This was me working from an exhibition centre yesterday…

£315 ($480) writing revenue all from my iPad using 4G network via my iPhone as a wifi hotspot and all while setting up a stand.

The day before was even better…

It’s not always like that though, obviously

Smug ‘I earn from anywhere’ story? Absolutely

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Well we’re using the new PayPal tap and go reader at our trade shows and retail fairs for the offline business. It’s extremely impressive. It sometimes takes a few moments to find it’s connection but nothing serious and although my wife uses it more than me we’re both very impressed.

Her reader developed a fault just before the current expo we’re doing and the display didn’t offer a reboot or anything, just told us to contact Paypal. On doing this a replacement was couriered out within 48 hours, and Paypal support were spot on.

I WAS going to say the only downside was having to buy the new model handset since we already have the ‘old’ white one. But if we hadn’t had it as a fallback when the new reader went faulty things would have been very inconvenient.

Overall, great device, been flawless so far (touch wood) and support are excellent too.

 

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What can I say?

Get on as many direct mail lists as possible.

I’m talking real, physical sales letters than come through the post.

These guys hire the best copywriters around.

You can get an entire copywriting education from studying these.

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I got my PayPal.me name this morning.

If you’ve not come across it you can use
this to send and receive money very
simply – a little form opens up – all very cool

It’s going to be very popular in my opinion
(go check it out) except for one snag. 

You need a unique username – preferably
your own name or business name

I couldn’t get tonyshepherd because it had
already gone so I got tonyshep, which considering
the different spellings of my surname might
actually work better

…but if you don’t want to end up with a
link such as PayPal.me/Fred9898767 (not a real one)
it’s probably a good idea to grab yours now before
the good ones are taken

Just go to Paypal.me and follow the instructions.

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At the cinema with the kids yesterday

My son wanted popcorn so I ordered a ‘medium’ box of popcorn for him.

The girl serving asked me if I wanted to ‘go large’ with that for an extra 25p.

‘No thanks’

So she turned and grabbed two empty boxes to show me.

One was the medium size box I’d ordered and the other was the large size that I could ‘go large’ to for the addition 25p

The large box was easily three times the size of the medium one and seeing them in front of me I actually felt foolish for NOT taking the ‘go large’ upsell.

So we went large.

Obviously the pricing of the two options were so close that I’d presumed it had been tracked and tested to make going large a no-brainer.

But what hit me was how POWERFUL it was to visually see the two boxes next to each other.

Whoever had trained the staff to present the upsell was good, and the if it was assistant herself who had worked out how to make the upsell by showing customers the boxes together…

…I’m hiring her 🙂

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…but as long as I don’t tell it, I should be OK

I was body boarding in Scotland a week or so ago (yes I’ve got an old pair of specs on because I’m blind as a bat without them)

The picture I’m not showing you is from a different angle complete with beer belly and bald spot.

But you have to have a go right?

Last week I was Kayaking.

I’m 6’4” and weigh more than I should so as soon as I sat in my Kayak it sank disturbingly and I spent a chilly hour with my balls in six inches of water.

But it was good fun.

You’ve got to have a go right?

My point is that everything doesn’t have to be perfect.

I’m too fat for a wetsuit, too heavy for a Kayak and not fit enough to do either for more than a couple of hours at a stretch.

But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have a go.

Same with my online business.

The first client who hired me years ago knew almost as much as I did about setting up an email list and beginning an email marketing campaign. It worried me and I felt like a fraud.

But that extra 20% that I knew meant we could work together and build him an affiliate marketing business that made him $10,000 over a two month period.

I had a go, and when I came out the other end I’d achieved something for myself and my client and it boosted my confidence no end.

Now I can pick and choose clients and my coaching offers sell out in a few days. I know what I’m doing and the results I get for my clients speak for themselves.

But if you don’t have a go – if you don’t get stuck in and find a way to overcome having your (metaphorical) balls in freezing water for a couple of hours, you won’t progress.

When you open your new coaching offer, begin your email marketing business or publish your first ebook you WILL feel uncomfortable. I don’t like being out of my comfort zone despite the advice given by every damn self-help book I’ve ever read.

But sometimes you realise it just has to be done

My advice would be to enjoy the new experience and realise you’re better than you think you are.

And afterwards it won’t just be your wetsuit that’s stretched beyond it’s normal limits, it’ll be your mind, your experience and your confidence…

…and ultimately your income…

 

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Traffic…

…isn’t the problem.

Anyone with a Visa card can go out and have 10,000 clicks to their website in a matter of hours.

It’ll cost you (ballpark) around £3,000 depending on your source of traffic. My example is solo ads.

Traffic is easy.

The hard part is setting up a selling system that you KNOW will give you a positive return on that £3,000

So why do so many people put their main focus on getting traffic?

Focus on your selling system because everything else is easy.

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Write the opening line of your report

Record the first video of your training course

Order the logo for your new blog

Subscribe to that funnel building platform

Just do the first thing and get it started

Because then it becomes more than an idea or notion

It becomes REAL

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I don’t like the term ‘winner’ when it relates to success.

It suggests there’s a race and that for someone to win someone else necessarily must lose…

…and I don’t think that’s true.

Many people don’t even start the race and that’s cool – it’s up to them.

Even at school I wasn’t competitive.

I played in the football and cricket teams and was the high-jump champion one year (it helped being six feet tall at 12 years old!)…

…but I was never really competitive.

If I came first in something that was great.

If I came last it didn’t matter too much though.

I see mates I went to school with and some are madly competitive STILL – their kids HAVE to be the ones that come first in party games, or if there’s a dad’s competition it turns into an olympic sport with some blokes needing to win.

It’s all done with a lot of laughter but you can see there’s a real edge there with some people, again which is fine

I learned very early on that I was at my happiest doing things at my own pace and with my own goals in mind.

This doesn’t mean I’m not driven or motivated – I am – and if I find myself on a leaderboard for promoting an affiliate product then maybe that $1,000 for coming first isn’t the only reason I want to come out on top…

…but the fact is I’m not really competitive, and guess what?

It’s fine.

And like I said, business is good and I’m happier now than I’ve ever been in my life.

That makes me a winner I reckon 🙂

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Had one of these when I was a kid.

It was second-hand back then (I’m not that old) but saw this in an antiques shop a little while back for £80 ($120)

Still think people who leave them in the boxes and don’t play with them are weird though 🙂

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