Harvey wrote:

Excellent post Dennis!
Momentum started for me when I shook the analysis paralysis and stopped chasing shiny new objects in my email. After breaking the $100/day barrier the momentum builds quickly, fueled by the knowledge that you can do it if you just decide to take action and do it. And, of course, there is no better place to hang out for great advice and encouragement than the E1KAD forum.

Thanks, Harvey. I’m not sure that momentum starts at $100 day, but it sure gets more noticeable at that point, doesn’t it?

Way to go!

@ Ian McConnell:
Ian, amazing comment, thanks for sharing your success!

In case you were inspired by rediculousness …. I just wanted to say don’t buy anything thats too good to be true (but helping others is good *-) Dennis really is a success starting with $5 a day. Thats the example everyone should follow. Bar None

Excellent post Dennis!

Momentum started for me when I shook the analysis paralysis and stopped chasing shiny new objects in my email. After breaking the $100/day barrier the momentum builds quickly, fueled by the knowledge that you can do it if you just decide to take action and do it. And, of course, there is no better place to hang out for great advice and encouragement than the E1KAD forum.

Just DO IT, and do it, and do it… I remember when I started learning about this Internet business a few short years ago that eventually I realized that it was simply impossible to learn and understand everything. I just needed to start somewhere. I started by picking a low risk project that I could experiment with. This lead to WordPress and many other things. I recently went live with a site for a local business (click on my name to see it) and this has given me definite momentum. The owners love the site and will be excellent references.

I have been a software developer in the cad/cam, automatic test equipment, factory automation, and related areas most of my career. I always made progress by starting with what I already knew and then plowing ahead until I understood how to solve what was needed. There have been many times when it took months to arrive at an acceptable solution.

One thing I have noticed with many of the successful Internet businesses is that they don’t sweat the small stuff. They just keep moving forward, step by step, and the results show up.

I am definitely looking forward to establishing much more momentum in 2011.
– Thanks, Roger Due

Dennis, great post!

I saw this comment and just had to share my experience about why you should never give up. I struggled with IM for over 3 years and, like others, I spent thousands of dollars on IM products. This was mostly because I was scared of missing something in the next product that could be the missing secret to my fortune… It took me 3 years to realize there are no secrets, I just need to put in the RIGHT work and get momentum.

I was having $100 days but they were very far apart. I can relate when Dennis said how emotional he got when he had that first $100 day. I was the same and so excited, but my wife thought I was insane for spending all this money and time for a minimal result.

She never understood the leverage and just wanted me to go back to being an electrician earning $100k a year and hating every minute of it.

About 18 months ago I was browsing through the Clickbank marketplace and looking at the hobby products. I noticed there was only 2 ebooks for model railroading but in other hobbies there were at least 10. I then went to Amazon and noticed at least 30 books on model railroading with a huge amount of reviews, which meant to me that there was room in the market for another ebook.

I quickly set up a WP blog and promoted the ebook as an affiliate. It started selling a copy every 3rd day, so it was more profitable than anything I had promoted before. Now I had been through plenty of affiliate marketing training and would ordinarily have spent $50 on adwords to get about 150 clicks and if the promotion didn’t breakeven, move onto the next product to promote… That was what I had been taught… But, fortunately I decided to investigate this niche a bit more.

I had previously tried promoting about 40 products, spent thousands of dollars on adwords and this model train ebook was the best result I had got out of all them.

To make a long story short, I completely focused 100% of my time on the model train niche. I refined the selling of the affiliate product, but to make more money, I needed my own product. I spent 2 weeks writing my own ebook, created my own sales page (without any copywriting training), registered it on Clickbank and then recruited affiliates by contacting the top websites for the obvious keywords.

After about 2 months of selling an ebook a day on average, I wondered if people would subscribe to a model train club online. Magazines were being sold for about $7 a copy and they looked like they were selling well, judging by the variety in the newsagents.

I thought I would try at $27/mo. So, I created a membership site in 2 days from the ebook content. In 2010 I made over $100,000 and I have a consistent and growing recurring income of over $5,000/mo. It is amazing!

I have over 400 affiliates and now my time is spent training the affiliates and teaching others how to setup their own membership sites and building affiliate armies.

So, if I had listened to what I was taught, I would have given up on this niche after the first $50 ad spend and then probably would have tested another 20 or so products with the same results.

I would have eventually run out of money to throw away on adwords and would have been forced to go back to the job I hated as an electrician.

In the model train market I was largely trail blazing, because nobody had proved the niche before me, as far as digital products go. Our Clickbank stats today say that the average dollar per sale for our affiliates is around $78, which they love.

So, when should you give up on an idea or niche? NEVER! If you are having small successes, like another visit to your site, or another optin or another sale… keep going. Because, just the fact that you are doing something, rather than hopping from one niche to the next, will be the best learning you could ever have.

If I can do it in the model train niche where the market demographic is men aged 60+, who prefer a book they can hold… anybody can do this in any niche.

I learned a huge amount along the way, much more from experience than reading tutorials, but as Dennis said, momentum was the critical bit. That momentum was very slow in the beginning, but when I got the wheels turning, the acceleration was absolutely amazing.

Hopefully this has inspired someone, because the effort is well worth it.

Have a sensational 2011.

Ian McConnell
Western Australia

Chris S. Wright wrote:

I agree with Mark on the “shiny object” syndrome. I started out with 5 buck a day as my model. Started working it and then the next shiny object came along and I was off in a different direction. I intent to stay the course in 2011 and beyond, no more shiny objects for me.

Awesome, Chris, let me know how it works out (I’m sure you’ll be better able to focus, which is very much a key).

I agree with Mark on the “shiny object” syndrome. I started out with 5 buck a day as my model. Started working it and then the next shiny object came along and I was off in a different direction. I intent to stay the course in 2011 and beyond, no more shiny objects for me.

Nancy Boyd wrote:

The best thing to realize is that thinking is required, but thinking alone is not action — acting on the plans is action.
I cannot tell you how much confusion there is about this out there! My coaching clients often tell me (quite earnestly) that they are making progress with their goals — when they are doing nothing more than making lists!
Sorry, guys — you need more than lists to make your plan work! Lists are great — as long as you do something about what’s ON the list
Dennis, your idea about writing the formula to know when to quit is brilliant! I just might do that!
Just start with what’s the most obvious place to begin — and do it. Then do the next thing. Keep doing. You will get there.
This is a GREAT post — and some great comments too. Thanks!

Thanks, Nancy, you’re right on the money. People get wrapped up in making lists, checking them twice, buying things, yada, yada, yada.

That’s the problem, people think purchasing something is equivalent to making progress. If someone were to do something with what they already bought instead of purchasing the next shiny object, they’d be light years ahead.

The best thing to realize is that thinking is required, but thinking alone is not action — acting on the plans is action.

I cannot tell you how much confusion there is about this out there! My coaching clients often tell me (quite earnestly) that they are making progress with their goals — when they are doing nothing more than making lists!

Sorry, guys — you need more than lists to make your plan work! Lists are great — as long as you do something about what’s ON the list

Dennis, your idea about writing the formula to know when to quit is brilliant! I just might do that!

Just start with what’s the most obvious place to begin — and do it. Then do the next thing. Keep doing. You will get there.

This is a GREAT post — and some great comments too. Thanks!