James Schramko is the founder of SuperFast Business (as well as many other highly profitable ventures) and I caught up with him to pick his brain about how he was able to build a 7 figure business from home with zero staff, a wife, 4 children and a 70 hour job occupying the bulk of his time.

James claimed in another interview that I’d heard that he could now build a 6 figure business from scratch in record time (basically in mere hours).

When you hear the amazing skills and tactics that James shares, you’ll come to understand how he can pull it off but more importantly, it will give you and idea of how you can set up, systemize and optimize your own 6 figure online business.

Here are some takeaways that I caught from James during this interview:

- To be successful in business (and pretty much anything in life), you must want it BAD

- Get clear on what’s possible, erase the limits and think WAY bigger

- Win the battle in your mind

- Treat your online business like a business

- Get clear on what you want and why (your why should also be very strong)

- Get help

- James was making 100 sales per month at $100 commission each. He got to that level by paying attention to what was working and doing more of it. He cloned one of his sites that were doing $5000 per month and it got him to $10,000 per month.

- Set clear, big goals

In 2004 James set a goal of having $1 Million in passive income, zero debt and an acreage…but he had NO IDEA how to get it. (In case you missed it, he has SMASHED those goals and created newer, bigger goals)

- Create solid products and site that solve a problem and build lifetime clients from them

- Track clicks/keywords etc.

If you’d also like the transcription to the interview, simply comment on this bog and let me know or even better, enter your name and email address in the box on the right hand side of teh page and the transcript will be auto delivered to you.

Comment below with any questions you have for James Schramko. I’ll have him swing by and answer them.

I’ve recently become very curious about how people called “bloggers” make money blogging. I mean, I’ve seen plenty of blogs and some look great while others look and are incredibly boring. Since I’m the type that likes to pick things apart and see how they work, I figured I could do the same with these peoples blogs.

Now it’s very easy to see which ones look like crap and likely don’t achieve much while others look stunning and professional. One person who’s blog I was drawn to right away was a lady I’d met at the NAMS conference in Atlanta.

I heard her speak there and she was the first person that got me thinking about how my OWN blog needs some help (it’s coming…stay tuned).

Her name is Denise Wakeman and I just interviewed her for an upcoming Checklist product that I’ll be releasing called BlogProfitsChecklist which will basically take everything I learn from Denise and the other bloggers I’ll be interviewing.

If there are specific questions you’d like answered to help your blog get earning income, be sure to post them in the comments. The finished product will give you all the ins and outs of blogging for profit and will have audio interviews and transcripts as well as the checklist itself.

I’ll also be picking apart my own blog based on the things I learn from these blogging experts. You’ll want to see that so you can have a few laughs at my expense. Be sure to get yourself signed up to my VIP mailing list by filling out the box on the right and I’ll be sure to share the goodies with you first.

If you’d like to check out and learn from the fabulous Denise Wakeman, you can do so here.

Going post more often and I’ve got some cool new tricks to share with you!

Catch you soon
Mike

Ok, there’s not much time to make use of the $300 off coupon I’m going to give you so I’ll take care of that right now.

You WANT to learn how to build a successful online business right?
Learning it right from real live people face to face is way easier than sifting through volumes of Ebooks right?

Then attending NAMS4 is what you’d better be doing in August…and I can save you $300 off the price of admission.

Do this….go to http://immikemurphy.com/NAMS4

Scroll to the bottom and click the “Register Now” button…

Enter NAMS4MAY in the coupon code box and fill your info in.

You’ve got to do it quickly though…the code is only good until the end of May so that’s just 3 more days….

For another awesome sample of what you’ll get to learn at NAMS4, listen in to the audio interview below that I did with Maritza Parra and Jeff Herring. Maritza is teh queen of product creation and Jeff is an article marketing powerhouse. Both are VERY on fire with social media and I can’t wait to learn all I can from them in August. I hope to meet you there as well!

Here’s the interview….

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Now if that doesn’t make you want to attend NAMS4, you might want to ask yourself if you’re actually even serious about building an online business!

Get over to http://immikemurphy.com/NAMS4 and use the coupon code NAMS4MAY to save $300 on the price of admission before the price goes up on Tuesday.

I’ll meet you in Atlanta this August!

Mike

I recently did an interview with a Niche Marketing expert named David Perdew. David is the founder of Niche Affiliate Marketing System which is a 3 day seminar but it’s unlike any other seminar you’ve been to or heard about before in that it’s not a constant pitch-fest where the speaker tells you how awesome he or she is for 45 minutes and then hammers you with a course worth $64,987 that they’ll sell to you RIGHT NOW ONLY for just $2497.

Actually, pitching is prohibited at NAMS and the focus is on pure content and what you need to jumpstart your business or take it to the next level. This August will be the 4th NAMS event and NAMS4 is chocked full of experienced marketers and super affiliates ready to help get you unstuck and on the right track.

Have a listen as David explains some of the pitfalls to look out for as a new marketer, how he got past them and what you can expect at NAMS4.

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After you listen to the interview, click here to check the event out. Enter the code NAMS4MAY to save $300 off the price of admission but hurry….that coupon is only good until May 31st.

See you at NAMS4 in august!

Mike

I’ve learning an awful lot lately. I stopped trying so hard to learn about business and money and started paying more attention to people, their actions and relationships.

“Shia LaBeouf has a meaningless life” was a headline that caught my eye on an online new headline.

If you don’t know who Mr. LaBeouf is, let me bring you up to speed. Shia is a young actor who has appeared in movies like Transformers, Eagle Eye, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Disturbia and many others.

I found it interesting and mildly disturbing that Shia would find his life ‘meaningless’. Be forewarned, I’m not about to go off on some “movie stars have it so great and don’t know how lucky they are” tirade. I find it disturbing because I thought:

A) I really hope he’s not feeling meaningless enough to end his life.
B) What does his life lack that would make it have meaning?
C) If I were to be standing face to face with Shia, could I teach him the things I’VE learned and would that have a profound enough impact to allow whim to see meaning in his life
D) What makes a persons life have meaning?

Pretty deep stuff for a Sunday evening blog post on a blog that is geared toward Internet Marketing right?

Since this is a blog that very few people read, I’m sure Shia LaBeouf will never make it here to read this but if he happens to, I ask this? Shia, what are you missing that is making your life lack meaning? What do you have in our life that gives you joy and is rewarding?

I mean, here I am…a child of the recession so to speak (job eaten up by the recession, two babies to feed, mortgage to pay, wife to keep happy etc) and I’m only 35 years old. Shia might think I’m an old fart since I was already getting pubes when he came into the world, but here’s the thing….

EVERYTHING has the meaning that you give it! I REALLY and I mean REALLY REALLY believe this. I never used to but it has caught on.

I wanted to be an actor for a while. People told me I was funny and was a “character” so I went to some auditions, got passed over and moved on. I could have written my life off at that point as being “meaningless” but instead I went on to other things.

In those “other things” I found ways that I could add value to other peoples lives and I think that is part of what Shia LaBeouf is lacking.

Shia has money, he has fame, in many ways he kind of has the world by the short and curlies and just doesn’t know it. The part that he’s lacking is WAY more huge than any amount of money, houses, cars or acting career could EVER replace though and that’s VALUE.

My next question to Shia would be “do you see the value that you’re adding to the world?” followed by “do you think that others value what you’re giving to the world?”

If he couldn’t answer either of those or said no to the second question, it’s time to find something that Shia can do to add value.

See, I used to say that I didn’t care what other people thought of me. In some cases that’s still true as I live for my family and myself and not the whole population. BUT…we all care what others think about us to some degree and if Shia knew in his heart that he was adding true value to the lives of others, that feeling of “meaninglessness would disappear”

Shia, would you like to learn how to fix this easily? Have your agent call me/email me/Twitter me etc. or reach out yourself. You’ve got the keys, you just need to find out which one opens the door your face is pressed up against!

Mike

So I read a post by a very unhappy person on the Warrior forum today and it really hit home. Given the stuff that has happened to me in the last couple of months, I could really relate to his (will call them a he as the left no name) situation VERY well.

My wife is a director with Mary Kay cosmetics and people joke that the Mary Kay ladies “live in a pink cloud”. While I cannot confirm or deny this, I think it’s hilarious. The reason they are in this mindset of the pink cloud is because they inspire each other to be their best.

They share all kinds of inspirational audios and videos and even hire motivational speakers to appear at their events. They’re all into The Secret (some to a ridiculous degree) but the point is that the power that drives them and allows them to succeed is MINDSET. They fail forward gracefully.

Now I hope this posters drops by my blog, finds inspiration and hope and pulls himself out of the drudgery mood he’s in. Internet Marketing (despite what many would like to have you believe) is a long and drawn out learning process for most of us and the $2 million in 90 days scheme just doesn’t happen for most…if any.

I have a domain that I bought shortly after I heard the words “internet marketing” and that domain is www.marketingnewbielaunchpad.com The idea there was that I’d seen hundreds and hundreds of new marketers posting about how lost and confused they were and I wanted to help them out once I figured out what the heck I was doing. I also love to interview experts and pick their brains about how they build their businesses. Many marketers do teleseminars and then sell the audios. Sylvie calls these folks “teleseminar idiots”. She’s very shy and doesn’t always speak her mind but I get what she’s saying.

Anywho, I still wanted to do these interviews and I have done a could and will be sharing them for free on my newbie launchpad site. Does that make me worse than an idiot because I not only did it but also did it for free? I have no idea.

Bottom line is people like my friend in the post I mentioned will never be alone as long as that site, this blog and I exist.

In the first interview, you’re going to hear a friend of mine named Craig who makes a very nice living online as a super affiliate and product creator and in the second interview you’ll hear another friend who is a motivational speaker with a passion for helping people manifest their dreams.

Stay tuned to this blog for details as to when my site goes live….shouldn’t be long now!

Stay positive!

Sometimes you stumble upon a person that is very driven, passionate and really seems to be living life and you wonder how the heck they pull it off. Trouble is, you’ll never be able to get close enough to ask them.

I recently added a new friend to my Facebook account named Darren Jacklin and he was exactly this kind of person….except for the “never get close enough” part. I hooked up with Darren and spoke to him on the telephone for over and hour the other day. It was intended to be an interview but we wound up having more of a casual chat like two buddies.

We swapped ideas on my current situation and my future plans and he inspired me like few others. The guy is just a ball of fire and very energy filled!

Darren keeps what’s called a “bucket list”. Whether you have one or not, you need to go check his out. See, I’m all about setting goals and having dreams, but if you never take any steps toward reaching them, it’s just wishful thinking.

What I’ve learned lately is that the main thing that holds us back is simply our thinking and preconceived notions about what we can and cannot do.

I hope everyone that reads this blog gleans a few nuggets of inspiration from it and shares their dreams, goals and successes here. I totally done with all of the doom and gloom and I REALLY want to start hearing some good news for a change.

I’ll be sharing more info about Darren, his thoughts and ideas and what develops in our new relationship as time goes on, but for now you can read up on him at www.darrenjacklin.com

Go be inspired!

So I read a post on the Warrior Forum today about a girl that really inspired me. Her name is Amy Bass and despite some pretty crappy things happening to her in her life, she set a large goal for herself, stuck to it and won!

In 21 months, she managed to pay off over $72,000 in debt and is now debt free. This was all accomplished by marketing on the internet.

A while back, my wife and I were talking about what it would take to drive us to the level we wanted to get to. I said that Tony Robbins theory is that we needed to get disgusted with our current situation to the point that it drove us to change it.

Well, now that I’m out on my ass and can feel the crushing pressure of knowing that our savings will be dwindling as the days go by while I’ve no job, that nasty little bit of self doubt whispered something to me today which was “have you got IT?” I mean, you read stories of people who are faced with shitty odds that do amazing things and come out on top like champs and this little voice has the nerve to ask me if I have the guts, drive and stamina to win the fight and come out on top?

It scared me a little bit to be perfectly honest but I intend to find out the answer…I really have no choice but to find out! Now I must dig deep and dredge up every ounce of “you can do it” that I can muster to prove to myself once and for all that “I’ve got it”.

I’ve only been a victim of the recession for 4 1/2 days but I’ve had enough of it thanks…..bring on the do or die!

Ok, I’m dropping the whole “unemployed day #x” bullshit from my vocabulary and my blog. It was a long, depressing week and I’m fed up!

My goal was to take on a bunch of extra writing work and stuff like that for internet marketers so I could earn a few extra buck but people will write you articles for next to friggin’ nothing. Yeah, they might suck but I actually found a few people who looked REALLY promising that were not that expensive. We’ll have to see how that plays out.

I figured if I continued on with the “poor me” crap and let this bring me down, how would I ever succeed? I contacted a new Facebook friend who I found very interesting named Darren Jacklin. Turns out he a very successful and driven lad and an excellent motivational speaker.

I dropped him a line on Facebook and he actually replied to me and said we should speak on the phone this weekend. Now I hope it doesn’t cost me $500/hour because unemployed folk should spent $500 on chit chats with ANYONE…..BUT I just know that we can come out of this swinging and it it would be awesome to share it with as many people as we can.

It should be interesting to see what Darren has to say. I plan to offer to interview him and I also plan to inquire about hiring him for a Mary Kay event for my wife’s business.

I always believe in others and am confident that they can do anything they set their minds to but sometimes I lose sight of that same belief for myself. You could say my mindset needs adjusting from time to time.

I will not give up, I will remain hopeful and full of zest, I will succeed at all costs and provide my family and myself with all of the fulfillment and satisfaction that we deserve. Will you do the same?

So with all of the doom and gloom at the j.o.b. and being left hanging for the weekend to stew about what “might” happen Monday (very gentlemanly thing to do) I’ve been forced to look within myself and my finances VERY closely.

Finances because I’ve often wondered (and covered in previous blog posts) if there were ways we could spend less money and of course just what the heck we actually DO spend our Money on. They say desperate times call for desperate measure and it sucks to scramble to pick yourself up when the sh*t hits the fan and you’ve got to figure things out quickly.

Necessities…that’s an interesting word with a very loose definition as it varies greatly from person to person. In my eyes, the only necessities are food to eat, heat so you don’t freeze, shelter, water to drink, electricity to power your home, telephone or internet service if (and only if) that is how you earn your money and transportation to get where you need to go to earn money or for medical attention.

I believe in simplifying things and that’s what were up to at my house. Identify the pure necessities and make that our baseline budget. Everything else is “extra”.

I think getting on top of these things will give us a clearer picture of where we are and where we need to be as we head into some potentially trying times.

What makes the times trying is the fact that people feel scared, hopeless and beaten up. I had a brief spell of the “poor me’s” and the hammer hasn’t even fallen yet. My HR lady says to “remain hopeful”. That does sound great and I appreciate her support but hope is not a success planning tool.

The point is that if we are to remain motivated and hopeful, we must clearly define where we are and where we need to go, identify and embrace our strengths and go market them to the masses. Some one is bound to offer your next opportunity!