I would have gone myself but am recovering from a badly broken leg. My physio reckons I won’t be fully good to go by then.

Now this ticket would cost you as much as $2990 for the 3 days which you can check out at http://dankennedy.com/summit2011/#/page/1

I bought a boatload of their stuff and got a complimentary ticket (effectively paid for via my purchases of course- nothing is ever FREE), which I will pass on for the equivalent of $1200 a saving of $1790! it is also possible to take a friend along for a modest additional fee.

This years line up and content is quite exceptional and with hands on tuition from Dan Kennedy himself then you are going to learn techniques capable of putting you well ahead of the curve. I only wish I could go myself.

Visit the site and if you’re interested, contact me via this site’s ‘contact Miles’ form [top menu bar] to take this further.
It’s first one first served but please only if you are serious about attending.

Payment to me upon reservation via Paypal upon receipt I will set up the necessary via Glazer-Kennedy, having them confirm your reservation direct to you. Bear in mind that there is (separate to this deal) the need to make a refundable deposit in order to reserve your seat. See the site for details.

SORRY, THIS TICKET IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

My particular situation makes this of genuine interest and I have started collecting available education on the subject – white papers, research and training courses with a view to…

• Rapidly adding to my existing knowledge on the subject
• Verifying by the use of separate sources, the viability of this business with respect to my personal attributes
• And to give me something to get stuck into whilst my badly broken leg recovers – though that is not a good reason really
  (nor do I recommend breaking a leg either!) We shall leave that to the more theatrical among us.

So I have today (after a careful look around that is)  purchased what promises to be a very comprehensive training course called

Local Lead Machines with the intention of meeting the bullet points above and reporting back as to whether it is worth the money. I should be in the position to confirm this (or otherwise) within a couple of days. As I said earlier… I do have quite a bit of time on my hands at the moment.

If you have been reading my other posts with any regularity you will have seen that I joined Jonathan Van Clutes Membership some time ago and the good news that imho his way of doing things although a tad slow at times is really fist class. The tools he gives you are themselves worth a years membership alone never mind that he personally helps with anything related to I.M.
I just don’t get how he does it all.

You can still watch his video http://milessentme.com/rd/JVCSOL or read the whole article here

I was blown away once I realised the sheer power and convenience of this thing, which is easy to install, comprehensively supported by a whole string of training videos and worth every penny of it’s pre-launch price. I strongly suggest you pay the site a visit. Just watch the demo video to see the sheer scope of this product – awesome.

Well a few weeks have passed so time for a brief update before I head off on a much needed (and some would say well deserved) break.

Usually after some time into a course I tend to have one or two critism’s but in this particular case I actually don’t, – I think that might well be a first.

In fact joining the JVC solution was probably the best move I have made in a long long time let me give you just one example.

The most popular part for me is the suggestions area in which members are invited to post a request for material about which they would wish to be trained. Every member gets 10 personal votes per month and can use them however they like toward promoting a topic they would most like to me mentored/trained on.

The Result – and Next topic up? (exact quote)….

Alllllrighty gang, it’s that time! From the responses in the forum, it seemed pretty clear that everyone felt they would get a ton out of a list building webinar. That’s a potentially huge, nebulous subject though so I’ve been pondering how I want to handle it, and here’s what I’ve come up with.

First, I think it’s important that we divide up the concept of “list building” into parts so that we can more easily focus on a specific goal and manage the results to get there. To that end, here is how I think it should be divided up:

1. Getting traffic to a squeeze page.

This is a whole topic unto itself as many people have told me that they can build a squeeze page and send emails, but they just can’t get the traffic.  I suspect if you’ve paid any attention around here thus far, you’ve probably figured out that I view this as the easy part!   Enough people have told me how valuable they would find it for me to cover this, so… that’s where we’ll start.  I’ll get into keyword research, setting up links and passing tracking information, and some other “ninja” type stuff.

2.  Building the funnel.

That’s really what we’re doing here right?  We’re building a funnel.  It starts with a squeeze page and progresses to… anything we want!  It can be simple, it can be VERY complex, or somewhere in the middle.  I think this needs to be broken up into a whole separate discussion as there’s a lot of moving parts and I don’t want to lose anyone.  Building a squeeze page, tweaking graphics, setting up the autoresponder code, passing data around for tracking purposes, thank-you pages, etc.  This will be the real nuts & bolts mechanics of what happens after you’ve got the traffic on tap.

3.  Mailing the list.

Email marketing is an art unto itself and while I don’t consider myself an “email marketer”, obviously I have lists because you’re on at least one of them!  I really do actually enjoy my relationship with my list members, but my list is tiny compared to the “big dogs” in the IM world.  Still, I think I have a more personal relationship to my list than many, even though I don’t mail terribly often (I don’t like promoting every damn product launch that comes along).  But if we’re going to be building a list, obviously it’s with the goal of mailing to them and hopefully getting the desired response!  We’ll discuss what those responses might be, and what approach we’ll want to take.

4.  Campaign optimization.

This one could go on probably indefinitely, since optimizing is pretty much a never-ending process.  There are so many aspects to optimize too…. traffic sources (including partners at adon), targets (keywords/domains/urls) dayparting, intra-day-parting, lander tweaks, funnel tweaks, email sequence tweaks, testing different offers… the list goes on.  I’ll try to cover as much as I can to illustrate how I would optimize this type of campaign thoroughly.

This entire process is going to take a while, this will NOT happen overnight or on a single webinar!  I’m thinking each one of these will be its own webinar (and probably followup series), and each one may or may not actually tie into the previous one (because in order to show one part clearly, the others already need to be built).

Now, to make sure I stay on track and don’t digress too much, and end up with another multi-hour webinar epic, I’m thinking I’ll take a different approach with this one:

I’m going to record a video outlining the whole plan.  I’m going to start at my whiteboard (so there’s really no good way for me to do it live anyway) and probably end up at the computer for some of the finer details.  BUT you’ll all get to watch the video as I stream it to you on the webinar, and then I’ll stick around after for Q&A (and it means I’ll be able to type in the question box WHILE you’re all watching me.  Multitasking for the win!  )

I do plan to use my own tools for as much of this as possible too so you’ll undoubtedly pick up a lot of good tricks along the way, not to mention all the other things I’ll undoubtedly end up using (graphics programs, autoresponders, etc.)

I think this is going to be a hell of a series, and though it’s going to be a huge amount of work I think it’ll be worth it.  Hopefully you agree!

My goal is to complete the video portion of “Episode 1? this week.  Once I have it done, or at least almost done, I’ll announce the specific time & date for the “broadcast” webinar, and then we can finish it up with the Q&A.

Sound good?

Oh also, for the followup reports – especially when it comes time to talk optimization or details like the partners I’m running on, keywords I’m using, etc. – I’ll probably release them a bit delayed, so as to not overly affect my results.

Let me know how this sounds but unless there are any strong objections, I’m going to keep moving on this approach!

JVC

See what I mean?

Not exactly thinly spread is it? What I can attest to is the quality of what is put into everything presented so far.

So if you are interested in learning more and with my personal assurance that you will never be subjected to the unbelievable mistreatment wrought by Matt Harward and instead get first class content at a most reasonable price point then take a look and watch the video.

Here’s the video http://milessentme.com/rd/JVCSOL and then get yourself signed up in time to start this next major chunk of training. By the way you also get some awesome marketing tools as part of the mix.

As always if you have any questions just drop me a comment.

Best to all

Miles

Managing Time with Clarity

I don’t know about you but I reckon I have bought more than my fair share of “Getting Things Done” books and Guides in my time and I just never seem to find a perfect process that works for me or at least one that I will totally stick to for any length of time. So I guess you could say I have self taught knowledge of this area and if nothing else am well read on the subject!

Until recently I was, well my usual, moderately organised individual despite all that I have already mentioned. In fact the best (until now that is) system I have come across is called the ‘Pomodoro’ technique which sets out a process by which you single task (Humans are rubbish when it comes to serious multitasking) serially throughout the day with consistent regular breaks for say 10 minutes during which you can grab a coffee or whatever floats your boat.

The key here is having the break which it is claimed gives your sub-concious brain time to assimilate the material you have just spent time on.

Well I can confirm that the Pomodoro technique does its job, at least for me it does as I can say with confidence that my retention and absorption of material measurably improved as a direct result of the system. I even use an electronic egg timer (ipomodoro) on my iphone to count out the elapsed time, remind me of my break period and remind me once again that it’s time to get on with my task’s.

If you want the book (I purchased the ebook ) then you can get it from the Pragmatic book store.
Pomodoro Technique Illustrated (eBook) by Staffan Nöteberg which is first rate if a bit quirky in places yet highly recomended.

So things had been progressing quite nicely as I have said, the only drawback being the lack of automation and flexibility beyond that ‘ducks in a row’ structure which ends up paper based. So I am always on the look out for ways of automating things if for no other reason than the consistency that brings to ones approach.

Well now I have found it and the great thing is that it works on windows and Mac and has been around long enough to suggest it’s very stable, I just had not found it previously. The software is known as The Action Machine and it fits very well into the Pomodoro way of doing things yet is flexible enough to adapt to the traditional GTD approaches also.

So now I have a ‘single’ system that in total means I am in full control of my time planning yet in a very efficient and flexible way and I don’t need the iphone to help out any more either.

It’s been a while now since I have made a serious commitment to another ‘GURU’ or ‘GURU WANNABE” but now I find myself in a very happy position having found what I can only describe as a truly marvellous training source. And if he knew I had suggested he was a Guru etc then I know he would be none too pleased, precisely because he has absolutely no ambitions in that direction at all.

All of us got bled out to varying degrees with the Harward con and understandably are cautious about hooking up with another ‘trainer’ – I know I was, but I am really happy to say I KNOW I made the right choice because the place I get my training from now is absolutely bloody fantastic!

There is sooo much useful stuff in place already and last thursday I got hooked on a webinar that lasted three yes THREE full hours and it was superb for almost the whole time. And how about this too…. EVERY single question got answered. We were shown in real time how to build a PPV campaign, rotate it through seventy or so email submit offers, assign the right budget, track the clicks as they came in etc and yes all live and within the webinar. We are gonna see this campaign right through to conclusion with detailed info along the way. AND ALL the software he used is included with the training and at no extra (i.e. hidden) charge! (And it’s already written and tested … whoopy!)

Truth be known? I reckon I have got more content in my first two weeks of membership (thats good content by the way) than I did in the entire Harward debacle.

It must be obvious by now that I’m a bit like a cat that got the cream so might I suggest you go and watch a shortish video for yourself and if you become a member look out for me in the forum under MilesP. See you there!

Here’s the video http://milessentme.com/rd/JVCSOL

”

You know I tell you how it is (at least as see it) this blog is evidence of that and as I stated months ago I only recommend what I buy and use myself.

I am also fortunate enough to own a 3G version of the iPad (sadly not the iPad2) which like the iPhone4 it uses the more modern ‘micro sim’ rather than the long established full size sim.

I soon established that the U.K.’s ’3′ Network offered by far the better deals for both “pay as you go” and contract for sim only sales with good data allowances.

What I did not expect was that they would openly discriminate between identical offerings available to full size sim users versus micro-sim (apple) users, specifically with respect to their sim300 plan. For full size sim users, this is offered in two flavours, the first being a SIM ONLY 300 – 1Month rolling contract at a cost of £15 per month the second being the very same plan but on an annual contract basis with monthly instalments of £10 – a great deal.

So I’m thinking “that’s for me” and pop over to their iphone micro-sim page to order the £10 monthly annually renewable contract only to find it’s not offered. The £15 per month rolling monthly contract is however available.

On phoning ’3′ I got nowhere other than an agreement that it didn’t seem fair to differentiate as after all the content of what is provided is exactly the same. Go figure! Seems crazy to me. The person I talked to seemed to think it was related to research showing iPhone users where ‘heavier’ users in terms of texts, data etc.
Just what difference that makes I don’t understand. After all, if you use more than contracted, you pay the difference! don’t you?

Comments?

These days we find ourselves interacting with technically driven items whether personally or professionally on an ever increasing basis.
It follows that periodically things can and do go wrong with the result that we need the assistance of those with more direct experience of the technology in question in order that a solution is reached.

I feel quite sure also that your mileage like mine varies when it comes down to the quality of the support in terms of it’s overall delivery by the organisation concerned and those individuals tasked with determining the most appropriate solution and it’s delivery, once they have ascertained sufficient detail concerning the problem at hand.

In this post I will give you two examples.. Once concerning Kingston Communications (my local telephone service provider) and Apple, supplier to me of a number of items, the most recent being an iPhone 4.

I had good reason recently when checking the calculations comprising my telephone bill to phone the supplier as the bill was significantly in error. After a little over 30 minutes on hold (Yes really!! 30 ***** minutes!) listening to just how important my call was to them and how if I wanted I could give in and call back later I got through only to be told they were busy with a new package launch, hence the delay… The lady did say sorry but the launch clearly was a valid excuse (from their perspective) and understandably by this time I was already not happy with the “service”. After some explanation she agreed that the bill seemed wrong and would have it checked. Some time later I received a call confirming the error and that their systems people were looking into the cause (no apology) and that a replacement bill would be in the post. I queried as to how many other people might have fallen victim to the error in system calculation and who therefore may simply have paid their bill unknowingly. AlI the lady said was “I don’t know” offering no assurance that a search would be made for other people in a similar position to myself, and so perhaps profits will be up again this year? Today, I received a downwardly revised bill which I have yet to check, with no letter, no written apology, just a compliments slip and nothing more.

Now, I think you will agree that this is an example of appallingly bad customer service. 0/10!

At the beginning of this post I mentioned two organisations, the other was Apple computer, the provider of my iPhone 4 and as you may have guessed what follows is an example of good customer service.

Actually that is very unfair of me, I should say  ”absolutely outstanding customer service” and one by which all others should indeed be judged.

Things started with a most unfortunate accident involving our upstairs toilet which had blocked! I was in the process of plunging away the blockage when my first generation iPhone slipped out of my shirt pocket and into said toilet – despite the fact that things were sterile at that stage and that the iPhone was removed within a couple of seconds it had died a death, ( no doubt over the indignant way it had been treated) so it was time to get a new one. (Just thought I would add a bit of additional ‘interest’ !)

The new iPhone arrived, I plugged into my MacBookPro, and got errors as it tried to hook up to iTunes. I’m a pretty full on technical person but despite my efforts I could not get the thing to play ball. So a phone call to apple’s support department to see what to do next. I was prepared for a longish wait, a number of pointless Q&A exchanges with a number of hoop’s through which to jump and to be fair, technical support is one of those generally thankless jobs which is not often appreciated by management and even less so by the general public who at times can be very rude (I owned a medium sized Computer services company for eleven years and so have seen this first hand).

So, what actually happened? first of all the phone was answered by an auto attendant (I don’t personally like these but this one was minimal and efficient – a good thing) Upon selecting the service I needed the phone was answered almost immediately by a lady who told me her name was Angeline Nangala (hope my spelling is ok sorry if not) she took some basic details and then got down to the initial fact finding – It wasn’t long before I found my self actually enjoying the call! This lady was very polite, had a sense of humour as well as a relaxed and helpful attitude. I explained the situation, stated that I was pretty certain that the firmware was stuffed and found my self disarmed and taken through some checks in a logical flow aimed at getting a concise picture of just what was happening. We got to a point where Angeline exhausted the level of assistance she could provide and it was time for me to be passed to the next level of support. By this time the frustration of the faulty phone was almost a memory.

My call with Angeline had already gone way beyond the normal closing time of the help desk and so I agreed to receive a call back shortly after opening the following day which I was quite happy about given the lateness of the hour.
If this were a marking exercise then 10/10 would have been right and for a whole range of reasons.

As promised, shortly after opening the following day, the phone rang – a call from Apple…

This time I was speaking to a very friendly gentleman – ‘Akeem’ an AppleCare Senior Advisor.

It was clear at the outset by his whole demeanour that his sole intention was to provide me with a solution that I would be completely happy with. He had already got a feel for the issue from Angeline and with a few more tests he agreed that this problem would be best resolved by replacing the iPhone for another as that would likely deliver the quicker solution. After an explanation of the various options open too me I chose the manner of replacement I was happy with and Akeem did the rest. At the end of the call I was amazed to have him thank me for being such a thoughtful and considerate customer! Now that was a first for me, EVER (not that I’m a prat with everyone else, I’m not – I always try to be understanding unless of course the person at the other end is awkward and then I can be seriously difficult myself.). So all in all tier two support in the case of ‘Akeem’ get’s my vote with a 10/10 also.

Well done Apple!

It is experiences like the latter one that only go to ensure you either already are or soon become a loyal and long term customer.
Since my premature retirement I moved over to Apple as a customer (from Microsoft – had had it with all the software in-congruencies and O.S. updates) and have stayed with them ever since adding products as funds allowed. These days I run a MacBookPro with which I am totally happy, an airport router, a first generation iPad 3G 64GB. ( I messed up there though in trying to sell it on an ebay auction ending just two days after the announcement of the iPad 2. Had I listed it just a couple of days earlier when they where being bought for £475 I could have put-to and upgraded but that will sadly have to wait for enough pennies as following the announcement they were going for a couple of hundred pounds less – sadly. Still, the original iPad is still a marvellous piece of kit and in constant daily use.

I now have my new iPhone 4 which performs just as it should, a clear improvement over it’s predecessor in many ways – better everything, really.

And finally, should anyone from apple read this post, then please take the time to give your unseen support staff a well deserved pat on the back – they deserve it! The log reference was: 211699147

It took around 5 minutes for Harward to take over and take 10 times longer than necessary to re-state some of his views on how best to decide which cb offers to promote. Toward the end of this webinar, Harward stressed how critically important tracking was before leading into a quick look at his Tracker tool which he apparently has spent 3 years developing and is not available to anyone but himself. A well worn dialogue ensued in which Menser claimed to be working on Harward in order to persuade him to release it. There will be more about this (read possible announcement) in the next Webinar… (i’ll post it’s schedule once known).

A recording of the first one can be had here cbsniper_webinar and if you want to register for the next one then you can do that over at cbsniper.

So not content to rip IMWarfare members off to the tune of $300,000 (see the detailed article and comments here within which he developed the polished version of his tracker it does look like he now intends to release it to the public, making even more.

I should be surprised but I’m not at all. Meanwhile all the imwarfarers have to chew on the fact they each lost circa $1000 to a coaching membership of which 10% if that was ever delivered.