I will be straight up. Cass and I made Source Wave for you
We made it because we get an intense satisifaction when we hear people succeeding from help we have given. (Alex still forwards me almost every thank you email he gets on his end) We want to have an impact on people and we want you to get as excited about Internet Marketing as we are.
That is why we made a blog that looks like this, that is why we have a forum just to talk to you, and that is why we make sure our products are as sexy, cool, and fun as they are informative.
A big part of our success online is simply because we are that damn passionate about it. You are a BIG part of that passion. You keep us on our toes and keep the pressure on us so we keep ‘one upping’ ourselves.
So first off: Thanks!
Secondly, we really want to get to know you guys. We want to know:
- Why you got into online marketing
- How your businesses are doing and what they are
- What gets you excited
- and a lot more.
So, with that being said, I (Becker) want to lead by example, by sharing a bit about myself. I do not want to be some unapproachable Guru or some mystery marketer.
This may seem overboard but EVERY single one of us is a pioneer in this new era of business.
Remember the internet is still VERY young. Just imagine what business will look like 20 years from now. We are a band of people breaking the mold and taking charge of our lives. I like people like that, and I definitely want to know the people I am pioneering with!
So I will kick things off: Here’s my personal IM adventure and what makes me tick =D
Before I get going though.
Here is my personal Facebook and if you’re a gamer, my playstation network name is MrFoxie (don’t ask). Add me and feel free to hit me up whenever. I will ask that you keep marketing topics/questions on the forums though. If you feel like chatting to me about anything else though, go right ahead! I consider all of our readers friends so I would love to hear from you.
(If you friend me please keep in mind my FB is not a business platform, so do not hold me to any level of professionalism on there! I am a pretty goofy person!)
The 100 Failures That Lead To My Biggest Success
Ironically, I believe the main driving force behind my success online was the massive amount of awful situations my previous life style got me in.
For most of life I have not been ambitious. I did as little work as possible and was the definition of mediocrity. I was a trouble maker in high school and BARELY managed to get my high school diploma. (I literally had a 0% grade average in my Algebra class during one semester because I gave up and decided to rebel by not doing a single assignment)
I did not even take the SAT. My parents could not pay for College and I had zero ambition to make an attempt at going.
Because of this, joining the military seemed like a pretty decent idea. I joined the Air Force (because I liked the movie Top Gun) and became an enlisted Fire Fighter (because I thought girls would dig it!)
Me trying to look cool at a pit fire. 19
The Worst Working Experience Of My Life
Now you are probably thinking this was due to it being the military. Nope! The military treats its members amazing. It was a TON of hard work, but I was doing pretty well for a 19-22 year old.
The reason it was so awful was not because of the job or the military, It was the people I worked with. I will not go into a lot of detail, but I felt like I was in the movie Horrible Bosses. I witnessed some of the most despicable treatment of employees and poor leadership I could ever imagine.
Now bare with me, this is not how the military typically is and I was not the best employee. A lot of trouble I ran into, I brought upon myself.
I am not here to whine or be bitter – Whats done is done. Ironically though, this horrible job was a blessing!
If I had been given a comfortable job with great bosses, I would of never been pushed to take control of my life. The cold hard truth is that a year before I got out, I was terrified! I had no place to go if I got out and the thought of staying where I was almost drove me crazy.
It really got to me, and eventually I pretty much gave up. I accepted that I would be forced to work at this nightmare of job. I was just an average guy. What could I do?
This all changed though…
One day, one my role models at the department, and direct supervisor, sat me down. I told him how I felt about everything and how unfair it was. His answer changed how I go about my life to this day. These were not his exact words, but it sums it up:
“To ___ing bad. Step up and make things happen”
My supervisor let me in on a big secret. Stuff is not always going to be fair. Not everything is going to be laid out for you. You need to be a leader and make things happen anyways. What other people say and do cannot determine how you live your life. No one ever got anywhere by playing in their comfort zone. Even if other people are failing, you succeed. Period.
At this point, I realized I could never stay where I was. I would, for once in my life, step up and take control of my life. With 8 months before my separation date, it was either find a way to be financially free or die trying.
My First Attempts At Internet Marketing
For a long time I had heard about people “Making THOUSANDS online, gasp!”. This always seemed too good to be true. There is was no way people could make a full time living sitting at their house and using the internet.
However, I was desperate. I found 2 people online who were doing this. In fact one of them was making $150,000 a year from Google! What the hell, if he can do it, I can to. I started pestering this guy with a barage of questions. He stopped answering me after this one
“Hey. The CPC for lawyer sites on adsense is REALLY high. Do you think I could drive around town logging into wifi networks and clicking my own ads? They would have different IPs”
I thought I was SO smart because of that idea too =D
In the end, I ended up bumping into a guy named Alex Trifiro (one of the co writers of SEO Hybrid and my partner at The Link Back) He gave me enough insights to get started in SEO.
I have not always been good at this!
SEO and a Dating Site
The first website I ever made was a site called Go Karts For Kids. It was targeting the keyword “Go Karts for Kids”. I now know this is an AWFUL keyword, but I was pumped about it at the time.
I also made websites based around the keywords:
- How to buy stocks
- German Shepherd Pups For Sale
- BPO Interview Questions
- and about 100 more.
NONE of these sites ever made more than a dollar. I was getting closer and closer to my separation date yet I was still making a negative income online. I started to get worried.
In fact the only thing I had going for me was website based around meeting girls in College. (If you dig around a bit about me, you should able to find it =P ) It was getting good traffic from sources other than SEO.
I decided to focus SOLEY on this site. I started networking with other people in the dating niche. I spent sleepless night after sleepness night redesigning the site and learning how to make it better. I found college aged writers who were eager to write. I was dedicated to making it something special.
- I created products
- I held webinars
- I made an email list
- I learned coding and graphic design
In the end, working on something I was passionate about instead of some BS mini niche site took me so far down the IM rabbit hole I could never turn back. I completely ignored almost every SEO strategy in the world, and pooled all my SEO into making a big authority site.
I developed my own SEO processes and keyword research strategies. These enabled me to find keywords people would never find and SEO them faster than the people who were teaching me. People told me that it took 2-6 months to rank for big keywords. Screw that! I needed them ranking in 2 weeks … and thats just what I did.
It was working!
My separation date came and I was making just under $1000 per month online. This would not be enough to fuel my online path. Things were looking grim. My parents would not support me and I could not go all out on my projects if I was working at Starbucks.
It was either stay safe in the Air Force, or take a leap of faith.
I chose the leap of faith.
I pulled all my money out of my retirement savings and decided I would do this or die trying.
Did I Die?
For the first few months I was out, I was terrified. I was spending money rapidly and was not making enough back. I was bleeding out fast.
But, I kept at it. Slowly, all the keyword research I had learned started clicking, hard. I started seeing all my newer sites ranking and was able to find BIG keywords I could rank for in days.
I remember looking at my last $942.53 cents in my bank account and praying something would happen.
It did!
I started making money. Good money. College Flirt started prospering and was getting over 40,000 targeted visitors a month. My sites started bringing in consistent money every day. I remember how excited i was when I had first $100 dollar day.
At this point I could have gone on auto pilot and rode things out. That is what the old me would of wanted.
But the old me was dead. “Coasting by” just was not for me anymore.
At this point I met my good friend Alex Cass, who was also doing well online. I told him about what I had done and we started working on Panda Dundee. The course went on to sell over a couple thousand copies!
I would have NEVER thought it possible that thousands of people would read and implement an SEO strategy I helped create. Wow! I was almost in tears because of how cool it was.
The Rest Is History
Even though my dating site was my first success, it had become way too much to handle. I ended up selling it and reinvesting the money into my own local SEO business Surge Wolf. Ironically, all the time I had put in as a dating coach had made me lethal when it came to selling to people. I was able to make my investment back and then some within its first 2 months.
Alex Cass and I then created Source Wave marketing shortly after.
Where I am now
Right now things are going good: I live in a town with all my best friends, I have a girlfriend who I love, I own a marketing company with one of my best friends and mentors (Cass) and ,best of all, I have not woken up to an alarm clock in almost a year! (This has led to some crazy sleeping patterns, but lets focus on the good stuff!)
What Now?
This is where you guys come in. Yes, I still create websites. Yes, I still run my SEO business.
But…
Source Wave is my main focus right now.
Everyone who reads this blog, uses our forums, and buys our products: You are my focus. I want to turn the Source Wave community into something INSANE.
I want Source Wave to be the spawn of something different in IM. A place where marketers ACTUALLY give two S—’s about each other and work together to succeed. I want to help people who were in my situation find a way to freedom.
More importantly I want to be a part of people making the transition from an average worker, to an extraordinary person who not only changes their own life, but others around them ( and I know Cass feels the same way)
So as a commitment to you guys and myself, there will be no “coasting”. Source Wave is about being in full throttle, all the time. It is about making millions online, by first making the thousands. No settling – No being average – No excuses. ajmalseotips.blogspot.com
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