The Rhodes Brothers

It’s been a few days since I posted about being involved in a contest through the Simple Cash Blog, so I wanted to give you a bit of an update.

First of all, I am falling a bit behind. I’m not listening to my own advice, and I’m finding myself all over the place. So yesterday I sat down and set up a recovery plan to get me back on track by 27th April. It’s going to require some work, but I think I can do it.

Aside from that, this really is a very solid plan. I can’t go into too much detail because that wouldn’t be right - I didn’t create the plan so it really isn’t mine to give. But I don’t see too much harm in talking about it in a general fashion, so that’s what I’ll do. Matt and John, if you read this and you disapprove, let me know and I’ll pull it right away.

Basically, the plan involves two attack vectors, content and relationship marketing. By content, I mean to say that we are expected to post more content on the web in a given week than I have usually posted in the span of several months, so this is a lot of content for me. However, they do a very good job of explaining exactly how to speed it up and do what they are looking for. At least in the revised versions of the instructions this is true. I found myself a little bit confused by the original.

The plan, especially for the content, is very detailed, and they really don’t leave much out. I prefer having daily milestones to make sure I’m on track all week, but that’s just my preference. Their plan is broken down by the week.

The biggest complaint I would have is that it takes me longer to do everything than they suggest. I’m just not as fast as they are when it comes to doing a lot of this stuff, so I’m moving along much slower. But I’m starting to get moving much faster, and it won’t really be fair to say whether I’m at pace or not until I catch up.

The relationship marketing kicks in right in the second week, and builds on itself week after week throughout the contest period. It makes use primarily of forums and a blog for the first few weeks, then moves into using twitter and Facebook, and then goes way beyond that too. I’m not a big fan of Facebook myself, but as they say, you’ve got to go along to get along. I can deal with it at least as long as the contest is ongoing.

In my opinion, it isn’t too late for anyone else who wants to try out this contest. I’m guessing (they haven’t said one way or the other) that the Rhodes brothers are going to be leaving this content up for members and/or selling this as a separate product when all is said and done, so why not get in on it now if you have an interest?

The Simple Cash Blog (NOTE: Full disclosure - if you use this link and decide that you want to give this a try, I will make a commission. This does not affect the price you pay at all, and it is certainly not the reason I am making the recommendation. If you do not wish to use that link, the one below goes to the same place but I will not get any commission if you choose to buy.)
Non-affiliate link to Simple Cash Blog.

When you are new to internet marketing, sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stick to a plan.  This is, in my opinion, the biggest reason most newbies fail.  Of course, it isn’t always as easy as that.

Let me say first that the point of this post is to hopefully give you some insight into the mindset you need to get started, and some advice on how to get started.  Before we get to that, let me give you some background and explain why I say it isn’t as easy as all that.

I am a trained and experienced project manager.  I’d worked at some of the largest companies in the world managing projects.  Even so, I struggled at times, and often openly admitted so here in this blog, when it came to transferring that training to my internet marketing efforts.

Oddly enough, I can thank Robert Kiosaki and Sharon Lechter, authors of “Rich Dad’s Before You Quit Your Job” for helping me to understand why and helping me find my way.  I still struggle, but I have a better understanding of why, and I consciously get myself past it now.

Ironically, I wish I had read this book before I’d left my employer.  It wouldn’t have changed my mind or the timing, but I would have been better prepared.

The problem, you see, is that even though I had operated side businesses and been entrepreneurial since I was a young lad, I didn’t think like an entrepreneur, I thought like an employee.  In the book they explain that this type of thinking is the reason most people become self employed, owning a job, rather than business owners, owning a business.  That is where I was, and to some extent I still am, but I’m working on this.

So, on to the meat of the post.  The point you hopefully gleaned from above is that your training and background, even if it appears to be entrepreneurial and well suited to the field, may not be if your mindset isn’t right.  And the mindset you need to have is that of a true entrepreneur.

An entrepreneur is someone who takes risks regardless of the resources he has currently under his control.  That is to say, he is more likely to say “I’ll find the money for that” when an opportunity arises rather than “I’ll try that when I have the money.”  Risks, of course, aren’t always monetary.

When you first start out, you may be afraid to put yourself out there and ask a question out of fear of sounding stupid.  Formal schooling teaches people that it is not OK to make mistakes, and that is usually reinforced in the workplace.  As an entrepreneur, you must be willing to make every mistake you can, and never let fear hold you back from doing what you know you need to do.

I could go on for hours about the right mindset, but I won’t do so here.  If you want more, please comment below or send me an email at chris (at) internetmarketingpm.com (replace the spaces and (at) with the @ symbol.) and I’ll be happy to respond.

With all of this now, how do you get started.  This is the hardest (and the easiest) part of it all.  Find or create a very simple plan, and then stick to it.  It is the easiest part because there are dozens of plans out there that will work that are already proven, many can be had for free or a very low price.  I’m actually considering making one available here.  This is the hardest part, though, because once you pick one, you have to stick to it.

That means stick to it through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, ’till…  OK, a little silly, but for all intents and purposes, you should consider yourself married to your plan, at least until it reaches the end.  Don’t multitask, don’t dabble, don’t fool around.  Just pick one plan and see it through.

Make it into a real project.  I’m involved in a contest right now that fits that bill exactly.  John and Matthew Rhodes, known online as the Rhodes Brothers, have a membership site known as the Simple Cash Blog.  I was a member for quite a while some time ago, and dropped out, but they have revived and reinvented it, so I rejoined.

That’s right, it was good enough the first time to make me want to go back again.  And they are having a competition right now called the Super Affiliate Competition.  This competition lasts for 11 weeks and then it is over, and they provided the plan for each competitor to follow for that length of time.

Once the project is over, the outcome is supposed to be a business that earns $1700 per month, which isn’t too shabby considering it only requires about 2 hours worth of work each day for the 77 days of the competition.

They also have other plans available in the membership area that can be used as the basis for projects.  For example, when I first rejoined, about two weeks before the start of the contest, I started a short project working on a plan they have called one hour per day.  As you might expect, it is a plan that requires you to work for an hour each day.

I did so for the two weeks leading up to the contest, and now just a couple of weeks later it is making me money even though I’m not still working on it.  It doesn’t make much, but if memory serves, they claim it will take 3-4 weeks of work before you start seeing any commissions, so since I only did two weeks worth, I’m certainly not complaining at all.

At any rate, if you have an interest in checking out the Simple Cash Blog, I would definitely recommend it.  I think I’m going to make a case study out of the one hour plan after the contest is over, and I’ll also try to give updates regarding my contest progress.

Check out the Simple Cash Blog right here.  (NOTE:  Full disclosure - if you use this link and decide that you want to give this a try, I will make a commission.  This does not affect the price you pay at all, and it is certainly not the reason I am making the recommendation.  If you do not wish to use that link, the one below goes to the same place but I will not get any commission if you choose to buy.)

Non-affiliate link to Simple Cash Blog.

Thank you,
Chris