About

I got into internet marketing in early 2005, around April At the time I was doing hip hop music, and trying to figure out a way to get more people to come to my shows and buy my music CDs. So I read some books on music marketing. There were only a few. So then I started reading about marketing and general, and before long I landed on one of those 65 page, over the top sales letters, and it hooked me.

I was in..

Of course, I didn’t make a million over night. I still haven’t made that million, actually. In reality, I went about a year and a half before I made any money online.

I tried a lot of things. I started with adwords because the first info product I bought was how to sell information products by writing ads on Google adwords. The guy made it sound so easy! But the fact is you aren’t going to learn all the subtle reasons that causes people to buy by reading one stinking info product.

There is a learning curve to marketing. I didn’t realize that. So I spent about $150 on ads and didn’t make a sell.

Whatever. I didn’t care, it was the excitement that kept me going. Well an offshoot of the adwords technique is affiliate marketing. So I then went down that path, trying every variation I could afford.

Now here’s the thing: thinly veiled affiliate promotions don’t work. People aren’t that stupid! They know there is a “catch”. Again, because I didn’t know basic salesmanship, I floundered and flop.

But I didn’t give up.

Okay, I thought, if I can’t trick out the web, maybe I can take my knowledge of marketing and help small businesses. So overnight I became a small business marketing consultant. And it made sense. If you opened up any yellow pages book, you’d see these people didn’t have a clue about marketing.

It was easy pickings. Or, so I thought! Again, my basic lack of understanding of marketing was causing my failure.

Let me demonstrate: who do you try to sell a suitcase to, the guy with the old, beat up, falling apart, 1980′s style suitcase who is in desperate need of a new one… or the guy who just bought six suitcases last month?

Yes, it’s true that the second guy doesn’t need a suitcase. But if I had to choose who to sell to, I’d go with him.

Go with the people who are already paying for good marketing and advertising, so you don’t have to educate them. It’s much easier than starting from square one with small business owners… even though they are the ones who need it most.

Amazingly, I got a few clients, but not for marketing. Here’s how it worked. We’d sit down for a free consultation. Before long, it was apparent they were too scared to even try anything. But then I’d casually mention that I also built websites, and they’d…

Practically cut me a
check on the spot.

The problem is, I hated doing website work, or even outsourcing it. I wanted to do marketing, because that’s where all the fun (and money) was.

Here’s what’s interesting: I got into marketing to help my music career. It seemed like I make a quick buck with marketing, which I could then use to promote my CDs, shows and to get the equipment I needed to make a truly spectacular record.

But there was no easy money in marketing. At least not for me. What started as a hobby soon became an obsession. People thought I was crazy. I didn’t care. I was determined to make it work.

Along the way I ran out of money. I took a job painting houses. Sadly, the music fell to the wayside. Now I’d work all day painting and all night marketing. I soon discovered that if I wanted to make this work, I was going to have to quit my day job.

I needed something to bring in the dough, so I could work from home.

That’s when I stumbled
on something that
actually clicked.

See, after painting I would go home and do article marketing to promote affiliate products. While I wasn’t so good at making affiliate sales, I was damn good at writing high quality articles quickly.

So one day when we were rained out from a painting gig, I went home, threw up a website real quick (http://www.the-article-writer.com) and hung out my shingle as a ghostwriter. By the end of that night, the job requests were pouring in.

Within a week, I quit my day job and was making about $40 an hour as an internet ghostwriter.

I thought I had it made!

Ha! Within months I began to hate even waking up in the morning.

I still hadn’t returned to making music. I was performing some shows on the side, but I hadn’t written a song in over a year! (I used to write for 6 hours a day).

Now my schedule was work from 7am to 2pm ghostwriting, and then from 5 pm to 9 pm trying to build up my own internet marketing business. I did this six days a week.

Along the way I decided this was even more important than my health (Stupid!). I used to exercise everyday and eat a natural vegetarian diet. I even went 3 years without eating out!

Now I was eating out 3-4 times a week, and when I stayed home, I would cook a lot of processed crap. And I hadn’t exercised in months!

Look – I was obsessed. That’s how bad I wanted it… looking back, I can see how ridiculous I was, but at that time, I only had one thought – to succeed in my internet business by earning a passive income.

I got my first real
taste of that in Late 2007.

For months I knew I had a killer information product in me. See, I had written articles for clients in under 7 minutes several times. And I had some other article marketing techniques I discovered that were effective as well.

But I was scared! What if my product didn’t sell? What if they accused me of being a scammer!? Plus, I had never been able to write a whole sales letter in my life, nor actually sit down and complete an ebook from start to finish.

So how was I going to do all those things now?

I came up with the solution. If my product was going to get done, I had to write the whole thing – in one sitting! And I did. It wasn’t beautiful, I had some typos, and it wasn’t my best shot… but it was done.

Total time: 3 hours.

Next was the copy. I knew this is where I was most likely to blow it. So I made the same goal – to sit down and write the whole thing at once. And I did!

Total time: 2 ½ hours.

I thought the copy sucked. I didn’t think anyone would believe my product did what I claimed it could do (and what it had did for me). So, I decided to sell it for… the large sum… of…

$4!

And sold it did! I didn’t make a lot, but about $2,000 in less than two weeks. Not bad for six hours worth of work. Looking back, I now know I could’ve made a lot more simply because I sold it way too cheap.

But it was a start. I now knew I could write sales letters that could actually sell stuff. And I could create products.

So in a bold move, I quit freelancing for others and went on a product creation and copywriting binge. I proceed to launch over 8 products in the six months that followed, and every time I got better and better at it.

Now I almost never hesitate. I am astounded at the quality of copy I can write, and how little time it takes me. Not only can I create excellent PDFs, but I now create video courses as well. Money flows pretty freely to me these days. Enough of it that I can now focus on making my music again.

But the journey changed me.

It made me into more of a person. I overcame my fears along the way, so now I am more confident in myself. I also learned how to handle failure, so now I am more successful in whatever I do.

And most importantly, I get to help others.

When I used to paint houses, I never had someone come up to me and say, “Jason, the way you painted my house changed my life”.

Never.

But I’ve had people write me telling me that my information products have changed their life.

It enhanced the quality of their life. It has made them a better person, just as my journey has made me a better person.

So was it worth it? Yes!

And If I had to do it over again, I’d want it the exact same way.