How To Get Rich In 2012
Another year has come and gone and as an Internet marketer, you have to look back at the last twelve months to see what you have accomplished.
Did you get rich with that new $27 Clickbank product that promised to show you all the secrets that the gurus have been hiding from you?
The biggest flaw I see in people trying to make money online is that they want to get rich overnight and with very little effort.
It just doesn’t work that way.
I have been running a successful online company for the last 15 years and the secret formula to making money online hasn’t changed.
So what is it?
Traffic + Optin = Targeted List
Yup.
For years, you may have been distracted by the next shiny object syndrome, but the fact is that the money is and will always be in the list.
Email is not dead and never will be.
There is a very high probability that you are reading this post because of an email that I sent you.
Trust me when I say that I have tested it all.
Twitter doesn’t work as well as email.
Facebook fan pages do not work as well as email.
Youtube doesn’t work as well as email.
Now using these sources to generate traffic and build a list, well that is a smart strategy.
My advice? Pick a niche and start building a list. A list is an asset that can be used to make you a lot of money. The one skill I tell anyone who wants to make money online is learn the art of traffic generation. Once you have the traffic, build the list.
Besides the list hosting costs (which are cheap), email is free to send out so why wouldn’t you build a list?
That is my focus for 2012. What about you?
I would love to get your comments.
Best wishes for a successful 2012,
Gauher Chaudhry
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January 2, 2012
4:10 pm #comment-1
Great article. I have an website that I’m getting on average of 5 people signing up (optin) to my email popup window on a graphic design service I am offering. Get around 50 or so hits a day to the site. What’s the best approach ? Send daily tips? Offer discounts? I’m confused on how to monitize the list.
January 2, 2012
4:15 pm #comment-2
Steven: I would send out tips every other day and then offer a discount at some point (maybe the fourth email) for your graphic design service. I would build all of this out in a backend autoresponder so you don’t have to do any work after the initial set up. Good luck and I would love to hear your results.
January 2, 2012
4:15 pm #comment-3
Gauher…
You, Craig Garber, and maaaaybe a couple others are the only emails I open.
I tell all my customers and subs that it all comes down to traffic > list > offer… Or traffic and conversion, thats it.
You’re always keeping it real and dishing the truth. Thanks for being one of the good guys.
Please let me know if i can ever help you with anything.
Happy New Year.
Chad Hamzeh
January 2, 2012
4:15 pm #comment-4
I can hardly imagine
gurus who share a secret
getting money for $ 27
January 2, 2012
4:17 pm #comment-5
Gauher,
Good post.
The fundamentals never change.
1. Find a market.
2. Find what their problems are and how to solve them.
3. Build assets in the process.
We are knocking on the door of 10M/yr and we do exactly what you discussed above.
We send traffic to test offers and find what works, then we build lists and our own offers and scale it out.
Over and Over and Over again. Nothing “exciting”. Just the basics.
Figure out how to send traffic and write copy that converts and you’ll never be broke. If you don’t have both of the skills, then get good at one and team up with someone good at the other.
Just my two cents.
Thanks Gauher.
January 2, 2012
4:20 pm #comment-6
Chad: You get it. That is why you are so successful. Especially at traffic generation and getting opt-ins from that traffic. Everyone whoius reading, Chad is teh real deal and I recommend reading his blog for traffic and marketign tips -> http://chadhamzeh.com
January 2, 2012
4:21 pm #comment-7
Hey Gauher,
Happy new year
Same here…
Pick a niche and build a list…
That the exact steps I’ve been using for the past 5-6 years
What I did good in 2011 was to build a couple “customers” lists and this will be my main focus in 2012.
All the best in 2012,
Cedric Aubry
January 2, 2012
4:21 pm #comment-8
Gauher:
Terrific advice. I tell people to pick a market and then GO DEEP! Focus on generating leads (i.e. building a list) and then monetizing those leads. If aspiring internet marketers would simply invest the majority of their time on those two activities they would immediately be ahead of at least 95% of the people in this business.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was — “Stop researching and stop reading offers and just start driving traffic to a squeeze page. The moment you do that everything changes because you are now in the game.”
January 2, 2012
4:22 pm #comment-9
Email is valuable, and will continue to be.
But personally I believe growing a social following (facebook, youtube, twitter) is becoming more valuable and email is becoming less valuable (slowly) over time.
It’s good to do as much as you can, at the end of the day it’s about an audience that you can reach with the click of your mouse.
Email is one of the most effective though, i’d agree!
Thanks for the reminder!
Have a great year Gauher!
David King
January 2, 2012
4:23 pm #comment-10
Ok Big G!
It’s your boy!
Happy new year man.
That is exactly what you have been preaching. And Shoemoney too (Traffic + Optin = Targeted List)
One is tempted to think otherwise because those who make “50 G’s” per day seems to be succeeding in not building list.
Of course they are expert traffic brokers anyway.
Thanks for you golden nuggets though. See you in tomorrow’s webinar.
January 2, 2012
4:39 pm #comment-11
Hey Gauher,
What are the hot traffic opportunities in 2012?
January 2, 2012
4:55 pm #comment-12
Dear Gauher Happy New year !!
Hope all is fine and how is your son Shayaan doing.
Hope is healthy and doing fine.
I also feel the same way like all others that you are the real deal.
Nice to know you & that you are around always ready with a helping hand.
Take care and God bless.
January 2, 2012
5:34 pm #comment-13
@Gaugher – you are one of the people who’s emails I read.. @Gaugher / Steve. Can you guys answer this question: I agree strongly that the art of traffic generation is the key (then once you get traffic design pages/offers that convert). Can you please tell us where to get good sources of traffic from that is NOT expensive. Example I’m in the local niches.. like plumbing, electricians, so besides Expensive Google, where can I go for traffic. Facebook is expensive and so is Google. 7 search does not do well with local… I do SEO, but that does take time… where can I get boatloads of quality traffic for cheap… anyone??
January 2, 2012
5:41 pm #comment-14
Good stuff as usual Gauher—
Would you say that building a list works in ANY niche under the sun (whether it’s an ecommerce site/retail, any product or service) as well as it does in IM?
I hardly ever hear of any marketing guys talk about that other than referring to the IM
niche. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Tim
January 2, 2012
5:45 pm #comment-15
Gauher, thanks very much for the kind words I appreciate it. When I started out your blog/list were luckily one of the first I jumped on and listened to, haha.
A lot of CPA guys don’t ever stop and realize that they’re just building a list for someone else. If their traffic is backing out for the advertiser, it could back out for them too. Obviously a lot more to it than that.
Arbitraging traffic for big money is great, but good to actually “build something” with your time as well.
Thanks again.
January 2, 2012
6:55 pm #comment-16
Hi Gauher,
Truer words were never spoken.
Fish love shiny objects … and look what happens to them.
Having your lunch handed to you is no picnic.
The expensive of that 27 bucks is overshadowed by the opportunity cost – and lost time.
And like you said, if we just focused, we’d do much better …
… as in better to master a niche, than to be a jack of all trades.
Best from Athens,
Bob
P.S. Sorry about the idioms … couldn’t resist
January 2, 2012
7:17 pm #comment-17
Hey Gauher:
Happy New Year!
I agree. The “list” in the online world is the “client” in the offline world. You cannot make money if you have no clients.
List building is extremely important. Within a year I have over 1800 raving fans. Once I got it, I applied it and it works. You much give extremely great value.
My practice is give 2 great valued emails and third one offer a tremendous product that you make yourself or that you are familiar with. Integrity is critical to building a client base online.
Thanks for sharing Gauher! Look forward to reading more!
Wishing you a prosperous 2012. From one Canadian to another!
)
Love and Much Success
Cheryl Lynn
http://www.cheryllynninternational.com
http://www.facebook.com/cheryllynnfans
January 2, 2012
8:18 pm #comment-18
Hi Gauher,
Happy New Year hope you have a good 2012 .Thanks for the right to the point simple plan truth.
Its a short article but it shows the real way to do marketing .
To Your Success
Regards
Zora
January 2, 2012
8:31 pm #comment-19
I get it, it ‘s in the list.
I am dumb, I don’t actually know how to proceed. Where should I start. What I do understand is copywriting, not that I really have that skill, I understand it.
So where do I start, I have a couple of nitches to look at, but I need the structure of how to really begin to build a list. I am willing to apply to an 18 month time frame to begin to get this established to build my future. Dont’ confuse that time frame it is a personal goal, not the end game.
Direct me to the very beginning of where to start the learning process.
Thank you
Steve
January 2, 2012
10:07 pm #comment-20
Hapy New Year.
Thank s for Sharing.
Aphoristic words.Thank you very much.
To Your Success.
January 2, 2012
10:34 pm #comment-21
Hi Gauher!
Great post. Thanks for the reminders.
That’s why your worth to follow.
Cheers,
Royce
January 2, 2012
11:55 pm #comment-22
Hi Gauher,
Happy New Year!
Your views on “list building” are much appreciated.
Cheers,
Somen.
January 3, 2012
4:26 am #comment-23
Hi Gauer
Quick Question
Why is it that thedays of setting up an adwords account and driving Google/Yahoo/Bing traffic to a clickbank offer by bidding on keywords no longer is effective as it used to be 2-3 years ago and beyond.
If you are bidding on keywords that are specific and niche based then why does this not result in a conversion rate that is great.
I have had to change my whole model from one of trying to sell products through adwords to a the model of using adwords to build my list and then providing the list a free weekly online magazine and then hit them with a great offer on a periodic basis.
This methods works for me in building profit far more than trying to sell through adwords which worked for me 2009 and before but not now when its the same keywords and same website.
Any ideas why the market seems to have changed for is this just me.
les
January 3, 2012
6:07 am #comment-24
It’s the smart marketer’s mantra – build your list for ATM income. All the top online marketers build lists. Great post Gauher that makes a lot of business sense.
January 3, 2012
9:14 am #comment-25
Hi Gauher!
Happy New Year from Smith Mountain Lake, VA USA!
With all of the Guru GREED out there it’s amazing how GIVING YOU ARE
and continue to be!
Much More HEALTH and Wealth to You and Your Family in 2012!
Thanks for BEING YOU!
Noreen
January 3, 2012
11:36 am #comment-26
Hey man very cool post….and so true. I think that the shiny object syndrome is one that is hard to get rid of …..especially in the IM niche. We as entrepreneurs always work at a frantic pace and want 60 things to do simultaneously..so we like the fact that there is a new product to buy.
The problem is staying focused though on results. And buying the next product doesn’t get you the results you’re seeking. However, building a list will build you a business and make you money.
January 3, 2012
12:43 pm #comment-27
hey Gauher. Glad to hear from you in the new year.
I come across this a lot with our AffPortal members. Email marketing takes ENDURANCE. I know for a fact I didn’t have this endurance when I started online but I learned quickly the value of sticking with one method through to the end.
Now that DOESN’T mean to concentrate totally on one method either. There’s downtime when you are waiting for one thing or another, and that is prime time to diversify a little.
Nothing wrong with this and that’s where endurance comes in. You work on the email campaign when there is work to be done and when there’s not, you launch another or work that second stream of income to the bone.
January 3, 2012
2:38 pm #comment-28
I’ve been struggling in affiliate marketing for a pretty long time. I really tried everything. Twitter, Facebook, PPC on adwords, adcenter and fb 1 cent clicks. To be honest I was always making a list to somebody else + spending my time to make somebody else rich, not to mention i was risking on ppc campaigns to lose my own money (arbitrage). It is not that I didn’t make money, its just its risky lots of times and its not a long term business b/c i have to “buy” targeted visitors every time. Facebook fanpages were good but it’s still a social network and CR and CTR on statuses are sometimes very bad + facebook can kick your ass anytime they want or feel like it.
Now I got few microniche websites (about some files and software). I couldnt monetize for about 50-60 days with content locking and few weeks ago i set up an autoresponder. If people want to download it, they have to give out their emails. It is not much but few emails per day in long term is a good strategy. I also decided at the end of 2011 ill go into email marketing b/c it is the only thing that 99% of marketers will say its a sure money making strategy if is done well.
Greetings and happy new year
and listen to Gauher money is in the list 
January 4, 2012
7:17 am #comment-29
Ay Na3am Gauher, we all know that there is lot of scams out there but the idea is clear traffic is revenue.
Each B2B (Business to business) or B2C (Business to client) company today try to satisfy it’s client by allowing him to sell more.
Here is some steps for beginners:
* Valuable Article.
* Comments.
* Social Media.
* Buying links.
* Old Domain Name.
January 4, 2012
7:41 am #comment-30
Gauher, you could wrap this article to pdf and sell it in Clickbank for $27
I totally agree with you, and I’ve been doing exactly this with my partner. We founded our local consulting biz 2/2011, and so far we have generated almost $300,000 in turnover. We don’t do cold calling, only email marketing and Facebook status updates. Clients call us, and we are having troubles to serve them all. Obviously we are going to hire employees this year.
Anyhow, what I would like to point out, is that list building and email marketing works IF you provide high value. There are only few people I follow, and those include guys like you, Pretty Marshall, Brendon Burchard, Mike Geary, Trey Smith and Graig Ballantyne. The reason why I open their emails is that I have learned that they provide value. It’s easy to promote shit, but it’s a lot harder to spend 5-10 hours a week providing extreme value. It pays back.
Your article is so short and simple, but it definitely rocks. It’s easy to see that you have 15 years of experience.
January 9, 2012
5:51 am #comment-31
Thanks for a great post Gauher!
I was curious to ask what software you use to send out the emails?
Wish you all the best in 2012
/Dorit
January 10, 2012
1:55 pm #comment-32
Dorit: I use Aweber.
Leslie: Hot paid traffic opportunities are still PPC and media buys.
Neil: I really don’t know of any other sources for local traffic as good as Google and Facebook. Did you try MyAds.com? They let you target to zip codes.
Tim: Yes, build a list in any market and offer value. It will come back to in the form of loyal customers.
Steve: It starts with traffic to a squueze page or optin page. Offer a bribe (i.e. free report) and then build a relationship with that list.
Kevin: This could be a number of factors such as competition, poor converting pages, offer overload, etc.
January 14, 2012
5:30 pm #comment-33
gauher
can u plz tell me how to apply a internationally merchant account for my business.i am from India n here getting a merchant account in next to impossible..
January 20, 2012
9:36 am #comment-34
Hi Gauher,
I am brand new. Is there any one resource you will recommend to help me get started with list building and setting up my business the right way?
Thank you
Noella