Edit: I just finished writing the post below.  This very well could be the most WhackedOut blog post I’ve made yet - and could very well change a family’s life during the Holidays.  That is of course if someone is willing to get out of their comfort zone and take action!

I accidently glanced at some headlines this morning and saw some crazy numbers as far as retail sales numbers, November jobless stats, etc.

Photo Of A Pine Cone Relaxing.

Now I’m not here to talk about the economy and doom and gloom all over you.  The media does enough of that to you.

What I do want to do is wake you up a little.

Here, step into my lab and take a seat.  

Now r..e…l….a…x….. deep breath.  Again.  Relax.

There, nice and relaxed.  All the worries and stress melting away.  Are you feeling relaxed and comfortable?  Well, if you are then…

Wake The &#!* Up!

You want to make it out there?  You got to get up and start hustling.  If you want to thrive Continue Reading »

If you’d like to know the whole story, check out the video I just recorded (seen below).  Now as I mention in the video, there are some important marketing lessons learned from a Christmas tree that falls not just once, and messes up all of the lights, but later falls again and shatters 30-40 glass bulbs, breaks limbs, and nearly gives my dog a heart attack.

So without further ado, here’s what I learned starting from when we first purchased this Christmas Disaster tree…

Fallen Christmas Tree Lessons

Lesson 1: When someone is trying to sell you something, bigger is not always better.

When talking to the Christmas tree dude at Home Depot, we discussed the size of the tree we needed.  The conversation lead to how high our ceiling is and how great it would look to have this massive tree in our living room.  Before we knew it, we left with one of the tallest trees they had.

When it comes to purchasing “how-to” marketing products online, sometimes buying the biggest course you can find on the subject matter you’re interested in isn’t the best move.  Some of the best information comes in easy-to-swallow bits of information via ebooks, videos, blogs, etc.  And of course, when it comes to Christmas trees, sometimes bigger isn’t always better.

Lesson 2: If a product launch fails once, find the problem fix it, then try again.

When the Christmas tree fell the first time, (just after I had spent a couple of hours stringing 14 or so strings of lights almost perfectly and hiding all the wires) I realized the tree must have not been as secure in the base as I had thought it was.  I had to pick up the tree and really work hard to secure the tree in the base so it’ll stay in there for good.

If your product or business launch fails (or falls) on the first try, pick it up, and do whatever is needed to build a more solid foundation (think Christmas tree stand), such as recruiting more affiliates and JV Partners, ensuring the copy on your website is top-notch, etc.

Lesson 3: If your entire business crashes and things break, you may have set up the wrong foundation.

Once we spent another couple of hours hanging countless boxes of red and gold glass bulbs on the tree, we finally got a chance to take a step back and awe our work.  We had our Christmas tree.  Finally after multiple trips to Garden Ridge, Home Depot, Lowes, and other stores, the frustration, dealing with Christmas tree lights that contained lead, and many other factors, it was all worth it.

An hour later, I was up in my office and heard a loud CRASH, SMASH, BANG, and pops from the glass bulbs shattering on our tile floor.  I knew the tree had fallen… I just didn’t know how bad it was.  Glass was everywhere.  About a gallon of water was everywhere on the floor.  It was a mess.

I was amazed to see that the Christmas tree was still connected to the stand and that the whole tree, stand and all had tipped over.

This makes me think about the many product launches we’ve seen where servers crash on launch day.  The proper foundations were not set up to handle the traffic to their site and the servers and site crashed and burned.  As you learned in # 2, having a secure foundation on the marketing side is important. But here, you also want to have the proper foundation (servers), not to mention the right size (bandwidth) foundation in place before you launch a new website/business.

Lesson 4: If all else fails, toss it aside in your backyard and move on.

After 5-rolls of waterlogged paper towels, 3 shopping bags full of glass, and a garbage back full of hundreds of pine needles and branches, it was time to throw in the towel.  We removed the few bulbs that remained on the tree, ripped the lights off, and then I carried the tree corpse to it’s current resting place… our backyard.

How did all this happen?  I did not do my proper research when looking at tree stands.  Although the box said that it could support up to a 10-foot tree, they must have only tested it with a small, skinny 10-foot tree.  I should have went with a stand that could support up to a 15-foot tree, just to be on the safe side.

Do your research before setting up a Christmas tree and of course, before you launch your business/website.  Too many people dive right into a niche without doing their homework.  Research the niche, then set up your foundations both on the marketing and technical side to ensure your business (tree) stands tall.

Sometimes we get excited about an opportunity, dive right in, only to crash and burn a few days, weeks, or months later.  I’ve been there and done that many, many times back in the day.  If for whatever reason that opportunity or business crashes, get out the broom, pick up the mess, then seek out a new opportunity or market that you’ll do our due diligence on.

Lesson 5: Opportunities often arise after a crash.

One example here is the economy.  We’re in a recession which is one of, if not THE best times to launch a new business.

Now take my Christmas tree incident here.  I was able to find an opportunity to build my business a little because of the crash.  I posted some comments on Facebook, Twitter, and of course, here on my blog about our mishap.  I tried to make what would normally be a frustrating time a little amusing for others at my own expense.

And because of that, over the last couple of days I have exposed myself and my blog to many new people, and the number of new viewers is growing every minute.  Even as I write this I see an email has just come in letting me know someone new is following me on Twitter.  How cool is that!?

—> By the way, you can follow me on twitter by going to: http://twitter.com/whackedout

Lesson 6: It’s the Holiday Season and it’s time for me to launch…

“The Limited Edition WhackedOut Holiday Sales Letter And Consulting Super Saver Special!”

Need a sales letter for a new product you’re working on or recently completed?  

Well you’re in for a treat! For the month of December, I’ve decided to take on three or so new clients at a totally WhackedOut discounted price for a sales letter.

I’ve written many salesletters over the years and had some big homeruns recently that allowed one of my clients to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in pure profit thanks to the sales letter I wrote for him. The conversion rates have been crazy.  You wouldn’t believe me even if I posted them here.

Over the years I’ve written sales letters for myself and my clients that have brought in over a million dollars, over $700,000 in the first week, over $300,000 the first week, and many others that generated numbers into the six-figures, along with many smaller small niche salesletters that generate thousands of dollars fo my clients.

Anyway, contact me and I’ll show you samples of my copywriting.  Let me know what you need, when you need it, and I’ll offer you my WhackedOut Holiday Super Saver Special discounted price.

Need some consulting for your product or business launch?  

I’m known as the “Idea Guy” in a few marketing circles I frequent.  My consulting services are also included in the WhackedOut Holiday Super Saver Special discount I’m running this month.  Contact me and we can discuss your needs.

Until next time!

I just ordered the book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur on Amazon.  (Check out the reviews this book has - I just had to order it!)  How did I learn about it?  While surfing around a little this AM, I somehow found the site: http://www.PerfectBusiness.com and they had a recent video of Mike Michalowicz, the author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.

If you’re even thinking of starting a new business and/or want to improve your business during these crazy whacked-out economic times, I suggest checking both out above.

In other news, I recently suffered (and survived) from an attack from the Blog Monster Virus.  It somehow found its way into my office and attacked me a month or two back.  Basically the Blog Monster Virus attacks your mind and does everything in its power to keep you from posting on your blog.  It’s terrible.

Thankfully, I am now cured and will be back to posting blog posts.

And you know, it got me thinking…

The Blog Monster Virus isn’t something many people talk about, but I come across blogs all day and every day where I see the owner must have caught the same virus as well.  Hopefully one day we’ll find a cure.

This is a Bloggers Paycheck review. John Yeo just launched his Bloggers Paycheck ebook and I decided to review Bloggers Paycheck and purchase it for my wife.

Now why would in the world would I buy Bloggers Paycheck for my wife?

You see, my wife already runs a successful niche blog, but we’re currently working on a new WhackedOut blog for her that will no doubt open many new doors for her.  Now, I could spend days with her teaching her everything I know, but with my crazy schedule, it just doesn’t make sense to.  

So instead, I send her a new product to read about making money blogging every few days.

Now before I sent her my copy of Bloggers Paycheck, I spent quite a bit of time going through the ebook and bonuses. I wanted to make sure that she was reading real-world how-to information that she’d really get a lot out of… and use. So let’s dive in…

Bloggers Paycheck Review

First impression of Bloggers Paycheck: Impressive list of usable bonuses - not your typical PLR type material you’ll find out there. So my first impression of Bloggers Paycheck was excellent.

Material Length: The ebook is 115 pages long and does have some screenshots. Some people go overboard with screenshots to make their ebook longer to attempt to create a higher perceived value. Although I believe that some of the screenshots weren’t needed, I do not feel John Yeo went overboard with them in Bloggers Paycheck.

Bloggers Paycheck Information quality: If you already know how to set up a domain name, a blog, and you have a reliable host, you can skip pages 27 through 31. This information is of course valuable for those new to blogging and setting up domain names and websites.

Chapter 5 covers how to write your blog post. This is actually very important for people to really understand. Good tips are provided. Chapter 6 of Bloggers Paycheck spends 30 pages talking about how to drive traffic to your blog. GOOD STUFF HERE.

Chapter 7 talks about making money with your niche blog - also a lot of great, solid information provided.

Overall score for my review of Bloggers Paycheck: I’d rate John Yeo’s ebook (and of course all of the great bonuses) a 9.8 out of 10. I’m impressed! It’s great for newbies, but it also covers some great info for those who have been around the blogging community for awhile.

And of course, I thought it was a great ebook to buy for my wife to learn from. And believe me, for the price I paid for this ebook and all of the bonuses, I’ve received less information spending 3 to 4 times as much.

To learn more about Bloggers Paycheck and how John Yeo is making $2,167.86 a month from a niche blog that he actually created for his wife as a present, go to: http://www.whackedoutmarketing.com/goto/bloggerspay/