I’m good. One laptop, a camera, a video camera, and some jeans and t-shirts. Gas up the 4Runner. Where’s the next adventure?

The point is that YOU can do this, too. I’ll teach you how. Click HERE.

No, it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. There is a learning curve. But, hey, this is your life we’re talking about. You can choose. You can choose to let circumstances dictate your outcome, or you can choose your outcome. You can keep on being acted on, or you can take action.

It’s really not much of a choice, is it? You can either make a choice to join the Portable Empire revolution, or you can choose not to choose and wait until your job gets outsourced, downsized, or made redundant. Either way, you’re on your own. Why not embrace the change, since change is the only constant in this world, and enjoy the freedom?

You’re welcome to re-post this article, including pics, anywhere you want to as long as you include a working link back to this page. Thanks!

Let’s talk about Internet Marketing, now.

A couple of weeks ago, on our weekly UnWebinar, I was talking with my coaching students about driving traffic to their website. Here’s the dirty truth about traffic- most of the people who are teaching traffic-driving online are just blowing smoke. I buy most of the Google/Adwords/Traffic products that I see- and by the time I buy them, they’re out of date, lame, and just plain wrong.

Here’s the problem. Google is set up to make a profit for Google, Inc. How do most people find stuff on the internet? They Google it. Google doesn’t give a damn about Internet Marketers. They’re interested in providing the best surfing experience for the people who use their search engine to find information.

As a consumer, I approve. If I want information about, for example, coffee (I’m writing this from a coffee shop in San Luis Obispo, Ca) I don’t want to know about your coffee MLM, your coffee recipes, or even your free report on the dangers of coffee. That’s why Google is crushing the one-page sales letters and squeeze pages. As marketers, those are our bread and butter. As consumers, those are just trash on the information highway.

What’s an Internet Marketer to do?

Well, you can continue throwing larger and larger amounts of cash at Google. They’ll cheerfully sell you keywords until the cows come home. There was a brief golden moment a few years ago when this made sense. Now, you’re up against Folgers, Starbucks, Procter and Gamble, etc. for your coffee keywords. The multi-nationals are big ships and they turn slow, but they’ve got deep pockets. They’re not dumb. They are ruthless. You can’t compete with them.

Obviously, you’re out of business. That’s the obvious outcome. To quote my patron saint, Douglas Adams, “if you want something other than the obvious to happen you have to DO something other than the obvious.”

So, not-obviously, you need to find a creative way to drive traffic that doesn’t involve buying the Google kids another lear jet.

On that UnWebinar, we master-minded on that problem and here’s what we came up with:

Blog

articles

teleseminar- instant teleseminar- classic view $67/month

facebook event – invite friends

linkedin event

youtube video

human interest

forums – specific to this niche

book review, amazon. Link to your profile. Resource box in profile.

Press release- webwire.com – $19.95

Facebook fan page- just for this product

squidoo lens

hub page

weebly page- 2 free

twitter

facebook

If you do all of those things for every product you launch, you’re going to get attention, traffic and sales.

It takes more time than throwing cash at adwords, but most of it is free, and… I like the disruptive aspect of it. Most marketers aren’t going to work that hard. If you do, you’ll kick their butts.

Here’s a twist on that- instead of using those techniques to sell products, us them to GIVE STUFF AWAY!

Huh?

Yep. It’s called “moving the free line,” and it works.

Let me explain. Let’s say you use your trust fund to buy the coffee keywords in the above example. Let’s even say that you drive traffic to your sales page. You’re still marketing to strangers. You’re making cold-calls. That’s the most difficult sales position to be in. It requires copywriting chops that are, frankly, a drag. I just don’t like to sell that hard.

What if you were to use those strategies above to build your list, instead? Once someone is on your list, you have the opportunity to let them get to know, like and trust you. Who do people buy from? People they know, like and trust. Instead of selling (or trying to sell) to strangers, you get to share your enthusiasm for products you really like with people you already have a relationship with.

That’s the perfect position too be in, for a marketer. Procter and Gamble can’t do it. Starbucks can’t do it. You can. And you can do it, like I am, while you’ve vacationing in coastal villages on the Pacific Coast Highway like I am right now.

That’s what the Portable Empire system is all about. Put your laptop computer in your backpack, pack a duffle bag, and hit the road- if you want. Or stay home, hang out with the kids. It’s about the freedom to live your life without answering to “the man.”

I’ve been teaching this system to a select group of marketers for about a year now, and it works. I’ve watched some of my students go from “is thing on?” to major forces in the Internet Marketing world. I’ve proven that the system works and that it can be learned.

If that sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, go to http://portableempirecoaching.com right now and sign up. You can try it out for a month for $18.

I don’t know what your dreams are. I do know that you can live them if you want to.

My dream has been to be completely mobile. I’ve traveled all over Europe, for example, but I was always rushing to a gig. And, seeing Munich, for example, through the windshield of an equipment truck on the way to whatever bar I was playing that night is NOT the way to see Europe. I’ve dreamed of traveling at my own pace, taking time to experience each town- meet some people, see how they live, eat in the local restaurants and absorb the local culture.

I’m living it. A couple of weeks ago, Betsy and I decided to test the Portable Empire system on the road. We packed up the new 4Runner and pointed it West. We spent a few days in San Francisco. A couple of days in Big Sur. Now, we’re drifting down the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping in the coastal towns. Today, we’re in San Luis Obispo, which is a gorgeous little town. Yesterday, I was sitting in a coffee shop working and I noticed a line forming outside the coffee shop. A band was setting up in the street. It turns out that San Luis Obispo hosts a party for itself every Thursday. They close off several blocks downtown, and just party. Live bands, good food, beer and wine, balloons and clowns and brilliant, happy mayhem ensues.

We had a blast.

Today, I woke up early and drove to the nearest coffee shop. Excellent coffee, free internet. I’ll spend about an hour taking care of business. Email, marketing, write this blog post, check the news… Then, back in the 4Runner to see what Santa Barbara is all about. Never been. I hear it’s nice. We’ll spend the weekend there, and then continue South, playing on the beach and exploring the towns along the way.

Most people save all year for a vacation like this and go home broke. By using my Portable Empire system, I’ve not only financed the trip, I’ve made money. This, my friends, is the way to travel.

I’ve been posting pics and stories to my Facebook page. Somebody commented, “If I didn’t know and love you and Betsy, I’d be so jealous…”

Don’t be jealous. Join us. Go to http://portableempirecoaching.com right now and sign up for the coaching program. What good is a dream if you don’t make it real?

He was headed for Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s cabin in Bixby Cabin. Beautiful location near the ocean, and most importantly, no booze. Isolation. Just Jack and his muse. It was a good plan.

First, he had to stop off in San Francisco and pull a two-week drunk.

This batch of blog posts doesn’t have anything at all to do with Internet Marketing. It does have a lot to do with who I am, and if you want to play along, with who you are.

One of the questions that I’ve always played with is “what are people for?” There’s got to be a reason for us to be on this spinning ball. I don’t think there’s an answer to the question, by the way, but I think that the process of trying to answer it is valuable.

We don’t know.

We achieve various levels of consciousness pretty much at random, look around, and make choices on how to spend the short, precious time on the globe based on the information we’re able to glean from our surroundings. One clue is to look at how other people spend their time. There are people who live in the same town they were born in, never leave, and die there. I’ve met these people. I lived in a town about an hour North of Houston. When I was young, I thought Houston was just about the coolest place in the world. They had shopping malls and restaurants and nightclubs where great musicians would play. I remember trying to engage the enthusiasm of one of my parents’ friends on the subject and their response was, “I ain’t lost nothin’ in Houston.”

So, their entire inventory of ways to engage the planet and experience it consisted of the information they could get from their home town. And TV, of course, but I’ve recently learned that you can’t trust anything you see on TV. Even the news is complete fiction. There’s only one way to get the facts about what’s going on in the world, and see all the various ways there are to live in it. Go see for yourself.

I’ve got a Portable Empire, so I’m able to work from just about anywhere. If you want one, go to http://portableempirecoaching.com and sign up.

Jack Kerouac was my beacon on this trip. The light in the distance. Buddha knows that I don’t want to live like Jack did. He was miserable most of the time, and when he wasn’t miserable he was out of his mind on cheap drugs and sweet wine. But when he was young, he, pretty much by accident, invented a writing style by copying his friend Neal’s conversational style. Thus, “On the Road” was born. What a huge force that was. Probably changed more lives than the Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

You wouldn’t have had Ginsberg’s “Howl” without Jack’s influence. Without Ginsberg, think of the writers we wouldn’t have in our Libraries. It’s scary.

Speaking of scary, we stood on the rocks next to Bixby bridge and looked down on the canyon where Jack wrote “Sea.” Jack was scared of the ocean. He was scared of the dark. Jack lasted about two weeks at the cabin.

At night, he’d take his railroad lantern and walk down under the bridge. Then he’d turn the lantern off and transcribe what the sea was saying in the dark. It made for a great poem, but… if you look out at the ocean from under the bridge, it looks like it’s higher than you are. It could roll right over you. If your mind is as pickled as Jack’s was, this could be a problem. Might happen. Better get outta here.

At 38, Jack was at the height of his success hating it. Hippies came looking for him expecting to find the lean, sharp hero of “On the Road.” What they found was an old drunk who looked 60. They brought him booze and stole his first-editions. He loathed himself- massive childhood trauma and a very odd relationship with his mother. A good therapist could’a helped, but real men didn’t go to therapists and therapists were way too quick on the draw with their thorazine, electro-shock therapy and lobotomies. Ask Ginsberg.

Anyway, Jack made it two weeks. His body was shaking with the cold-turkey of it all. He put the food out for the critters and walked the dirt road up the canyon to the road. No sweat. He’d just hitch-hike back to San Francisco.

The author of “On the Road,” the master of the lightning thumb, stood on the side of the road for 14 hours and couldn’t hitch a ride. Nobody wanted to pick him up. He looked awful. They were on vacation. Times had changed. Hitching in the 30’s and 40’s was just another way to get around. Not any more. Finally, he got a lift to the bus station and took the bus to San Francisco where he proceeded to crawl back in his alcohol hole, went home to his mother and seriously went about the business of drinking himself to death.

But, he kept writing. One of the books was called “Big Sur,” and it’s about his time at the cabin. I don’t know that I found the cabin, but I found the place where he wrote “Sea,” and I walked the dirt road in and out of the canyon. I watched the fog roll in from the ocean and cradle the mountains. To me, it was pleasant, but I’ve seen through the cracks enough to know that under the right conditions, the whole thing could get ominous and threatening. No way am I judging Jack. I just wanted to see, hear and feel what he did. We walked into the canyon, looking toward the sea and then away from the sea.

This blog post started out talking about the various ways there are to live a life. I don’t want to live mine like Jack did. But I’m grateful to him for living his- delirium tremens, heartbreak, early death and all. That may be a very effective way of creating great literature. It’s popular- most of the great writers- Shakespeare, Hemingway, you name it- were horrific drinkers and sacrificed their health for their art in one way or the other.

Like I said, that’s one way to do it.

I met a waitress a couple of nights ago who has worked in the same gorgeous historic restaurant for twenty years. She hasn’t written any literature that I’m aware of, but she’s one of the happiest people I know. And, the Big Sur Inn is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, so I can’t really fault her decision.

That’s another way to do it.

And, ultimately, I don’t think there’s a right or a wrong. I do think it’s a tragedy to not realize that it’s a choice. For me to make the best choices I can, I’m going to keep exploring the various ways that people choose to live by continuing my trip south on the Pacific Coast Highway. Stay tuned.

[gallery link="file"]

As the trip-odometer rolled over 2,000 miles, we looked out over the Pacific ocean and watched the fog roll in over highway 1. It’s been a trip.

It’s bothered me that I know the basic geography of Europe so much better than I know the basic geography of the U.S. Having taken the Dover to Calais ferry and driven up the coast of Western Europe from France to the top of Sweden, I’ve got a visual image of what those countries look like. It’s superficial, of course, but when I think of Denmark, I’ve got memories of what Denmark looked like. However, when I thought about Gallup, New Mexico, for example, it was just a blank.

Not any more.

We turned North at Fort Stockton and drove to Albuquerque, NM, where we stayed a day extra to look around. Albuquerque is nice, but bigger than expected.

At night, the old town plaza is quiet, clean and relaxed. Betsy and I walked the square, taking pictures with the new camera, and enjoying the architecture- lots of adobe and raw wood. In the distance, we heard be-bop jazz. Ornette Coleman, or somebody playing an Ornette Coleman song. Since this trip is about looking for the Beats, it was imperative that we find this jazz.

We followed the music to a restaurant club, and up the stairs to an open air covered roof-top bar. In the corner, a 4-piece band was playing in the dark. No PA system. Just drums, horn, guitar and bass. The guys in the band all looked to be in their 20’s or 30’s, and all they played were the classics. Miles Davis, Charley Parker, hard core be-bop. This is what Kerouac and the guys were thrilling to in the early 60’s. We ordered a couple of glasses of Merlot and sat back. I could imagine Kerouac, drunk and lonely, talking to a brunette in the shadows overlooking the street.

Leaving Albuquerque, we drove West- Gallup, Needles, Winslow (where I stood on a corner, of course). To be honest, this is definitely “fly-over” or “drive-through” country. It’s ugly, desolate, and bereft of decent food or coffee. The exception was Flagstaff. What a shock. Flagstaff is a gorgeous college town with excellent restaurants, the best coffee of the trip (so far), and temperatures in the 50’s in the middle of July. We ate at The Lumberyard, which is a micro-brewery/restaurant. The waiter had a masters in music, was the concert-master for local symphony orchestras in the evenings, and was a delight.

Then, back to the desert.

Friends, the Mojave desert is not a small thing. It goes on and on and on. After a while I slipped into a driving trance, just keeping it between the lines and heading West. It seemed like the desert went on forever.

Then it ended. The road between the town of Mojave and Bakersfield, Ca., was as big a surprise as Flagstaff. Instead of a flat desert, it’s a windy road through golden hills. Steep inclines which made the 4Runner huff and puff to get up them, followed by breath-taking drops. On the left, a freight train weaved in and out of tunnels above us as it followed the mountain’s curves.

Bakersfield, the home of Buck Owen’s “Bakersfield Sound,” looks like the kind of place where working men would gather at a beer joint and drink cheap beer.

Zipping through Bakersfield, we headed for the coast. Jack Kerouac and his gang weren’t going to be in Bakersfield. Driving West, it just kinda looked like California. Or Dallas. Or Atlanta. Chain stores, chain restaurants, more highway. Eventually, the signs started talking about San Francisco. We veered south towards Half-Moon Bay, and suddenly we were back in magic land. This is it. Located on Hwy 1 just 28 miles South of San Francisco, Half-Moon Bay is quaint, clean, and gorgeous. Walking the beach at sunset, we were just amazed. What a contrast. To go from the Mojave desert- flat and 111F – to the Pacific coast, where it was 58 degrees F, the sun was going down in a splash of pastel colors, and the fog was rolling in over the highway and up the hills… kind of a pleasant whip-lash.

Once we got settled in Half-Moon Bay and got some sleep it was time to head for San Francisco. Pizza in Little Italy. Walking through China Town. And then we found City Lights Bookstore- this is the center of the Universe, if you’re looking for the Beats, which I am. I sat in the bookstore and read Kerouac’s “Big Sur,” which is where we’re going later today. What I’m looking for the is the diamond genius of Kerouac’s best writing. The golden thread that ties Ginsberg’s best stuff together. The “right now” honesty of their work.

Reading “Big Sur” in a chair that Kerouac very probably sat in “his own self,” I skimmed over his description of his drunken trips from San Fran to Big Sur. The pointless, speed-fueled conversations he had with Neal Cassady. His honest but heart-breaking description of his addiction and rapid disintegration from literary star to old drunk.

That night, back in Half-Moon bay, I bought a bottle of local wine and drank a toast to olde Jack. He’s a street now. He’s a landmark. He’s the beacon that attracts the tourists from all over the world to Ferlinghetti’s book store. He was 8 years younger than I am right now when he died, his belly full of Falstaff beer, bitching about the hippies who had been inspired by his writing, living with his mom in a dark room.

Today, we’re heading South down Hwy 1 to Monterrey. Watch this space for stories, video and pics.

We’re going to keep driving West until we find the sun. And the Beats. Specifically Jack Kerouac.

Now, I know old Jack has gone to the land where old drunks go when they die. In his old age, the booze got him. He looked like he was in his 80’s, and walked like old men walk. Here’s the scary part: he was eight years younger than I am now when he died.

And, yes. I’m feeling just fine.

I’ve often wondered if living as intensely as he did when he was young just wear him out? Did splashing his soul on endless rolls of paper just deplete the life force? Obviously, it wasn’t the booze and drugs. How would you explain Keith Richards?

My theory, and I’m not going to test it myself, is that he lived a lifetime before he was thirty. When he was young, and writing “On the Road,” “The Dharma Bums,” “The Subterraneans,” “Dr. Sax,” and so on and so on and on and on and on, the man could write like Charley Parker played the saxophone. He wrote like a mad zen poet on crank, which was occasionally the case. Maybe when you write so hard you bleed, and live hard so you’ve got something to write about, eventually there’s just nothing left. Just an old drunk, trying to keep the hippies off his lawn.

When I read Kerouac, I want to pack a light bag, get in the car, and head for the road.

That’s exactly what I’m doing.

I’ve appointed Kerouac as my guiding star that I’m going to follow while I finish my new book. This book has kicked my ass. It’s bigger than I am, and it’s got me completely intimidated. Well, one thing we know (courtesy of one of my other guiding stars, Douglas Adams) is that if you want something other than the obvious to happen you have to DO something other than the obvious.

Obviously, I could sit in my office and keep not writing the book. Not-obviously, I can grab my girl, get in the 4Runner, and head to Big Sur. I want to watch the waves hit the shore and meditate at a Zen monastery. I want to buy a book at the City Lights bookstore, and say hi to Lawrence Ferlenghetti. I want to get drunk and wander the streets while be-bop jazz massages my brain out its rut. If San Francisco is light on be-bop, I’ve got my iPod. I’m ready to go.

I don’t intend to bleed, but if living life to the fullest is what it takes to birth this book, then bring on the cheap tokay and point my car West.

So, greetings from Fort Stockton, Texas. Below is a video of day 1.

Of course, my Portable Empire is with me. On the road, the iPad keeps me in touch with my people. Facebook, twitter, emails, news. Tonight, after a half hour in a blessed hot tub, I did my “business:” coaching forum, customer service, networking. My office fits in a black nylon backpack.

Tomorrow, we’re driving to Albuquerque, NM. I’ve never been. I hear it’s nice. Stay tuned for pics, video, and stories from the road. And when I find Jack, I’ll interview him.

If you haven’t attended one, it’s probably hard to imagine an Internet Marketing (Un)Seminar as being “the best weekend of your life.” If you have attended one, then you know what I mean. As the last stragglers left the Vitale Cigar Bar Monday evening, you could tell they really didn’t want to go. Facebook and Twitter have been a storm of pictures, stories and “I miss you already” posts. Several people have asked me if we can have another one next weekend!

UnSeminar8

Of course, there is a LOT of “how to make money online” information being passed around. We focus on “newbie” Internet Marketers, and even people who had never considered making money online left Austin last weekend with a clear picture of how to do that.

More importantly, UnSeminars are a family reuinion. A gathering of the tribe. Hugs. Help. Encouragement.

Bill Hibbler at UnSeminar8

Unlike most seminars, the speakers are encouraged to mingle with the attendees. Two of them, Connie Ragen Green and Erica Douglass, actually did three-hour mini-seminars of their own. For free. Need help setting up your blog? Curious about the fastest way to start making money online? If you wanted to know, they wanted to help. The other speakers joined the party.

Friday and Saturday nights were networking parties. The hotel moved a private bar into the seminar room. Live musicians entertained us. Outside, those of us who enjoy cigars had satellite mastermind sessions.

Patrick ran sound.

I heard it over and over: “This is the best seminar I’ve ever been to.”

I’ve got a theory about why UnSeminars keep getting better and better. The people who belong there keep coming back. We had attendees from all seven previous UnSeminars at UnSeminar8. When I asked for a show of hands for how many people had attended at least one UnSeminar, 80% of the room raised their hand. My theory is that the first-timers take their cues from the veterans. UnSeminars are about helping each other. Encouraging each other. The people who “got it” joined right in.

Laureen Falco beaming. She brought jewelry and candles.

I think the same thing happens with the speakers. We had several first-time speakers at this UnSeminar. The first-timers took their cues from the veterans, and by the time the pizza party rolled around on Saturday, they were all hugging and helping like crazy. I suspect the next event will be even better.

Speaking of which, I know I announced that this would be the last UnSeminar that I host “this way.” Let’s talk about that for a minute. I’m going to split UnSeminars up into two different kinds of events. For those who want the UnSeminar experience and a survey of a lot of information, we’ll have events for you. However, I’d like to teach some more advanced concepts and drill down a lot deeper on some subjects. So, we’ll have other events that are more like workshops for people who want to “go deep.”

Tony Laidig and Warren Whitlock.

By the time I got there with the equipment truck on Thursday there were several attendees milling around. The set-up went smoothly, which is always surprising. The only time I see this gear is when we put on an UnSeminar. After I confirmed that everything was working, I joined a group by the pool. Colin Joss, our copywriting expert, passed around some delicious cigars. It was a cool summer evening in Austin, and as more and more people showed up we stole more and more of the surprisingly heavy chairs from the pool-side cabanas. Warren Whitlock talked about social networking and the various places he’s been speaking lately. Tony Laidig, the public domain guru, filled us in on what he’s been up to lately. So much has happened since then I can’t remember who all was there- but we stayed up late, talking and catching up.

Jeff Crilley being entertaining.

Friday morning the UnSeminar began. By lunch time, we were “standing room only.”

Friday night, the plan was to have the party in the seminar room. I had reserved a smaller room for break-out sessions, and Erica offered to help people set up their blogs and to teach them some Internet Marketing basics. She had so many takers that they wouldn’t fit in the break-out room, so we gave her the big room and the party spread out. One group went outside with drinks and cigars. Mathew and I threw down some blues in the break-out room.

At some point, I must have gone to bed. I’m assuming everybody else did, too, but… at UnSeminars, sleep is optional. Some of the best stuff happens late at night.

Jeff handed out bubble making kits to the audience, and then ran through the room with his bubble machine.

Saturday morning, we commenced with the Unseminar. I won’t detail every speaker, but Jeff Crilley and his bubble machine was certainly a high point.

After lunch, the lights dimmed, the piano and synthesizer were brought to the front of the stage, and Lawrence Ball performed for about an hour. Lawrence is a respected composer whose latest project was with Pete Townshend of “The Who.” Here’s how bad I wanted to hear Lawrence play- I bought a piano. Of course, now the piano is in my living room, but the reason I bought it was so that Lawrence could perform on it.

The house was packed, the music was inspirational, and Lawrence was brilliant. He looked stunning in his astronaut suit, which I’m still unclear on, but he definitely stood out under the spotlights.

Then, on with the UnSeminar.

Warren Whitlock explains social networking.

Did I mention that at UnSeminars “sleep is optional” is the rule? Saturday night put a whole new meaning on that phrase. Connie had her break-out session going in the break-out room. Guitar, harmonica and piano music wafted from the big room where a large group of attendees were hanging out, and we were all relaxing after a long day of excellent speakers and great music.

I was outside, it was midnight and I was about four glasses of cabernet sauvignon down, smoking an excellent cigar and talking with a circle of friend when Betsy came out and told me that I needed to come inside. I explained that I was fine where I was and I didn’t want to come inside. She repeated that I NEEDED to come inside.

Inside, I discovered that the air conditioner had died in the seminar room. We needed to tear down the PA system, the lights, the cameras and the projector and screen and move them to the other end of the hotel. If we intended to have an UnSeminar on Sunday, it all had to be moved. Mics had to be checked. Cameras had to be checked. Computers set up, projector and screen tuned in.

Warren on stage.

I’ve learned that it doesn’t pay to argue with reality. So Craig, my right-hand man, Patrick, my son and sound engineer, and about a dozen more or less sober attendees schlepped the gear to the other end of the hotel and set it up. By 2 AM everything that could possibly be tested had been, and I headed for my suite where I completely failed to go to sleep until 4:30.

By 8:00 I was in the seminar room, confirming that everything had made it through the night safely. I don’t remember much of Sunday, but they tell me the UnSeminar went smoothly, which is a testimony to Craig and Patrick’s professionalism.

Sunday night, after hugs and good-byes to the speakers and attendees who had to catch airplanes, we loaded the equipment truck and headed home. But it wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

Jeff Crilley signing books.

By the time I got to Brewster’s Pizza Monday afternoon it was packed with UnSeminarians eating the best pizza in the galaxy and drinking Bruce’s hand-made beer. By this time, it felt like a combination of a family reunion and the last day at summer camp. Unlike summer camp, though, deals were being made. Partnerships and friendships were being cemented. Last minute lessons were being given.

Then, Dr. Joe Vitale zoomed into the parking lot with his new Spyker sports car, and the party moved outside. Pictures were taken. I’ve ridden in that thing, and it’s scary fast and looks like it’s going 90 mph when it’s standing still.

Bill Hibbler and Tony Laidig with Helena.

Then, the party moved to the Vitale Cigar bar. There was plenty of deck space for the people who didn’t want to smoke, and plenty of people who crowded into the cigar bar.

Mindy Audlin signs a book.

Later, (yes… later), we watched the sun set over the Texas Hill Country from the deck in front of the cigar bar.

Elaine Ireland had a LOT of people sign her book.

Since then, the UnSeminar has continued online. We’re all staying in touch on Facebook and Twitter, and thousands (literally) of photos have been posted online.

So, what does it all mean?

Dr. Joe Vitale explains it all.

Well, aside from the bonding, the high point for me was watching the Portable Empire System at work. The Portable Empire system works, if you actually use it. I felt some pretty intense pride watching some of my coaching students blossom. Some of them were green as a granny smith apple when we started working together. Now, they’re rocking. They’ve got businesses: products, sales pages, lists, JVs. Some of them are now teaching others- and it makes me proud to see them take what they’ve learned and 1) use it and 2) spread the word.

Connie Ragen Green being riveting. Without her cigar.

My ultimate goal is to completely change the way the world works. Nobody should have to work at a soul-stealing job. I’m looking forward to the day when employers are begging for employees. You can easily replace your standard “day job” in a year if you learn and use the Portable Empire system. And, if you really want to work for somebody else, the demand curve will be on your side. If employers are begging for employees, then they’re going to have to pay fair wages and provide a nurturing work environment.

Connie with her cigar.

Changing the world is hard work, and it won’t happen overnight. But, I’ve planted some seeds. When I watch my students teaching their students, and I listen in, I realize that the movement is taking hold. Thousands of people have attended unseminars. Hundreds have gone through my coaching programs. And many thousands more have read one of my books. I see it at UnSeminars and in my coaching program, and get emails from all over the world. Not everybody is cut out to be an entrepreneur, but for those who are the tools are there. I don’t have to wonder if it works- I can see it working.

Mindy Audlin explaining “What if Up?”

So, what’s next?

Well, I’ve got a book to write. Students to coach. Software to launch. And in a couple of weeks, LaRoja and I are heading West on vacation, so I’ll be writing and coaching from some fairly interesting places.

Lawrence Ball and a fan.

When’s the next UnSeminar?

I never know. I’m making this up as I go along. If you’re on my list, you’ll know about it first. Sign up at the top of the page- on the right.

Connie and me. And our cigars. Moose bites can be pretty nasty, you know…

In the long run, I see some very interesting things happening. It’s all about phones and the cloud, when it comes to technology. Africa and some other areas that have behind the curve getting wired and unwired are going to become more important to Internet Marketers. Video will continue to dominate, but the proliferation of ebook readers is going to create a terrific opportunity for those of us who write.

Lawrence, in his astronaut suit, performing Saturday afternoon.

But, ultimately, success is all about relationships. Like the ones we made at UnSeminar8. The days of putting your brochure online and waiting for people to find you are over. Internet Marketing is now, more than ever, about conversations. Listening is the most valuable skill you can develop- if you listen, people will tell you what they want. Your job is to listen, and then provide what they want.

The basics will always apply, but the winners will roll with the changes.

Wendi had the whole room dancing.

Enjoy the pics- leave a comment- and stay tuned.

Wendi on stage being hypnotic and outrageous.

UnSeminar8. Sunday afternoon.

Eppie and Mathew jamming.

Marlon Sanders, Bill Hibbler, Warren Whitlock and Rich hanging out.

The line to get Joe’s autograph was as long as the room. Joe gave everybody a copy of his new book.

Dinner.

Joe’s Spyker.

The best pizza in the galaxy.