The Yip Man’s Gone: What Do I Do Now?

Hi Stephen

What I would suggest is that you change the title to something like “Stephen’s internet Marketing Blog” and use it then to detail what you are doing in internet marketing.

You could use each post to describe / review individual products you have produced or are affiliated to.

This would tie into suggestions 3 & 4 in your post.

Richard

Hi,

I think we all need to be thinking what we are going to do with our websites when the course is finished.

First of all if you have another business you should apply what you have learned to that.

I also think that the way Kotobot and Network online secrets have done there sites is good so as we are trying to make money. As they have affiliate products this is one good way of converting your blog.
You could build your own brand of products if you are sure of the market.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

Christine

Richard ~ Thanks. I know I need to reposition the blog as mine, rather than Alex’s if I decide to keep it up.

I named it thus to move up the Google ranking for the term ‘Alex Jeffreys’ and the strategy has moved me up by about 30 places, but not enough to snag the $1000 prize!

Christine ~ my thoughts are that both Kotobot and Network-Online-Secrets don’t brand themselves as a person, but as niche authority sites. That means they are easier to sell if the owners ever want to get out of the game once they’ve built up some traffic.

What have you decided to do Christine?

Stephen

Hi Stephen,

I hope you are well and I thought I would leave you a comment since I didn’t quite understand the trackback link, an so I came and visited your blog post.

Firstly, It has been great knowing you and everyone else on the F500 coaching course and my advice, if you value it, is that you should apply what Alex has taught you and to apply it to your own business or the business you will be developing.

As for what to do with your blog, well, keeping a blog is great, but it must serve a purpose, and so like your post pointed out, what do you want your blog to be? Is it a journal, a personal diary, a place where friends meet up social chat site, a ranter blog where users come and express feelings etc…?

As for the blog subject/content, this will first be dependent to the aforementioned purpose issue? Plus it will also be dependent on where does your passion lie within and most importantly, what keeps your going, what makes you tick the boxes and make you simply jump out of bed and raring to go - okay the latter might have been a bit of exaggeration, but yeah do some soul searching for your topic/theme, for some this process might only take a few hours, for some like me, maybe a few weeks or months.

So if you love photography and it makes you tick all the right boxes, go for it especially if you know there is a market for it,

Alternatively since you mention psychotherpist and helping others to develop successful family businesses, maybe you could become an regarded expert in them fields and publish ebooks?

In the end, the conclusion you come up with and decision you decide to take upon is entirely up to you.

If you are stuck with decisions on what to choose, grab a piece of paper, draw a line in the middle, on one side, write “pro’s” and the other side “con’s’” , of all the things related to that particular niche/interest - be honest with yourself and then rinse and repeat it for your other area your are considering.

Then at the end, go through each of them and ask yourself - does the pro’s outweigh the con and vice versa.

To top if off, ask yourself, which would you be happy to do, even if the weather outside is gloomy, your heating has gone bust, your computer decided to play games with you by not booting up properly, your printer decide to paper jams every 2 pages etc…

For me, personally, passion is great, having a dream is also great, but you must be satisfied with what the outcome of your action is.

It’s like the dilemma of: Do you do something to just make money? Or do you do something because your passionate about? Or maybe do you do something that incorporates both passion, and the sense of satisfaction which can also make you money as well?

I’m sorry for such a long post, I guess it must have struck a chord with my writer’s inspiration moments

Good Luck and all the best to you Stephen and all those who may read this.

Nigel

PS: I hope to stay and keep in touch with you and the other too
and Remember:

“Life is not about counting how many years you have lived, it’s about how you have influence others and help them become a better person!!!”

Stephen,

When we started the course with Alex I set my website up a little differently than most. I secured a domain http://www.kennethdouglas.com then set my blog up seperately as http://www.kennethdouglas.com/blog. this will allow me to maintain the blog but also maintain the domain to handle any way I choose. I have not done much with the primary domain yet but as I get a better feel for the direction I want to go after our coaching is completed I can reinvent that domain in a number of ways and still maintain my blog in its present form. Is this good or bad? I don’t know …. time will tell. I am considering a number of options based upon my present thought about the direction I see myself moving but I am not intending to move too quickly yet. I don’t know if this is of any help but it is my present position.

Ken

Hey Nigel,

Don’t apologise for writing such a helpful post here. In my view your ability to contribute in this way is what will GUARANTEE your success either on-line, or off-line.

You wrote:

“For me, personally, passion is great, having a dream is also great, but you must be satisfied with what the outcome of your action is.”

And that is soooooooo true. If you follow someone else’s dream then you will find yourself in someone else’s nightmare, rather than in your own paradise.

“It’s like the dilemma of: Do you do something to just make money? Or do you do something because your passionate about? Or maybe do you do something that incorporates both passion, and the sense of satisfaction which can also make you money as well?”

That’s also true. Unless you’re passionate about making money, and some people are, then working for money won’t satisfy you.

Go for your passion and the money will follow. It’s O.K. though to deviate from a passion so long as you know that you’re investigating something.

That’s why I’m on Alex’s Program, and why I study I.M. every day at the moment instead of making the photographs that I enjoy so much.

My dilemma here is do I have the time to do both?

Nigel, bless you for coming here and being so generous.

Be sure I will keep in touch with you, even if you no longer are active with Alex’s Program.

Stephen

Hi Stephen,
This is a relevant subject. My feeling, though is that we’re just beginning our education of internet marketing and list building.

Anyone who is disappointed with their progress probably needs to go back and read their notes, read their to do list and their did list.

Over the past year or so, I’ve collected lots of information and it wasn’t until I hired Alex to coach me that I actually started doing something with it. I have a better understanding of how it works and what’s needed.

So, my plan is to maintain my blog and keep it updated with tips and tools for the new person starting out. I will take what I’ve learned from Alex and apply it to my own product and get on with the process of marketing.

There are many other ways we can use the knowledge we’ve gained. There are lots of folks who don’t have the time to do what we’ve been doing; that could turn into a business. (e.g. creating a presence on the web for a brick and mortar business).

Just my two cents,
Theresa

Hello Stephen

A short 3 part reply to your question, from a guy who is yet to “make it ” but still has some dogged determination.

A: Stay the course, learn all there is to learn.
B: Retain your site and the friendships, partners here.
c: Apply what you have learned to something you feel PASSIONATE about.

That should give you the inspiration, support and drive to continue even in the toughest times.

cheers
Alan

Hi Stephen,

Here’s my 2 cents! iKeep this blog and make your own products to market. AND also apply what you’ve learned to your photography business. Keeping your blog you’ll still have contact with everyone, and you will be offering a helpful product that a lot of people need.

As for me, I’m going to keep my blog, since I already had it before starting, and just keep applying everything I’m learning, and make it work for me! (hopefully that starts happening soon!).

I’m sorry to see Nigel go, I had no idea until I received your email. I understand how he feels though, putting out 100% with 0% return is soooo hard!

Anyway, I hope you keep your blog, since we all really can still help each other after Alex’s coaching is over.

Talk to you soon,

Lori

Maybe a misunderstanding has arisen as a result of my post. It seems that people think I may be thinking of taking this blog down because I am disappointed with the results I am getting.

Not at all, the results I am achieving are good. Certainly they’re better than I anticipated when I started the program.

My issue is with whether I want to continue in Internet marketing. I joined Alex’s Course because I want to understand how better to market on-line ~ that’s not the same thing as wishing to sell Internet marketing products.

If you recall Alex set us up with his product, and encouraged us to become Internet marketers because those are his fields, and so they’re what he’s happy to teach us.

I have no argument with him about that. The fact is though that I already run two successful off-line businesses.

The Family Business School teaches health professionals how to operate as Family Therapists as well as providing consultations to the owners of Family owned business who are experiencing difficulties as a result of family based squabbles.

Increasingly such business owners want to know how to use the Internet to help their businesses, so I felt a need to investigate some different avenues.

I am also building a collection of niche websites in order to apply different SEO strategies to learn what works

Jeremy Maxwell Photography makes Fine Art Prints which are held in a number of private collections and on some commercial premises.

I also have a long standing personal blog, which has been sadly neglected during the time Alex’s Coaching has been called Pebbles From Paradise.

This blog website, which your reading, was set up simply as a ‘homework’ exercise and experiment, hence my dilemma about what to do with it. To my mind it lacks the store front appeal of, for example Kotobot.com, the charm of Pebbles From Paradise, and the Direction of Gary Simpson’s Internet Temple For Newbies.

There is quite a lot of great information in the posts for those who take the trouble to browse, but the site needs some attention if it is to serve a purpose beyond a student homework assignment.

That’s why I made my post, and discussed those options.

Stephen

Here’s what I think:

Keep this blog or dump it, doesn’t really matter.

Internet marketing is good; selling “How-to-Make-Money-on-the-Internet” products is HARD. It’s a very crowed niche and you’re up against some pretty tough competition.

Use IM to sell yourself and your own products.

Self-branding and having your own products are tantamount to online success, IMO. If you don’t know how, find out how from an expert, such as Marlon Sanders.

Choose your own niche(s)—things you are passionate about—and go with them. If you don’t care for list building and selling products for commissions, you won’t do well with it.

You can do extremely well with photography and the other talents you have. Use IM to set up your business on autopilot so you can spend more time with your family.

The bad thing about off line businesses is that, unless you have employees doing the work for you, they eat up all your time. Plus, you can’t reach near as many people as you can with the internet.

Well, that’s my opinion anyway. And hey, you asked

Good luck to you!

Hi Stephen

Yes I think that a lot of the F500 students are now going through this questioning process and that is right and proper.

We all came to this coaching from a different background with differing desired outcomes. This means that each of us has to make the decision about what is right for our own journey. Certainly asking others for their ideas can be a great help, but in the end we have to make that decision for ourselves. That is also what I told Nigel about his decision - only he could make that call.

Personally I feel that the full IM route is not for me - I do not want to be sending out similar emails to those sent by lots of other IM marketers, trying to get those on my list to buy from me rather than someone else.

I have to be true to my own conscience - I will not sell just for the sake of it, if I don’t think what I am selling is up to the standards I have or that it is not truly ethical.

But that is how I feel - I know that others will feel differently.

Yes I need to be earning money, but I joined this course to learn and what I have learned so far and the friends I have made have been worth what I paid for the course.

So in getting back to your question. If you are happy with the photography and Family Business School I would continue to build those with the information you have learned on this course.

If you have the time to maintain this blog, then do so, using it as a link to your other businesses. Rename it to reflect what you are doing, but bring in other areas of your life and what you are already doing. If you start doing that now, you already have made a start on the metamorphosis from student to graduate.

Life is a continuing journey. Make the decision to live it your way.

Hilary

Hi Stephen -

Firstly thanks for posting in the F500 forum about Nigel. Gave me the opportunity to post on his blog - I might have missed the news otherwise as i seem to be out the look this week!

We’ve spoken before about blog refocusing. I have tried to take time to find out where I want to go with all the IM stuff. Like Nigel, I think it will take me a bit longer to decide on my final direction.

Where you go with your blog? Unless you want to spend time and effort keeping up with the AJ-ers (and as time goes on we will become a less tightly focused group), I think option will be unsustainable in the long run. Also in the long run, optinos 1, 3 and 4 will probably merge - as you move to refocus, rebrand and remodel you might totally revamp the blog. One thing you did right though was to buy your name domain - so if you ever become famous online noone else can grab it!

Personally, I think you should do nothing rash. But eventually, definitely remodel and rebrand for my money.

BTW - I wonder… does the fact that so many students seem to be wondering which direction to take (their blogs, business) now consitute a successful course? Or is it a case of we’ve all grown into conscious incompetence?

Susan

Hi Stephen,

I understand where you are coming from entirely with your post.

However, I think the end of the coaching doesn’t mean the end of our education in Internet Marketing and the knowledge and insights you will continue you to gain will be useful to be reported on your blog. Also ‘Internet Marketing’ is a tool and not the business per se. I know Alex has set us up initially to target the IM niche but we can use the skills we have learnt to apply to any field we choose.

You have a passion for photography and I think a personal blog like this with a slant towards photography but at the same time explaining what you are doing business wise could work. You can use it as a tool to get your personality across and build a bond of trust with your potential clients which is what social media is all about. People are more likely to do business with you on the photography side if they feel they know you from your personal blog. Think of it this way, if you have 2 roughly identical photography sites, but one is linked to a personal blog like this and you are continually interacting and building up a relationship with readers, when that person wants to avail the services of a photographer which are they like to use. You, or some bland anonymous individual behind a photography website? Also you could expand your photography business to expand into graphical photography for Internet sites. I am sure there will be a demand for that sort of stuff.

In the end though whatever you decide you need to see a vision for it and be passionate about it like Nigel says, otherwise it will become a chore. What I would do is pause for reflection for a while as there is no rush. The end of the coaching is not some point when decisions need to be made and you want to make sure you get any re-positioning right.

Hope this helps,

Garry

Hi Stephen,

When I read your post and you asked what I think you should do, I truly thought it an odd question. How can anyone of us know what the other should do? I don’t know where your passion lies or in what area you have the most enjoyment. Those are the things I would look to, but only you can answer those things for yourself.

The “techniques” of internet marketing will apply across a broad spectrum. Too often in my life I’ve rushed forward without the proper reflection and prayer. It never worked out like I wanted it to. So take some time to make your decision and be aware of what direction your being led.

All the best,
Debbie

Hi Stephen,

here are my thoughts:

I would definitely re-title your blog to your name or what you are about and as Nigel mentioned - have it focus on what you are passionate about : you’ve mentioned a few things here: your Psychotherapist work, Photography work, your business coaching. - Use this domain name as a HUB to your key passions. Kind of like what many of the internet marketers do like Yanik.

When I started this course, I initially used my domain name for the blog project, however as I saw the blogging progress concept only a short term project, I did not want to use my own domain name for this purpose, as that Is not what I am about (ie I don’t really want to be known as an Internet Marketer, and like you I saw this as an opportunity to learn internet marketing to apply to my passions in technology, media and personal development).

I’ve been starting to think myself in the last 2-3 weeks how I’m going to shift my energy to my passions as I knew my current website has a limited lifespan. . so I actually plan to leave a key message on that site to say . This site was setup as a project for a coaching program I did. click here to see what i am up to now (or something to that effect)

Anyway, getting back to your site, I would recommend;

a) Use your domain name as a Hub - probably keep what you have already done but perhaps make it as one tab and put all of your alex jeffreys within that parent category of “internet marketing or internet marketing lessons or whatever”

b) Develop sites in your areas of passion, and write about them and link to them from your Stephenbray.com site.

Hi Stephen,

I echo Nigel, Alan and Garry in that passion is a big consideration. When it exists, it is a form of love, and that will transcend anything else and keep you going, even when it is 3am and you should be getting your shut eye (AJ’s webinars?), or when you have a deadline to meet.

Also, when you operate from love, the law of the universe never ceases to amaze. I’m sure you have found this out already from your other interests and endeavours so far.

However, passion itself will not pay the bills. So, looking at the other side of the coin, you say “the results I am achieving are good. Certainly they’re better than I anticipated when I started the program.” You are in a very fortunate position, Stephen (at least from what I have gleaned about you, and I think I have the right impression). You are already living “the dream life”: two successful offline businesses, plus a fledgling online business with strong shoots of initial success.

By following Nigel’s (tried and tested) suggestion of itemising the pros and cons should help you start to crystallise to what extent the issue is time, and to identify what other issues are interwoven here.

Tick tock. Time. We all have the same amount of it, but how differently we use it. Remember outsourcing. How much of your offline and online businesses could be outsourced? Take your time to wholeheartedly, objectively review and assess this.

Fast forward ten years. Twenty years. What would you like and choose to be doing? Which of the three businesses will give you the best returns for the least effort? (Assuming you don’t want to be a slave to the businesses you are building at the moment.) Will they all be built on you, personally, or can one or more be built to sell on to give you a lump sum cash return? To invest and use to go further forward?

Can your passion for photography be developed into an online cash producing turnkey business? What can you do once and sell over and over?

You asked what we would do, and for our suggestions. I could offer a thousand and one suggestions, but I hope that by posing the suggestions in the form of questions you will attend to those that strike a chord within you and find the silver chord that will take you to great personal fulfilment at the same time as extending a helping hand to those who can take it.

I have seen in your writings and your first blog (and here) an outpouring of such talent, Stephen, that I can only encourage you to do the maximum you are capable of. Something about realising your potential, and not hiding your light under a bushel come to mind. (By the way, was it Pebbles I saw first? I believe so, and I also believe if I am not mistaken you have lost too much of your own individuality and personality with this presentation. I like to get a feeling for the person behind the blog. This may well be intentional, for AJ’s coaching purposes, but I believe it is something to bear in mind. Another comment above alluded to this aspect also.)

I feel I have rambled on long enough, so I’ll stop. Hope there is
some use and value for you in the above and I look forward to
following whatever directions you decide to go with in the future.

To your continued, expanded and exponential success,

Valerie

Just got to my keyboard this morning and I must say I am amazed at just all the supportive and helpful comments that I’ve found here.

Rest assured that I intend to do nothing rash, however, since this website is branded with my name it will have to change, even if it comes down before doings so.

Like Derrick I saw the website as a testing site for various concepts and ideas. It certainly has been but, unlike Derrick, I lacked the foresight to name my domain something different from my own name.

This was really because I decided to follow Alex implicitly, otherwise I figured I wouldn’t learn from him.

But I also made some mistakes with the website, and Alex wasn’t to blame for any of these.

In my haste to get ahead I posted some material early on that contained uncloaked affiliate links. When you read the Google Guidelines for webmasters it’s clear that, whilst not rubbishing affiliate sites, Google doesn’t like them.

This may have affected my Google rankings.

During the competition phase I applied what SEO knowledge I have to moving my site up the ladder, and indeed brought it up by more than a page . . . but now it’s stuck, so I’ve probably hit the limit of what I can do for the term ‘Alex Jeffreys’, and so I don’t intend to devote any more time to that quest.

By creating several niche sites using the Google Conquest system I’ve discovered a great deal about what works, and what doesn’t when it comes to WordPress blogs. How much time must be devoted to rectifying any initial errors, and how creating blogs must be made by systematically creating pages in the right order.

Garry: My photography business is positioned EXACTLY as you suggest. My fine art photography site at JeremyMaxwell.Com sells my original works, whereas my personal blog at PebblesFromParadise.com often tells the story behind the images.

Come to think about it that site would benefit from some remodelling too!

Valerie selling reproduction images and products via my shop at Zazzle.com provides me with a turnkey income in which I have no need to worry about production, or delivery, whilst enabling my images to be widely available. So that’s the turn key aspect of my photography business.

I share your opinion, however, love transcends all so certainly if this website is transmogrified it will be a beacon of love for all who come here

Thanks to everyone for their comments, and please write more if you wish.

Stephen

I seem to agree with most of the comments. Use what you’ve learned and do what your passion is.

Comment about Alex and his program.

Alex is a smart marketer. He is charging us to learn from him…smart. Mark my words “When we are done with the course he’ll want each of us to partner with him on his next round of mentoring.” I’ll bet the next mentoring will be considerably higher priced, he’ll use us for testimonials, and he’ll use us as affiliates to sell for him. More thoughts about this on my blog at donaldclifton.wordpress.com

Hi Stephen,

I would find it difficult to give you advice on what to do with your blog. I am at the wrong end of the learning curve for one thing. It also appears to me that you are a very capable person. I would be sorry to see you just close it down completely. I think that you have a lot to offer.

But It is a time consuming activity and it has to fit in with your other interests. Only you know if that is the case.

There are some good comments here giving you good advice. The most important thing is that you should follow our heart.

But you know that already.

Whatever your decision I wish you every success.

Ken

I too am a new to internet marketing. I have not had much success from the program. However, I have learned some ways to move traffic to my husband’s website which is why I started this in the first place. As for my blog, I am going to go in a new direction with it, I have a few places to start. I purchased another site name for the Alex product, so I can use both. My blog for something that my heart is in, and the list building to continue if I choose. I know this will only work if you use it to promote what you are passionate about. Hope this helps.
Peggy Schoonover

Hi Stephen,
I am wondering if you can use your blog to develop an online connection to your current offline businesses. A lot of people do both, that might work for you. Then maybe you can use the techniques Alex has been teaching us to build lists that are specific to your other businesses. Just some ideas.
Sarah

Hi Stephen,

I could write pages here for you but I won’t.

What I will say is this - what would you do EVEN if there were NO money in it ? It’s all to do with passion that so many others have touched on.

Next, I will say - at the risk of sounding churlish and condescending - most people are TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT! Alex Jeffreys has given everybody one of his products for two reasons:

1 - He KNEW that MOST people had NOTHING of their own to make money with - so he “GAVE” them something to “hang their hat on” - as a TEMPORARY measure. That was while they developed SOMETHING of their own. He started the ball rolling for people by telling them to create an e-book about what they have learned. But most have not.

2 - For those who are HAPPY to sell Alex Jeffreys’ products and coaching - those people are perfectly placed for when he brings out his next coaching course - OH YEAH - there will be another course. He would be crazy NOT to ride this internet marketing tsunami all the way to the bank.

I am taking the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS option. I can sell HIS materials and coaching and also promote MY motivational material - none of which I have even loaded onto my site yet.

I don’t see why others cannot be doing the same - even IF they have nothing of their own they can go to many of the reseller sites like Clickbank and engage in some affiliate product programme that they like and can endorse. What is so damn hard about that?

I REPEAT what I have said several times now - and something that Garry Parkes has now identified with (and several others too) - you CANNOT smash three years of learning into three months. YOU CAN’T! And that is why so many people are antsy about it. Coz THAT is what they are expecting to do.

THIS is a LEARNING phase NOT an EARNING phase.

People on this course need to EVOLVE and metamophosize into their OWN genres. That takes TIME. For some that will be the IM niche. For others it will be something else. For some, like me, it will be a combination of the two.

We must each seek out our own destinies. Infortunately, for some that will mean that they will quit. But others will see this coaching course as a catalyst from which they can launch their own niche sites.

I wish everybody in the F500 could see what I am saying here. But alas they will not. Far too many are way too concerned with reaping before they sow and - SADLY - they are missing the point of the coaching in its basic entirety.

Sorry to sermonise but that is what I believe.

Thanks for the opportunity Stephen.

Gary SIMPSON

Hey Stephen,

These are the two options I think you should consider for this blog:

1. Share your experiences making money online in the photography/health niche. It will publicize your business and allow you to keep learning about internet marketing. Even if you’re not planning to be in the IM niche you still should keep learning how to better market your business. This blog will allow to keep in touch and learn from IMers in your niche and in other niches.

2. Post content about photography or health (choose one) and brand yourself as a photography or health expert. As we learned sharing quality content is the way to get customers and become an expert. You can write articles and tips about your niche and slowly you will get a readership that will become your customers.

Thanks for the mention in the post, I hope my comment is helpful.

Have a great day,
Nadav

Nadav,

Thanks for your comment. My dilemma is that I already have a blog that deals, somewhat, with my photography ~ and I have a website devoted to it, and branded under my photographer brand, which is based upon my middle two names.

As for psychotherapy, well when you’ve been working with you 1000th child abuser, or the 500th family with a disabled child, or maybe the 5000th person with a recognized psychiatric condition, you tend to get a jaundiced view of life.

For Chrissake . . . everyone you meet is either mad, or treating the mad ~ and probably displaying symptoms themselves!

So I don’t really want to be an on-line therapist.

I am touched though that you took the time to respond.

Stephen

Hi Stephen,
I just read Gary Simpson’s comment and it makes a lot of sense. I am one of those people who was feeling overwhelmed because I was expecting too much to happen at once. Oh, and I am still working on ideas for the ebook, so I am one who hasn’t completed mine either. I just don’t want to be redundant!

I am really excited about the video you mentioned! I can’t wait! Will you let us know when it’s ready, please.

Sarah

Hi Stephen
I tried to post a comment the other night. Put a considerable amount of time and thought into it. Was just about to hit the post comment button when it happened. The dreaded Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and must close message.

That was the beginning of a very long weekend, that message was caused by a problem that took many hours to solve.

Anyway back to the issue of your blog. Your domain name is unique to you. Your name. I do not see a thing in your domain name that mentions Alex Jeffreys or Internet Marketing for that matter. Therefore I do not see any reason to tie your great domain name to either if you do not want to.

My suggestion would be to slowly switch the topic into whatever area you are going. This way you can maintain your current traffic and pick up new traffic as you switch over.

It could be a tricky process, but there is one thing I know about you. You are very smart. So I am sure you could pull it off.

have a good week
Thomas Northrop

Hi Thomas,

Thanks for posting here today. It’s a real bore when a computer has problems and it’s kind of you to take the time to visit after your ‘ordeal’.

And, of course, your right ~ the beauty of this blog is that it can be about anything I want to write about. What I learned from my family blog at http://pebblesfromparadise.com however is that a blog must have a theme, if it’s to generate a loyal following.

I am not quite ready to make my decision about what I’m doing here, but I’m pretty sure about what must be done.

Hoping all’s well with you now your computer problems are resolved.

Stephen

My $0.02:

It does not matter what you decide to do, because at one point of another, you’ll probably believe it was the wrong choice.

So, follow your heart.

Warm regards and best wishes,

Rovaal.

Stephen, keep your blog up and set up other sites for your other projects. After all, you have subscribers to your blog who follow you and will follow you if you have their trust to the other sites. Being a psychtherapist is a plus in I.M. I.M is about behavioural pscychology so you have an edge. Tip: Don’t go back to the N.H.S. Best wishes
Jo (ex nurse/midwife/R.C.N Officer

Hi Stephen,

I think that, essentially, when Alex got us to create our blogs with our own names, it was so that we could build a presence and identity for ourselves on the net. So, yes, I think your name needs to be in the title. In the first instance, it has enabled us to form a “mastermind group” as per Napoleon Hill, which will be something we will always be able to come back to for support wherever our online marketing ventures take us. This, to me, is the foundation of our future success. Having a mastermind of 500 people who will all develop different talents and strengths with time is an invaluable resource for all of us.

For this reason, I think it would be a good idea to keep our blogs running but maybe move them over to ourname.com/blog so that ourname.com can be a true reflection of what we really want to pursue online eg your photography. You can just blog about photography here and then have a link to your actual sales site.
In my opinion, the rings like F500 should definitely continue.

Most of us will probably be moving on to something apart from IM but there’s no need to delete what has already been created. Many newbies will benefit from the stories of your journey - which can then include how you used this information to market your art and build a business online.

Whatever you decide to do, follow you heart!

All the best, Bev

Hey Stephen,

I’ve decided to make use of my skill set as a software developer (been doing this for like 20 years now!!). I’m about a month away from launching my first software application targeted towards the IM market. It’s something to do with PPC and Adwords. I can’t rveal too much for another few weeks or so. I’m adding some really cool features. I will let everyone know via JV Village. And Yes i will be looking for JV partners when I launch on ClickBank.

To you success buddy…
Nitin

Stephen how are you?
Your post is very interesting along with all of the comments. You see I am very new to internet marketing, I didn’t even know how to put up a blog until I got in Alex’s class, and to see just how far a lot of his student’s are. Well I have to say I did get over whelmed from it and wondered if I would ever catch up to them. I learned a lot from his class and hope that it will help me in moving forward with my time in internet marketing. Your post now gives me more things to think about as I move forward. I hadn’t even thought of which way I will be moving. I do recall Alex mentioning that Mike Filsime at one time did a major change in his business. He decided to separate his name from his company name so that he could sell it if he chooses to. I have decided to take another coaching class to help me move forward. I hope that will shed some light for me on which way I would like to move forward. I guess that you can choose the outcome you would like. You do have a lot of nice things on your site for us newbie’s to learn from, you have already planted the tree. Now you ask us if you should cut down the tree or trim the tree remember the roots are still there I say trim the tree and let the branches keep on living.
Thomas Loughran

Hi Stephen,

I do agree with Gary here. We are still in the learning progress and not making money now but later. How do you cramp 3 years of learning into 3 months. Damn it. Use common sense. I am truly sad Nigel gone but hope that others don’t follow him.

Well, I swear I did comment here some time ago but it’s not here. Something happen I don’t know.

Stephen, my personal opinion is for you to keep this blog as it is and yes, slowly change the direction of this blog. This is amazing blog and I will feel sad if you ever decided to change it something else. Just keep this blog for your readers even when the course is finish.

Thanks bro for everything.

All the best whatever you decide to do next.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey

Hello Stephen
Fascinating post and comments.
I can’t help wondering why you’re interested in what we would do in your situation. You sound like a man who is ‘eing what a man’s got to be!

My view about the course is that we are learning one method of Internet Marketing. If we are selling anything on the Internet it’s Internet Marketing: whether I’m selling PLR ebooks or you’re selling pictures and therapy it’s all the same: we need visitors to our sites, a membership or list and something to sell. And that’s what Alex is teaching us. Once we have the basics we can do what we want with it all and go off in another direction, but we will have a foundation of knowledge on which to build.

This blog? The only other suggestion which hasn’t been put forward is that you strip it of content and re-direct it to one of your other sites.

Personally, I would do that

But I wouldn’t want you to do that. I enjoy reading your blog and I’d miss it if you did take it away.

Best Wishes
Joe
Do let us know what you decide to do.

Joe,

I wondered when you would get round to posting something here

The idea of redirecting to one of my other sites has occurred to me and indeed I may well do that ~ temporarily!

The comments here are great aren’t they?

I’ve taken each one to heart and I am 95% sure what I’m going to do ~ although I may not do it tomorrow.

Did you know that there’s a special reward for anyone commenting on this thread before 12th Feburary.

You can learn a little about what I have in mind here.

Go well Joe,

Stephen

Stephen you are a so talented man, I understand you find it
hard to choose with maybe in the back of your head that you have to leave other choises behind.

I usually fall in that trap ALL the time doing 10 projects.
I call it the Leonardo Da Vinci syndrome, a room full of
unfinished design and inventions, tables full of notes.

What website or domain is just the form.

Your inert natural ability and feeling to be a good
photographer and psychoterapist are the way you are connected
to the world, your drive, your tools.

You can make boatloads of money making stock photo’s but
what I have seen from you on day 1 was that you are THE man
to build coarses, go make lessons,
i feel you are a great teacher.

What i learned from Alex Jeffreys is to get it going without doing
it perfect, (and frankly i still disagree because im mr.perfect),
but this has the advantage i have done things in a way i have never done in this maner resulting in a crappy blog proofing to me i can rebuild it in just an easy manner and not to morn on the hard work of every pixel i sorted out.

Testing and move on quicker like this is new to me.
commenting on other people blogs is new to me, i always builded my own websites, a WP was beneath my dignity as a true websitebuilder.
I leave my narrow mind behind me and seek new roads.

Lets walk that road and talk together,
Themelis

Hi Stephen
I wrote a comment here a few days ago, but I can’t see it here now. Has it been zapped by your anti-spam machine? I don’t think it just been too long, because Gary’s is there!

For what it’s worth, I’ll stick what I can remember of it in again in case you still want it:

First off, what a great position to be in, having all those choices! Your various areas of expertise would seem to me to be a rich source of material for many niche ebooks, possibly sold from a whole swathe of domain names. Semi-automatic membership sites, too, maybe.

It’s nice - and, hopefully, helpful - to have advice from your peers; but of course most of us have very little experience, and can only really reply intuitively. It would be good to be able to ask your mentor this sort of thing. Have you tried?

Anyway:

I see this as a matter of identifying the relevant assets, and maximising them.

For instance, in no particular order:-

1. What you have learned from this, and other,courses about marketing on the internet.

2. Your (excellent) blog.

3. Your relationship with the rest of the Alex Jeffreys coaching community.

4. Your psychotherapeutic expertise.

5. Your Family Business website.

6. Your Fine Art Photography business.

7. Your knowledge of the IM niche and marketplace.

8. Your domain name.

9. Your available time.

10. The internet links (and traffic levels) you have built up for your URL.

One problem is projecting the financial return from the various options, and it would be hard for any of us to help you there. And presumably, likely potential earnings from the respective enterprises would be a big factor in the decision as to how best to utilise your time.

It does seem to me to be primarily a question of how you use assets 8 and 9.

The only reason to take your blog down, as opposed to just neglecting it a bit due to time constraints, would be that you might want the domain for something else. Even then you could just move the blog, thereby retaining asset 3. But you’d lose out on asset 10 unless you used it for IM of some kind. And I should think optimising the scope of your domain name by using subdomains might be an idea. Look at Google’s empire,

You don’t need the domain name for your photography or your Family Business website.
And you probably don’t need to brand a possible psychotherapy-based enterprise with your personal name as an actual URL; but then again, you understand the mechanism of mind better than we do!
So if you do start down that road, you might use a more content-orientated domain name for it, leaving your existing one for your

Alex was convinced that the use of our own names would help our branding in IM though, even on our Alex-orientated blogs.

If I were you I’d try and use asset 1 wherever appropriate; and try and combine 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 & 10
as best I could. I don’t think you need to re-model the site: just change the header, and if you’re short on time, restrict your in-group activity on the basis that it will probably bring you a relatively low financial return. The emphasis will gradually shift away from social interaction towards straight marketing, with reviews, articles, advice and affiliate links. You don’t really want to lose the identity you’ve built up, or your traffic - particularly if you’ve got any plans to be an AJ affiliate in the future.

I don’t think you should underestimate the value of 3: Nigel isn’t the only one to rate it right up there with 1. And you and your blog would be a real loss to the community.

Whatever you decide, I’m sure you’ll make a success of it.

I hope this repeat comment isn’t too late to even be relevant to you.

Best wishes,

James