Lee McIntyre’s Honest Marketing Blog

Is this the Real Internet Lifestyle?

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When I first started online I worked double hard and never seemed to stop.  I’d work late at night and I’d work weekends too.

Yeah I’d have the odd break here and there, but getting my online business off the ground took up a huge amount of time.

When I was also working as a teacher I didn’t see my friends for weeks.  I barely saw my family.

For about 6 months I just threw my all into everything I did online and didn’t stop until I succeeded.

Was this the best way to achieve my goals? Probably not.

Am I glad that I did this? Absolutely!

I’m sure it would have been possible to still make money online without taking my personal workloads to the edge of insanity.  But I’m glad that I took a bit of short term pain, as now I feel as though I’m really starting to enjoy the benefits.

This weekend I was feeling tired so I just decided to go away for a few days.  I dropped everything and enjoyed a mini holiday and yet the money continued to roll in.

This morning I was tired so didn’t get out of bed until 10am, and I’m now sat in the garden in the sun while typing this message. What a way to start the day!

I’m going to finish this blog post, send some emails, and then enjoy some fresh orange while reading the sports pages.  And I get to do it all on my terms while sat in the sun.

I’m even quietly debating whether to open a cold bottle of beer as not many things beat an ice cold beer when the sun is shining.

Here’s my point…

Running an Internet business can be hard. And starting one can be even harder.  It’s important to know that if  you really do want to succeed you’ll have to suffer a bit of pain while you get your business off the ground.

But the good news is that all that work is worth every second.

Yeah it’s hard getting going, but trust me that life feels pretty nice once you get to the other side. If you’re like me you’ll probably have moment of doubt where you question everything.

Where you wonder if it’s all going to be worthwhile.  When you consider whether you should be doing something else with your time.

I’m not here to tell you it’s easy.  It’s not.

But the rewards you will enjoy when you reach the other side are something that most people can only dream of.

I guess the question to be asked is ‘how badly do you want it’?

Anyway, I have a cold beer waiting for me and I really should make the most of this Manchester sunshine before the rain comes back for the rest of the summer…

Popularity: 28% [?]

What Are You Doing at 11pm Tonight?

Tonight is week # 1 of the Super List Building Webinar conference, and to say that I’m excited is an understatement.

At 11pm this evening I’m going to be teaching all about email lists to 25 other marketers and I can’t wait to get started!

Being a full time marketer is a dream, but there’s still a huge part of me that misses being a teacher.  I love sharing what I know, and helping others achieve their goals.

So I guess this is why I’m so excited…

Now I get to be a full time marketer AND I get to teach as well!

Tonight promises  to be a great event and I’m going to try and make it one to remember.

(For those looking to join the conference I should add that the course is fully booked and that all 25 seats sold out in less than 12 hours) 

Popularity: 30% [?]

Taking a Few Days Off

Did you know that it’s just over one year since I received my first ever Clickbank cheque?

It was a sunny day March 07 and I was beaming as some niche blog marketing finally paid off.

It’s also almost one year exactly since I launched my Classroom Management Clickbank product. I was such a newbie when I launched this, and when I go back and read the questions I asked on the Warrior Forum I almost cringe with embarrassment!

I haven’t promoted this site since June 07 but it still brings in the sales though. 

It shocked me to discover that this one little site had helped me earn more than $10,000 in the past year, and that’s with ZERO promotion or effort for months and months.

I’m not bragging about this though, and I really should be making MUCH more money with this site but I just don’t have the time (plus I like the feeling of complete AUTOMATIC income).

Anyway…

It’s been a double tough year which is why I’m taking a few days off. 

I’ve never worked harder than I have over the past 12 months, and now I’m finally in a position to take plenty of time away from the office and still have the money roll in.

I’m having a long weekend and I’ll enjoy every second!

So what exactly will I be doing?

Well today I’m off to the gym to do some excercise and to plenty of swimming.  The switch from teaching to marketing has taken its toll and I’m nowhere near as fit as I was, or should be. I intend to fix this fast.

I always find swimming helps me relax, and so I’m really looking forward to spending a few hours in the pool today.

Tonight I’m off to watch some live comedy with a friend in Manchester.  If ever I feel tired and a touch jaded, then a trip to see some comedy, or maybe the cinema, always works wonders.

And tomorrow? Well tomorrow is going to be a day to remember!

Manchester United have a very important match, and if we win we’re champions. And if we’re champions that means we have to CELEBRATE!

So tomorrow I’m meeting some friends in town for breakfast, before grabbing a comfy seat in one of the sports bars and then celebrating our victory. It could be a LONG and fun day…

And then on Sunday I’m going to lie around recovering from the celebrations!

What really excites me about the weekend ahead is that in 5 minutes I’ll turn off my PC and head out the door.

Yet even though I’m not here someone will still approve blog comments. Someone will still answer tickets.

And despite the fact that I’ll be out having fun, my business will continue to function and grow.

I’ll still make sales, and it’s a comfortable bet that even though I’m not here my business will make me more money than I could possibly spend while having a nice weekend.

That’s the real joy of running an Internet business.

And if you think this is beyond you then check out some of the dates at the top of this post. 

Have I been doing this for years?  Cripes no!

Do I know everything there is to know?  Of course not!

One year ago I was a complete newbie stumbling around not knowing what to believe.  Fast forward 12 months and I’m living the life I always dreamed about.

If you want to follow my progress then dig into the archives of this blog and you’ll get a good idea of the stages I took to build my business.

And if you really want to know how I was able to become a full time marketer in record time then grab your FREE 43 page report at the link below…

http://www.StandingStartProfits.com

In this report I explain how I went from zero to $20,000 a month in less than 161 days, and how you can do the same.

Enjoy the free report!

So that’s me over and out for a few days.  I have a cool FREE video lined up to be sent on Sunday so keep checking back so you don’t miss the good stuff.

Have a great weekend and I’ll speak to you soon….

Popularity: 29% [?]

Remember When I Told You to Focus?

You know how I’m always banging on about how concentrating on just one task at a time will lead to higher profits?

Yeah well today I’m doing the exact opposite!

I’m sat at my desk trying to write the next issue of my newsletter, but keep getting distracted. I was hoping to send this tonight but right now that looks ambitious.

Last week I was sent a DVD box set to review and I just can’t stop watching the content!

You can see some of the DVDs that keep grabbing my attention in the picture below…

I’ve not really seen many marketing box sets in the past, and the two that I have looked through were rubbish. (really rubbish to be honest!)

So when this set was sent to me I was expecting this to be pretty pants too!

I’ve been taken aback a little because these DVDs are actually excellent, and I’ve already discovered lots of cool new marketing ideas.

Which is where the problem comes in because I keep watching instead of writing my newsletter!

Anyway, I’ll complete my newsletter now and then I’ll post a full review of the product when I’ve had time to go through the last 4 DVDs.

It’s brilliant so far but I have one MAJOR issue…

Why the heck do marketers insist on prouncing the work niche as n-i-t-c-h? Clearly it’s a n-e-e-s-c-h, and if the author of this course says it wrong one more time I may not be able to sit through the next DVD!

Of course, if that’s my only issue with the content I suppose you could see I’m pretty happy with what I’m watching.

Anyway, my newsletter is calling…

Popularity: 25% [?]

The List Building Masterclass is Now Sold Out

Well that didn’t take long did it?

The list building masterclass is now completely sold out and I’d like to thank everyone for the trust shown in me.

I can give you my personal guarantee that I’ll make this a webinar series to remember!

If you missed out then I’m very sorry.  We’re completely full and there can be no exceptions.

I will though be running similar courses in the future so do keep checking back!

Now roll on May 1st so that we can get this bad boy on the road…. 

Popularity: 21% [?]

The Pitfalls of the Internet Lifestyle

Regular readers might know that one of the things I love the most about working online is the lifestyle it brings.

Yes the money is great, but it’s the fact that I get to enjoy a complete sense of freedom that I love far more than the money.

Except sometimes this can bring HUGE problems. Let me explain.

Today I’m meeting a good friend in Manchester town centre for some beers and lunch. He’s an old teacher friend and is currently on easter holidays and it’s nice to have a few beers while everyone else is at work.

In fact, we’re meeting at 12:05 down by Deansgate station which is in under 2 hours.

Which is where the problem comes in!

You see, I set my alarm this morning for 5:30. Why? So I could answer my emails, contact some affiliates, make a video, and finish week 4 of the Intern program.

Oh, and I needed to wash some clothes for my trip out as everything I own is doubled dirty and tripple smelly (I’m not very domesticated as I’m sure you can imagine!)

Well, the PLAN was to wake at 5:30 but I was pretty shocked to open my eyes and find out that it was actually 10:05! Arrggghh….

So I guess the work will have to wait, and I’ll have to make the commuters on the tram put up with the smell coming from my T-Shirt!

It’s not a huge problem of course, and the beauty of being my own boss is that there’s no one here to shout at me.

But as a teacher would I have set my alarm for 5:30 only to wake up at 10:05? No way, and if I did I wouldn’t have been a teacher for long.

I think one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed some success is because I’ve been able to motivate myself without the need for some big bad boss giving me evil eyes across the office space.

How motivated are you?

The Internet lifestyle is simply incredible but in order to prosper you have to find the self discipline that comes from keeping your eyes on the prize.

And if you don’t?

Well you just might find youself heading for drinks in town wearing socks more smelly than a garbage can!

Popularity: 15% [?]

Who Needs a Big Launch Anyway?

I’m pretty tired of the huge launches which is why I’m going to be quietly releasing my next product with barely a whimper.

(those who actually get the product will find it pretty explosive but that’s a different matter of course)

In fact, I’m not going to do any build up for the release at all.

Why? Well there’s two reasons.

Reason #1: I’m getting sick of the hype surrounding product launches and want my product to sell on the back of the quality of the offer and not the hype that surrounds it

Reason #2: The product will sell out anyway without the hype (it’s a strong offer and it won’t last long).

So what’s the product? Well you’ll just have to wait and see…

But I will give you a few clues.

Clue #1: The product is on the topic of l _ _ t / b _ _ l _ _ _ g /

Clue #2: The product will only worsen my semi nocturnal sleeping habbits

Clue #3: It will sell out VERY fast

Clue #4: Only 25 people will get to buy this product (ever).

Clue #5: It reminds me of the old days!

I should also say that this will be ready for sale this coming Friday 18th and I’ll be announcing the EXACT launch time tomorrow.

Any ideas anyone? You can guess in the comments below…

Popularity: 13% [?]

The Most Difficult Two Weeks of My Life

I usually prefer to keep these things to myself, but it really is fair to say that the last few weeks have been extremely challenging.

My nan, who I care for deeply, was recently taken to hospital with a severe kidney infection and for a long time things didn’t look good.

I’ve spent most of the past 2 weeks at the hospital and I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to spend on my Internet business.

Yesterday things really started to look up and the doctors said that she was finally responding to the new treatment and was no longer in any danger.

To say this is a huge relief is a massive understatement!

I grew up with my grandparents for a large part of my life, and I’m deeply grateful to them for everything good that has happended to me since.

The doctors say that things are looking good again, and I’m just delighted for my nan.

I hadn’t realised how tired and jaded I was until I went to bed last night at 9pm….and just woke up feeling double refreshed at 10am! Now that’s what you call a big sleep!

Anyway, I feel like I have an extra spring in my step again and it’s even sunny outside for once here on Manchester.

Now it’s time to get back to work….keep checking back to the blog as I have LOTS of exciting things that I can’t wait to share with you over the coming days and week.

Popularity: 18% [?]

A Short Break And Full Steam Ahead!

First of all I’m sorry I haven’t been around on the blog for the past week.  As most know, I’ve been working double hard recently and I just felt that I needed some time away from some of my day to day tasks.

After all, isn’t taking short breaks and having time off when you feel like it what running an internet business is all about?

And even though I’ve had a little time off, I’ve still be working in a different sort of way. You see, whenever I take any time away from my business and get some perspective, my imagination and creativity goes into overdrive!

In fact, these few days away from most of the daily work involved in my internet business has actually been amongst the most productive work that I’ve got done in weeks.  I’ve never had so many ideas in such a short space of time and I feel really excited about what the future holds for my business.

For the first time since I started working online I feel as though I have a super clear vision for the what I want to achieve over the next 3 years, and I just can’t wait to get started!

Over the coming days I’ll be sharing more about the exciting things I have planned and how you can benefit from them…

Popularity: 14% [?]

Thought Provoking Video

I recently came across the video below and I wanted to share this as I found it really thought provoking…

Makes you wonder where the future of Internet Marketing will be in a few years doesn’t it? Anyway, I hope you find this as interesting as I did!

Popularity: 22% [?]

Help Save a Child’s Life

I just wanted to make a quick post to let you know about a very special fundraising drive that is happening right now.

Many children are born with congenital heart defects, and Dr.Mani’s Children Heart Foundation is raising much needed funds to pay for the heathcare to help these children.

Did you know that corrective heart surgery can be completed in India for less than $3,000? I didn’t, but it’s certainly made me think about the impact that we can have with our actions.

Today is  ‘A Day For Hearts’ and Dr Mani is asking for donations of $10 to help save a child’s life.  If you would like to make a positive impact on a child’s life in this way then click here to donate now.

I’m just sending in my donation now, and I hope that others can join me too.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Time to Throw the Laptop Out of the Window!

I’ve become increasingly frustrated with my laptop recently. My desktop is ancient so I do all of my work on the laptop, but the more I use it, the more I realise it’s just not upto the job.

It’s a decent spec, but it just doesn’t have enough juice to comfortably handle the amount of work I throw at it per day. For example, it works fine when running one or two programs, but when I have upto 10 memory intensive applications open at once it frequently just gives up and shuts down.

I’ve had enough so today I went crazy and ordered a really nice new Desktop PC!

Base
XPS 420 Viiv Intel® Processor Q6600 Quad Core™ 2.40GHz, 1066Mhz FSB, 8MB cache

Memory
4096MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [4×1024]

Keyboard
Dell? Enhanced USB Multimedia Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)

Monitor
Dell? 22″ Black Wide Flat Panel (E228WFP) - UK/Irish

Video Card
256MB ATI® Radeon? HD 2600 XT graphics card

Hard Drive
640GB Dual Hard Drive Raid 0 Stripe (2×320GB - 7200rpm)

Floppy Drives and Additional Storage Devices
19-in-1 Bluetooth Media Card Reader

Microsoft Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English

Mouse
Dell Optical Scroll Premium Mouse

Modem
No Modem

Optical Devices
16x DVD +/- RW Drive

Sound Cards
Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio

Speakers
Dell? A525 Speakers with Subwoofer

Wireless Networking
Internal 802.11b/g Wireless PCI Card

TV Tuner and Remote Control
TV Tuner and AVIO / Accellerator

I went bampot with the features, but if it allows me to work faster then it will pay for itself in just a few weeks.

I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on it, and am looking forward to saying goodbye to the half hourly crashes that I’m suffering right now.

And if you’re a Lee McIntyre newsletter reader and thought that I gave you lots of free content now….just wait and see how much I send you when I double my productivity with the beast above!

Popularity: 33% [?]

A Weekend of Rest, Fun, Rest, Fun!

After a busy week I think it’s time that I put my feet up for couple of days don’t you?! Well, with that in mind I’m having pretty much the whole of the next few days off work, and instead I’m just going to sleep, rest, and have some fun too.

And I might even leave the house for the first time in a few days as well!

The Project New Web launch has worn me out, and getting up at 4:30am to turn off the special discount was the final blow.

Here’s what I have planned for the next couple of days…

This afternoon - sleep and watch Sky Sports News on a loop until I’ve seen every sports story 3 times! I also might dig out an Eric Cantona DVD and watch that.

This evening - off to the cinema with my girlfriend. I’m not sure what to watch, but I like the idea of just travelling down and jumping into whatever takes our fancy

Saturday morning - I’ve made a free video for my list and I’ll send this to them. It’s all prepared though so it’s just a case of pressing a few buttons and then approving the blog comments.

Saturday afternoon - I’m taking my badly neglected girlfriend for lunch and shopping. She has been so supportive, but I’ve been working too hard so it’s time to do something nice and buy her some nice things, and spend some quality time together too. (I hate shopping but I think I’ll have to just close my eyes and hope for the best!)

Saturday night - Absolutely nothing apart from sleep, rest, sleep rest!

Sunday - The highlight of the weekend as Manchester United play Manchester City at Old Trafford. I will be meeting friends for our usual pre match routine of a beer and a burger before going watching the inevitable 5-0 victory. Please don’t unsubscribe if you’re a Manchester City fan!

And that’s it….

No marketing. No JVs. No promotions. Just some rest and relaxation before I come back raring to go on Monday.

And I’ll be in a great mood of course after Manchester United’s derby day victory on the Sunday so expect lots of great content from Lee-McIntyre.com towers on the Monday.

And if we lose? Well, let’s just say it will be best I don’t blog much that day or my negative attitude might cost me a reader or two!

Popularity: 35% [?]

The Best Subscribers in the Business…

The last 7 days have been amongst the busiest I’ve ever experienced. Project New Web has been a huge success, and I’m delighted with how my product has been received by those who have downloaded it.

I often hear a lot of marketers grumble about the support tickets they get, and moaning about the volume of questions and comments as their list gets bigger.

Well let me tell you this…

I speak from the heart when I say that I really do have the best subscribers in the business and I’m seriously touched by the support that they show for me. It’s terrific to see, and it makes me feel so proud about the business that I run.

I’ve had a LOT of support tickets this week, and I’ve been trying to answer all within 12 hours, although I usually can do this faster. When you sell any product in volume it’s inevitable that there will be the odd download issue, or the odd corrupted zip file.

Even though I test everything about twenty times, gremlins still sneak in somehow every now and then!

And do you know what? I’ve been amazed and delighted by how polite and friendly my customers have been, even when they’ve experienced the odd problem such as a broken download link for a product they’ve paid good money for.

I’ve personally looked after my helpdesk the last few days so that I could offer my own support during this busy week, and I’ve loved every minute. While other marketers complain about their grumpy customers who never stop moaning, I’ve faced a helpdesk full of the most polite and appreciative people I could ever hope to meet.

They really do make it a pleasure to do business online.

I guess there’s no real purpose to this post other than to say thank you to my subscribers, and to show my appreciation to a group of readers who are amongst the most bright, motivated, and friendly in the business. They’ve made a challenging week a joy to be a part of and I just want to say thanks…

Popularity: 30% [?]

The Best $137 I Have Ever Spent!

The day before the launch of Project New Web and I was sat uploading the zip files to my server and I had a massive panic. I hadn’t realised until that point, but the whole package was 230 MB of original content, and I suddenly became aware that having a LOT of people downloading this huge package in a short space of time might cause me a problem or two!

I spoke to my host, and outlined my sales and traffic projections, and they were pretty much in agreement that the server wouldn’t be able to cope with the amount of traffic coming their way.

They were pretty blunt about it to be honest, and basically told me that the whole thing would melt very fast indeed if I had 100 people downloading 230 MB worth of content at the same time, together with 6,000+ unique visitors hitting my sales page inside just a few hours.

Luckily I was able to pay $137 and hire a brand new super server to take the weight of the downloads.  The sales page stayed where it was, and the downloads were all hastily moved to the platinum service.

Thankfully everything went well, and the server was super fast throughout and no problems were reported.  I’m glad though that I thought about this issue in advance,  as otherwise I’d have 12 JV partners and 100s of customers all sending me angry emails right about now…

And I would probably have lost a bit more hair too!

Has anyone else had server problems at inconvenient times?  And what did you do to minimise the disruption?  Let me know in the comments below… 

Popularity: 33% [?]