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16 rules of internet success

by jeff walker

Recently I celebrated a big anniversary for me – 16 years ago, I started my first Internet business.

Yes… I actually started all the way back in the summer of 1996.

I’ve come a long way since then – from incredibly humble beginnings in a corner of the

baby’s room to selling tens of millions of dollars of my products. (And, of course, that

baby is in college now.) More importantly, my students and clients have sold hundreds of

millions of dollars of THEIR products.

In any case, since this is my 16th anniversary, I thought I would share my

16 Rules of Internet Success.

These rules came to me at different times over the years. I was lucky to stumble onto the

first two of these laws right at the very beginning. The rest were hard-won lessons I learned

over the years. So without further ado, here they are:

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1
Always Be Building
Your List AND Your
Relationship With
Your List

This is one of those laws that I somehow instinctively understood from

day one. This is critical, and people still screw this up. For most digital

businesses, your list is the one true asset that you can truly own.

Your content can get knocked off, your technology can be bettered, your

search engine rankings can go away. But no one can take your list away.

And with that list you can overcome nearly any setback. It’s your “license

to print money”…it’s your insurance policy.

BOTTOM LINE: In your Internet business there are all kinds of things you

can’t control, but your list is the one thing you CAN control.

And don’t forget that second part - your relationship with your list is just

as important as the size of your list.

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2 Only Sell What The Market Wants

I learned this one in the first few months of starting my business, when

I was looking at which pages on my site were getting the most traffic.

I realized that was an easy way to tell what people were interested in…

and I also realized that it wasn’t what I would have expected them

to be interested in.

Hmmm… big surprise – and I learned to look at the data instead of trusting

my instincts. You need to do the same… sell what the market wants, not

what you want to sell them… or what you think they should want.

There is so much data and feedback available in our online businesses,

there’s no reason to mess this one up.

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3 Take The Long View –
Win With Strategy

So many people continually screw up their positioning, their brand,

and their reputation by chasing after the latest tactic or the last

dollar that… well, it’s just downright sad.

The good news is that if you take the long view (and in this business,

the long view seems to be anything past the next three months), then

you’ll instantly stand apart.

With your marketplace being so connected (and getting more connected

every day), you have to deliver quality, and you have to be congruent.

Chasing today’s dollar too hard can have long term collateral damage.

Giving away last month’s flagship product as a bonus to spur sales

this month is horrible for your positioning, and it WILL negatively

impact your business in the long run.

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4
Don’t Depend On Any Single Source of Traffic

If you’re dependent on your search rankings, you don’t have a business. You’ve

temporarily won the lottery… and the gravy train will NOT last. Same with other

sources of traffic… none of them are permanent.

Diversify your traffic sources. If you only have one primary way of getting your

message in front of people, then you’re living on borrowed time.

Here are some great traffic sources to test out:

 Joint Ventures / Affiliate Programs

 Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest)

 Search Engine Optimization

 Content Distribution (press releases, blogs, articles)

 Virtual Events (webinars, teleseminars)

 Online Advertising (pay per click, media buys)

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5
Get Out Of The House
And Go To Live Events

My business changed radically after I started going to live events –

that is where the connections are made,

it’s where the deals are done.

I met nearly every one of my top Joint Venture partners at a live event,

long before any of them ever promoted for me.

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6 The Purpose Of The Sale
Is To Generate A Raving Fan

When you make the sale,

your job has just started.

You need to deliver a great product

and a great experience.

Your raving fans will return to buy from you over and over

(which is where the real money is made), and will become your

evangelist in this uber-connected world.

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7 Sell Your Own Stuff
(and Other People’s Stuff)

First off, I’m a huge fan of selling my own stuff. This gives you big time control,
positioning… and most importantly it gives you higher profit margins. And higher
margins aren’t just about you making more money, it’s about your business survival.

For example, if you’re selling a $97 widget that someone else is producing, you might
only make $10 or $20 or $50 per widget you sell.

That might sound good, but if you’re competing against someone else who is
manufacturing that widget (or a competing widget), and they are making $90 in profit
per widget… then you aren’t going to be able to compete.

They have more money to spend to attract traffic. They can use affiliates, they can
buy traffic, they can use that margin to hire out content creators, etc.

Bottom line, higher margins mean you have more money to spend to pull in more
traffic. That’s why it’s important for you to have your own high-margin, high-
value products. Maybe not when you first start out in your business, but it’s
something you should quickly work towards.

AND you should also sell other people’s products – either as an affiliate or by getting paid
to run ads. This is smart because it helps diversify your revenue, and because
you’re not going to be able to create all the products that your clients need.

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8 It’s All About
Creating Value

In the short run, you can use tricks and tactics to

create some level of success.

But if you’re doing that stuff without delivering

real value, then you’re just spinning the karma

wheel… and that doesn’t usually work out so well

in the long run.

The path to long term success is

by creating massive value for your
clients… and your clients are the ones
that will be measuring that value.

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9
It’s All About Relationships In Your Industry

I don’t use the word “competitor” in my business.

I only think in terms of “partners”

and “future partners”.

I suggest you try that out for a while…

because your net worth is equal to your network.

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10 Get To
Dollar One

I always want to get to my first dollar of

revenue with any new product or business.

I’ve heard so many grandiose plans that

never got off the ground… often because the

plan was just too big, or because there was

no real plan for revenue.

The danger in any new business grows

exponentially for every day that goes by

without revenue. Force yourself to figure out

how to get at least some revenue flowing as

quickly as possible.

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11 Opportunity Cost
Is The Most Important Thing
(And It Becomes More Important
As Your Business Grows)

The bottom line is there are always more opportunities than there is time.

You can only do so much.

Every time you choose a project, it comes at the cost of another project. So picking the

right opportunity is HUGELY important. Making the wrong choice can set you back weeks,

months or even years.

I don’t want to scare you into inaction… because taking no action has a HUGE opportunity

cost. I just want you to realize that when you decide to go down one road, there are several

other roads that you won’t be able to go down… or at least they will be greatly delayed.

My friend, Dean Graziosi uses this analogy… he said it’s like he has a bookshelf that’s

completely full. If he finds another beautiful book he wants to buy… well, he can. But he

has to take one of the other books on his shelf and throw it away.

So remember… having choices in your business is great.

But those choices have an opportunity cost.

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12 The Power Of The Mastermind

Is Enormous

I wouldn’t be where I’m at today if I wasn’t actively engaged in various

mastermind groups over the last 13 years.

Get in a mastermind group now.

If you haven’t ever been through something like that, it’s pretty wild – basically
one person presents an idea or problem they have in their business… and then
the entire group does a big brainstorm about the idea.

If you have the right people in the group, it usually ends up being like a massive shark
“feeding frenzy”. You put 20 or 30 really creative entrepreneurs into a room and then you
throw a business problem in front of them… well, that’s like putting blood in the water.

And don’t accidentally leave any arms dangling over the edge of the boat!
After all, everyone has more fun solving other people’s problems than
working on their own issues.

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13
It’s A Lot Easier To Sell
With The Human Touch –
The “Corporate Voice” Is Death

I’ve always been happy just being me, and not pretend-ing to

be some big corporation. I didn’t refer to myself as “we” in my

emails… and that set me apart from the very beginning.

Back in the early days, everyone was trying to sound big

and important – I was just writing my emails like I write

to my best friend. It worked.

People want to connect with people,

not corporations… that corporate voice will kill you.

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14 Live Below Your Means…
Don’t Buy That Ferrari Yet

When the money starts rolling, it’s easy to let

your lifestyle grow very quickly. Fight that urge.

Remember Rule #3 – the long view.

It’s a lot easier to do the right things and make

the right decisions when you aren’t chasing the

next dollar… when you aren’t worried about

making the payment on that Ferrari.

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15 Baby Steps

Your first site will suck, that’s OK.

Your first sales letter will suck, that’s OK.
Your first email will suck, that’s OK.

The important thing is to have a rock-solid plan, and keep moving forward.

You’ll get there… just get started.

Be gentle with yourself, forgive yourself for mistakes, don’t expect to be perfect –
just get moving, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Remember, just as Rome was not built in a day, you’re not going to build a serious
business overnight. It’s all about taking baby steps and focusing on your progress.
I’m thrilled with the success that my students and clients have experienced.

Some of my students have done multi-million-dollar launches. Lots of them have

done six-figure launches. Hundreds of them have done six-figure launches. But
none of them started off by doing a million-dollar launch. Every single one of
them started off with a smaller launch.

Don’t try to conquer everything in a day… focus on your plan and taking those “baby
steps” that one day will lead to the business and life you’ve always wanted.

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16 Invest In Yourself…
No One Can Take Your
Skills From You

I spend a lot of time, energy, and money on my skills and knowledge. I’ve

been doing that from the start, and I’m not ever going to stop… no one

can take that away from me. I’ve been fortunate enough to have long term

success… but I’ve also had set backs.

I’ve had significant revenue streams disappear overnight – but it never

slowed me down. In fact, it really wasn’t even very troubling, because I knew

I had the skills to bounce right back. Once you’ve developed your chops, you

have the ultimate control over your destiny.

So there’s my 16 Rules of Internet Success…

I’m not claiming they are all-inclusive, or that they’re a fit for everyone. After

all, I only had 16 to work with. But they’ve been working really well for me.

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About The Author

jeff walker

Jeff Walker is creator of the Product Launch Formula... a system that’s been used by

thousands of entrepreneurs in hundreds of different niches and markets to create hugely

successful product launches.

The impact has been huge... with his students and clients
now having done well over $400 million in product launches.

He has coached or helped all kinds of experts in a variety of fields - including,

such notables as Tony Robbins, Brendon Burchard, Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer, Rich

Schefren, Frank Kern, Dean Graziosi, Yanik Silver, Greg Clement and doz-ens more

“gurus” — but Jeff is most excited about all of the “regular folks” that he’s helped

quit their day jobs and grow a serious business.

Visit www.ProductLaunchFormula.com to access a free video training series on how you can

use product launches to grow a highly successful business of your own - where you’ll discover

the secret of his “Sideways Sales Letter” and other strategies he’s created and perfected for

launching virtually any product or service... in any market or niche you can dream of.

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