About Jason Brubaker

I'm Jason Brubaker. I teach people how to market stuff online. So if you'd like more tactics like the article you just read, make sure you sign up for the most awesome newsletter you'll ever read. (Actually, I'm a little biased. But I do think you'll like the stuff I send you.)

Overcoming Fear: How I Almost Cried At My Bachelor Party

January 18, 2018 by Jason Brubaker

Over the years, I’ve taken some calculated business risks that usually turned out okay. So you’d think I’d have some good strategies for overcoming fear. But I never anticipated how my idiot friends would surprise me on my bachelor party.

On the day of my party, my best man convinced me we were going golfing. We were in Las Vegas. And if you’ve never been, there is a nice golf course a few miles south of the strip, in front of a small airport. And it wasn’t until we drove past the golf course that I realized there would be no golf…

“Just kidding. We’re going sky diving.”

My friends didn’t seem the least bit concerned that I had a fear of heights. Or that the absolute last thing I ever wanted to do IN MY LIFE was jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

The Truth About Skydiving (And Overcoming Fear)

Now if you’ve never entered a skydiving facility before, the first thing you do is watch some terrible video that tells you literally, the top 10 ways you will most likely die. Then they make you get on a table, lift your legs to your chest and pretend you’re falling. That’s it. That’s the whole training. A video and a leg exercise.

Then the skydiving place makes you sign a waiver, which once again assures you that your parachute will probably fail and you will plummet 18,000 feet to your doom. All of which filled my mind with horrific imaginings of how my beautiful bride would be left alone, crying at the alter.

At this point, I was pissed. Any strategy for overcoming fear was replaced by an irrepressible desire to punch my best man in his stupid, idiot face. And while the memory is still a little fuzzy, I remember YELLING within earshot of a dozen other prospective skydivers.

“BACHELOR PARTY FAIL!”

Another buddy sort of pushed me outside and assured me that he also thought the idea of falling from an airplane was stupid. He said that him and I should just go back inside and wait it out.

But back inside, he was like: “Just kidding.”

Think about it. Those guys had months and months to mentally prepare for the jump. And I had like fifteen minutes to decide. At that moment, I had two choices:

— I could wait on the sidelines and miss out on a life changing, memorable experience.

— I could DECIDE to overcome fear and go for it.

The skydiving facility had already pegged me as “the terrified wimp” so when I turned in my fully executed waiver, they put me in tandem with the ex-special forces guy named Demetrius who I’m sure could pass as Jason Statham’s stunt double.

“Do not worry. I will not let you die today.”

Next thing you know we are 18,000 feet above the earth and Demetrius is telling me to put my legs out the door. Before I had a chance to protest, I was free falling.

Free falling to the earth (at approximately 120 miles per hour), I realized three important lessons about overcoming fear:

1. Once you “go for it” crying and complaining (and screaming) is not going to help.

2. Time is limited. So find some way to enjoy the process.

3. When you achieve the goal, you wonder why you waited.

I would love to tell you that some aspect of my life profoundly changed that day. But I mostly realized that my friends are jerks who cannot be trusted. The good news is, there are more dude trips in our future and I’m already thinking up ways I can ~~trick~~ help my friends find new strategies for overcoming fear.

If you’d like to get past your own fears so you can start your online business, check out InfoMarketing101

If You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get

October 10, 2017 by Jason Brubaker

When I was in college, I took a job selling spas at a local carnival so I could pay for classes. Having had no prior sales experience, the first few weeks on the job were tough. People go to carnivals to ride rides and eat ice cream. They don’t go to carnivals to buy ten-thousand dollar hot tubs…

I arrived early each morning to set up our booth. I armed myself with glossy brochures and made sure the hot tubs were spic-n-span. Then I spent the rest of the day enthusiastically demonstrating the value of our hot tubs. Many times people would feign interest, ask for a brochure and walk away. And you know what? I never heard from those people again. And I never made a sale.

Then one day, a co-worker took me aside. He was one of these old salts, from the old school of selling. And unlike me, he had dropped out of high school and never looked back. His lack of formal education didn’t matter. He was the top sales pro in the company and had the respect of everyone, including the owner. Suffice it to say, he knew a thing or two…

OLD GUY
You know why you ain’t selling?

ME
Nobody comes to a carnival to buy an expensive hot tub?

OLD GUY
No. That’s a negative belief. And it ain’t true. Most of us are selling fine. With your energy and enthusiasm, you could outsell everyone on this team, including me. But you got one problem. Out of all the people you talked to, never once did you ask someone to buy. If you don’t ask, you don’t get!

The advice was simple. Obvious. And profound.

From that moment forward, anytime someone showed the slightest interest in buying a spa, I asked for the sale. And you know what? Even though I heard the word “no” hundreds of times, I also heard the word “yes” enough times to make me one of the top producers. That summer I not only made enough money to pay for my classes, but I learned a lesson far more valuable than anything I leaned in college: If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Zaxaa Versus Clickbank

May 4, 2017 by Jason Brubaker

A few months back, I started selling digital products with Zaxaa. Prior to migrating my business to Zaxaa, I was a huge proponent of Clickbank. But that changed when I received a sobering email from the CB staff mandating that I install a goofy looking “trust badge” on all my sales pages.

Suffice it to say, I decided to find a new shopping cart solution.

[Disclaimer: You should assume that the owner of this website is an affiliate for providers of goods and services mentioned on this website and may be compensated when you purchase from a provider.]

Selling Products Online With Zaxaa

While the idea of avoiding heavy handed shopping cart services seems obvious, my decision didn’t come easy. When I first got into selling products online, I simply needed a way to take payment, deliver digital products securely and communicate to customers via my auto-responder.

This basic setup is fine if you create your own information products. But as my business grew, I started co-authoring eBooks with partners. If you only have a few partners, you can manage your own accounting. But as you add more products and more partners, tracking royalty payments becomes a nightmare.

One of the reasons I loved Clickbank is because the software allows you to easily split your revenue with your partners at the point of sale. They also manage all the stupid tax stuff, like sending out yearly 1099s to your partners and affiliates. This is a major benefit and the primary reason I stuck with CB so long.

Outside of Clickbank, there are only a handful of shopping carts that perform “split payments” and Zaxaa is one of them. But unlike CB, with most other solutions, you will need to manage your own tax paperwork. In my case, the increased sales conversions more than paid for my accountant.

Getting Set Up With Zaxaa

In addition to splitting payments, Zaxaa also allows you to easily set up sales funnels, membership sites, digital product delivery and affiliate management. So it seemed like a great solution.

There are three ways to get started with Zazaa. You can pay a yearly fee, a monthly fee or set up a free account. With the free account, you pay Zaxaa a commission on each sale. And because I wanted to test out Zaxaa, I opted for the free account.

Once you sign up, you’ll get step-by-step training, including this video:

Zaxxa is robust. I was able to quickly upload an eBook and modify my thank you page. I was then provided with a “buy now” link that I promptly added to my sales page. And after some basic promotion, I made a sale. After several sales, I decided to fully migrate away from CB.

From there, I added mutiple products, one-time-offers (OTOs). When creating one-time-offers, you will have the option to create and host the pages via Zaxaa or provide your own URL. I chose to host my OTOs on my own site.

For example: I started with my 7 dollar eBook, then offered the 17 dollar eBook I wrote with Scott, then offered the 27 dollar eBook I wrote with Jared. And then the proceeds are split accordingly!

What About Membership Sites?

Membership sites were another challenge. While Zaxaa provides their own membership plugin (which you can download here), most of my sites are set up using the Wishlist Member Plugin. I was initially worried I’d be forced to migrate my memberships. But after some noodling, I was pleased to find out Zaxaa also supports WishList.

My only headache with Zaxaa is their checkout page limitations. While Zaxaa does provide you with multiple templates, you do not have the ability to change or spit test colors. With this said, while analyzing sales stats, the shopping cart is a clear winner (for me) over my previous.

Suffice it to say, I got so excited with my own results, that I became an affiliate and now promote Zaxaa. So in addition to providing an awesome ways to sell and deliver digital products, they also created a free report full of practicable tips on how to get more sales. Hopefully your experience with Zaxaa will be as awesome as my own.

Should You Quit Your Job And Start An Online Business?

April 1, 2017 by Jason Brubaker

If you are dreaming of quitting your job so you can start an online business, you’re not alone. Creating an additional revenue stream helps you sleep better at night. And as your online business grows, sooner or later you’ll start getting the itch to break free.

This question sparks the memory of my first info product launch. Long before I had anything that resembled an online business, I wasn’t sure if online success was possible. Not because people didn’t make money online. I personally know many people who are successful online. I just wasn’t sure if having an online business was possible for me.

Call it a lack of confidence or a skewed worldview. But where I’m from, people actually WORK for a living. My dad worked at a factory. My mom worked for the phone company. And I believed if I wanted something, I had to WORK for it too.

Should You Quit Your Job And Start An Online Business?

The early part of my career was spent selling everything from hot tubs to household appliances to commercial real estate. My life consisted of one cold call after another. Sometimes more than sixty calls per day… That was real work.

Then the recession hit and everything went bonkers. Out if the ashes, I started a blog. I kept writing until I eventually reworked a few dozen articles into my first info product. I then got an affiliate to promote to his list. To gain his attention, I offered a 70% commission. He emailed his list and I was able to net roughly $800 on the launch.

Suddenly I wasn’t making cold calls. But I was still making sales. I spent the rest of my day obsessively refreshing my email inbox for the little word that felt better than any Vegas jackpot.

“SALES”

But unlike Vegas, this wasn’t a gamble. People were giving me money in exchange for the value my product offered. People were paying because they wanted my experience. They wanted me to help solve their problems.

And this was possibly the most amazing feeling I ever had. Can you imagine? I was getting money thrown into my inbox.

My launch wasn’t spectacular by guru standards. I ended up making just over $800 dollars that day. And while the experience didn’t change my lifestyle, it certainly changed my life. Selling stuff online is a gazillion times more fun than cold calling.

Since my initial launch many years ago, I have repeated the process over and over. With each new product launch, my income increases. As a result, I have reached a weird stage where I care a lot less about my resume. And I care a lot more about spending time with friends and family.

I know this sounds odd. But there is a certain loneliness to running an online business. None of my friends get it. And I am not yet at the John Chow stage of my business. (John Chow makes more than 40K per month.) Even so, I have created enough value to support myself financially and pay for a pretty okay lifestyle here in LA, which is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

I have started thinking in terms of problems and products. What problems can I solve? How will I solve those problems? Who is my target audience? Is the market large enough to support a product?

Those questions keep me up at night. And those questions are more exciting than asking if you should do this online business full time or merely get a job… Because if you’re still reading, I think we both know the answer. The question is, will you do what you need to do? If you liked this article, you’ll love my blogging checklist.

How to Use Email Marketing to To Accelerate Your Blogging Success

March 5, 2017 by Jason Brubaker

Here’s the deal-e-o. Despite all the hype out there, many bloggers DO NOT get results. It’s a sad fact, but true. Many bloggers spend months grinding out articles only to make a few dollars. And this is the sole reason (I think) why the internet is littered with millions of abandoned blogs.

If you’re not getting results with your blog, it is because you’re not focused on getting email subscribers. Unbeknownst to most, successful bloggers are also proficient in email marketing. So in our short time together, I am going to share a few email marketing tactics that can save you years of frustration.

The reason my popular filmmaking blog didn’t make money the first year was not for lack of traffic. It was because I didn’t know email marketing rules! (And I didn’t know what rules to follow.) Suffice it to say, had I not discovered email, I too may have given up on blogging. And I may have never known how awesome it is to sell stuff in my sleep.

How to Use Email Marketing to To Accelerate Your Blogging Success

As a blogger, your primary goal is to add value to your readers. And one way you add value is by building a genuine, caring relationship with your audience. From day one, you will want to start collecting email addresses.

For this, I recommend using a reputable third-party email marketing service such as Aweber. In full disclosure, Aweber does pay me to promote, but it is the company I utilize for my own blogging business. With Aweber, as soon as you sign up for one of their affordable accounts, you can create ways for readers to connect with you.

Email Marketing Rules — **My Morning Inbox (Sometimes)**

Step 1: Create The Ethical Bribe

If you’re anything like me, your email inbox is a twitter feed. It’s hard to read all the emails that come through. It is even harder to respond to any emails. . . Unless you immediately see the value. Your audience is the same.

Presenting value is one email marketing rule you must never violate. This is why it is vitally important that you establish your value from the very beginning. One easy way to create value is by offering something called an ethical bribe.

An ethical bribe is something of tremendous value that you offer in exchange for an email address. For example, the day after I started this blog, I set up my own ethical bribe. Here’s the link.

If you just clicked that link, you were redirected through a series of baby steps that resulted in an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Assuming you clicked, you received my blogging checklist as well as some awesome blogging tips like this one!

While I am obviously utilizing this list-building example to create a more meaningful relationship with you… Take the next few minutes to set up exactly what I did here.

Here are three steps to building a blog business:

Set up a blog via my Bluehost affiliate link.
Sign up for an account via my Aweber affiliate link.
Add your Aweber links to your blog.

(If any of this is confusing, get on my mailing list for up-to-date blogging tips.)

Why you let a 3rd party manage your email marketing.

Whenever I give talks, invariably someone will ask me why they should utilize a 3rd party email provider instead of their own email account. While there are tons of professional reasons why you would never send commercial email from your personal account – One major reason for utilizing Aweber is due to some email marketing rules (also known as Spam laws.)

While I am not a lawyer and can’t offer any legal advice, there are email marketing rules and spam laws set up to protect people from jerks. Utilizing a 3rd party email service provider helps you abide by these rules. They do this by insisting that you:

Use a double opt-in sign up. (Person opts in and then gets an email saying: Are you sure?)
Emails sent from these providers include a way for subscribers to unsubscribe.

Why I Think Email Marketing Rules

The biggest reason I love email marketing is because it allows me to automate my business. This is done by setting up an email sequence and putting the emails on an auto-responder.

Aweber provides the following video to explain auto-responders:

Try AWeber’s Autoresponders for Free

As soon as a visitor opts-in to your list, their contact information is added to your database and managed for you, automatically! These subscribers are now part of your “list,” and you can email them with updates, deals and other valuable information. Again, if any of this is confusing, download my blogging checklist and get on my mailing list for up-to-date blogging tips.

How Dennis Becker’s 5 Bucks a Day Changed My Life

February 15, 2017 by Jason Brubaker

If you’re like me, the whole idea of posting stuff online and getting paid for it is seductive. This sentiment is reinforced by a gazillion websites promising fame, fortune and the freedom to do anything you want, seemingly overnight.

The problem is, most of the “gurus” running those websites have never actually grown an online business. If they had, they would think twice about the promise of fast riches. While online success is possible, it doesn’t happen over night.

For the first year of blogging, my results were mediocre. To make my situation worse, I remember attending internet marketing events where other bloggers touted the fact they were making thousands of dollars in their sleep.

How Dennis Becker’s 5 Bucks a Day Changed My Life

At the time, I was lucky to make a hundred dollars per month! This made me feel discouraged and I often thought about quitting. Then one day, I stumbled upon 5 Bucks a Day.

Unlike all the other hype-filled training, Dennis Becker’s book recommends that you simply focus on one goal: Make 5 bucks a day!

As soon as I read that, everything changed. I started worrying less about other bloggers and focused on one simple goal – Could I make 5 bucks a day online?

This simple question set the tone for my day. It forced me to plan out valuable activities that generated results. In time, my revenue eventually hit and surpassed 5 bucks per day.

Dennis recently updated 5 Bucks Per Day. The latest version explains the basic 5BAD strategy for those that haven’t read the original book, but also includes many of the real life marketing lessons Dennis learned growing his online business. In full disclosure, I love this book so much that I have become an affiliate. And you can grab your copy of 5 Bucks a Day HERE

Here’s the philosophy. If you can make five bucks a day online, you can make ten. And if you can make ten, you can make twenty… This sort if incremental growth is totally possible. And if you work at it, eventually you will surprise yourself. And just in case you’re wondering, my online business now generates over $100 most days. But it all started with $5 bucks a day.

How to Pick a Blog Topic Your Audience Will Love

February 1, 2017 by Jason Brubaker

A few years ago, I was between jobs and worried about my future. I picked a blog topic and started writing. Over time my blog grew to a point where it paid for all my bills.

It wasn’t easy. And before I share my blogging secrets, it is important that we get a few things straight. Blogging success is going to require that you remain dedicated, passionate and constant.

This starts with finding your WHY. Why do you want to blog? What do you hope to achieve? Once you figure out WHY you’re blogging, you can focus on picking a blog topic your audience will love.

How to Pick a Blog Topic Your Audience Will Love

There are millions of blogs. And many of them do not make money. One of the biggest reasons bloggers fail is because they pick an unpopular blog topic. So the first thing you need to do is pick a blog topic people actually care about.

I originally started my blog to help people in the indie film community get movies made, seen and selling. I started with that topic because I had made some movies and knew the challenges. And I also knew there was an audience.

To choose your blog topic, you will need to answer the following questions:

What is your preferred blog topic?
Who is your intended target audience for your blog topic?
Does a trade show exist for your blog topic?

Answering these questions will force you to sharpen your concept. And if a trade show exists for your blog topic, odds are good you’ve tapped into a profitable audience.

The other thing you can do (and this is a little more nerdy) is to find out how many people are searching for your topic online. The Google Keyword Planner provides a great tool for this. Follow this link and log into the Keyword planner with your Google account.

Once you’re logged in, your next step is to search for new keyword and ad group ideas.

From there you will be able to enter keywords related to your topic. In this example, I used the keywords “how to make money online.”

Google will then provide detail on the amount of monthly searches. And while it might be pretty exciting to choose a popular topic, this also indicates that there are many competitors. So you will need to decide if competing is worth it.

Hopefully these tips will help you pick a blog topic your audience will love. If you enjoyed this blog article, you’ll love my blogging checklist!

How to Start A Blog — The Ultimate Guide

January 15, 2017 by Jason Brubaker

If you’re wondering how to how to start a blog, you’re not alone. Long before I started blogging, everything about publishing words on the web seemed like a distant concept, reserved for the technically savvy.

I had no idea how to start a blog, let alone make money blogging. Just like you, I started reading all sorts of websites, where I picked up a few tips.

When I decided to start a blog, it wasn’t pretty. And because I went into blogging without a solid plan, my initial focus was all over the place. (I want to help you avoid these mistakes when you start a blog.)

Like most things in life, you get better with experience. And when if you want to learn how to make money blogging, this is the rule.

So as a very rough game-plan, you will have to write at least a dozen articles before you develop your flow. You will have to write at least fifty articles before Google starts sending you traffic. And you will have to keep on writing if you plan to make money.

All of this gets easier if you remember one key point. The best blog articles solve problems. So if you want to know how to make money blogging, you should always answer this question: “What problems do you hope to solve?”

How to Start A Blog — The Ultimate Guide

Defining your niche is an essential first step when figuring out how to make money blogging. After that, the real challenge is creating content that will serve your audience for the long haul. Here are 15 steps on how to start a blog:

1. Pick Your Niche Topic: Many people start a blog to chase overnight riches. Don’t do this. While it is important to set high business expectations, it is important to view your blogging business with a long term perspective. So when you start a blog, realize it may take you months to figure out how to make money blogging. So to grow your blogging business, you must first focus on a topic that you are passionate about.

2. Break Your Topic Into Smaller Categories: Once you find your niche, your next step is to break your topic into smaller chunks. For example, when I started my filmmaking blog, I broke the topic into smaller categories, consisting of writing, producing, directing, marketing and distribution. By breaking your own niche topic into smaller categories, you will define a framework for your topic. When you start a blog, take a moment to create at least five main categories.

3. Create 10 Articles For Each Category: After breaking your niche into smaller categories, create at least ten article ideas for each category. This simple exercise will allow you to start a blog with at least fifty article ideas. And as a new blogger, you must discipline yourself to write a new article, record a new audio and make a new video at least once a week. Fifty article ideas will get you close to one year’s worth of content.

4. Choose Blog Platform: Your next step is to decide which kind of blog platform you want to set up. When you start a blog, there are two ways to do this. Firstly, you can utilize a blogging network, like www.Tumblr.com or www.WordPress.com or you can choose to host your own blog. If you really want to figure out how to make money blogging, I suggest you forgo the blogging networks and host your own blog via www.wordpress.org

5. Set Up Traffic Tools: One of the most comprehensive traffic tools is called Google Analytics. The software is free, easy to install and allows you to monitor who’s coming to your website, how long they stay in where visitors exit. You will want to start tracking your site traffic as soon as you start a blog.

6. Create Your Facebook Page: In order to provide community, at the very least you will want to set up a Facebook page that links to your blog. This page will allow you to interact and build relationships with your audience. To set up a Facebook page, click this link and follow the instructions.

7. Create A Twitter Account: When you start a blog, every visit counts. One of the easiest ways to get visitors on your website is to set up a twitter account. Once set up, you will be able to tweet about any new articles on your website. Your twitter followers will click the link and visit your site. Set up twitter.

8. Link Your Blog to Facebook and Twitter: The Internet is nothing more than a series of links. Your goal is to make it easy for someone to find your website. Once your Facebook page and Twitter account is established, you can then set up an easy way for your readers to share your updates. In this regard, any time you publish a new article your Facebook fans and Twitter followers will know.

9. Set Up Email Opt-In: There is an expression Internet marketing that says your money is your list. When you start a blog, one common mistake is relying solely on social networks to engage your audience. But as you know, social networks often go out of vogue. So you will want to set up a system whereby you can manage your own email list. Visit our friends at Aweber to get started.

10. Create Content: It will take search engines a few months to start taking you and your blog seriously. So when you start a blog, your primary goal is to continually add content to your blog. You will find this very challenging at first. Keep going! Think of it like a game. Write 50 articles over the next two months, you will begin to gain traffic.

11. Sell Ad Space: After you start a blog, you will start thinking about ways to make money. So as your blog gains popularity, one of the easiest ways to generate income is to sell ad space on your blog. With this model, more traffic increases the likelihood that someone will click on an ad. And since most ads are based on Pay-Per-Click, this can generate significant revenue. The downside of selling ad space is you may send targeted visitors away from your blog.

12. Create Affiliate Relationships: If you produce great content, your efforts will result in a massive traffic and a robust mailing list. You may want to start referring your visitors to products and services that complement your niche. This is called affiliate marketing. One of the easiest places to find affiliate products is clickbank.

13. Create Your Own Products: One of the most profitable steps you can take involves leveraging and re-purposing your content to create your own information products and services. While more time consuming than promoting affiliate products, the upside is higher margins and creative control. And affiliates start working for you!

14. Increase Your Traffic: There are several ways to drive traffic to your website, including online and offline. You can choose to pay for advertising or look for ways to create free traffic. Some examples include press releases, pay-per-click, search engine optimization, banner ads, newsletters, advertising in magazines, guest posting on blogs and sharing ideas on social platforms.

15. Partner With Other Bloggers: Nothing can help you get noticed in the noise faster than a vote of confidence from a blogger already established in your niche. I suggest taking a moment to send an intro email to these folks and ask for an interview. Think about ways to promote other bloggers. This will help you get on their radar.

Simply put, finding ways on how to make money blogging consists of a few basic steps. You will need to set up a site, capture traffic, sell products and then scale up! If you want to find out more about how to start a blog, you might enjoy my free blogging eCourse.

How To Set Realistic Goals

October 28, 2016 by Jason Brubaker

Are you one of those people who set realistic goals? If so, you’ve probably had one of those months when everything is totally awesome. And as you get closer and closer to your goals… BOOM! In an instant, everything turns into to poop…

Even if you work to set realistic goals, your reality can change in a heartbeat. Life has a way of knocking you down. The good news is, you’re not alone. And with a little planning, you can re-set realistic goals and get back on track!

How To Set Realistic Goals

Over the last year a lot has happened in my life. I lost a consulting gig, moved across town, started a new consulting gig, got engaged, planned a wedding, got married, went on a honeymoon and came back to a gazillion unfinished items on my task list…

While each reason is valid, it doesn’t change the fact that I blew rather important self-imposed deadlines. To correct course, I have altered my schedule and had to “set realistic goals” multiple times to accommodate. In the process, I learned some lessons about how to stay the course and get things done!

If you’re looking to set realistic goals, it’s important to give yourself a reasonable timeline. Then break small goals into manageable chunks. You will also want to give yourself some leeway just in case your projects take longer than expected.

1. Dry Erase Board: I love adding long term goals to my dry erase board. This serves as a constant reminder for tasks that are still pending. I set it up so I can stare at it daily. With this said, I only add ONE major goal per week. Then I break the goal into smaller, daily tasks.

2. Daily planner: Yeah. I know what you’re thinking. Where is your computer? I use that too. But having a daily planer really helps me break down my smaller tasks into half-hour steps. I love the feeling of crossing something off the list. If your budget allows, grab a Molskine Planner.

3. Half-hour Glass: If you thought my daily planner was old school, wait until you start using a half-hour glass! Using this has helped me break my tasks into half-hour chunks and serves as an animated accountability partner, consistently reminding me the time keeps on ticking…

Even with the best tools, your projects won’t finish on their own. So make sure you take time to set realistic goals that are actually realistic! And if you blow your tasks today, continue tomorrow.

Living Dot Com

October 18, 2014 by Jason Brubaker

Living Dot Com Validated My Blogging Mission by Jason Brubaker

Awhile back, I attended the Los Angeles premiere of Living Dot Com.

Living Dot Com is a documentary focused on people who actively live the internet lifestyle. The movie features some of the top internet bloggers and information marketers in the world. For context, some of these people make more than $40K per month blogging. The movie goes into detail about each of these A-listers grew their business from an idea to an empire.

Here’s the trailer for Living Dot Com:

If you’re just getting to know me, I have also built a successful online business. And while it does not yet garner 40K per month, my online business pays my rent and all of my bills. So I wanted to offer some tips on how to make money online.

Living Dot Com Is Real

When you watch Living Dot Com, two things will happen:

You will get excited about starting an online business.
You will be tempted to imagine overnight riches.

I want to address both points.

Blogging is a REAL business. Or at least it can be. And blogging success is possible. However, getting rich overnight is highly unlikely – but getting rich (or at least creating an extra $1000 dollars a month) over time, is possible.

Like any business, if you stick with it, your odds of living dot com increases.

What sort of blogging success is more likely?

Odds are good that if you find your passion and start blogging, you’ll grind it out for a few months before you garner any traction. This is because the universe (note: Google) wants to make sure you are serious about your topic.

Once you’ve posted roughly 50 articles, you may start to see some traffic. And once you get traffic, you may start selling stuff on your blog via affiliate products, your own products or by placing advertising on your site…

In the event you have some start-up cash, you can scale quickly by paying for traffic.

In all scenarios, your primary goal is to get people on your mailing list and then build a profitable relationship via email.

Living Dot Com is Like Learning How To Play Piano

Getting to the point of living dot com can be very challenging.

A good analogy is learning to play a piano. At the beginning, you will hit some keys and learn a few notes. Over time, you’ll learn your first piece of music. And if you stick with it, the complexity of your music will increase.

(I don’t know how to play piano very well – but I’ve become a great marketer.)

And my point is this. Your first few months living dot com are going to be slow. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes. You’re going to be drawn into the latest and greatest offers. And you’re going to read a lot of articles like this one.

Living dot com will not happen overnight.

And I’m speaking from experience. My blogging success happened in small incremental steps over four years. The first money I made online was around $150 a month. I was happy back then. Passive income was life changing.

Oh my gosh… My blog bought my car!

Since that time, my expectations and standards have grown.

These days I’m unhappy if my blog doesn’t make at least $150 per day!

But again, it’s all relative. For perspective take John Chow. He’s a very successful blogger. And last night I got the opportunity to chat with John Chow at the after-party.

Do you know what he said?

He told me his goal is to surpass his current income of 40K per month!

Read that again: 40K per month!

Pretty amazing, right?

Anyway, John Chow did not start living dot com overnight either.

Living Dot Com Requires That You Deliver Real Value

If you’re looking for a get rich formula, here it is. Deliver REAL value. Fast.

That’s the secret to riches. Once you deliver REAL value to a market that is hungry, willing and eager to pay for your value. . . Then the next step is to put your value in front of as many people as possible.

That’s the secret to living dot com.

Also, if you want to watch Living Dot Com – you can do so below:

Click Here to Watch Living Dot Com >>

Living Dot Com shows how a different approach to work must be taken in this new economy in order to succeed. Jobs may be disappearing but, for many reason discussed in this movie, there has never been an easier or better time to start a business. Creativity is king as many tasks that were expensive (and good jobs) in the past are now low cost due to automation and outsourcing.

This documentary gives an intimate look into the lives of successful Internet entrepreneurs. You will discover how it is now possible to earn over a million dollars a year online, work from the beach during winters, close deals while at a BBQ, or run a business from an IPhone. This new wave of enterprisers truly leverage technology to live a 21st century lifestyle or, as they call it, the “Dot Com Lifestyle.

Hope you enjoyed it. What are your thoughts on Living Dot Com?

Feel free to comment below.