Hello again,

So I lost my internet connection for a while this morning and resorted to going
through some of my old files and I found an unfinished interview I almost did
with Terry Telford of TheBusinessProfessional.com.

So I finished writing my responses, updated the ones that were old and I made
it into a pretty PDF file. Now you can download it and read a whole interview I
did on Opt In List building. It’s 18 pages and has some pretty solid info in there.

Enjoy!

(right click and choose ’save as’
if you want to save the document)
Opt In List Building Interview

Ian Herculson

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Hey all,

  I’m still getting all kinds of great emails with people telling me their stories
and troubles and all sorts of things.  Some of them are so great to read like
this one from Pat P.  I haven’t actually asked Pat if I could post her email
so I’ve left her last name as just an initial.  But you’ll still get the point from
reading the email and my reply to her.

  I’ve bolded some key concepts that Pat touches on.  Here’s our emails to
each other.

Ian,

Guess I can fall into the same category as the letter from Betty.

Getting overloaded with information that seems easy to follow but then I get to a step and just procrastinate until I talk myself out of it. While the concepts are easy to understand the mechanisms of setting up auto responders, tracking, web hosting etc should seem to be easy, especially for someone like me who is self taught on many software programs; I am not afraid to try buttons and icons to see what they can do. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose everything and start over again. I usually don’t give up. Maybe frustrated a time or two, but I don’t give up.  

Why, then does completing an internet business stop me cold when I hit that bump in the road? Is it because I can’t get the answers as readily as looking for the information? Is it because I don’t know where or who to turn too that won’t try to sell me the latest and greatest version of their product? How do you know what is a good niche market if you have no product? How do you market and build up your relationship with your list when you have no product but yourself?

I am very successful in what I do at work in the business world and got there by mostly OTJ (on the job) just plowing through to the end. And when I reach a point that someone wants something that I don’t believe I can do I procrastinate. But in the end, I end up doing it and find that the end result was not as bad as the fear I had doing it in the first place.

Fear is the factor that keeps me from pushing into an unknown marketplace. It stops me dead in the water for awhile, then I think I can do this and try again. This has been me for the past 3 years. I know the opportunities that I have missed by my procrastination and fear of moving out. It does become the motivator to seek out and find that opportunity that is just waiting for me.

Pat

PS I don’t live in Houston but visit from time to time. Maybe it would work with what you are trying to set up.

  I personally thought this was such a great email mostly because Pat already has all the answers to her own questions!  She’s in a predicament that’s so common to so many people.  There’s a great chance you read that email and said to yourself that you feel the ‘exact’ same way!  Here is my advice to Pat.

Hey Pat

What a great email

To me it really sound like the problem is that you just don’t know who to turn to for advice you can trust. And then because of that, you make a few mistakes, get scared to try again and you never really go anywhere.But you also realize that once you dive into your fear that it’s never as bad as it seemed and on the other side, you have some new information. You already realize your own problem and you already have your own answer…and it’s a good answer! Just DO IT. The more times you do, the better you’ll get at it. You know that’s true already.

As far as the complexities of learning Internet Marketing…

I like to think of it like this. If you needed information about buying a new car, and you walked into a room with 1000 sales men all talking at the same time about why their car is the best and how it’s going to make your drive so much better… you’d be OVERLOADED with info and you’d never really learn or hear anything. The internet is the same way. There’s a billion new products that all promise to teach you the next million dollar trick and people are GREAT at making promises that are so believable. They actually teach people how to write so compellingly. But I think the answer is to slow way down.

 There’s a lot to learn in the Internet Marketing world.  Pick 1 or 2 people that you REALLY believe have the answers that you are looking for. Then listen to everything they have to say. Don’t be afraid to try what they teach and fail. Failure is a process of learning. We all learn by making mistakes, not the other way around. You’re good…you’re on your way. No worries!

Thanks, Ian Herculson
http://www.IanHerculson.com

  What do you think….add some comments and feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on this one ok!

Ian Herculson

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Hey hey!

  So some really cool things have happened in the last day or two
that I thought I should tell you about.

  First of all, thanks to the unsubscribe link that I included in
my last message, 97 people unsubscribed.  Wow!  I’m absolutely
happy about this for a couple of reasons!

  The first reason is that I know that because I am back on my
new server people are getting my emails again!  I mean they
couldn’t unsubscribe if they didn’t get the email right?

  Well thanks to you for still being here…I will  honestly try to
make it worth your while for staying.

  The second reason that I’m happy about those unsubscribes is
that I’m about to offer you a whole bunch of really valuable info
for absolutely nothing, and I already told you and all the others
that right?  Well the people who unsubscribed obviously don’t
really care about that and I don’t want to work with people who
don’t care!  It makes my job easier!

  Another cool thing that I noticed is that over 200 people wanted
to know who I host with.  I know this because just over 200 of
my subs clicked over to check out the free hosting.  Did anyone
take advantage of the free month?  No not yet, but that’s cool
cause I just want you to know it’s there in case you ever need it!

  And now the BIG NEWS!!

  I just found out that Clickbank, who is a extremely reputable
third party payment processor, such as Paypal or 2Checkout, has
just introduced ‘recurring billing’ option.

  I don’t know if you sell any products yet, but for me that’s
absolutely huge news.

  The bad part is that because I want to now use Clickbank to run
my affiliate program, I need to have my new software all
reprogrammed.  It might take an extra few days.

  I still will be releasing my new stuff in the next 2 weeks tho
either way!

  Ummm and only one more thing to tell you about!  I started this
blog today.  I had to learn how to install WordPress and Theme’s
and then how to work with them to get the look I wanted, but I
figured it all out and this is what I came up with.

  I’d love it if you left some comments!

  K, chat soon!

  Ian Herculson

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Hello,

  So yesterday was the first time I posted into my blog in quite
a long time right?  And I sorta thought that you would have
forgotten about me or moved on right?

  Nope!

  You and hundreds of others actually wrote me back to welcome me
back into Internet Marketing and it made feel so special!  A lot
of my subscribers also wrote me telling me that they are still
struggling to make a living on the Internet and asking me if I
can help them out.

  Well I can help out in some ways but not in others.  Some
people wrote to me telling me they are in debt and are in
desperate need of money.  Well to be honest, the best advice I
can give you in that situation is to go out there and get a job!

  The Internet can provide a great income, but it takes time to
learn all the necessary skills and you should NE.VER count on it
to pay off your debts in a short period of time.

  Do the right thing if you are in a dire situation…don’t think
the Internet is some sort of get-rich-quick solution.  It does
make a lot of people money very fast, but those people also work
hard and learn a lot before they make mo.ney.

  Then there are people like Barbara, I hope your reading this
Barb!  Your email really hit the nail on the head!

Here’s what Barbara sent me;

Hi Ian,
 
Just thought I’d reply to your email to let you know I’m still here
and happy to know you’re back in the business.  I’m really not doing
much of anything on the Internet these days–got tired of spending
my money on things that ne.ver worked.  I’m afraid a lot of it is my
fault–after really working hard at the first few things I tried, I
started jumping from one thing to the next and ne.ver giving
anything a chance to work. 
 
So now I’m just reading emails and deciding if I want to try again. 
If you’re in Houston, you’re in hot and humid weather–I know
because my sister used to live close to Houston.  Now she’s in the
Dallas area, and while it’s still hot there, it’s not nearly as
humid.  Staying inside in the A/C is the best place to be this time
of year in Texas!  I look forward to hearing from you again.
 
Sincerely,
 
Barbara Ross

  I think this is a great example of what a lot of you others are
feeling.  Frustration, desperation and giving up hope!  Man, I
understand that completely!

  It took me two years before I ever made mo.ney on the In.ternet!

  I also think my reply to Barbara might Interest you.  Here’s
what I wrote back to her.

Hey Barbara,
 
Oh man…you just said every concern that my new product covers. 
Most people don’t know how to make mo.ney online and they spend and
spend trying to make it happen and never see a dime.
 
The pro’s tell you that the true money is in owning an email li.st
but once again, you have to know how to write, set up email and
website software, and then advertise it all which all of course
means spending more money in hopes you’ll make some back.

Well my new software combats both of those problems.
 
My guarantee is “Make Money BEFORE You Spend A Dime” and I give you
a 90 Day fr.ee trial to prove it.  oh, and of course, there’s NO
credit card required to join, because I want to make sure I do my
job before asking for any of your payment information.

Just wait about 2 weeks Barbara, and I’ll have this thing ready to
go ok!
 
So far I’m loving Houston.  Yes it’s pretty humid, but I think
because I’m so used to be so cold in Canada, I’m loving it right
now!
 
Thanks,
 
Ian Herculson
http://www.IanHerculson.com

  So I really do think that the product that I’m about to release
in the next two weeks is totally targetted at Barbara and those
who feel similar to how she does.

  A lot of you asked me to see what I was up to and I don’t want
to let to much information out of the bag right now because I
don’t want any competitors stealing ideas, but I do want to say
that I’ve been up working late nights and I’m almost ready to
show you what I’ve got!

  Anyways, I just wanted to say THANKS AGAIN to you for welcoming
me back into Internet Marketing and showing me that I have one of
the best groups of people anyone could ask for on the Internet.

  Oh by the way, if you live in Houston, TX.  I’m thinking of
doing a get together with anyone involved in Internet Marketing
and just meeting up so that you can meet with me face to face,
shake hands, (b.uy me a beer, he he) and ask me anything you want
about my businesses.  I think it would be really cool!

  Send me an email if you are are from Houston and want to meet
up with me and a few others!  I want to see what kind of
interest this gathers!

  Ok I guess that’s all I wanted to say for now!

Ian Herculson

  PS.  I’m still practicing my PS’s!  Please remeber that if you
want to reply to this email, it will come directly to me and I
really do LOVE getting your emails and hearing your stories!

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Hey there,

  Ya it’s been a long time since I posted last and man, what a story I have to tell if you want to read it.  I won’t tell you all about it now, because it would simply take up too much time but let me just say, I almost lost my entire business ‘again’ which would be the third time, but this time it was my fault.

  I’ll tell you quickly that over the past 6-8 months I decided to get a Private Server to host all my websites which there are now about 11.  So I moved everything over, and man…it was the worst experience of my life.

  I have recently moved my most important sites back to my old time favorite host, who I have had issues with in the past, but at least they solve them pretty darn fast!

  If you are at all thinking that your host isn’t good enough or that they don’t give good enough customer service, or that you even need a new host, please try the host I now “SWEAR” I will ne.ver leave again.

  Here’s a link for a fr.ee month as well!
  http://www.gurumarketer.com/thirdsphere.htm

  Anyways, right now I’m down in Houston, Texas with my girlfriend Angela who’s been here since the beginning of May working as a sales rep for an awesome alarm company.  If you are in Houston, and you’ve been thinking of getting an alarm for your home, reply and I’ll see if I can get Angela to help you out!

  So for the past 6-8 months I’ve been watching my business slowly crumble to pieces and there wasn’t much I could do about it because as you may also know, I’m in a band and we got busy.  Most of my time I dedicated to music and since my sites were on that crappy host, I watched as my business just drizzled away to almost nothing.

  Thank god Angela went to Texas because I am now down here with nothing to do except work on my Internet Business and I gotta tell you, I’m working a lot!  I’m able to focus completely on what I’m doing with nothing to distract me.  It’s great.

  I have a bunch of new stuff coming out very soon that I want to show you.  No one else on the internet can off.er what I’m about to off.er, because it’s such a unique idea, and I really think you are going to love it.

  So really, the purpose of this post is simply just to get back into communication with you, let you know I’m still alive and that I do want to continue forward with my business.

  Please do feel fr.ee to reply to this email and say he.llo or whatever, or tell me what you want to learn about.  No matter what it is, I just want to get back to business!

  Ok, that’s it.  See you around!

Ian Herculson

  PS.  I have to practice writing good PS’s.  Did you know that about 85% of people will read the PS but barely any of the email? Good to know hey!

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Ok good, I’m glad to know that I can start blogging again.

Altough it’s going to take a bit of time to learn exactly how this SemioLogin theme works correctly.

Ian Herculson

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