The Real Truth Behind Making A Living On The Internet

CONVERSATION

Terry:

Hi. It’s Terry Telford and I’ll be your host this evening as we speak with Tahir Shah. Tahir has been online for almost 4 years, but he's one of those guys that's been working behind the scenes, quietly amassing a fortune and not straying into the limelight…until recently. Earlier this year, Tahir came out with his book "Dreams Not For Sale" and right out of the gate, sold 1,000 copies.

That really set the stage for Tahir's campaign against ignorance and the herd mentality. He's one of these guys that got fed up with all the rubbish online. He got tired of people being fed a bunch of bogus information and he started to set things straight with a series of products that cuts straight to the heart of the matter and exposes the truth. The truth about making money online, the truth about business online and the truth about who's going to make it and who isn't.

And today, we're lucky to have Tahir with us, so he can debunk some of the myths we sometimes get trapped into believing and he's going to give us a tell all knowledge session that will leave you with a clear picture of the who, what, when, where, why and how of doing business online.

So without further a due, Tahir, thanks for being with us today.

Tahir:

Cheer's Terry, it's a pleasure to be here with you and everyone else on the call tonight.

Terry:

Let's start at the beginning, what's your background and how did you get to where you are today?

Tahir:

Sure, well In a nutshell I come from an offline background in sales, sales training and consulting. But I've pretty much always been involved in business offline at some point. I've helped turn companies from start up enterprises into multi-million dollar organisations.

But I don't want to waste any time on this call without sharing a learning experience with the listeners, so I'm going to focus on something with your permission, Terry, from my background -  but as a learning point for people, if I may, rather than just ramble on about my background.

My first taste of business was 21 years ago at the age of 17. I started a business importing oil paintings from Hong Kong and Taiwan. These were brilliant. The two types of paintings I concentrated on were Old Master Copies, and Portraits painted from photographs. And I learned so many lessons from that first business that I've never forgotten to this day.

Let' me explain quickly how.

Firstly, I tried selling the old master copies. These were faithful reproductions of the Mona Lisa, the Sunflowers, any famous artist of yesteryear... if they painted it... you could get a painting reproduced.

Of course it wasn't the original... but it was an original, painted exclusively for you in oils on canvas.

The trouble was... I knew nothing about art and famous artists, and when it came to it... neither did most other people. So finding someone who truly appreciated what I was selling was really difficult.

And I was door-knocking back in the day... I didn't have a shop, or place to display... I had one example of a painting... and a catalogue of the different paintings that I had to offer.

And when I came across someone who knew art... they quickly realised I didn't have a clue about art or what I was selling myself... so the credibility and the sale went straight down the tube. So I decided to concentrate on the other side... portraits from photographs.

So in a nutshell I'd send the photograph off, and 3 weeks later, I'd receive the painting, which was a true likeness to the photograph with the canvas rolled up in a tube and hand delivered by the postman.

I knew that what wow'd people was when they saw their own portrait painted in oils on canvas, so I wanted to target two markets primarily. Weddings and Students graduating from university.

But I had some major obstacles...

1)    I couldn't drive and didn't have a car.

2)    I had very little in terms of money.

3)    You know some 17 year olds look older than their age... I was a 17 year old that wouldn't have taken myself seriously if I’d seen myself now, at the age I was back then. I mean I looked really young, and it's hard to get people to part with their cash if they don't take you seriously - I looked like a school kid who should be doing a paper-route, not like someone who should be asking people for $200

That was lesson no. 1  - no credibility = no sales

So I knew that I had to build the credibility factor, so I asked my bank manager if I could have a photograph taken with him, and bring in a local reporter to take that photograph and write a story in the local newspaper about me and my oil paintings business.

So that's what I did, and when the story appeared I took a cutting of it from the paper... so that I could show people... that look this really is me, this is my business and that they could trust me that this was all legit and above board, and I wasn't just asking them for their money and a photograph and promising them something in return 3 weeks down the line.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, armed with just my newspaper clipping and bundles of energy, drive and enthusiasm. I ended up getting signed contracts with 3 universities... to offer the portraits from photographs to their graduates after graduation day - But here is the biggest mistake I made.

All the literature I had prepared was targeting the students, and mailed out to the students after graduation. And do you know where it all went? In the bin.

Why? Students didn't want to buy portraits of themselves... they'd rather spend that money on drinking beer and partying...

The people I should have been targeting were the parents of the students. I had the wrong people opening the right message, targeted at the wrong audience.

And that was my first and biggest lesson in business. A cock up on a grand scale with no second chances.

And as far as business and making money are concerned, do you know what has changed in those 21 years, Terry, from the story I've just told you?

Nothing...

You need to know your market and you need to build your credibility. And that doesn't mean you have to be an established expert that everyone recognises, although undoubtedly that is what you should be working towards... it simply means that your website shouldn't look like it's been thrown together by a 10 year old on a free hosting account.

If you don't treat yourself and your business seriously, you won't get any sales. And when it comes to getting traffic? You could have the best product in the world, but unless you know exactly who the cash paying customers are for your product or service, and target your message to them...you won't make any sales, regardless of how many people you throw your message out to.

So that was my first introduction to the world of business, and over the 21 years that followed, I still made many mistakes, but learned from each one as I went along and became better at recognising mistakes, and patterns and scenarios before they presented themselves.

And I took those learnings and started helping others... a mistake is a mistake... it doesn't matter what business you are in, which industry you are in...or what product or service you are selling.

And a proven strategy is a proven strategy, despite which business you are in, which industry you are in or what product or service you are selling.

So to sum up, from that start and over the next 21 years that followed until now, I've been taking away those mistakes and identifying the proven strategies in everything I do.

Terry:

You've been doing business online for about 4 years, but you just emerged from the shadows early this year. Why did you decide to step out into the light and start your campaign of truth?

Tahir:

Well, my offline commitments were coming to a close around about the same time my online business was beginning to start paying handsome dividends. And up until that point, it only had my part time commitment.

But when I was ready I knew what my online strategy would be, and I knew pretty much how I was going to execute that strategy. I'd seen what I liked online and what worked online for me... and I saw the problems that most people faced and the mistakes they were making. And the biggest mistake was caused by confusion.

People being confused by so many different money making methods being fired in their direction, whereas those people that do make money online, relied on proven strategies and techniques that work for me, for you or for anyone else that employs them.

And it was thinking about my subscribers and knowing that many of them, were in exactly that same predicament... Being sold a dream of online riches, but never being any better off.

So that gave birth to "Dreams NOT For Sale" - Because i really wanted

to be someone who wasn't selling a pipe dream, but really showing people exactly what had worked to get me up to the point that I was at - Making thousands of dollars a month online, without any JV partners, without an affiliate program, and without buying into every money making dream that people were out there selling.

But for me that was not the end of my journey... it was the new step on a journey that went from a part time commitment and very quickly became a full time adventure that has opened so many exciting doors for me.

So for anyone thinking wow... can I do this... here's the thing.

Even though I was making thousands of dollars online each month before I wrote "Dreams not for sale"...Even if I had just come online at that point where I wrote “Dreams not for sale”... I would still be where I am online today.

And here's why.

When I wrote "Dreams not For Sale" I knew no one. And I mean absolutely no one else online, outside of my own subscriber base. And no one knew me.

I didn't have any JV partners, I didn't have any favours to call upon... it was all from scratch. So I set myself a target... I wanted to get 100 JV partners minimum for the launch. And it's amazing... when you set yourself a goal, and are prepared to work your butt off to achieve it... you almost always do.

That's what I set out to do... that's exactly what I did, and as they say, the rest is history still being written.

Terry:

I'd like to jump right in to some of the truths you've been revealing. I think the first "against the grain" presentations I saw from you was an audio report called “Nice customers – rude marketers.” Can you share with us what that's all about and why you chose to speak out against this trend?

Tahir:

Well, in a nutshell, that was about the ugly trend of the “I’m Better Than You” and rude approach one marketer was taking and how other marketers were following in that marketers footsteps and why they should be condemning instead of condoning that style of marketing.

It was an issue I just felt I couldn’t keep quite about and people can get free access to that audio report by visiting my blog and looking at the free products section, which they can access from the top menu.

Terry:

You've put together a course that is quite different than anything else I've seen online. Instead of the relax on a beach, work in your underwear, buy 2 or 3 Ferraris type course, this one is a sensible, level headed approach to making some headway online.

I want to read something from your website that really sums up what's happening to people online.

"Which Would YOU Prefer:

A Brand-New Mercedes Or A Second-Hand Bicycle?"

Before You Answer: Read both scenarios below...

Scenario #1:

You are sitting in a brand new Mercedes. It has all the gadgets that you could want and you’ve bought some optional extras to add to it… Ahh… this is going to be the envy of all of your friends.

The trouble is you are stuck in a never ending gridlock and can’t make any headway despite the cost of your fancy car.

The salesman told you that you could get great speed and great mileage too… but at the moment you aren’t getting any of that.

Not because it’s not capable of doing those speeds or mileage… simply because you hadn’t planned on there being a traffic jam or so many other obstacles in your way.

Right now - never mind your planned destination - you can’t even see past the rear bumper of the car in front of you!

And to make matters worse… in this virtual world… there is NO escape from the gridlock and you’re going to stay stuck in it forever – but no-one has told you that yet… so you look anxiously at your watch… Time is ticking on…

Scenario #2:

You are in the same virtual world riding your second-hand bicycle on a clear sunny day.

You’ve been weaving and bobbing your way through obstacles in front of you all day long and with minimal effort.

On your way through the gridlock, you offer a friendly smile to a man sitting in his brand new Mercedes… he doesn’t look impressed. He’s in a Mercedes - you’re on a bike - and he gives you an “On-Your-Way-Bicycle-Boy… What-Do-You-Know?” kind of look.

And so on you continue…

Whilst all the traffic is caught in the traffic jam trying to move forwards, you notice a little side street… most of the traffic is going in the same direction - but it seems to be heading nowhere… so you decide to venture into the little side street and find yourself coming out on a wonderfully clear road with no further obstacles.

You look up and see a sign-post:

Looking across the road you see a similar sign pointing in the opposite direction...

But traffic is only one way on this road… no-one EVER looks back.

You quickly catch up to one of the other travellers on this road and you say, “Hey… shouldn't we tell them about this route?”

He replies… “They wouldn’t believe you even if you hit them over the head with with it son… we’ve tried many a time… now we just enjoy where we are… and let them continue thinking they can find out how we got here.”

www.TheNightmareEnds.com

I think that really sums up your approach to the online world and I applaud you for taking the stance you have.

Something else you've taken a stand on is the niche-marketing trend. Most internet marketers tell you to find a niche and launch a product into it, you say don't bother. Why is that?

Tahir:

What I refer to specifically as being a waste of time, is launching an info-product into a niche, unless you already have an authority website bringing in lots of free traffic for you from people in that niche.

But as far as creating a product for a niche market and trying to launch it… good luck… you’ll put a lot of work in for little or next to no reward whatsoever. Now I know that sounds harsh… but hey… I really believe that to be the reality and here is why.

If I was to ask anyone on this call to name a top internet marketing guru… they could probably name dozens… If I was to ask them to give me a wishlist of JV partners… many would name the same names.

But let’s go outside of the IM niche.

Who is the top guru for dog owners online?

Who are going to be your JV partners promoting for you on a launch to dog owners?

Who is the top guru for golfers online?

Who are going to be your jv partners promoting for you on a launch for golfers?

So your 300 page ebook will sit there with no exposure and no sales….

UNLESS you can convince the big list owners in IM to promote for you your book about knitting to their mailing list.

When most people can’t get them to promote their latest book about internet marketing to the their mailing lists… what chance has someone got asking them to promote a book about knitting or golf or crochet or anything else to their list?

When was the last time you saw them promote one?

The only time you will see them promote one, is when it has resale rights that they are looking to sell on to you.

So whilst those in the IM niche have their million dollar launches… they push people to the niches outside of IM telling them that’s where the money lies… but staying firmly within the IM niche all the while.

Now remember, if you can create a high ranking website with lots of search engine traffic, great… go target a niche… but if you are looking at creating an ebook or info-product to sell… don’t believe the nonsense about creating a book to sell to that niche… because it will be sat in paypal purgatory forever without hardly any sales and certainly no big major launch. That’s a fact!

UNLESS you can convince other internet marketers with big lists to promote it to their lists for you.. in which case you’d have been better off creating an ebook for internet marketers in the first place.

But these are some important truths people are never told.

Terry:

What are some of the other lies that people are being fed?

Have we got time till next Tuesday? You know there are a lot of things, and I guess it’s unfair to call some of them lies… but rather… pie in the sky hopes that are being fed, or just incomplete information.

It’s like saying “There’s this guy who drives a car across the desert at the speed of sound, and for only 30 bucks you can too… wanna do it?”

And then I sell you a computer game.

Now technically I haven’t lied to you, but I haven’t given you the full picture either.

There’s a lot of half pictures sold on the internet. People don’t get the full story.

But they get sold the full on dream of what they want to believe.

Guru’s are still thriving whether the average person is or isn’t despite guru slayers, and people are still in day jobs despite day job killers.

The fact is, that internet marketing strategies have been touted as the be all and end all of internet marketing success.

So people chase secret strategy after secret strategy and they are no better off 6 months down the line than they were before they purchased them.

And that’s because there is always a newer or more improved version of that secret strategy coming along.

I mean seriously, how many autoresponder secrets can there be?

How many affiliate marketing secrets will make someone a super affiliate?

The reality is none. What makes super affiliates is plain simple and easy. They have a bigger mailing list to market to or more traffic to their websites than anyone else.

The rest of the secrets can help people improve on those things… but without either of those factors… no matter how many eBooks or courses about affiliate marketing you buy… you’re not going to become a super affiliate unless you understand that basic principle.

But people aren’t told that… they are sold the dream of purchase this product and you too will become Ewen Chia earning a million dollars this year.

Not, work your butt off and get yourself a mailing list the size of his, get the traffic to your websites like he does, and then you can make his affiliate strategies pay off for you in much bigger ways…

But the perception is… I buy this… I’ll be earning what I see on the screenshot tomorrow.

The trouble is, that’s what sells products and many of the products are worth far more than

The sellers charge for them. And the information really is superb… but people think it’s the secret strategies that are going to earn them the big bucks.

In reality… it’s not.

The internet marketing strategies are only a very small part of the success mix. The rest is down to all other factors that have nothing to do with internet marketing but everything to do with business.

But people don’t want to do business… they want to make money.

And it’s only when they learn what is going to set them ahead in business online and learning the

Fundamentals of what separates those who are not successful from those who are online and why… that people can really start to make a good online business grow and work for them.

It’s looking beyond the short term fix and looking at longer term sustainability and growth of a proper business.

 

OK. Let's get into some specifics about a couple general topics. How can people start their own business without getting stuck in the procrastination and indecision mode?

You know I go into quite some detail in the first module of the how to avoid the marketing nightmare course about this topic, but in a nutshell…

At some point you have to decide. You have to stop reading and start doing. You have to stop deliberating and start deciding. And people’s lack of decision comes down primarily to one thing.

Lack of trust in themselves.

Why?

Because one thing I always have taught people is that a person’s ability to make decisions, is directly proportional to how much you trust yourself.

So the more you trust yourself, the better you will be at making decisions.

The less you trust yourself… the more you are going to look at other people to make those decisions for you.

And the first decision you need to make is to stop being undecisive when it comes to taking action.

Make that decision at a conscious level and you will be amazed at how much and how quickly you can take things to the next level in any aspect of your life.

Terry:

Something else that has to do with mindset is the herd mentality. Can you explain what the herd mentality is and how to get out of it?

The herd mentality is exactly as the name suggests. Never stopping to consider what is really going on.

You know we can walk down a road and never notice what is to the left or the right of us, because we are just following the people who are walking ahead of us without a clue as to where we are really going.

Even… Even… if they are leading us straight off a cliff.

I’d urge people to Stop and  think before they sink.

Because a bit of thought will let you know certain things instinctively.

Are you doing something just because someone told you it’s a cool thing to do?

Or does it not feel right in some way… does it just not make sense… does it just not add up.

The chances are if it doesn’t it probably isn’t.

I’d suggest to people… always evaluate things with common sense. Does it make sense. Is something practical.

Why is that important? Well you can end up spending a lot of time and money chasing the wrong activities or taking the actions that will actually take you further from your goals than nearer them.

Is your time better spent creating squidoo lenses or MySpace profiles or facebook profiles or creating more good original content for your blog or website.

Is your time better spent promoting your own squeeze page and building your own mailing list,  or promoting someone else’s plan, program or scheme without ever bothering to create a mailing list of your own?

Just because other people are all doing something doesn’t make it the smartest course of action to take.

As long as you have the key objective in mind and focus… How to build my business even bigger and make it more successful in mind… you will focus only on doing those activities that take YOU closer towards YOUR objectives… not somebody elses.

Now that they've got their head's screwed on straight, what do we need to physically get started online? What kind of a cost are we looking at?

It depends what you want to do, and what your online objectives are.

But the 5 essential components of any business are

1)    Your own domain name and website with paid for hosting

2)    An autoresponder system like aweber and an opt in form to capture subscribers.

3)    A product or service to sell (either your own or as an affiliate)

4)    A payment Processor

And the total cost of that is possible well below well below $300 in total. That’s for a year, so

You are looking at what… less than $30 per year? And if you don’t have a product… then you are offering the master resale rights for this call right Terry?

Well this could be your perfect product. All you do is upload the sales page, and this audio, add your payment link, and you have a business with a product to sell. Then you can expand and build on your product range.

And one sale a month… would cover your business expenses for the year!

That’s how I started off online Terry… With resale rights products and I wish high quality audios were available then at this kind of price… the truth is they weren’t then and they still aren’t even now… It’s rare to see an audio product selling for less than $67 and that is without any rights whatsoever.

I have made thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars selling resale rights products. That’s how Simon Hodgekinson started online…. That’s how Jimmy D Brown Started online, That’s how Mike Filsaime started online… selling high quality products created by others that people can purchase with little or no effort on your part. And the best thing is… you get 100% of the profit… you have no stock to carry and you never run out of stock. People can order this audio from you day or night, no matter what the time is… and that’s the reason why the smart ones have already grabbed the master resale rights to this audio at the special price…

Let’s face it, you can’t even buy the resale rights to some crappy eBooks for $27 never mind a brand new product like this…  and then, with master resale rights at that.

And I think it’s a fantastic opportunity you offer your listeners Terry, to start building their own line of exclusive products that provide real information and real value for the purchasers.

So… if you’re listening to this call, make sure you do get the rights to this Tele-Class at this price.

You’ll be kicking yourself when others are profiting from it and think… wow… I was there…

Or… I could have been doing that….

Even if you consider yourself a newbie, this is your chance to start and get your own product online for next to nothing…it’s a great opportunity at the price of a king sized pizza and a cinema ticket.

So once you get your business started, how do you get from the newbie stage to what you call a developing expert? (first explain developing expert)

Again it comes down to decision. You have to decide that you are no longer a newbie.

Terry:

Talking about experts, you've pinpointed a couple things that the big boys are doing completely wrong. Can you share with us what that is and what they should be doing?

Okay, one is jumping on the web 2.0 fad – I’ve seen a lot of marketers put together a lot of very expensive websites that are now dying a slow death. Why? Because they look at MySpace and think… wow… I’ll have some of that.

But how many MySpace clones have come and gone?

And even Brad Fallon’s website… although it’s a fantastic website… FreeIQ – it’s a massive undertaking because the problem lies in two key areas:

1)    people are lazy

2)    the website relies on others to populate it.

Now, it comes back to people expecting a magic pill and the latest one to be pushed and pushed strongly… the latest bandwagon is web 2.0… everyone is talking about how it’s the future of everything and how it’s the way to go.

So naturally everyone is trying to create the next MySpace for internet marketers or the next super download website that everyone is going to upload their products or videos too about internet marketing.

Here’s the reality factor.

What I call - The forum principle applies.

And people have looked at the technology without giving thought to good business sense.

Terry:

What do I mean by that?

Well simply this… People are looking at web 2.0 as if it is going to give them the magic solution to content and traffic.

But just as an unpopulated forum holds little or no value…

And people will come… and look… see it’s unpopulated… and never return…

The same holds true for all those jumping on the web 2.0 grand design.

Because if a site is dependant on others populating it… you are at the mercy of the users and is your business.  And if people don’t upload their products or gifts or  personal profiles in large quantities and fast… you have what looks like a sparsely populated website that people think… hmmm not much going on here… not worth my time or effort.

And hence the forum principle applies.

But why because now we have the tag web 2.0 do people forget basic principles like this?

For all that’s been said about web 2.0, I’d like anyone to show me a good and profitable web 2.0 website in the IM niche.

I don’t think you’ll find one… want to know why?

Web 2.0 is for the masses. Whether you are a teenager, or a 97 year old retired army general. It should have something that appeals on a mass scale. That’s when web 2.0 comes into it’s own.

Terry:

So let's continue down that line of thinking. What kind of things actually work in internet marketing and what doesn't?

Very quickly another example I will give of a mistake many top marketers are making is not looking at integration marketing, and I was having a discussion with Nathan Brown about this last night, and he’s right in what he says.

Integration marketing is undervalued and underused. And I realised something and a mistake I am personally guilty of right now…

Terry:

What is that?

Well, when I find a good product that I believe will provide value for my subscribers and I promote it… and it converts well…

I send out one broadcast to my list about it, but never include the product in my autoresponder series by integrating it in.

What that means is, anyone who comes into my business after that, won’t know about the product

and I will lose out on sales from a high converting product.

That’s a mistake too many top level marketers are still guilty of, as have I been, and it’s a mistake that everyone on this call can ensure they avoid making themselves.

Terry:

We've covered a lot of do's and don'ts in the past hour, but I think one of the most important things you've promised to do for everyone on the call here this evening is to give us a clear cut strategy for 2008. I think that would be a great way to tie everything together. So what's our strategy for 2008?

I think the focusing on short, medium and long term goals.. and understanding that they should work simultaneously.

What that means  is many people set their medium term goals 6 months down the line and their long term goals maybe 2 years or 3 years or even 5 years down the line.

And they confuse goals with starting points.

And they think if they complete their short term goals, they will get closer to their medium or long term goals… but the reality is… it’s like the nightmare of the never ending corridor… the faster you run… the longer the corridor gets and the further the door at the end of it goes.

What you have to  do is  make sure that you working your medium and long term goals RIGHT NOW…. Not six months down the line… not 3 years down the line.

You start contributing to your 1 year goal by putting even an hours work towards achieving THAT as a goal… and building on that each week… it will have more chance of coming to fruition than if you think… as most people do, that the 1 year goal can be forgotton about till a year down the line.

So my final advice to people is… work your goals for 2008 … short, medium and long term… in harmony and simoultaneously… starting them together NOW.

Not wait for 6 months before you revisit your 6 month goal and realise you are still 6 months away from it because you only focused on completing your short term goals.

Start your short, medium and long term goals now!

Terry:

Tahir that's fantastic. Thank you so much for setting the record straight about so many business and marketing functions