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5 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting Your Online Entrepreneurship Journey
March is here and if you are like me, you may be wondering how fast the year is quickly going.

Are you still committed to achieving your goals or has the momentum subsided?

Today, I’d like to talk about some common mistakes that new entrepreneurs make when starting their online entrepreneur journeys. Now, before we begin, it looks all glamorous and easy when you read blogs of most successful online entrepreneurs and their income reports. I mean, making $100k per month…that is more than most white collar jobs offer.

However, the truth is that there are many behind-the-scenes stuff that are usually not highlighted in the “success” blog posts. The most common one is FAILURE. You see, everyone likes to show how good they are doing and how they have “got” this online marketing thing. But behind the income reports, they don’t show the work put, the money lost and the lessons learned. Truth be told, everyone has their own fair share of failures…most people just don’t blog about them.

So, what I’m I driving to? ONLINE MARKETING IS NOT EASY.

Yes, forget the overnight success stories you’ve read. Behind every online “overnight success” are hundreds of hours of testing, failing, giving up, not getting traction and so on. Brutally honest entrepreneurs know it’s the boring work that counts. The attention to detail and keeping track of progress. It’s the small successes that eventually compound and become “overnight successes”.

The problem is, readers are usually not there when the entrepreneur is doing the boring stuff. You know, stuff like:
- Setting up the blog
- Researching the market
- Connecting with influencers
- Content marketing
- SEO & link building
- Customer surveys, etc.
Everyone just looks at the income reports and wows at how it must be fun making the money.

Yes, it’s fun making money. But you need to work for it. It’s the small boring tasks that lead to making money. Most of the time, if you can’t go past the small boring tasks, your project will be another of your long list of wantapreneur projects.

Now, back to the lesson at hand: mistakes you should avoid when starting your online journey. I made some of these mistakes and hopefully, by sharing my experience, you will avoid them too and move faster to success with your online journey.

Let’s get started.

1. Don’t Quit Your Day/Night Job

If you already have a family or bills to take care of and have a job, don’t quit when starting your online business. At least not just yet.

Startup founder and online entrepreneurs’ stories follow the same script. Someone was bored with his job. He found something that he was passionate about. He quit his job. Started his passionate online business. Made bank and now travels around the world in a yacht while working by the beach sipping pina colada!

The only problem with this narrative is that it omits many details, some of which may be different for you. For example, most people who quit their jobs to start their online businesses usually have a plan B. They have stacked up cash to keep them afloat at least 6 to 12 months, hence they have time to work on their business without worrying about bills. Some also move back to their parents’ home or a friend’s to keep costs down.

So, before you give your boss the middle finger and quit your job, think about your bills. How will you manage them? Do you have enough savings to survive on for at least 6 months?

If you do not have a family to worry about, your work may be easier. There are various hacks you can use to keep costs low. For instance, you can move to your parent’s garage (assuming they have one). Alternatively, you can move to a low-cost house or even get someone to share a house with to keep costs low.

The point is, don’t quit your job to start your online business when you don’t have enough savings to get you by. Your online business can take months before you make a sale. The last thing you will want is to go back to your former employer asking to be taken back. What a shame.

2. Take Advice from the Right People

Most people get interested in starting online after receiving an email like this:

There is usually a curve that online entrepreneurs go through on their journey to success. First, they will get emails like:
- This software makes me $1400 per month with only 2 hours or work
- Make your first $299 today
- How a retired veteran is making $1400 per day with simple online forms
- Buy this report for $7 and learn my million dollar online secrets
- Etc.
You know the drill.

Most of the marketers who send such emails are simply scammers looking to make a quick buck out of the gullible or newbie online entrepreneurs. I mean, if someone had a system for making a million dollars, why would he sell the information for a mere 7 bucks? You be the judge.

When starting my online journey, I signed up for literally any “free report” or “free gift” that promised I would be making thousands of dollars with simple work. The truth is, they never delivered. Those days, I didn’t know about PLR (private rights label) products and the upsells they come with. Whenever I hear an IMer saying “the money is in the list”, I cringe at how many offers he will be sending for a $7 dollar “revolutionary software”.

I hope that by now you know you can’t really make a million dollars from strategies outlined in a $7 dollar eBook. You should be smarter than that.

But it’s not only on emails. IMers are pros at Photoshop. In fact, most of them would make a good career freelancing as graphic designers. Have you seen all those IMers announcing launches on their Facebook profiles? Here is one I came across:

If you cannot decipher, he basically Photoshopped his Shopify income but forgot to add a zero in the earnings.

Anytime an IMer shows you a screenshot of how much he is making, take the information with a pinch of salt.

Long point short, carry out your due diligence before buying a course, joining a forum/FB group or taking advise from someone. A simple Google search for the person’s our course’s name plus the word “scam” will give you some information that can be helpful.

3. Assuming It is Easy

Success is never easy. If it was, everyone would be successful. The more I interact with successful online entrepreneurs, the more I confirm that the hustle is real. Many online entrepreneurs work unconventional hours, most usually till late at night.

In fact, in my circle of friends, we are usually up until 2am – 3am ish.

Now, I am not saying that you have to stay awake until 2am as an online entrepreneur. But there are just too many distractions during the day. Moreover, there are literally hundreds of things to do. Time is a luxury that you can’t afford as an online entrepreneur, especially when starting.

If you are like most people, you may have a blog but have not made a sale for years. Sometimes, you may have bought the domain name but never got to installing WordPress on it. You may also have a blog but never got to writing content for it.

These are typical works you will need to do when starting. Of course, you can always outsource some of the stuff that needs to be done on sites like Fiverr et al. However, you will need to know some of the processes with time.

Life gets in the way. The journey of an online entrepreneur is set like is bound to be a failure from the start. The hard work is never seen until you hit the road running.

So, be ready for hard work. Long nights with coffee and missing the social life you are accustomed to. No watching TV. It’s the price you may have to pay to be successful as an online entrepreneur. It’s never easy. The hard part is never advertised when the entrepreneur dream is being sold.

4. Over Learning

I don’t know if there is such a word as over learning, but this is a trap many online entrepreneurs fall into. I mean, there is always the pressure to watch webinars, buy courses, join masterminds, etc. It’s as if our mind is conditioned to think that buying that $997 course will make us successful.

How many courses have you downloaded for free or have bought that are gathering dust in your hard drive? How many groups on online entrepreneurship have you joined but never acted on the information provided?

Success is simple. Small steps compound to massive success. Now, taking courses is good. Attending webinars is great. But if you are not taking action to apply the knowledge you are gaining, you will not earn. And what’s the aim of starting a business if you are not earning?

Learning is important…but so is application of the learning. If you are not applying what you are learning, you will not be earning.

Most people spend years learning and learning but never taking action on the information they learn. Before I started online marketing, I was a freelance writer. I spent three years learning and learning before taking action to publish my first blog.

Take action. When you take action, things start getting in motion. Sometimes, you will realize the hurdle you were seeing wasn’t really as tough as you may have thought.

If you get stuck on the point of taking action, ask or search for help. Google is your friend. And granted, there is no hurdle you will face that hasn’t been faced by other people in the past.

Before I end this point, I would like to discuss the topic of motion and progress. Do not confuse motion with progress. Motion will keep you busy doing something but going nowhere. It’s like a treadmill. When you are running on a treadmill, you may be running very fast but going nowhere. You are in motion.

Progress on the other hand is different. You can be running slow on a track but going somewhere. You are moving forward.

You want to be making progress with your online entrepreneurship journey and not simply being in motion. Reading or taking courses is being in motion. Applying what you learn in the courses is making progress.

Think of all your business actions in that manner. Ask yourself; Will this action keep me in motion or make progress?

5. Don’t Go It Alone

When you get started, you will probably be the only one among your friends that will be in the online marketing space. Your friends will tell you “good luck with the venture”, with that tone that says they expect you fail so that they can tell you “I told you so!”.

Nearly all of my friends…the people I grew up with, neighbors or college friends have 9 to 5 jobs. So, they don’t get it when I stay the whole day staring at a computer screen. My mom doesn’t know what I do up to today. She just knows I make money when I have my laptop with me.

Anyway, don’t expect anyone close to you to understand what you are doing. They will probably discourage you. Keep your online journey to yourself or friends who will support you.

And now to the next point, you will need to get some new friends. At least virtual friends since it’s likely you will not meet with them. These virtual friends should be people that are also into online entrepreneurship. You can find them on Facebook groups, blogs, and internet marketing forums.

Having IM friends or people in the same journey as you are in is important for many reasons. To begin, you need someone who understands the struggles you are going through trying to start your business. You also need someone who can give you insight on the next steps to take with the business.

You can learn everything needed to be successful online on your own. However, sometimes advise from another IMer can shorten your route to success. You can avoid many mistakes on your online journey by simply asking for advice.

Make it a point to ask about things you don’t know. There’s a Swahili proverb that goes like this: “Kuuliza si ujinga” (Translation: It is not foolish to ask questions.) The proverb can also mean, “You will not be thought a fool when you ask questions”.

Asking questions can put you on the right path to success. Do not be afraid to ask about anything you don’t know or are not sure of when building your business. You will be amazed at how many people are willing to help you online.

So, make sure you join some relevant groups where you can get value from other online entrepreneurs. At these groups is where you can find friends that can help you with your business. Whether you need advice or a service for your business, you can find them in these groups.

5. Don’t Give Up Too Early

Another mistake newbie entrepreneur make is giving up too early. This is especially true in the online world where you may not know whether the inspiring blog posts from other entrepreneurs are simply hype or the truth.

Up to today, I still get questions on whether someone can make money online.

Most people that ask these questions are usually surprised by the huge income claims made by some bloggers online. Others may have bought products or courses in the past that did not deliver what was promised.

Everyone’s online journey is different. There are many variables that involved in your business and there is no way to guarantee you will make money within the first month or the first year. However, you should not give up to early. It’s always good to delve into your business and find out why you are not making any sales like you want.

For instance, you may find that your blog does not get traffic and hence you may not get sales. If this is the case, address the problem. Make a list of traffic generation tactics and apply them for your blog. Watch your traffic grows and see whether you won’t make any sales.

Before you close shop with your online business, find out the reason why you are not successful. It would even be better to get an experienced online entrepreneur to look into your website, audience, or product to provide directions on what you should do. Perhaps you have the wrong product or are in the wrong niche. Just because you are passionate about purple toothbrushes for cats does not mean there is a market for it.

There are many wheels and bolts that make an online business successful. If one of them is not working, you can be stuck with making money. You need to identify all the workings of your business to be successful.

Most Important Advice

I have discussed 5 common problems that newbie entrepreneurs make when starting their online business journey. If you are not going to take away anything from this post, I will only ask you to do one thing: take action.

Take action to start or grow your business. It’s the small actions and small wins that compound to massive success. If you are not taking action, your business is stagnant. If your business is stagnant, it is not making money nor growing.

So take action today. Resurrect that business you have been keeping at the back burner. Get the business moving with small actions. Small daily actions done every day will lead to huge success.

Rock on!

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June 29, 2020
How to Withdraw PayPal in a Non-US Country (Getting Paid by International Clients)
Many people opt to start working online to achieve financial freedom, be their own boss or simply start the business that they have always wanted. Every year, thousands of people start their own online businesses.

However, for those looking to make their first dollar online, the typical first jobs they will usually get involved in are those related to freelancing. The good thing with the Internet is that there is a market for nearly everything. If you have a skill, you can find people willing to pay you to help them. Examples of online jobs you can get started with include:
- Freelancing (writing, data entry, graphic design, web design, etc.)
- Affiliate marketing (sell a merchant’s product and get a commission for every sale)
- E-commerce (start your own online store and sell items you have)
- Consulting (start your own services firms offering consultation in an area where you are an expert)
- And many more
Unfortunately, when it comes to doing business online, people in certain countries face more hurdles than others. In countries like the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, the internet ecosystem and markets are well-developed. There are robust supporting infrastructures like payment gateways, security systems, online privacy laws, and so on.

Coming to people in most Asian and African countries (and to some extent Eastern Europe), things are not so easy online. You will realize most countries in these regions are those termed as “developing nations”. For anyone looking to make money online in these countries, there are usually more challenges to counter. These include:

i) Finding the right payment gateway

ii) Finding a good market

iii) Online taxes and VAT

iv) Restrictions on doing business in other countries, etc.

As a result of these frustrations, most entrepreneurs in Asia and Africa opt to do freelance work rather than start their own online businesses. At least, most people start with freelancing before they get into affiliate marketing or selling their own products.

There are many ways to make money online. Many people, however, resort to doing contractual online jobs rather than run their own online businesses selling products or services. Jobs like online graphic design, web design, software development and writing are the most common.

If you are in a non-US country and are starting out with online freelancing, one of the biggest challenges is how to get payment from overseas clients. Most clients in US prefer using PayPal as their mode of payment. However, PayPal only allows some users in non-US countries to send and receive money online, but NOT withdraw.

So, how do you withdraw your PayPal money in a non US country?

Withdraw PayPal in a Non US Country (Pakistan, Kenya, Philippines, UAE, Indonesia, etc.)

With the majority of clients using PayPal as their preferred method of making payments, many online workers Asia, Africa and some European countries feel locked out of many opportunities because they are unable to withdraw PayPal money.

When I started working online in 2008, I tried all sorts of short cuts to get payments through PayPal. If you browse enough, you will come across VCCs (virtual credit card) numbers that can be used to verify PayPal, people selling PayPal accounts with verified US Bank accounts and so on.

If you are thinking of taking any of these shortcuts, I would advise you not to. Otherwise, your account is likely to be limited by PayPal for ‘security concerns”. I’ve gone through it all. Is this message familiar to you?

Without a doubt, PayPal is the leading online payment gateways in the world, with over 300 million active customers. If you hate PayPal and refuse to accept it in your online business, you are essentially locking out hundreds of would-be customers from transacting with you.

If you have been wondering or struggling to withdraw PayPal in a non US country, this does not have to be the case anymore. There is a legitimate way to withdraw PayPal money even if you are not from the US. But first, let’s start with some options you have on withdrawing PayPal money in a non US country:

i) Use Cash Exchange Websites

There are a number of websites that offer PayPal cash exchange services on a commission basis. That is, you send your PayPal money to them, they withdraw for you and in turn charge you a commission for their services, sometimes as high a 30 percent. When I started online freelancing in 2008, I used some of these services. Examples of such websites include EgoPay, Ecurrency, and Ok Change.

However, I would not recommend you use this option to withdraw PayPal money. This is because these websites are known to spring up and disappear overnight. You don’t want your money gone with a company that you cannot get hold of. I cannot personally vouch for any of the above sites.

ii) Use Money Exchangers in Forums

Another option of withdrawing PayPal if you are from a non US country is to use money exchanges in forums like Digital Point, Money Maker Online, Blackhat World (BHW) among others. To do this, simply join the forum you want and check the “services for sale” section for users who are offering PayPal withdrawal services. For example, here is a picture from BHW of a user offering the service.

When dealing with forums, make sure you look for a seller who has a good reputation. In forums, there is something we call “iTrader”.

Basically, this is simply the reputation of a seller. The higher the reputation, the better. Also, you should check the comments of other buyers of the services in the forum thread. If there are good reviews of the services, you are likely to have found a good seller.

Now, withdrawing PayPal money in forums comes with the same risks as using cash exchange sites. You never know when the seller may decide to go “offline” with your money or simply accuse you of trying to defraud them. So, I would suggest you approach this option with caution.

Finally, there is one secure and guaranteed way to withdraw PayPal money in a non US country. Read on to find out more.

iii) Use Local Banks

This option may or may not be viable for you. In some countries, PayPal has partnered with local banks to allow its users to withdraw their earnings to their local bank accounts. For example, in Kenya, you can withdraw PayPal money directly to your Equity Bank account.

You simply need to open an Equity Bank account and link the ATM card you’ll be given to your PayPal account. From there, you can easily make withdrawals on your own through the self-service portal: selfservice.equitybankgroup.com

Apart from the three methods above, there is really no other way to withdraw PayPal money in a non-US country. However, this does not mean you cannot get paid for your online work or even start an online business. There are various options for receiving money from overseas clients or clients.

Read on for the best way to receive payments from overseas.

How to Accept International Payments

As an online freelancer or business owner starting out, you need a convenient and effective way to receive payments from your international or overseas clients. The best way of getting paid by international clients in a non US country (be it Pakistan, India, Indonesia, UAE, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, etc.) and ensure you keep most of your payment is through Payoneer.

What is Payoneer?

Payoneer is a leader in international payments and is the preferred payment gateway for people in countries where PayPal does not work. The company enables anyone from any country to receive payments online for freelance work, affiliate marketing, or other online businesses. To sign up for a Payoneer account, CLICK HERE.

When you have a Payoneer online account, working with international clients becomes easy. Your clients or customers can pay you through Payoneer and you will receive the payments instantly. When you get the payments, you can withdraw them from your local ATM and in your local currency. If you are a member of online freelance marketplaces Freelancer , Fiverr, and others, you are probably aware of the Payoneer.

What Countries Does Payoneer Support? (200 Countries)

Payoneer works in more than 200 countries around the world. Below is the list of countries supported by Payoneer and their respective currencies:

[table]

If you live in one of the countries listed above, you get a Payoneer account and start getting paid by international clients.

How to Apply for a Payoneer Account

Signing up for a Payoneer account is easy and free. It will take you just five minutes to fill the application form. You only have to fill your name, password, security questions and personal details like date of birth, address, etc.

Follow the steps below to open a Payoneer account:
1. Head over to the Payoneer official sign up page and fill the information.
2. You will need a Post Office box address where your account package will be mailed. If you do not have a post office box number, you can use your friend’s, neighbour’s, etc. as long as it is a valid P.O. Box where you can be able to receive communication from them.
3. After applying, you will get an email notification confirming that your account has been approved.
4. You will get the Payoneer account setup package in your Post Office box. The package usually takes 21 to 30 days to reach the post office.
5. When you get the account package, it will have a secret PIN. You will have to log into your Payoneer online account to activate it using the PIN.
Here is my welcome package that I got from Payoneer. Your package may be different depending on the freelancing marketplace you work with or the business that you would be starting.

As simple as that, you will not be able to receive online payments from clients from all over the world through Payoneer.

Your Payoneer account comes attached with a virtual US Bank account. This means you can accept electronic cheques and ACH payments from US clients.

You can use Payoneer in your country to:
1. a) Pay for goods or services online
2. b) Receive payments online from international buyers
**IMPORTANT 2018 UPDATE: Sign up for a FREE Payoneer account and get $25 for free.**

What Fees Does Payoneer Charge?

Payoneer transaction fees are very low. There is a one-time set-up fee of $9.95 for activating your account. From there, other transactions are charged 1% only. This is very cheap compared to some companies that charge up to 30 percent to withdraw PayPal money in forums. You can see a breakdown of the fees at the company’s official website.

Go ahead and apply for your FREE Payoneer account if you are working with international clients. Payoneer makes getting paid by international clients easy. Whether you are doing freelance work, online marketing, blogging, online store or other business, you can get paid through Payoneer by clients from all over the world.

IMPORTANT RESOURCES:

Sign Up for FREE Payoneer Account

Freelancer.com (Get Freelance work like writing, web design, data entry, etc.)

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June 25, 2020
The Power of Going it Alone

Support systems. That’s a craving most of us have.

Think about it. You probably have many things you do…with other people. Without other people being in the picture, you find it almost impossible to do those things.

For example, think about going to the gym. If you have an accountability partner, you will find it easy to hit the gym when he/she calls you and says, “It’s gym time”. How about those monthly recap sessions; would you still do them if you were alone? Most of us wouldn’t.

Even if you don’t have an official accountability partner, you probably have someone in your mind that makes you do the things you do. That someone can be a friend, a family member, a competitor or someone you aspire to level up to. It may not be official, but subconsciously you may be doing the things you do because of them.

And this brings about a problem: your progress is ultimately determined by their pace.

If your gym partner doesn’t call to remind you it’s gym time, you probably won’t go to the gym. If your unofficial accountability partner slacks at his/her progress, you also slack in your progress. Your progress is tied to your official or unofficial accountability partner.

Having an accountability partner can be great. A great partner will keep you on your toes by ensuring you do the things that need to be done, when they need to be done. Unfortunately, accountability partners are humans. And they often fail. They may be successful at what they are doing, but fail at keeping you accountable.

For example, you may have a partner that is successful in business but falls way short when it comes to the discipline of hitting the gym. And no, it doesn’t have to be the gym only. It can be anything that you want to start or commit to doing.

The Antisocial Loner

Majority of people think that doing things alone makes other people think they are anti-social. In a study published by Rebecca Ratner, a professor of marketing at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, some people think doing things alone won’t be as much fun as doing it with others. This is probably why you may hear people saying, “There’s no way I can go on that hiking trip alone”. It’s an innate thing to want to do things with others.

What most people don’t understand is that going it alone can in fact be more valuable than doing things with others. There is a simple explanation for this: you are different. You may want to go on a trip to Burma but not everyone will be enthusiastic about the trip like you. You may want to start a side muse but your friends may be comfortable with their 9 to 5s.

Our differences should make you take charge of your life. Take charge of your actions and the direction you want to go.

In my journey as an online entrepreneur, I have come to slowly realize the benefits of going it alone. Perhaps the most important benefit is you make progress.

One of the reasons why most people do not make any progress with the projects they may have in mind is due to relying on ‘direction’ from others. You may be waiting for direction from an accountability partner, that blogger with the Amazon niche site case study that is occasionally updated, that partner that always has something going on when it’s time to hit the gym, etc. When you rely on these third parties to determine the next step to take, your progress will be capped or come to a halt.

Your progress will depend on the partner’s willingness to commit to whatever he is doing. You are at his mercy. If he fails, you fail.

Go Alone…Go Faster…Go Further

The only way to ensure you progress is to go it alone. Yes, you can have an accountability partner, but your progress will be based on his/her progress. The partner may make you do things too fast or too slow, which may not work for your situation. You need to go at your own pace and keep going.

[bctt tweet=”Going it alone is tough. If it was easy, everyone would do it. ” username=”modekali”]

People find comfort in support groups.

But you have to do the hard things.

When you go alone, you get disciplined. When you finally know that the results you will get from a project or endeavor are solely based on your actions, you will work on your project. You will not wait for someone else to nudge you with a weekly accountability call or gym time reminder to do what you are supposed to. You take charge of the tasks that have to be done.

The going can get extremely boring and discouraging when doing things alone. But can also be extremely fulfilling. Whichever way your going will be, one thing will be for sure; you will be making progress. And ultimately, the results of compounding actions will be evident over time.

Getting started with projects on your own can be a daunting thought. However, it gets easier over time. The hardest days are usually the initial stages when you have to start. But as soon as you start, things start flowing. You get into “project mode” without thinking twice. And with time, you start seeing progress that will make you wonder why you needed an accountability partner, whether real or imagined, in the first place.

If there is something you have been postponing to do because the time “isn’t right yet” or because you are waiting for approval or a go-ahead from a partner, it’s time to go it alone. Take the first step and start that project. Start doing things you have always wanted to do, whether recreational, educational or career-wise. You will be surprised at how far you can go when you go alone and move at your own pace.

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March 9, 2017
Simple Trick That Guarantees Goal Achievement

The Euro Cup is here. No, I don’t watch much football. I used to some years back but realized I always went to sleep with a heartache when my team lost. A team that did not even know that someone in Kenya was their die-hard fan.

Anyway, we’re in the second stretch of the year. In football, this would be the second half. It’s game time. No time for mistakes because we’ve seen how the first half of the year has been. We’ve learned our weaknesses, we know where we need to put more effort and even more importantly, we know what we are supposed to do to get the results we want.

Nothing can stop us now.

If you are like me, you probably made some goals at the beginning of the year. Yes, you may not have publicly made them, but at least in your heart and mind, you had some things you wanted to achieve. And now with the first half of the years gone, you may be wondering how time has quickly passed. The passing of time is inevitable. But the real reason you may be wondering why time passed is you haven’t achieved most of the goals you’d planned on.

If this sounds like you…read on.

The Goal Setting Trap

Goal setting can make you motivated as well as miserable depending on how you perform. If you have been smashing those goals, you are probably motivated and are confident of how your year will end. On the flipside, if the goals you made now seem like a distant memory, you may be wondering what is wrong with you. Every year, no goals accomplished.

Be of good cheer my friend. You are not alone. Failing to achieve goals is only human. However, this should not be an excuse for you to live a mediocre life. It shouldn’t be an excuse for you not to follow your dreams. I know, dreams are overrated; especially when life has put you down more than once. Some people choose to treat carefully when they’ve lost once or twice. Others choose to reside in the comfort of the familiar. You know, something related like the picture below:

If you made goals at the beginning of the year, do not beat yourself down. Take this second-half of the year as a second lease to life. However, it’s the do-or-die season. You either win or win. There is no excuse for failure. When you know you have no option but to win. To achieve you goals. To do that project you’ve had since 2013. To go through that course you bought for $297. To write that first blog post. To (fill in the blanks), you will do whatever it takes to get things done.

I have always been the type that sets many, many goals for myself. My goals list usually looks like a shopping list. I don’t know why but setting many goals makes me feel like I have my calendar of life all filled. I usually dread having “free” time when I’m not doing anything.

Goal setting experts have many times debunked the myth of having many goals. One of the fascinating explanations I’ve read is that you shouldn’t be setting goals. Instead, it should be a goal (notice there is no ‘s’ after goal). Having many goals simply act as a destruction to your main goal.

This is something I would like to try this second half of the year. I will identify one main goal that I think is important in my life, and then work towards achieving it. It I clock the goal, I will get to the next most-important ones, and the cycle continues. This way, I will have a clear set of goals accomplished by the time the year ends rather than having a bunch of half-accomplished goals.

Guarantee Goal Achievement With the Power of Small

Before I wind up, I wanted to touch something on the power of doing small actions in achieving your goals. This is the simple trick that can, if followed, guarantee achievement of any goals you set.

Someone once said that success is not the effort you put, but a habit you have. For successful people, it’s all about the small things that matter in their goals. The small, seemingly irrelevant or the small boring tasks that matter.

I am learning to love the boring parts. The not so sexy tasks that no one writes about in their online income reports. These small tasks, when compounded, result into the massive success everyone wants to see. The tasks will be different depending on what you want to achieve. Here are a few examples:

i) Want to get fit? –> Identify a workout on Youtube, commit to doing the workout.

ii) Want to increase your income? –> Raise your rates, introduce a new service

iii) Want to find a partner? –> Go outdoors, make an effort to meet people

iv) Want to start a blog? –> Register a domain name, install WordPress

The beauty of doing the small tasks is that they set up you activities in motion and provide the momentum needed to accomplish your goals.

So, if you haven’t achieved any of the goals you set to at the beginning of the year, take this second half of the year as a do-or-die session. You either make it, or make it. No excuses.

Go through the goals you made, and then identify the small tasks that have to be done. Doing these tasks will help you get to the end of the goal without you even knowing. Remember, it doesn’t matter how slowly you walk, as long as you don’t stop. Love the boring tasks. Do them!

Cheers to a new month!

July 2, 2016
Winds of Change Are Blowing

It’s been a long time…I should never have left you without a dope beat to step to. Aaliyah ft. Timbaland (Watch the vid below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwKQ5fHCGHo

Great song…don’t you think?

Yeah, it’s been a long time since I last made a post. Over the period, a lot done changed. So many projects to do, so little time to commit to them.

Anyway, I am back like I never left. This is going to be a short update on the direction I will be taking with my business. Without further ado, here are the notes.

i) Change of Website

Yes, I’ve decided to change my main website from DonModekali.com to NicheSiteVault.com That’s where I will be writing about my journey in the online entrepreneurship world. Well, if you are wondering why the change, there is really no big deal. It’s all about the direction I want to take my business. I guess I will also say it’s about branding. It’s easier to brand Niche Site Vault than Don Modekali.

So, what happens to Don Modekali? Well, I’ll still be writing here once in a while. But the posts will mostly be about life…you know, the little things I learn or experience everyday? That’s what Don Modekali will be about. For things related to niche sites et al, Niche Site Vault will be the place for them.

I haven’t set up Niche Site Vault fully as I operate on Jeff Bezo’s mantra “If you launch when everything is perfect, you have launched too late”. Anyway, that’s that.

ii) Getting Ish Done

Sometimes I feel like the world is mine. Have you ever had a day that everything is going your way? I’ve had days like that. Of late, I’ve been getting a lot of ish done on a regular. I’ve had a couple of projects running for a long time. I’ve had ideas at the back of my head for a long time. All of a sudden, I feel it’s time to be doing all these projects. I’ll be 30 in Aug, 16 and the last thing I want is to enter the new decade in a state of “what ifs”.

The worst thing about not taking action on ideas is that sooner or later, you will see someone who’s implemented the same idea and would wish you were the one. Back in 2012, when the Groupon faze was on, I wanted to make something similar for the Kenyan market. The idea was always in my head but I kept postponing it. Just when I finally decided to implement the idea, I got wind that Rupu ( a Kenyan daily deals site) had just launched. A couple more daily deals sites launched but Rupu rode the tide and has been the most succesful of them all. Up to today, I still have those questions about, “What if I’d started this daily deals site sooner?”. Perhaps I could have been the market’s Rupu.

Anyway, enough wishing and postponing. My new mantra is implement and fail fast. There is no ROI is having ideas that are not implemented.

And that’s all folks What? Did you expect something more?

Okay, I’m taking about 25 people to help me with a niche site course beta. If you would like to be part of it, send me an email. The only requirement is that you should be an absolute newbies in Internet Marketing. If you are not, you will find the discussions in the beta too simple for your advanced skills. Anyway, if you haven’t made any money online, I’d like to include you in a beta group. I’ll be using the group to create a membership site with a course for niche site enthusiasts.

And finally, this coming weekend, go visit your mom or cousin that you haven’t seen for so long. It’s worth it. Moreover, life is short.

And God blessed me with a daughter in March. Don’t blessings come in doubles?

?

Cheers!

-The Dapper Don

June 18, 2016
Authority Website: Getting Started

Guys, hope your December is turning out well.

It’s summer time over here. Lots of sunshine where I live. Days are much longer and nights are shorter.

This is my first update on the 10K Challenge, where I am documenting my journey on building an authority website from scratch and grow it to 10K in revenues.

So far, I have done the basics required to get a site up. Here’s what I have:

i) Bought a domain name: buzzandbees.com (Get yours from Namecheap.com at $.5.88 per year)

ii) Hosting: I already have unlimited disk space with JustHost

iii) WordPress theme: I got the Seashell theme from Themeforest

iv) Downloaded about 800 keywords related to bees from Google Keyword Planner

I haven’t even got the theme ready. Here is how the website looks like now:

Goals of the Website

The goal of establishing the website is to make it an authority source on matters related to bee keeping. I chose the bee niche not because I have any passion in it, but because it’s an evergreen niche that has huge potential. Moreover, I have scoured the web but have not found many, if any, authority sites in the niche.

You can get a list of evergreen niches for your niche sites here.

Majority of the websites I have come across look outdated although there are some very active forums. I will strive to make Buzzandbees.com the number one site where bee keepers and enthusiasts can get information that will help them be successful with their bee businesses or hobbies.

Here is an overview of some of the content I will cover:

i) Bee farming guides/advice

ii) Reviews of different bee farming products

iii) Interviews of successful bee farmers

iv) Provide one-stop source for bee farming resource

v) And more

Authority Website Content Creation

At the moment, I will be creating most of the content on the bee farming authority site. I have excellent research skills and although I don’t know a lot about bee farming, I am sure I can create great content. This 10K project is going to be one hell-of-a-ride and a great learning experience.

I have a very modest budget for this project. I will try to do most of the content creation by myself but outsource some parts of marketing, for example SEO. I may also outsource things like video creation.

All these are just thoughts at this time. When the activities are due, I will know how to proceed.

I will be creating long detailed guides that have a number of keywords that will make them rank well. For every article, I will strive to provide as much detail as possible so that visitors will feel contented after reading.

Authority Site Monetization

I will monetize the authority site through different ways. The potential obvious ways include using Adsense, promoting affiliate products and creating my own info products. When the site finally explodes in traffic and users, I may look into creating my own physical product, having a forum/marketplace, or finally sell the site.

Things will fall into place in time.

To-Do List in December

This December, I plan to accomplish the following tasks for my authority site:

i) Finish the website design

ii) Create a logo for the site

iii) Create a list of potential titles that I can write about

iv) Write down a list of competitor sites for drilling down their marketing strategy, forming partnerships, and getting content ideas.

v) Find a list of potential relevant traffic sources for the website.

There we go guys. Slow and steady Dean wins the race.

Are you creating a niche site or authority website? I would like to keep up to date with your projects. Comment below with a link to your authority site.

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December 3, 2015
Get Content For Your Viral Content Site

One of the challenges of creating a viral news site is getting content that will be shared by your audience. After all, that is the whole essence of a top viral content site.

The content for the site should be funny, educative or emotionally striking to be shared. Of course, with more shares, we get more traffic that will be attractive to advertisers.

You can either do the hard work of creating amazing content like TheOatmeal.com does or curate content already created by other publishers. There are both upsides and downsides of curating and creating original content.

Curating Content for Your Viral News Site

To begin, if you are curating, you are basically getting content that has already been created and posting it on your viral news blog, but with attribution to the original source. I will not go through the morality of curating content but a good IM friend of mine calls it “blatant stealing” with attribution.

I will leave that for you to decide.

Morality aside, I see no reason not to curate content as long as you attribute the original source of the article. Moreover, curating some content may actually be helpful to the individuals or causes they address. Take the example of you creating content of a unique artwork artist. You can get the artist more exposure and catapult his/her business.

With that said, it’s always good to have a DCMA notice on your viral nova clone. This way, anyone who would like their content pulled down can serve you a notice to remove their content.

The benefit of curating content is clear: someone has already done the hard work for you. Your job is to simply find the content you want, post it on your viral news site and attribute it to the original owner. Moreover, you can add your own spin or “juice” to the article if you wish to make it more original and suit your target audience.

The major downside of curating content is that the content may already have been shared many times across the web. This means the content may not have the impact you wish on your audience. The content may have been overly shared and some of the issues they may be addressing may have been overtaken with events.

Creating Original Content

Creating content is the ideal way of building your viral news site. The major problem with creating content on your own is that it takes time. And I mean a lot of time, to create good content. You need to scour the web to find great content or to create content based on information you find. This means having to do a lot of research.

With that said, there are many places you can find content to create on the web. You can go to obvious popular sources like Reddit to less obscure niche forums like Alien UFOs. Whichever option you choose, make sure you have time to do the research and confirm some of the information you get.

[bctt tweet=”When you are starting your viral nova clone, you will probably need to curate content.”]

This is especially if you will be working on the site as a side project or on your own. However, depending on your niche and growth, you may find it necessary to create original content. Both ways work.

The major task will be driving traffic to your viral nova clone. That is a post for another time.

Get Content from Top Viral Content Sites

With that said, here’s a list of top viral content sites you can curate content from:

4allfails.com
4wrong.com
7secvidsu4.com
9gag.tv
abcn.ws
allthingsviral.com
amazing-buzz.com
amerikanki.com
amplifyingglass.com
atashatrending.com
azviralbuzz.com
ba-bamail.com
babbel.com
barkpost.com
bestofvinetrendingvideos.com
bestpictureblog.com
Betterfamilyhome.com
bloxi.com
boredpanda.com
brilliantearth.com
buzzdrives.com
buzzfaze.com
buzzfeed.com
buzzive.com
cambio.com
canyouactually.com
carophile.com
cbc.ca
celebrityrevolt.com
coconuts.co
controversialtimes.com
coviral.com
cracked.com
dailymail.co.uk
deathandtaxesmag.com
diply.com
distractify.com
dumpest.com
elitereaders.com
englishrussia.com

As you may have realized, we don’t have the big boys like viralnova.com, upworthy.com and others on the list. Well, I just took a random sample from the list os over 150 viral news sites that use to get content from. The list contains sites covering all range of topics, from breaking news to celebrities, cars to health. Want the list? Click below to download the list of over 150 viral news sites in Excel.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

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November 25, 2015
Instapage Review – How I Create High Converting Landing Pages in Minutes
One of the things I have implemented on my blog over the past few weeks is using landing pages. Landing pages are great for gathering email subscribers. Even better, you can segment the subscribers based on their interests and this means you can reach them with better offers along the way.

Landing pages are those things you know are crucial to your web business but you simply don’t have time to make them. I have set up landing pages on majority of my web properties. However, setting up the pages was not always easy and many times, I simply ignored the.

I have to say, what made me hesitate creating landing pages is the simple excuse of being too busy to make them. Still, there are other things that made creating the pages a time-consuming task.

The Hustle of Creating Landing Pages

One of the things that made me reluctant to make landing pages is that they can be quite a task to implement. Yes, I know many WordPress themes come with pre-built landing page templates. But the whole task of customizing the templates just to get the look you want is quite hectic.

For me, the problems mainly involved:
- Aligning images to get to the position I want. I know some HTML and such but WordPress can be extremely jumpy when you want to implement custom code on the post pages.
- Getting the H1 tags right. Sometimes, I need my landing page headlines to be bigger than the default font size defined in the WordPress theme. Unless I mess with the CSS file of the WordPress theme I am using, which can be quite a challenge, I cannot get the headlines to be the size I want. Sometimes, I would spend hours just tweaking the content on WordPress to align it to the center only to be surprised by a sudden changing of the font size from paragraphs to H something.
- Seamless integration with my email service provider. I use both MailerLite and Aweber emails for my online businesses. In most cases, I had to use a WordPress plugin to get the email subscriber’s form to show on the landing pages. Moreover, tweaking the forms to appear as part of the landing page is just a headache.
Anyway, all this is now out of the way since I started making landing pages with Instapage. In case you don’t know, Instapage is a WYSIWYG landing page creation tool. Basically, you just need to drag and drop a few elements here and there to get your landing page up running.

In this post, I will walk you through I make high converting landing pages in minutes, literally, with Instapage.
To begin, Instapage is an online application and so you don’t need to download any software to use it. You can also access the app from anywhere you are. Now, to the best part.

Instapage Review – Create Landing Pages in Minutes

In this Instapage review , I will quickly show you how to create landing pages with the software. It’s easy, trust me.

You must have an account with Instapage to start creating your landing pages. You can sign up for a 45-day full trial to see how the app works. But here is an overview:
1. To begin, log into your account and click “Create New Page”
A pop up will appear with three options on creating a landing page.
1. Choose “Pick Template” option. This is the easiest way to start if you don’t have any landing pages you’ve designed yourself before.
Most of the time, you will be fine with starting a new landing page from the templates provided by Instapage.

However, after using the software for some time, you may have a number of converting templates you may opt to use for your landing pages. If this is the case, you can upload one of the Instapage landing pages you may have created in the past by selecting the option “Upload an .instapage”

The other option available is “Scan an Existing Page”. You can choose this option if you already have a live landing page and would like Instapage to get the basic design blocks of the page to be used for the landing page you are creating.

The two options, “Upload an .instapage” and “Scan an Existing Page” are only available for paid subscriptions. You will not be able to use them during the 45-day trial.
1. When you select the “Pick Template” option, you will have a choice of over 50 templates to choose from. You can also start building your landing page from a blank template.
TIP: To quickly find templates for specific landing pages, click on any of the five options on the right. For instance, if you want to create a “Thank You” page, select the “Thank you page” link to show only templates designed for this.

TIP: You can get more unique Instapage landing pages at Themeforest. Simply head over to the site and search for Instapages landing pages.

Hover the mouse cursor to any template you would like to started editing and click “Start Editing”. Really, it’s that simple.

On choosing a template to edit, you will first have to give it a name. I like giving a descriptive name to the templates so that I can easily know what they are about from the long list of templates that will come up on my account.

For the purposes of this tutorial, let’s name our template “Blog Subscribers”

After naming your landing page, you will be redirected to the editing screen. This is where you can customize the template to the design you need. Like I said before, customization is simply a matter of dragging and dropping elements here and there.

Instapage has made it easy to create awesome landing pages with their filler content. The templates are well formatted with bullet points and content. You only need to replace the content with your own depending on your audience or offer.

Here is one of the landing pages available at Instapage.

Editing the landing pages is similar to working on MS Word. For example, to format the content, simply highlight the text you want and choose from the list of fonts available. Other standard formatting options like font color, headings, and alignment are also possible.

Let’s work on it and see how it turns. For the purposes of clarity, I opted to record this short video to show you how I go about making the landing page.

If you made it to the end of the video, congratulations. You should have seen how easy it is to create landing pages with Instapage.

Instapage Integration

Instapage can be integrated with majority of email service providers. You can set the leads collected on your landing pages to go directly into the lists you may have with your email service provider. The following email services can be integrated with Instapage: MailChimp, Aweber, GetResponse, Madmimi, Constant Contact, Infusionsoft, Campaign Monitor, Zoho CRM, and more.

What if you don’t have an email service provider?

No worries. You do not need an email service provider to get use Instapage. Also, if integration with your current email service provider is not supported, you can still use Instapage. Heck, I use MailerLite for my blog subscribers even though integration is not supported in Instapage.

Instapage allows you to collect subscriber details and save them on your account. You can later view the subscribers, download the list as a CSV file and upload them to your favorite email software.

For me, I just check my Instapage dashboard every week before I send any newsletters, download the contacts and upload them on the respective MailerLite lists that they subscribed to. Easy weezy!

Instapage Pricing

Instapage offers three pricing plans, with the lowest starting at just $29 per month. The other plans are $55, and $79 per month.

What I like about Instapage’s pricing is that all plans allow you to create unlimited landing pages for unlimited domains. Moreover, there is no cap on the number of visitors that can see your landing pages. The ability to let you create landing pages for any number of domains is important especially if you have more than one online project going on. I know most of us have multiple online businesses running and this makes Instapage the best landing page software for us.

Other features available in all plans include:
- Drop-in Pixel Tracking (Google Analytics, etc.)
- Mobile Responsive
- SEO-friendly features
- WordPress compatible
- CRM Integrations (Salesforce, Infusionsoft)
- Email Integration (MailChimp, Constant Contact)
- Marketing Automation Integration (Autopilot)
The more expensive plans come with advanced features such as integration with webhooks, template imports, client accounts, editing the landing page HTML, unlimited A/B split testing and phone support. However, the value provided is still way above the price charged.

One thing you should know however is that the above plans are paid on a yearly basis. Therefore, if you are signing up for the Basic package of $29/m, you will pay $348. This amount can seem quite hefty but if you break it down, it’s just the $29/m. Moreover, when you pay per year, you will be committed to growing your email list during the period and I’m sure the value you will get from the service will far exceed the price.

For example, imagine setting up two or three landing pages on your ecommerce or affiliate website and making an offer to your visitors. You can use Instapage to make A/B test landing pages that will help you know what your audience is interested in, and hence work to solve their needs better. In the long run, you will extract more than $348 value from your visitors.

Instapage Monthly Payment

Now, you may be wondering whether there is a monthly payment. Absolutely, yes!. You can sign up for Instapage for a monthly fee. However, the month-by-month plan is, as expected, costlier than paying annually. The monthly pricing is as follows: $39/Basic; $69/Professional; $99/Premium. (Hats off to Lucian from Instapages for helping me with this.)

Don’t forget, you can always start with the 45-day free trial.

Improve Your Business with Instapage Landing Pages

Generally, whenever I o buy a tool or service is supposed to help my business in the short and long run. Instapage enables me to create landing pages fast, split test them to know the best performing and gather leads into my list.

Some of the features of Instapage that make it (IMO) the best landing page software include:
1. Easy drag-and-drop functionality that makes creating a landing page a breeze for anyone.
2. You can connect multiple accounts from the same email provider. e.g., you can have more two Aweber accounts (perhaps for your service business and niche site) integrated with your Instapage account.
3. Integration with many popular email service providers. You can also get your leads from the Instapage dashboard and download them in CSV.
4. Mobile friendly landing pages that look awesome on mobile devices.
5. Hundreds of professional themes to get you started.
6. 45-day free unlimited trial to test-drive the software.
Buying Instapage is one of the smart business decisions I’ve made for my online businesses. The tool saves me a heck lot of time on creating great landing pages. You can try Instapage yourself by signing up for the 45-days free trial.

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November 12, 2015