NevBlog

Neville's Digital Surrogate Brain

Archives for 2011

Tracking Daily Income

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Here’s something I’ve been doing just for fun:

Writing down the actual dollar value an activity has made me.

I already track my daily to-do lists pretty meticulously…..so after I scratch something off, I now write the amount of money it made me (if any).

Now there’s only a FEW things that literally put money in my pocket each time I do them, such as:

  • Daily profit from HouseOfRave.com
  • Writing a piece of copy
  • Making sales from the Behind The Scenes product
  • Selling an ad or link on this el blog-o
  • Whatever else I do that equates to cold hard ca$h

The goal is to hit about $1,000 every weekday.
Some days I hit $1,000 easily.
Some days I miss by a few hundred.
Some days I far exceed that number.

….it’s just simply a reminder or the minimum I want to make (I always thought the minimum amount of money I’d be satisfied with is what a higher-end doctor makes).

Anyhooowww…..

Here’s a list of what you’ll make per month and per year if you make $XXX.xx per day.

I’m only counting weekdays to be realistic:

(I was just gonna make a boring Excel-style list….but thought Photoshopping it out would be more fun. The result actually turned out to look like an infographic)!

August 2011 Goooaaaaaallllssss

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Here’s the goal set for August 2011 (forgot to post the on the 1st..d’oh)!

1.) Signup for guitar lessons (again):

I already play the guitar as you can see:

…..but I wanna get BETTER!  I’ve also become exceedingly spoiled with living downtown and not having to drive much…..so there’s no way in hell I’m going to drive to-and-fro to get lessons.  This means I’ll have a tutor come to my apartment once a week.

The last time I went to guitar lessons I improved dramatically….so hopefully I can do the same, and pickup new styles of guitar too.

2.) The “Write-A-Book-In-Two-Weeks” Experiment.

For some reason I’ve always just wanted to publish a book for no reason other than “I think it’d be cool to say I wrote a book.”

I have no intention to make money off this book, nor do I care if it sells even one copy…..IN FACT this project is likely to just be a big damn waste of time.  The only reason I can think of to spend the time doing this is :

“Cause it sounds cool” :-)

I’ll kick off the project mid-August.  The goal will to “write a full book in 2 weeks” and get a printed copy of it.

I didn’t write it on this goal sheet…..but I also want to start automating HouseOfRave.com a little more.

Meeting the copywriting greats

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I was all excited for this marketing event thingy at the lake….and the conclusion:

TOTALLY DAMN WORTH IT!

As you may (or may not) know, I’ve become a semi-famous copywriter in the last 4 months….and this event brings together some of the top marketers (many of whom started by writing sales copy) from around the world.

Naturally I learned a lot stuff in the seminar parts of the conference, but the real value is NOT JUST GETTING TO MEET the greats in an industry….

….but getting to hang out with them in lots of different personal settings.

THAT is where the real value sets in.

FOR EXAMPLE:
I was all excited to meet Joe Sugarman again at this conference, because since I heard of him I’ve:

  • Read everything by him
  • Studied his work
  • Copied the style of some of his work
  • Used the principles he teaches to make money for myself and others
  • Watched every YouTube video about him
  • Downloaded interviews etc….

His work has actually added a major element to the way I work….and it’s exciting to meet a personal hero of yours.

HOWEVER it’s getting to sit next to him on a 45 min bus ride to a restaurant, or go boating with him, hanging out at the pool, or simply sitting next to him at meals and getting to ask stuff you don’t hear about in his work.  This is where the networking happens…..because it’s not just “networking”…it’s actually becoming friends with someone.

Allllrriiigghhttyyy…..so here’s some of the highlights of the conference (well….the whole thing was a blast):

Here’s Joe Sugarman up on stage giving a talk:

Me with the great Joe Sugarman (and my Kopy shirt):

The first day of the conference, all 80+ people got on a big boat and went cruising around Lake Travis…complete with full indoor seating area, lunch buffet, three full-time jet skii’s and a wake boarding boat (not a bad day at a “boring conference” right?!):

Hanging out on a boat while Joe Polish goes tubing:

Hahah….Joe had a “tubing war” with a “hefty” Brit…..and judging by this picture I’d say he’s about to win!

We got treated to Joe speaking several times through the conference:

….and of course I got my obligatory picture:

I love all these pictures….but it’s more gratifying to hang out on a personal level with some with some other industry greats (some not so publicly-well-known) like Michael Fishman:

While hanging out at a restaurant by the lake I got a random shot of John Carlton and Joe Sugarman talking…..and with a little cropping and making the picture black & white it looks like they’re total badasses (or they’re asking “Why the fuck are you taking a picture of us?“)

Later on everyone got to hear John Carlton speak.  He had a lot of cool ways to come up with a definition of your bid-nazz as well as other advice:

…and of course, the obligatory picture with one of the greats (who was good friends with Gary Halbert….another idol of mine):

The final speaker for the whole conference was Bill Phillips.  I honestly don’t know toooo much about Bill other than he’s a HUGGGEEE figure in the fitness industry.  I’ve heard this a lot in the past….and could tell everyone was genuinely excited to meet him.

Apparently he just had major surgery on both his knees, and up till last week was confined to a wheel chair.  He can now walk a bit….but only with these massive full-leg braces.  They kept calling him The Bionic Man :-)

….and what did you expect….a PICTURE with him of course :-)

I also made sure I brought my copy of “Advertising Secrets of the Written Word” by Joe Sugarman to get it signed….here it is!

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Fantastic learning experience, great getting to mingle with higher-ups, lots of fun…and completely worth it :-)

I’ve scanned and posted my notes from the conference below. I dunno how much REAL value you’ll get out of them since most of it comes from BEING THERE….but here ya go, enjoy!

Upcoming marketing thingy

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OMG OMG OMG I’M SO EXCITED!!  :-D  :-D  :-D

The reason I sound like a 13 year girl is that next week I’m going to a marketing conference at the Lakeway Marine (here in Austin fortunately, so I don’t have to travel far).

Some of the main draws are the speakers, several whom I already highly admire:

  • Joe Sugarman
  • Joe Polish
  • John Carlton
  • Bill Phillips

…..to non-marketing people these names won’t ring a bell.  But to someone like me….

…it’s like a doctor getting to meet the famous Dr. DeBakey

…or a bicyclist meeting Lance Armstrong

…or a murderer meeting Charles Manson

It’s very exciting :-)

This event after registration, hotel, and extra spending will run about $2,000.

However it’s a really cool conference.  I went last year, and they did “sessions” from only 9am till noon.  THAT’S IT!  The rest of the time is spent yachting around, jet skiing, wakeboarding and mingling (part of the big draw).

3 hours of sessions is about as much as a dummy like me can realistically absorb in one day. Simply packing in 8 hours of sessions would just be a snooze-fest (and when there’s a lake, pool and jet ski’s waiting for you outside….it’s REALLY not cool to spend all day indoors)!

The event is also pretty much invite-only, so there’s no newbies asking you, “Ummmm…so how do I make money online cause I hate my job cause my boss suckss bllahahh blaaahh blaaahhh.” You get to hob-knob with all the big names out there.  I believe last year attendance was capped at 85 people.

That’s neat, cause you get to hang out with the big guys in a personal, social settings…..not some massive conference where you can’t really talk to them.

Last time I was there I got to meet Joe Polish and Joseph Sugarman (I didn’t know Sugarman at the time)….. I love this picture:

….after that conference I bought everything I can find written by Joseph Sugarman, and have learned an IMMENSE amount from him.

I also got to hang out with Tim Ferris and do handstands with him:

I’m not sure if many people know, but apparently in the last 4 months or so I’ve become a semi-famous copywriter (thanks much in part to this same conference last year)…..so Joe Sugarman and John Carlton are now heroes of mine.

I made this shirt to take pictures with them:

…it should arrive right before the conference.  I have a course coming out soon called KopywritingKourse…..and for some reason like spelling “copy” with a “K”.

I purposely didn’t write “KopywritingKourse.com” on the shirt since I’m looking to blatantly plug my stuff….rather just honor the greats in my own way.

This will be a GREAT time…and hopefully I’ll pull a lot of great connections and notes out of it :-)

Vancouver and The Grand Cayman Islands Trippy Trip

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“But Nevillleee…this is supposed to be a FINANCIAL BLOG…not a personal blog!”

Screw off…I forget pretty much everything that happens, so I have to write it down.

And I DON’T want to forget what a blast I had the last two weeks!

So a quick re-cap :

I first went to VANCOUVER.

I went there for a Zoroastrian youth congress (if you recall, I’m a Parsi Zoroastrian).  We’re such a small community that we have these “Congress” events where everyone meets up.

They put everyone up at the Gage Towers at UBC (University of British Columbia), so this was the view a lot of people got.  Gorgeous:

….got to stir up trouble with old friends (you might see what I’m talking about if you Google “Neville Medhora” ;-)

We went on a Canada Day cruise through Vancouver….it was amazingly perfect outside:

And they had fireworks at night…..really fun to stand around with close friends watching this view:

We went to the Stanley Park beach for a while…once again, terrific weather and amazzzzinngg views:

Of course I took my obligatory handstand picture :-)

Got to hang out with friends from across the country:

This is officially my favorite picture of the whole trip.  After 5 days of craziness, I remember being physically exhausted, sad I had to leave, and already missing everyone……but it felt SO comfortable at this moment :-)

I came back to Austin…..immediately unpacked, did laundry, then re-packed.

Then headed out to:

The Grand Cayman Islands!

It was a family friends wedding on the beach:

We did stuff like ride a catamaran:

….swimming with stingrays:

….I fathered a child whilst there (they grow up sooo fast)!

….went snorkeling

….hung out on the beach a lot

….did the obligatory handstand picture on a sandbar:

….enjoyed the blue waters:

….hung out with a lot of family friends:

….took pictures sucking my stomach in to make me look stronger:

……and since I can work from anywhere…..I didn’t have to worry about vacation days and could still do a tad bit of work whenever I wanted to :-)

Good times!

Grand Cayman bound

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Just got done with Vancoooooover.

Washing clothes.

Re-packing.

Now headed out to the Grand Cayman Islands!

Take a guess as why one would go to the Cayman’s:

1.) Illegal drug money deposits
2.) Tax shelters
3.) Friends wedding
4.) Money laundering

Look what Wikipedia says about The Cayman Islands:

“The territory is a major world offshore financial centre.”

HA!  Should be fun :-)

Nev Be In Vancoooooover

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That’s probably the worst representation of saying, “I’ll be in Vancouver till July 5th” ever!

So if I’m slower than normal at answering email you’ll know why!

AppSumo and Neville Sittin in a tree….

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Ohh boggity!

It’s about time AppSumo wised up and shared with it’s Sumo-lings what it was hoarding…

The information in my “How my HouseOfRave Muse Works” product.

Those greedy Sumo’s wouldn’t post this deal till I showed up at their door with a Katana sword:

Actual depiction of the encounter:

The AppSumo’s checked out all the video How-To’s of how I built a “muse” business (a business that requires little work, can be run from anywhere, and pays for your lifestyle).  They liked what they saw, and knew it would GREATLY benefit their users to see someone “open the curtain” behind their muse.

They agreed: It’s a peek into a business unlike anything else they’ve seen….

The product shows not just how it started, but how all the tiny day-to-day operations work.  Most people are so confused or think this stuff is so hard, THEY NEVER START! This product has helped tons of people have an “AH HA” moment where they realize it’s NOT hard as they think.

The AppSumo’s respected my forcefulness and I am now part of the Sumo clan.  I have also adopted their lifestyle.

Here is my progress after only 1 week of Sumo-style eating:

I totally didn’t use Photoshop on that picture either :-P

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I can blow smoke up your ass about my product all day, but here’s what REAL CUSTOMERS had to say (and YES, every last one of these is real):

“Watching these videos -really- makes me want to start tinkering around and get started.”
-Kimberly Grevel

“Nev, just a quick note – I ended up buying this not because I am particularly interested in starting an online drop shipping store but because I already run a business doing online courses. That may not make any sense at all, lol, but I was interested to see how you set up your course (as most people in my field go WAY over complicated and such just for no reason at all other than that’s the way others do it) and I have to say I’m really impressed with your format!  The really straightforward/hanging out way you have this set up is definitely making me take a closer look at how I can make my courses even more fun and interesting!”
-Jerimi Walker

This is really great content man!
-Chris Dunn

“Hi Nev, I’ve been reading Nevblog for a long time now. I really enjoy some of the stuff you post. Its really cool that you share so much of your life with everyone. I especially like the “experiments” that you have done such as when you went homeless, the bottled water experiment, and the affiliate marketing experiment. Anyway, I purchased and watched your videos about House of Rave. I’d love to get a business like this going myself.”
-Travis Hebig

“Its funny, actually how I came to this point. I had come across your blog YEARS ago, I don’t even know how anymore. I thought it was cool how you never had a ‘real’ job, and were so open about sharing what you do. Well, somehow I lost track of your blog, and it wasn’t until last week that I thought about it again, happily found it and added it to my reader. I was also thrilled that you were working on a tell-all program about your HOR business. Seemed the timing was just right for me.”
-Scott J.

“I’m working my way through your videos. They are really good, with a lot of info that I find interesting. I think that the videos allow for more of your personality to show through compared to a post on your blog. Good job on the screen capturing portion of the videos.”
-Michael B.

“I have a few friends who have tried to do similar things, the difference of course being that they have not started and run a successful business like yours, and they don’t have all of the years of feedback and questions to develop a good “course” around it.”
-Adam McFarland
“Neville, finished all the videos. Will watch them again – very good stuff!”
-Scott J.

“I thought to use PayPal like that you needed a merchant account. I’m so glad that’s not the way it is. I’ll be sure to use this info. Your “Do-not-do-it!” video reminded me of my girlfriend doing Amway and made me laugh! Overall this is a great product Nev! Thanks for putting this together!”
-Kimberly Grevel

“I’m really enjoying the Behind the Scenes at HouseOfRave videos. I have been a fan of your blog for a long time, so I thought this might be a way to help repay you a little for all that you share.”
-Michael Baggett

“It took about 2 hours to get through all the great material that Nev has put together. It was worth the time and the money. There are several very valuable snippets of information that are going to help me with my current business and help me create a product based service too. I certainly recommend this product to anyone wanting to improve their financial situation.”
-Kim G.

“Nev, Thanks for the product. I’ve gotten some really good ideas for my own project.”
-Shane

“I wanted to sleep and read your blog at night, then bought the thing through PayPal now I’m still up! Great stuff Nev seriously!”
-Jason L.

“Another teenager here and long time reader of Nevblog. I figured I’ve wasted more than $37 on textbooks for school that didn’t teach me jack spit, so it was worth the nominal fee. Very cool to see how it all works…and how easy it is. Plus because I actually had to spend money, I am even more motivated to create my own store and earn my investment back.  Don’t worry though, don’t plan on copying HoR ;) Overall cool videos, I’d recommend to anyone reading this right now wondering if they should purchase or not.”
-Jennifer O.

“This is the best course on starting a Internet business that money can buy; bar none. If this doesn’t give you a basis of making money, than nothing will. Neville, you outdid yourself and I only wish Congress could be as transparent as you :-)”
-Michael Monaco

….and there’s TONS more!  These are just the testimonials I got the first week I released this!!

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Here’s a video look into the product if you’re STILL not convinced to check it out yet:

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When I first released this, it was $37….that price was too low.  Even CUSTOMERS told me they feel they ripped me off cause the price was low!

Now it’s $99 to buy from my blog, but AppSumo.com is running a deal on it FOR ONE DAY ONLY.  Check it out before price jacks back up to 99 bones.

I stand by this 100%, and with every purchase you get the right to email me with any questions for a YEAR.

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P.S. Could you please Tweet or Facebook the Deal page:
https://appsumo.com/behind_the_scenes/

If I get a fantastic response, I’ll do a comprehensive case study on how this “Daily Deal” through AppSumo worked for me.


HoR Promo Giveaway 1

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By the way, if you copy this idea, let me know how it worked for you!  I’m curious.

As part of my June 2011 Goals I wanted to do TWO HouseOfRave.com promotional giveaways.

This is the first one in June..and since yesterday it’s got 400+ entries to try to win this stuff:

It’s so easy how I got people to enter the “contest” to win this stuff.  I explain it in the video below:

Cool huh?

Customers love it + someone wins free stuff + they give great testimonials + I feel all loved + I get rid of samples I otherwise throw away = GREAT PROMOTION!