Welcome!
This page will help you fast track through my biggest 'big ideas' so you can launch and grow an online business of your own.
Like the thousands of students I've helped over the years to start their own businesses.
But...
With hundreds of blog posts published and nearly 700 videos on my YouTube channel you don't have time to watch/read everything.
Here, you'll get the 'big picture' overview in one page and a few videos with links to the free deeper dive trainings if needed...
Let's start with my overarching philosophy:
You have the ability to escape the rat race.
The 'math' behind this is really quite simple...
When your residual income is greater than your expenses, you're free!
Now, I'm not interested in working a job I hate to save up enough money to "retire early" like the FIRE crowd.
But I do agree with their beliefs that financial freedom is WAY easier when we live frugally...
That said, I'm more interested in creating automate-able income streams online...
Which is what this is all about.
Automate your income
Earning income requires you to deliver value to others...
For example: An uber driver picks people up and takes them where they want to go.
That's a very active form of income that you can't automate.
On the other hand...
I build brands online that deliver value to people online through my websites (simple WordPress blogs), email lists and other marketing channels like YouTube, social media or Facebook ads.
Here's the main point:
The leverage in using web-based systems allows me to connect with millions of people per month and deliver little bits of value 24/7 on autopilot...
The key to automating your income is "selling" a product that takes zero time to fulfill from you personally. Meaning, a product whose sales process and delivery can be 100% automated.
Pro tip: This works best when you're selling a product that delivers an outcome your audience is already committed to achieving.
Because a product without demand is too much work.
"Selling" is in quotes here because you don't actually have to create the product, do any sales presentations or hold any inventory...
More about that in a minute.
Right now, the big idea you need to understand is this:
It is possible to build online brands that automatically deliver value and products in the form of useful content to people searching for help/tutorials/recommendations... 24x7.
And it can be automated.
What this is not
First off, this is not a sales letter.
I'm not writing this with the intention of selling you some course or coaching or any of that BS.
I'm not one of those greedy gurus who need to sell you courses to finance a flashy lifestyle. I don't need your money... I'm already living my best life.
My automated income is drastically higher than my monthly expenses.
I'm here to share the truth.
Secondly, this is not about gettting rich quickly.
Building a profitable business online takes a long term commitment of time/energy or money.
It's possible to begin everything with less than $100 like my wife and I did, years ago.
It's also possible to buy a pre-made website that's already generating revenue.
You may get a headstart with a pre-made niche site, but building a real business online that can pay for a comfortable lifestyle... And then automating the income... Usually takes 3 to 5 years.
It took me a decade.
But I had to learn this all the long way on the trial-and-error path.
Do you think I care that I spent 10 years creating complete financial freedom in my 30's?
Not one bit.
I'm patient af for goals as worthy as this one.
Ready?
Great... Here's what you will learn...
The proven path that I've used time and time, again to build automated cashflow systems online...
The Business Model Overview
Next step...
Watch this video for the big picture:
Your Audience
First off, you need to choose an audience of people who are searching for help/products and then commit to being the most helpful person in their corner of the web-o-sphere.
From knitters and quilters to marathon athletes and fitness geeks... Fisher-folk and golfers to psychics and financial advisors.
They're all audiences filled with people who are actively searching for ways to improve.
And there are 1,000,001+ audiences in our world.
Most people think of this as the 'choose your niche' phase... In this post here, I share multiple ways to 'find your niche.'
But I like to stay focused on the people. "Who am I committed to helping?" and "What am I committed to helping them with?"
Now, most people take way too long on this step...
That's why I've got my "five-minute niche finder method" laid out for you in that blog post linked above.
There are generally two reasons why people stall when it comes to choosing their niche.
Both are just expressions of the fear of failure...
Here's what the ego says:
Either...
"I'm not an expert at anything"
Or
"I'm not passionate about anything"
So what?
Choose one and do it anyway.
Follow your gut instinct and get into motion, FAST! That's the real key.
You see, with one hour of study every day for 1 year, you could become an expert in just about any subject matter.
Once you get the cashflow going because you've finally started BUILDING the skills (which comes from doing, not watching webinars or studying guru courses)...
You'll find that your passion for creating automated cashflow systems online increases as you get the hang of it.
Making money online is a skill.
Jump in, start and practice that skill on 1 niche to start... This is the 'paying your dues' phase where publishing feels awkward and confusing.
It' gets easier as you get more experience.
Plus, with the free tutorials on my YouTube channel and here on the blog (that you'll get walked through in order, next), you'll find that the tools are really quite easy to use.
The trick is sticking with 1 blog, 1 audience and 1 strategy long enough to achieve escape velocity in your business.
Then, once you've got 1 site spitting off automated cashflow, you can stack on another later and build a portfolio. Or, you can double down on that one site through advertising and creating your own products to scale a digital brand into a 7-figure or 8-figure business.
The key is to systematize the entire process so you know exactly where you need to focus, at all times.
I've broken it down to the 3 systems you must build to create dependable automated income online:
- The Audience Growth System
- The Trust Building System
- The Monetization System
Introducing The ATM Systems
Next up, watch this video to learn how the ATM systems work together to automate your cash flow:
System #1 - Your Audience Growth System:
Now...
As you focus on the first system which is your audience growth system you have a decision to make.
- Are you going to use your time and energy to grow your audience?
Or
- Are you going to use money through paid advertising to grow your audience?
If you have more time than money, content marketing is the best way to earn money online without a big investment.
I cover the entire content marketing strategy in depth, here.
The TL;DR is this:
- Choose your main publishing platform - Starting a blog is my #1 recommendation. Growing a YouTube channel is my #2 recommendation. These are the only options because they are the only ones that drive traffic from people searching for answers, tutorials, tips, tricks, etc.
- Figure out what questions, queries and phrases your audience is searching for through keyword research. Specifically, how to find niche keyword phrases with relatively low difficulty scores.
- Outline, write and publish an SEO optimized (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization) blog post or video that answers the searcher's question. You'll learn how to write an SEO optimized blog post fast, here.
- Challenge yourself to a 90 day content marketing challenge! Can you publish 1 post or 1 video per day for 90 consecutive days? If you can, you'll get through the learning curve faster than ever. Plus, you'll get through the 'sucking at it' phase and you'll feel more confident as a content creator!
If you have more money than time, paid ads are the way.
I still recommend new advertisers start on Facebook. Here's my Free 'How To Advertise On Facebook" video
System #2 - Your Trust Building System
This is your email marketing system and strategy.
Surely you've heard the saying: "The Money Is In The List"
I can confirm this is very true.
Once you've built an email list of audience members who know you, like you and trust you…
Generating cash flow is as easy as sending an email with an offer.
Whether it's an affiliate offer or something you create, it doesn't matter.
In my business, 80% of my income is derived directly from email marketing.
Now, I've got my free email marketing training on YouTube here.
But...
It can be very difficult to start sending out emails if you've never done it before.
There are so many people who have small lists of 230 subscribers are 1417 subscribers that could be making good money if they simply emailed more often.
But what do you send them?
This is where my friend Terry's email marketing templates come in very handy.
Using a "fill in the blank" style you are able to start sending emails that can engage your audience and promote your products while you get comfortable writing on your own.
Email marketing is the million-dollar skill.
System #3 - Monetization
The simplest option here is to run ads with your content.
Google and YouTube both have ad products that allow you to run ads on your content and you'll get a cut of the revenue you generate. Once your site grows and you've got enough traffic (I believe 50,000 visots/mo is the requirement) you can upgrade to MediaVine and often you'll get even more money for the same ad space.
Additionally, you can monetize with affiliate marketing.
Simply find the products that your audience is searching for and find e-commerce sites that sell those products and have affiliate programs.
You get a unique link to add to the review post or in your video description that tracks the traffic you send.
You earn a commission for all sales you generate.
The tech is simple.
I go into more detail in my affiliate marketing crash course (which is free), here.
Generally, you want to have consistent daily traffic visiting your site before reaching out to the different affiliate programs.
It's important to take time to publish great content that actually attracts an audience before you start to engage with the affiliate managers.
You want to be seen as a player who moves traffic...
Not one of the gazillion noobs who hits up the affiliate manager with questions when they don't actually have any traffic yet.
If you get good on video, you can also add UGC Content as an additional stream of income.
The best form of monetization, however, comes when you decide to create your own courses! You earn 100% of the profits from sales of your own products and things like ebooks, video courses or even memberships can be highly automated.
This is the path if you're wanting to grow your audience using paid traffic like Facebook Ads, etc.
I lay out my process for creating courses here.
In addition to creating the course, you gotta sell it too!
And selling is the most important part when it comes to your cash flow...
This is why I created the free sales funnel course and template you can get here.
Time To Build
Well, you made it through the ATM approach to building a business that generates automated income online…
Well done.
you now have a greater understanding about how e-commerce and online business works than 95% of people in our world.
The fact that you are reading this means you have the technology and Internet connection required.
The big question...
Are you willing to commit to an audience to be the most helpful person in their world for the next 3 to 5 years?
For most people, this is too big of a commitment...
Many readers are going to dismiss this free blog posts and they'll go hunting for "an easier way"
LOL.
Those folks will end up wasting their hard earned money on webinars from the greedy gurus promising some sort of shortcut or easy button method to "passive income"
The truth?
There is only one way to make money online that actually works.
If you only watch 1 video on this page, be sure it is this one, here:
I promised you the truth.
And there you have it.
Now, go forth...
Commit to your audience and create useful content for them. If you need help choosing your audience, go here.
If you know your niche and your audience, it's time to build.
The first step is to get your domain name and your self-hosted WordPress blog setup.
Then grow your audience by publishing hundreds of useful blog posts that target keyword phrases your audience is actively searching for. The process for writing SEO content fast is simple.
The real challenge is persevering through the learning curve and the 'sucking at it' phase long enough to have a library of content that the Google or YouTube algorithm fall in love with.
To do this, you need to be a master of the craft... Executing relentlessly with the intention to improve with every piece you publish.
This is a mindset game...
And, to help you win at the mindset game, check out this podcast episode, next:
Miles "The Most Helpful Marketer" Beckler