Net Frontier Marketing - Alex Goad
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I remember, just over 10 years ago, age 17, fresh, shinny faced, innocent. I bought a pair of decent pants, put on my only “clean” shirt and borrowed an awful brown and orange tie from a friend.
That sunny morning, I followed a tall gangly woman with an attitude of steel as she knocked on doors and pitched restaurant discount certificates.
She was selling one in ten people and I thought wow, this is great.
Not so when it came my turn to give it a spin. 6 hours later and I had a long face and nothing to show for my efforts but my first setback on the way to becoming an independent business person.
A couple of days later, I had a few sales to my name, barely enough to cover lunch and bus fare. Already I’d had enough and I gave up for the first time. I found a regular student job, but something had changed in me for ever.
When the next year came around, I heard the call of the selling life once again. This time it was door to door long distance carriers. I put on the same pants, shirt and tie and got going. But this time it was different. I was going to prove something.
And I did. Within one week I was the top sales person in the office and a short while later was in charge of recruiting the sales force and training them. Every morning I gesticulated and drew diagrams on the dry board with ultimate confidence. Sales are sales and if you apply what works, you get results. Period.
I was going to be rich - making more than both my parents put together. I couldn’t sleep at night as I recounted the commissions I had earned and those I would earn.
And then it crashed again. Kaput.
I came to the office one morning, mentally rehearsing my pep talk of the day and the door was locked. I waited and waited as the sales force accumulated on the doorstep, trying to smile as the unease grew.
That door never opened again. The long distance carrier had pulled the contract and the owner of the office had made out like a robber in the night, leaving with hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid commissions, including $15,000 or so of my own.
And so it was the end of that summer. I had little to show for my accomplishment. A couple of new shirts and ties, no money and a level of disgust seldom achieved by 19 year old men.
I lost something more important than money that day. I lost faith.
The next few years were a silent hell. I continued my life as a young man getting an education, having fun with his friends. But the most important part of me was missing. My heart, my drive and that part of you where dreams are born had shriveled up and died.
I was depressed.
If there is one thing I learned from all the psychology books I read back then, it is that you cannot wait for a change in your attitude and outlook to take action. You must take action to change your attitude and outlook.
At 24, I planted my feet back on the road to success from which I had so sharply veered and took my first step.
One year later, I started selling furniture in a large chain and was the top salesman in the country by the end of the second month. This time I had Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Robert Cialdini, Conrad Levinson and many others helping me on my way.
Shortly after that, the director suggested I start working on marketing and that’s when the breakthrough happened.
We ordered a quarter page “business feature” in the Sunday edition of the biggest daily newspaper in the city. When the editors sent me the text, I thought it was just plain awful. Trite, boring, stiff necked corporate mumbo jumbo.
This turned out to be one of the greatest blessings of my young career.
I chucked out what had been written and re-did the whole thing from scratch. “Show don’t tell” was what I had in mind. So I told a story, and a very good one at that.
That Sunday, sales volume was more than triple what it usually was. For three weeks we did great business. All from a silly article.
That was the final indication of freedom.
Freedom from a constrictive environment, from bosses I could never stand, schedules, stupid rules, the whole lot…
Finally, it was a mere 2 years ago that I left the regular life behind and started working on the internet. I wrote my first email and lived a couple of months on my meager savings while things fell into place and my “real world” income was gradually replaced and then surpassed by Adsense™ clicks, affiliate commissions, and ebook and software sales.
And this is just the beginning.
If you’ve read all this, thank you. It feels good to share. I look forward to sharing a lot more with you in the years to come.
Why not leave me a note and tell me a bit about you and what you are working on? links accepted:)
Cheers,
Alex
on November 14th, 2006 at 1:18 pm ¶
[…] Net Frontier Marketing - Alex Goad […]
on November 14th, 2006 at 3:11 pm ¶
Dude I know exactly where you coming from. Although I wasnt originally into sales or any kinda marketing, I got to a point a few years ago (when I was about 21) when I started getting bored of my crappy 9-5 office job and I decided that there must be easier more enjoyable ways to make a living. To cut a long story short, I too replaced my ‘real world income’ with affiliate and adsense commissions like you. You cant beat it
Hope everythings going well with the release of Project Black Hat.
Best of luck.
Ashley Russell
Blackhatseotools.com
on November 14th, 2006 at 4:55 pm ¶
Hi Alex, good post and quite instructive - seems you’ve come a long way from where you started. Hating having a boss (or several) is what made me turn a freelancer originally, too, and the Net has been (and still is) a truly great arena for pursuing this lifestyle. All the best to you in that!
While I realize this isn’t the place to pitch your “Project Black Hat” book (as I’m not getting a cut anyway, heh), let me still congratulate you on it. (And - thanks for the unexpected + unsolicited kudos
) It’s first class hands-on material, no fluff, spilling the beans big time, extremely well written, and I sure enjoyed reading every bit of it.
So keep it up - there’s lots of demand for that kind of thing out there.
on November 15th, 2006 at 7:24 am ¶
Let me second that! Kudos to your ebook. Told a couple of my customers about it, should start seeing some sales coming your way;)
With all the good blogs out there, I wonder what makes you put time into starting your own. But, as usual, am ready for a new ride and lots of surprises!
I guess you know what we’re up to down here, incentive marketing and affiliate stuff - demand is growing very fast. It’s not the Free iPod thing no more, it spread to eBooks, memberships, credit cards and all sort of niches. Also got a couple new products coming out, I’ll keep you updated.
Jad
on November 19th, 2006 at 3:58 am ¶
Well let me get it short and straight. Having a 360 change in ur life & escpecially attitude/character is something like impossible, but if you succeeded in than you are on the right track.
Psychology books are good but “The Brotherhood” books have a richer content to learn from too
The future is the virtual world, and if you start having your shares there, than you will have a great virtual future, Asense is a good start but….
Will share my story as soon as my blog is ready.
on December 2nd, 2006 at 5:04 am ¶
Hi Alex,
Yeah I read the whole post, and I guess I’m right where you were a few years back.
I’m 22 this year, and trying to make some pocket money online and if it’s all possible, to make a full time living
I think one most striking similarity about both our blogs is that we both have a “ramblings” category.
Haha. I’d say ours are a hybrid. Half internet marketing information and half of it, a lifestyle blog.
Cheers,
Kang
www.KangWeiAng.Com
on December 10th, 2006 at 2:56 pm ¶
Alex, sounds like you’ve already got quite a few great success lessons (aka: mistakes) under your belt already. You’re well on your way to living the Business Owner’s Lifestyle. Congratulations!
Why am I so happy about the mistakes you’ve shared? Seems weird to some, “like huh?”
After starting my first business at 12 and growing four multimillion dollar businesses as a passionate entrepreneur since then — I promise you that mistakes are the key to sustainable success.
And if some people don’t get that, and they want success without both BIG and small mistakes along the way — they’re destined for a life of mediocrity at best. Just like 9-out-of-10 lottery winners who end up in debt 5 years after “hitting it big,” business owners who play it safe and avoid mistakes will fail to ever become wealthy.
We celebrate our successes, but learn and grow from our mistakes.
Some may consider mistakes failures, but business owners with a multimillion dollar mindset don’t. Losers focus on failure, winners focus on learning. I know the only way I can fail is if one of two things happens:
1. I fail to learn something from a mistake
2. I didn’t give my all
Keep up the good work Alex, don’t lose that edge, and keep on pushing for that ideal lifestyle. You can have it with the right strategy! And when it comes to marketing online, New Media Marketing is the way to go.
Aloha
J.P.
PS: any chance of you sharing that Sunday newspaper column that changed your life? Would love to see that!
on December 11th, 2006 at 12:40 am ¶
Thank you all for your comments, keep them coming
I was discussing the subject of past mistakes with a good friend just 2 days ago.
It seems mistakes are most regrettable when we are not happy of the state in which we finds our selves and lives.
Thus the extreme importance of perseverance, through which mistakes become experience.
And soon we realize that the mistakes we made have a greater and more positive influence on our lives than those we didn’t make.
In the past year, I have worked more than in any year before. I have also learned more and travelled over 30 thousand miles while the concept of “job” grows ever smaller in the rearview mirror.
Cheers,
Alex
on December 22nd, 2006 at 4:13 pm ¶
Beautiful Alex…
I’m 23, just graduated college. Told the corporate guys to go away and moved home with my parents while I build my business, very slowly at times, but surely!
Would love to chat with you sometime.
on March 1st, 2007 at 2:54 pm ¶
Hi Alex.
I just happened to stumble onto your site while looking for more launch info on Gauher Chaudhry’s Pay Per Click Formula. Just finished reading your bio — wow! I’m inspired.
I certainly hope that I, too, will succeed in internet marketing. My blog (www.ppceve.blogspot.com) tells my journey.
Hope to catch up with you some time.
Eve
on March 27th, 2007 at 1:28 am ¶
Alex,
Its seems like the frustrations most internet marketers experience are those “paying your dues” pains…
it’s taking me longer that I would have liked…but finally some recent “ah ha’s” have made it a little easier. I’d love to go fulltime now a live on my savings too because with a job out of the way…id have the time to get my money making systems in place.
btw, where can I find any books on Robert Cialdini? I had ordered one from Amazon, then they email me saying they no longer carry it.
- Rian
on March 27th, 2007 at 1:46 am ¶
Hi Rian,
i think you’ve got it exactly right and I’ve been reading your blog lately. I can see you doing some real damage anytime soon, keep it up.
I’m not sure where you could get Robert Cialdini’s book if Amazon is not carrying it, although I’m sure lots of online vendors have it.
His books on persuasion are amazing. Highly recommended.
on April 15th, 2007 at 1:18 pm ¶
I officially left the 9 to 5 (in my case it was 6:30am - 2:30pm) world three years ago this month and haven’t looked back.
That regular paycheck was nice, but I was tired of only being rewarded for how many hours I put in instead of how hard I worked or how good I was at what I did. Thankfully, my wife felt the same way and we decided the temporary drop in our standard of living was worth the chance that I could live my dream of being paid for what I love to do (in my case computer programming - I was working a non-tech civil service job).
I was making some money doing affiliate marketing and AdSense sites at the time (enough to help but not enough to live on) and, although that’s where I wanted to focus my time and energy, I thought it would be responsible to have a backup plan so I enrolled in the Computer Science degree program at our local University.
Fast forward three years and I’m a semester away from that Bachelor’s Degree and, while my classmates are worried about who’s going to pay them to write code after they graduate, I’m earning my living from writing and selling code online.
It’s hard to put into words exactly what that freedom does for your mindset and how it broadens your horizons to what can be possible vs. what virtually everyone in the 9 to 5 world tells you is possible.
But, although I’m self-employed, I’m still mostly trading my time for money and my current goal is to change that. I don’t want to depend on the dozen or so people I write code for to sustain my way of life so I’m working toward building up other sources of income independent of freelance programming. I either sold my other online ventures or let them die on the vine as I pursued my education and built my freelance business so I’m focused now on working to rebuild those income streams.
My success is due to seven years of hard work and taking consistent action to get closer to my goals and one of the things that keeps me coming back to this blog is that you never try to pretend that there’s an easy route to success and that’s a message that can’t be stressed enough.
The truth is you’ll never stop working toward a goal, the goal will just change as you move farther along your journey.
For me, that first goal was getting paid for what I love to do, then it was working for myself doing what I love to do, now it’s taking what I’ve learned during that journey and creating systems that allow me work past the 1 hour of work = 1 hour of pay paradigm.
After I achieve that goal (I’d say I’m 1/4 of the way there), I’m sure something else will pop up to occupy my time!
on April 23rd, 2007 at 6:04 am ¶
No doubt we’ve all had our share of failures in our lives….It’s what you do with those failures that define you as a person!
UBH
on April 23rd, 2007 at 6:14 am ¶
Life doesn’t take any prisoners and you shouldn’t either.
on May 2nd, 2007 at 6:18 am ¶
Hiya Alex,
What a great story! My how it all began & journey since then could fill a book, but you have inspired me to put at least the nutshell version on my blog, which now is a bunch of amusing yet random thoughts. http://funDiva.com
Getting better though!
Be Happy!
:)
fdc
PS I’ll second the motion to see the transformational Sunday newspaper column!
on May 2nd, 2007 at 8:19 am ¶
Hi Alex:
I stumbled across your blog through an article you wrote and posted on articlebiz.com. Thank you so much. I quit my 9 to 5 only 2 months ago. I am 30 years old, working “jobs” since I graduated. I have 3 children and I think most people think I’m insane when I try and tell them what I’m doing. Next week I am launching an online women’s magazine ExtraordinaryWomenOnline.com I have never designed a website or anything like this, but I have never been happier because I am so proud of it. I am considering doing a blog as part of my newsletter, any tips on how I would go about that?
on May 2nd, 2007 at 9:26 am ¶
Christy: nice blog you have there. You’ve been writing a long time. I look forward to reading your profile.
Amy: Congratulations on taking the first steps. Adding a blog is quite easy, you could just put a wordpress install in a folder of the site and reproduce some of the content on your main page and that would work well.
on May 10th, 2007 at 7:19 pm ¶
Great story.. I am 20 and I feel like I am at the same point when you were 24. I have been screwed out of tens of thousands of dollars but the important lesson I have learned is you learn from your mistakes and move on and I am thankful I am learning from them this early in life then later when it’s crucial. Wish you the best.
Regards,
Jeff
http://novawhite.com/
on May 27th, 2007 at 5:06 pm ¶
Found your site via “Woody”.and must say stayed for hours.
One thing that will always come through is character and honesty; so thank you for that on both accounts.
I am personally at the point right now you were 2 years ago.
(only difference I am 20 years older:) )
Somebody much smarter than me once said:
“When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly.”
happy flying
on June 4th, 2007 at 1:48 pm ¶
Day job: SEO for Fortune 500 (I need the health insurance. Cancer survivor and all)
Night Job: Doing whatever I can to hustle some money online.
If you’re ever in the Saint Louis area send me an email and I’ll buy you a beer
on June 22nd, 2007 at 8:29 am ¶
[…] Because Project Black Mask was being promoted by Chris McNeeney of Affiliate “Project X” fame, I assumed the material was written by him. But it’s not. It’s actually written by Alex Goad, which I must admit was a disappointment to me. Part of what I like about Chris’ books is that they’re very entertaining. Anyhow, that’s just me. On with the review. […]
on June 24th, 2007 at 9:27 am ¶
Hey Alex,
I am where you were but I’m 40 years older than you. I’ve worked all my life but have been swindled out of my pension by a crook that I trusted.
I am now an old woman in a hurry
and I’m using your Project Blask Mask book to grab what I can on the Internet. Thank you for this blog and all the material you’ve assembled.
Good luck!
on June 25th, 2007 at 8:25 am ¶
Hey Alex!
I’ve been reading your blog on and off for months now. I’ve always enjoyed what you’ve had to say and teach. How surprised was I when I found out that you were the guy behind Project Black Mask? I had to drop by and say hello - I’m too big of a fan now. Thanks!
JP
on June 25th, 2007 at 9:32 pm ¶
Here is the part that really amazes me about your story. It is the fact that you were able to become successful selling on the internet virtually right away. I seem to have fallen victim to every sounds great idea out there, only to end up disappointed. I soon ended up learning very quickly that it didn’t really work quite like the promotional piece had promised. I’ve got the feeling that this one is really different. This time I’ve got the real thing.
Thank you
on July 11th, 2007 at 4:19 am ¶
Hi Alex,
After months of research and losing too much money with affiliate PPC, I’m diving deep into the dark black mask waters! Thank you for this no BS info…What a relief!!
My wife and I are at the kitchen table here on a mountain in Portugal, where we have just moved with no means of income, busy with research getting our first sites together…
We plan to buy land and build a house here all with the help of PBM!
Also thanks for the support!
Pete
on July 22nd, 2007 at 1:59 pm ¶
That is some powerful copy. I am struggling to save enough money from this internship to get off my feet. I need to become self-sufficient in two years and my blog is not going to make itself popular.
on November 13th, 2007 at 10:50 am ¶
Salut Alex,
Je viens d’acheter Google Payload.
)
Je viens du Québec aussi…!!!!
Bromont plus exactement mais je
vis maintenant en Alberta… Pas mal
moins de taxes et d’impôt…!!!!
Can’t wait to use your stuff and make $$$
Martine ;o)
on November 13th, 2007 at 9:21 pm ¶
Hello, my name is james blair. Man I didnt know how else
to contact you or chris mcneeny, but basically im a new product vendor and im currently working on my first product, and id like to possibly set up a jv with you guys if possible, iv’e got a really good offer for you guys if yall will help me launch, im about halfway through development so if you decide your interested or not i’d apreciate it if you’d take a couple secs and shoot a quick email my way in the next couple of days or so
thanks,
james b.
Ps. the real reviewer is a squeeze page i just finished stteing up if you wanna look it over feel free.
on November 14th, 2007 at 5:11 pm ¶
Alex,
I’ve only come across you recently but I am very glad I did and think I’ll be following your lead well into the future.
I’ve been bitten by the internet bug too - I’m still in the floundering stage but there’s no way I’m giving up
Many thanks to you - and also to some of the posts above that were also really inspiring!
Miranda
on November 16th, 2007 at 3:02 pm ¶
Hey Alex,
Marcio here. We’ve been talking on email and i just happened to come to your site and saw your story. Really cool man. It’s always inspiring to see other succeeding with IM. It seems it is all it takes, one success and then you just get rolling and creating ebooks and making even more money.
I’ve lived the lifestyle for a while now. I haven’t had a 9 to 5 in like almost 20 years. Yet, like someone else on the comments here, I have been trading my time for money just out of my home instead of in the office.
When the adsense boom happened a few years ago, i made a lot of money with it. I thought that was it. I would keep building those spammy sites and bam, go live in Rio and enjoy the good life. Then Google blocked all my sites and my income was gone. From one day to the next. I kind of gave up on it for a while, dabbled with arbitrage for some time but not much success. Now i found your ebook on traffic arbitrage and imho, after having been there and done that, your info is superior to anything i havae seen out there. Most of the stuff in it is commomplace for people liek myself (been doing that for awhile) but the stretegy of using 2nd tier engines and how to do it, that’s worth gold. If anyone here hasn’t read this ebook yet, read it now. You could be writing a success story such as this in no time.
Peace and Blessings,
Marcio
on November 23rd, 2007 at 8:45 pm ¶
Interesting story. A sincere and moving story really. I’ve been there. I admire your tenacity. I wonder how long the Google Payload material can last, though. Is it going to be around for a while? Is the long-term projection good? Will it be diluted?
Thanks,
GR
http://www.coolhealthsecrets.com
on December 4th, 2007 at 12:57 pm ¶
Alex,
What an inspriation. I finished the “Payload” videos a couple of weeks ago and waited (for some dumb reason) until this week to get started. TODAY, is my first full day of running my ‘landing page’. $75 so far today…and it’s only 4pm. I’m not the most tech-savvy guy on the planet either…that’s for sure. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve been trying to bank some coin online for quite some time. This could be the ‘real deal’. Thanks, buddy.
on December 12th, 2007 at 1:17 am ¶
Hi Alex,
I just got to know about you two weeks ago through Mark Edwards who told me about googlepayload. Your story really struck on note with me. Who is me? Well, I am this 34 year old from Malawi, Southern Africa (not South Africa) who has been out of work since January 2006. Now I have brick and mortar business which is not cutting it quite yet. Somewhere along the way I got the internet bug and I have been at it since, crashed and burned so many times without much to show for it. My wife does not want anything to do with internet based biz but I am have not given up especially having read of the insane amounts people make! Told my self I will die tryin’.
I am really interested in googlepayload but I have met a few hurdles so far. For now just one will do: does gpayload need me to use clickbank? Coz clickbank does not have my country listed.
You come across as open and honest (a rare thing on the net). I like that. NetFM is book marked in my browser.
Later
on February 6th, 2008 at 4:03 pm ¶
I am there now, lost faith but have to stick with this otherwise I am done. I like web marketing, i could spend countless hours and not know what’s going on in the real world. I am still learning but I want to master this stuff. 2008 has to be the year.
on February 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm ¶
Hey Alex,
I picked up Payload and started Arbitraging. If you have time I’d love if you could check out my first site and let me know what you think.
www.bestcarsreview.com
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Matt
on February 23rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm ¶
I loved Project Black Mask. You are a great teacher. I, unfortunately put it on the shelf after an illness that is now in remission so I want to dig in but has Google’s revision changed your view of the MFA sites and auto-generated content. I mean I still see money sites with nothing but ads and rss feeds so I know that not all auto-generated content sites were delisted. I know you recommended using readable human content but what other type of tweaking would you do now to the BlackMask program as a result of Google antics?