$1,000 in 30 Days Online

I sent this to my email list the other day, but the feedback was so much that I thought I would share it with the larger audience. If you would like in-depth help in getting to $1,000, check out my new class. 

—

I am currently traveling. In the last three weeks, I have been in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mexico City, Mexico, Panama City, Panama, and Medellin, Colombia. I’m in the process of scaling back and focusing only on the things I want to do in my life and business. I have scaled back one-on-one coaching, I’ve said no to speaking gigs and a few consulting contracts, and I am selective where I write. I want to use my time wisely going forward and only do the things that get me towards my biggest life goals.

The First $1,000 Online

If you are just starting out, I’m glad you are reading this. If you have been at this for a while but haven’t made money, I am also glad you are reading this. Making money online is not easy but it also isn’t hard. Too many dreamers start an online business and give up before they get to real income. I remember being excited about selling a $4.97 eBook. Five years later, I signed a $15,000 speaking contract this past week.

First, you need someone to try to sell to. You may be saying, “Duh,” but the most common reason why an online business doesn’t grow is because there is no audience. Even if your audience is small, you can still make some money. For the purposes of what I am teaching today, let’s say your audience is zero. Get your first few email subscribers from your social networks. Go on all the social networks and tell your friends about the new venture you are starting and all the free goodies they’ll get when they sign up for your email list. You can also write a compelling post and try to share it on large traffic sites such as Reddit or Stumbled Upon.

You can get even better and targeted subscribers by landing a guest post on a small to medium size blog—don’t do after the big boys just yet. You can also leverage large media publications (which I teach about a lot) but that will take a few weeks. The point is to get your first 50 to 100 people on your email list. With those numbers, you can get to $1,000.

Next, after you have a few people to market to, you have to add value. No one will buy from you if they can’t see how you can help them. You give value from the free content you put out. That can be blog posts, videos, or podcasts. The value always comes before the sale. Show people through your free content that you want to help and have the knowledge to do it.

Next, you have to figure out what you’re going to sell and how many different options can get you to $500. The quickest way is through services such as coaching. If you are starting out, you’ll probably charge around $100 an hour. Get one client or five to pay you $100 and you get to $500. The next quickest way is through a class. You have probably seen me advertise my Exposure through Large Publication’s class.

The class is $497. If you had a class that was that price or close, you could get to $1,000 easily. If you want to know how to structure a class, check out the page for my exposure class. This go-around, I limited the class to 30 and 24 people have already signed up. You can do the math but that gets you to $1,000. Other than these two ways, there are some longer-term ways such as a membership website or a course, but those are going to take a ton of time to put together.
Lastly, after you have some people to talk to, have given them value, and know what you want to sell, you then have to market what you are selling. You can do that as I am doing here in this newsletter, you can host a webinar and upsell at the end, or you can run social media ads to a sales page. But, you won’t make the first $1,000 if you don’t sell.

You can do this. You can get to $1,000 and beyond. Use the first $1,000 to scale your dream business/lifestyle to something more. Again, if you need help, check out my new class.

—
Photo: Flickr/ Pedro Moura Pinheiro