In week 3 of the Quick Start Challenge, I was challenged into building a list of subscribers, by adding an opt-in form on our blog.
Getting people to sign up (opt-in) is the hard part because you must have traffic (visitors) coming to your page. In the Quick Start Challenge, it is all about getting free traffic.
The week 3 challenge was easy for me because I already had everything set up. I use Traffic Wave for my Autoresponder, and I highly recommend it.
My website has an opt-in form and a popover in place and has had 5 people sign up for my free gift since starting this challenge. So, it does work..
Well, I must admit that the 5 subscribers were probably fellow QSC members.
At the moment of writing this post, I have a relatively small list of 487 subscribers, which I have built in the last 18 months.
To build this list I have used paid traffic methods and the results of these methods, you can read HERE.
With this list, I was able to make about 70 sales generating about $750 dollars. This does not sound much, but when just starting out it feels great to know that, what you have learned actually works.
From the 1st of January until today, 30th of April 2014, I have sent several offers to my subscribers, made 8 sales with affiliate offers, and earned $61.10 in commissions. I sent 38 offers to my list, generating 198 clicks and making 8 sales. This had a conversion of 7.69%.
Remember the success matrix, traffic + conversions = sales
It’s pennies compared with the amounts of money Dean Holland and fellow big Internet Marketers make, but it just shows you that the system does work.
With paid traffic (Solo ads), you can build your list faster but it can also be expensive especially if you do not make any sales on the back end.
You can read more about this HERE.
It is time to stop procrastinating and take action if I want to be successful. I will be focusing on two things in the coming months, and that is finishing my product and building my list.
Furthermore, implemented the strategies that I have learned in the Quick Start Challenge with thanks to Dean Holland, Craig Crawford, and JF Garsula.
Let me know what your thoughts are on this subject by leaving a comment below.
20 thoughts on “Quick Start Challenge – My Results First Quarter 2014”
Hi Frank,
Great to see things working out for you.
I have not used paid traffic before and actually I’m considering doing so to build my list. I do not have a list at the moment, and getting paid traffic would probably be easier and faster than trying to get organic traffic.
Cheers,
Boon
Hi Boon,
Using paid traffic will build you list faster but be careful from whom you buy the paid traffic from. There are a lot of marketers out there that just build a list for the sole purchase of selling solo ads. I think you can imagine the quality of traffic you will get. Maybe you will gain subscribers but these subscribers are not responsive thus will not buy anything. Go for the well known marketers or marketers with a lot of good testimonials. Also don’t go for the 1000 clicks for $30 dollars. A good solo ad with quality traffic will cost you $40 dollars and up for 100 clicks.
Success on your IM journey
– Frank
Great Job Frank on getting through the Challenge. We sure all worked hard and made it. I love your blog and nice job on the commissions. Keep it up! Scott
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the kind words. It took me about 2 years with trial and error to get my blog where it is today, and will continue to make improvements. I need to focus more on traffic and list building.
I’ll get there when I get there.
– Frank
Good to seeing you continue taking action and completing the challenge, based on the blogroll there wasn’t a whole lot of us that finished.
Cheers
Doug
Hi Doug,
You will also have people that buy a course and never finish it. I’ve done that also several times in the past. Even bought products that I never had time to look at. All because I was jumping around, not knowing what to do next and keep buying the next shinny object.
With the QSC I’ve actually finished one course and will continue to build on what I have learned. I’m also busy with another course which is a 12 months course, all about creating a product and how to launch it. You can read about it on my blog. It’s called Partners To Success
Hello Frank,
It’s good to see you’re continuing to move forward. Even though the challenge is over as I’m writing this, a feel a sense of focus and determination that didn’t really exist before.
I’ll continue to do my blog comments and forum posts until I feel comfortable enough to branch out into solo ads. I know it’s about stepping out of your comfort zone. Baby steps.
Best of luck to you as you continue your journey. Just keep moving forward and you’ll see great success.
Hi Bob,
Take your time, it’s no race. Solo ads can be scary, because you never know if it will be successful.
For me, the most important part of a solo ad is to get quality subscribers.
To get quality subscribers you need high quality traffic, which means buying expensive solo ads from well known marketers.
I’ve bought lots of cheap solo ads, but they resulted into nothing. They were not responsive, a lot didn’t even pick up their free gift, and after a while unsubscribed.
Better to pay a little more and get results (read subscribers and sales) then buying cheap and getting subscribers who never read your mails, thus not buying anything.
Take baby steps but never give up. Every step forward is a step closer to your goal.
Success
– Frank
Hi Frank,
Good to see someone who can stay the course! I hope things go better for you, and I agree the P2S course is pretty good stuff. John has a very impressive proven track record and I look forward to checking out your first product.
Take care and have fun
Fred
Hi Fred,
Just starting to get back on track after a rough finish in 2013. John Thornhill has a high ticket product, and he guarantees that you will make your money back and more if you do exactly has he teaches.
I’m a bit behind on my first product. The eBook is finished except for what minor details. Next step is create the videos that go with the eBook and create a membership site for the product.
Thanks for stopping by and success with your IM journey
– Frank
Hey Frank great blog you have here. You done well with the sales with your previous list and making as little as your first $1 online is a big achievement online so no matter what the amount you done well. You list will begin to grow just keep up the good work 🙂
Hi Kirsten,
The first $1 one makes online is what you will never forget. Just seeing dollars in your account,even if its just $1, is awesome. It gives a feeling that all the hard work that has been done, is not wasted.
Thanks for stopping by.
– Frank
Great site Frank. You have taken massive action. My first time here as a fellow QSC 2014 🙂 Nice blog and lots of info. I am sure I will be learning a lot from you. I haven’t gone through all your site as there is a lot of ocntent, I am not sure the size of your list but have you tried safe swaps?
by the way, how did you disable the right click menu? I have heard this has advantages and disadvantages in terms of SEO.
Do you mean that nobody can copy my content by right clicking, selecting and copy. I use a free plugin called WP Copy Protect.
I don’t know if it has disadvantages of not for SEO, and I’m not quite sure why I installed it in the first place.
I’ll have to do some research if this plugin is necessary or not.
– Frank
Yes I have heard this way the google bots are unable to crawl your site. Need to look into further.
By the way, congrats for your first Q results 🙂
Hi Khalid,
Thanks for checking out my blog. I have a relative small list of about 490 subscribers. The most of them come from safe swaps and solo ads.
Last year I stopped with safe swaps because I needed the money to join a coaching program.
I will be joining safe swaps again sometime soon and build my list further.
– Frank
Hi Frank,
Enjoyed reading your post. You are honest and realistic which I am sure will help you to be more and more successful as you go on. I am so glad I did the QSC because it gave me the kick I needed to do more on my blog. See you at the top!
Marion
Hi Marion,
Thanks for stopping by. It took me 3 years to get where I am today, but I still need to make my money on a daily basis.
Making a sales now and then doesn’t pay the bills. Joining Ipro was an opportunity to go to the next level, but it was bad timing for me.
I’m already in another coaching program about product creation and I want to finish this first before doing something else.
This product creation program was also a high ticket product and doing two of these high end programs is a little to much to handle in the same time.
How ever I will join iPro sometime in the near future, if I get another chance from Dean or through one of his students at iPro.
– Frank
Hi Frank, thanks for sharing your experience and setting real life expectations for some of us. We know there is no magic button, but you gave some great insight as to how you got where you are. By the way, just under 500 subscribers is more than a great start, congrats on that! Cheers!