I’ll explain why my wife’s hurtful words made me thankful… Before that, there’s another reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving…

…And that’s a heartfelt thank you for sticking around for my now infrequent emails.

I just want to say I’m sorry.

It’s just that life has been pretty crazy. The business has just grown like crazy, and we’ve been trying to keep up.

Over the course of the last year… We added 6 people to the team… Became the SEO superstars to the biggest property portal in Asia… Spoke around the world… Made a killing from Adsense…

I’m not saying that to boast. Nor is it an excuse for my lack of communication.

But all I’m saying is that the internet marketing dream is possible – where you make money while you sleep, earn more in one week than you do the whole year, work from anywhere in the world.

However… the internet marketing dream is not easy. If it was–then there wouldn’t only be a dozen or so peers who are making a full time living online in my country with a population of 27,467,837.

In fact…

Here’s the no.1 reason why most people fail to make money on the Internet…

They don’t treat it like a business.

Here’s the harsh truth…

5 years ago, hobby efforts got you hobby income. You wrote a few EzineArticles, slapped on your affiliate link, and voila… You got some grocery money for the month.

Today, 5 years down the line, hobby efforts get you ZERO income. The prior hobbyist who had a little more success than average has developed million dollar businesses with an army of outsourcers and a near unlimited advertising budget.

And unless you rise above the ranks of hobbyist to become a business person, you’re never going to succeed in this space.

Sorry if I sound a little brutal.

But you know the only reason why I can say that?

I was one of these hobbyists just a few months ago.

And the only reason I’m not one anymore is because of the verbal lashing my usually demure wife gave me.

Even though it stings to admit it, for this whole year I treated Puppet String Marketing like a hobby, when I was supposed to treat it like business.

Don’t get me wrong, we make a decent living from Puppet String Marketing. The thing is… We could have been a lot bigger than we already are.

In the space of 2 years of doing business… I have passed up countless opportunities (even strategic alliances with the biggest guns on the planet), left money on the table due to a lack of implementation, and left my wife holding the bag.

And then… Came the obvious question…

Why was I acting in such a baffling way?

The answer is twofold.

1. I don’t have a “do whatever it takes” mindset
2. Action requires overcoming inertia

You see… I have always mistaken my superior marketing and copywriting skills for the actual running of the business. I ignored the “boring” aspects of cash flow in favor of cool ideas and persuasion. Even though marketing is really important, a biz owner’s role expands far more than that.

The bulk of online marketers are just technicians. Good at the theory of marketing, but unable to create a business out of it.

Now… you start to find an explanation for the local marketing boom of 2010. This industry has bred a ton of marketers with just an inkling of direct response knowledge –but no actual business acumen.

No wonder they’re doomed to failure.

And I was going down that forlorn route until my wife saved me.

And that’s my first point, that the hallmark of a successful entrepreneur is in the willingness to suffer until the business venture reaches breakthrough.

I guess I was seduced by the promise of instant riches.

Well… I did make a ton of money with my launches. But I wasn’t willing to do more of them, since it takes work.

And I wasn’t certainly investing in systems and outsourcing processes. Too much tedium. Thank you very much.

No business is going to sustain with that kind of chronic laziness.

Here’s the surprising thing…

Most of the internet millionaires you know work really, really hard.

They work when they’re on holiday. They work even crazier hours than those who are employed.

This brings me to my second point. You may not be achieving your fullest potential because its darn hard to get out of a state of stagnation.

After all… A body at rest tends to stay the rest…

That is…

Until external force is used.

In my case, it was my wife being uncharacteristically sharp. Reminding me we’re not in the business just for our own survival… But so that we can positively impact the nations with our ideas and our finances.

What’s your external force?

God? Not becoming homeless? Paying off debts?

Until you get one… Nothing is going to change. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Well… This is my thanksgiving lesson to you. To succeed in the internet marketing realm. You need these 2 things – a “whatever it takes” mindset, and a willingness to overcome inertia and take action.

And yes… Me and the wife are still very much in love.

Hope this helps you. Would love to know your thoughts in the comments section. So write away!

You discovered the Brandagon. You know how to create a personal brand that can help you dominate your marketplace.

Now, in this video sample of my spanking new Branding Salvation System, you’ll learn how you use social media to spread your brand EVERYWHERE. Watch the stunning Stranglehold Strategy in action:

Remember… Just 2 more days until the unveiling of the Branding Salvation System. Here’s a sneak peek of what you get:

Module 1

C2C Branding 101: Unleashing the Ideavirus

• The dirty little secret of Ogilvy — revealed. This simple positioning tweak can double your response rates nearly instantly.
• Introducing the C2C Brand. This stands for Consumer-to-Consumer branding. This is the quickest, easiest way to attract a hungry mob of buyers–without spending a red cent.
• “Oh no, not another life coach?!” Lower barriers of entry means that you’re probably experiencing escalating levels of competition. Discover the amazing “big boy” strategy that’ll leave them to eat your dust!
• PLUS: What’s the ultimate leverage point for your business? The startling answer is probably not what you think.
• The Unique Selling Proposition is dead. Why? Too many competitors with similar function. The amazing alternative here.
• And much, much more.

Module 2

Beyond the Purple Cow: The DEA Personal Branding Structure

• Branding gurus Al Ries and Jack Trout says this, “If you can, be first. If you can’t be first, create a new category in which you can be first.” How to use the astonishing “Unique Emotional Proposition” principle to rapidly become the rock star in your niche.
• How to exploit the crucial relationship between the UEP and C2C Brand for unfair competitive advantage.
• Imagine playing soccer upside down… What Adidas can teach you about profitable differentiation.
• PLUS: Astounding 3 step DEA Process that can help structure your personal brand. Easy way to stand out like a Purple Cow.
• PLUS: How does weeping and heartbreak help in building a formidable brand?
• And much, much more.

Module 3

Intersection of Realities: How to Uncover Your Target Market in Minutes

• Intersection of Realities: 3 stunning secrets to read your market like an open book. Easiest way to craft hyper-targeted blockbuster campaigns that your prospects will devour.
• Your prospect are at their most “eager-to-buy” state when you scratch their Immediate Itch. Simple yet reliable technique to uncover what it is — every single time.
• The hidden, high risk of of a Frank Kern video. You can bungle your marketing campaigns if you don’t take into account which gurus your market listens to. Subtle differences, huge implications!
• PLUS: How playing God can help you create the most optimal positioning for you in the marketplace.
• And much, much more…

Module 4

Behold the Brandagon: Your Inception Weapon

• Working with designers doesn’t have to be torture. How to use a mood board to effectively communicate your visual needs.
• 3 surprising websites to outsource your design work–for as much as 78% off market rates!
• Behold the Brandagon. The 5 little-known ways to spread your brand like an virus in your prospect’s minds in under 3 seconds.
• WARNING: Big business are all part the Acronym Conspiracy, ensuring that their ideas have a vice-like grip on your mind. How you can apply this strategy to your business for extremely lucrative ends.
• PLUS: Being a friend to everyone increases sales, right? WRONG. Why polarization is profitable.
• PLUS: Avoid paying for overpriced stock photos. 2 overlooked sources of free graphics.
• And much, much more.

Module 5

Stomp the Yard: Massive Syndication Secrets

• How to “drown” your prospect by flooding the net with your content. Quick way to transform the entire internet into your own personal stomping grounds.
• BEYOND THE BLOG POST: The single fastest way to syndicate your content everywhere–and I mean EVERYWHERE
• Studies have shown in the knowledge economy, information overload is the biggest side effect. Why taking the “art gallery” approach can create a stellar reputation for you
• PLUS: Do this to become the head of a tribe of evangelists. No idea gone un-retweeted from now on.
• PLUS: How to effectively monetize social media with the 3C technique
• And much, much more.

Module 6

Three Degrees of Conversion: How to Boost Response Rates to the Moon

• Mass Conversion: Automate this system to create a daily flow of prospects, buyers and evangelists — without spending a single extra dime.
• Why the brutal action of “twisting the knife” helps in creating a deeper, more ravenous hunger in your prospect for your product–and your product alone!
• The number one way to boost the clickthroughs in your content by as much as 124%. (CONFESSION: It’s rather rude!)
• PLUS: How the Super Six Persuasive Content Framework structures your articles and blog posts to make people flood you with cash.
• PLUS: Did you know video constitutes a whopping 25% of the content online? 5 simple steps to achieve staggering Youtube success.
• And much, much more…

Module 7

The Bloghound Model: Curating Your Way to Cash Flow

• Create an authority blog in under 5 minutes a day. 3 sneaky ways to decrease writing but increase traffic
• The pro-blogger model is dead. Why writing long, high-quality blog posts are a waste of your precious time. What do do instead.
• Filter over filler. How popular blog Boing Boing paved the way for bloghounds to thrive. The quickest, easiest to get in on the scoop of the hottest news stories.
• PLUS: 5 seconds = 120 visitors? How to write Tweets and Facebook status updates that unleash a floodgate of clicks
• And much more.

Get ready to get your mind blown and wallet filled up

In the meantime… Leave a comment if this video has helped you.

Imagine a magic machine.

And imagine that when you pour in all your marketing efforts into this machine, you’ll start seeing double, triple even quadruple your results without expending any more effort than you should.

Take all your online marketing activities…

• Blog posts…
• EzineArticles…
• Youtube…

Take all your content and plonk it into this mysterious contraption…

Suddenly…  You start seeing exponential results.

Where you were once making $997 per ad campaign. You’re now making $1997. Maybe even $4997…

We call it the Great Amplifier.

And no, this isn’t some overhyped guru product. Nor is it some newfangled SEO loophole. It isn’t even a software service or product.

This “magic machine” exists in the realm of the mind.

Yes, it’s almost like that hot movie out right now – Inception. It’s all about the power of a sticky idea…

What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient… highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed – fully understood – that sticks; right in there somewhere. ~ Cobb

Like the Christopher Nolan-helmed movie, the Great Amplifier takes your idea and wedging it deep into your prospect’s consciousness. And that idea could be a marketing message… A suggestion to buy your product… An idea to inspire them to change the world… Whatever the case… An idea deep rooted enough nearly always lead to action… And for your customers, that idea could be a buying one…

The end result? Profit for you.

Wait… It gets better… Imagine replicating that effect over and over and over again. A mass conversion from cold prospect to warm leads to red hot buyers. Automated forever. This is true niche domination, my friend… Once you can wrap your head around the forbidden truth that is going to be revealed by the Puppet Master tomorrow…

The seed that we plant in YOUR mind could change everything. ~ Cobb (paraphrased)

Prepare for it… You’re about to discover a breakthrough way of marketing that will fatten your coffers in a way like you never seen before. Watch out for an email tomorrow revealing the secret location of the never-before-seen video.

Get ready for an inception.

Watch this video to find out why the barriers of entry are infinitely HARSHER in your pursuit of the online marketing dream. If you’re still living in the “all I need is sweat labor to get rewarded” bubble, then you owe it to yourself to watch this video now:

Here’s a brief summary…

There are 4 different barriers to entry:

1. Teams - You need groups of people to grow your business exponentially.
2. Connections – Without JVs, you can’t enjoy the accelerated returns the gurus can give you.
3. Age - Domain age is one of the biggest keys towards getting an authority site.
4. Systems – Internet marketing requires complexity to generate a profit. Here’s how.

All these things need capital. So here are the 4 ways to raise capital:

1. Get a business loan.
2. Get an angel.
3. Do a product launch
4. Build the business organically.

What do you think? How have you found the suite of videos so far? Please leave a comment below.