It is hard to believe it has already been more than a year online…time flies when you’re having fun!

In fact, I took my first, very tentative steps online in August of 2008!

In August of 2008, almost a year and a half ago now…(wow, time flies!)…I knew 2 things:

1) The Internet was the place to be if I wanted to build my own business.

2) I needed a lot of help and/or a heap of education, and I needed it fast!

Little did I know, as I started on my journey into Internet marketing and e-commerce, my “quest” if you will, how all consuming, demanding, and completely exhilarating a ride, and an education, I was in for!

Had I known then what I know now?

Yup!

Wild horses couldn’t hold me back!

Picture this:

1) A 53 year old Caucasian male, 10 shades beyond pale!

2) 50 pounds overweight and not carrying it well at all!

3) Still recovering from, and as it turned out still fighting, two life threatening conditions!

4) Highly educated, including a doctoral fellowship to one of the most prestigious consortiums in the country…after graduating summa and bypassing the masters requirement entirely!

5) More than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, including advertising, founding a successful health and fitness center, and an extensive and impressive managerial resume!

6) A CV and a resume that would make most recruiters beg for a chance to place me, and some did. Beg…not place me!

7) Trained successful athletes at the amateur and professional level. At one time considered taking a strength coaching position with Donald Trump’s New Jersey Generals of the USFL! Trained members of the Cleveland Browns who were given permission by Sam Rutigliano to train with me instead of with their strength coach, Dave Redding!

Did I say sick as a dog?

9) I could go on for weeks, my resume was impressive but I had some issues…and did I say I was sick?

The end result of all of the above, and much more? I couldn’t get a job delivering pizzas!

You see, part of the problem was I was “overqualified,” how exactly one can be overqualified to deliver a pizza no one really explained to me…but I was.

I was also very sick, I did say that, right?

And, because of the illness and all the complications I had a huge gaping hole in my resume, ten years to be precise.

So, I had to go into this story about almost losing my life, a missed diagnosis by the Cleveland Clinic (yes, they do screw up!), and repairing the wreckage of my life.

Yah…dee…yah…dee…yah…dee…yah!

I would get that look, you know the one, and usually from someone roughly half my age and with one-tenth of the experience.

They would say something like:

“We are taking applications all week, once we have reviewed all the applicants qualifications, we will contact you if we are interested.”

Or something like that.

Translation:

“Don’t call us, we’ll call you!”

That was the most humiliating experience of my life, I hated coming home and telling Connie and the girls that I had struck out again. I used to get calls from firms begging me to come to work for them!

But during that period…I couldn’t get a job delivering pizzas!

Then, one day I got a call!

Hooray!

The BP gas station and convenience store down on the corner called me and asked me to come in for an interview. I had filled out an application online, I figured I could work nights and perhaps go back to school or something.

It still amazes me, that combination, gas and convenience store…when did all this happen?

Anyway, I went through the interview process. The manager was a nice “kid.” To me, anyone under about 35 seems like a kid. My son is 34, my oldest, so it just feels like I am looking at and talking to my son when I am talking to a 35 year old man.

Wow!

Am I getting old or what?!

So, I passed all the interviews, the background check, etc. and was offered a job.

Yes!

Finally!

A job!

But something funny happened on my way to the gas station…I woke up. Not only did I wake up, I realized if I took that job I would probably be lost forever. Accepting that job would be like signaling to the whole world, but most importantly to myself, my self, that I had quit, thrown in the towel, accepted a minimum wage job because it was the best I could do!

No way!

I stopped dead in my tracks, did a complete 180, and asked my youngest to help me build a website.

The rest is history!

I am looking back a year and a half later. I built that first website by myself, by the way; and, it still generates business every single month! Terrible looking Yahoo, cookie-cutter website but it was my first.

And, you know what they say about your first!

But looking back, knowing I had been so right, about it all…but most of all about being lost forever if I had accepted that job.

Thank goodness I still had a sliver of self-esteem, just a sliver mind you…but it was enough.

I am now making a decent living in a number of ways online. The whole multiple streams thing, I learned my lessons well! I have explored the Internet marketing niche, and am beginning to strangle enough of an income out of that very stingy niche to pay for the top level of the best implementation programs online today, TrafficGeyser and Infusionsoft.

That, in and of itself, is quite an accomplishment! When I started I couldn’t scrape up enough money for the gold membership in Tellman’s Listbuilding Club!

How sad is that?

I had to settle for the $67 per month level of The Listbuilding Club, the $97 per month gold level was just out of my reach!

Now?

I pay more than that for my hosting account(s) for my various blogs and websites!

Times do change and perseverance, persistence, and determination pay off…big time!

Now?

I have to decide what direction I want to take most of my efforts…because I am about building something meaningful, something unique, something that is mine and reflects my personality.

I am not interested in the cookie-cutter, plug-n-go nonsense so many seem to be attracted to and so many more seem bent on selling.

I have discovered that true success online comes at a price, and it is much higher than many would have us believe, but it is worth it!

So, what can you take away from this?

1) Find something you love, something that will get you out of bed in the morning after the novelty of building your own business wears off…and it will! You will experience dips…count on it!

2) Make sure you have a starving crowd, a target market that wants what you are passionate about offering them. If not, find something else. Don’t fall in love with an idea! All you will succeed in doing is going broke trying to force the market, and you can’t force the market!

3) Opinions are the cheapest commodity online, everyone has one…like something else (to be crude…sorry)…and most are selling them in ebook format for $17!

Amazing but true!

Who in the world thinks they can learn a business by spending $17 for anything?

Anyone who thinks that…go to the back of the class and sit in the corner, you need a timeout.

At least!

4) Invest in education and implementation, preferably both. TrafficGeyser and Infusionsoft are perfect examples! The learning curve is steep and there will be times you will want to throw the computer, the desk, the cat, the dog, the goldfish, the hamster (cat’s gotta eat, right?) and anything else within reach out the window.

Wow, I did!

Wanted to, that is.

5) Find a mentor and LISTEN to him or her!

If someone is willing to give you their time, buy the things they recommend and use them.

EXAMPLE: If you decide to go to Cleveland State University to play soccer, you do so with the understanding that the coach is dedicated to making you, and the team, winners. So, don’t join the team and then refuse to do what the coach advises. If you do that, you might as well have gone to the community college and played intramural soccer. The results will be about the same with your online business.

So, if you use a mentor or a mastermind, and you should use both, USE them! And I mean use them up…be a sponge!

6) Learn the business, become a student of the business.

There is so much information available online in the form of whitepapers and because of the whole moving the free-line thing (my thoughts on this are fodder for another blog post) that you cannot fail if you simply search, research, and apply.

SEARCH…RESEARCH…APPLY!

Make sure you become an expert of the business. A student of marketing and, yes, sales! Bob Oros has a wonderful program if you are squeamish about sales. He is a gifted sales trainer!

Yes, online business is enjoyable, Internet marketing can be exhilarating! But it is not kid’s stuff, it is a business!

Learn it!

“And when you can take the pebble out of my hand…you will be ready, Grasshopper!”

I could go on and on, as I could have with the description above.

Oh yeah, forgot about that guy, huh?

Me too, sort of!

That is, until I drive by a BP station and think about how close I came to resigning my life, to signing off, giving in and up!

Now?

I am making money and helping others do the same, it is wonderful! I live Pay it Forward every day and it comes back to me ten-fold!

I am in the process of working on a second doctorate…this one in Internet marketing, with an emphasis in inbound marketing.

I love it!

And, after a year and a half, I still skip sleep, run for days on 3-4 hours of sleep a night, and can’t get enough of it!

If you have that sort of passion, combined with a burning desire, you too can earn your Internet marketing doctorate and experience real success online. It’s an amazing ride!

Best wishes…contact me anytime!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
216-539-7412 (office)
Skype; johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com

Success in Internet marketing of any kind is about the little things adding up to a big picture. It’s kind of like a jigsaw puzzle, if you miss one of the pieces, the picture is incomplete. The same is true for building you online business. One of the most important components of any business building process is knowing who your target market is and how to reach them. Additionally, you must understand how to promote effective not only within the niche you select but across niches. The sort of cross promotion I am talking about will be discusses in the video below. if you have any questions after you watch it, please don’t hesitate to contact me, I am always available.

Keyword research, as well as target market/audience research must be focused and applied with an eye towards profitability and the ability to optimize, and monetize, you blog and its message! Without proper research, you are simply another average online business…and 97% of all blogs fail to ever generate a profit, much less a living for its owner. So, research is key!

I use several tools, some free and the others very reasonable considering the results:

Google’s Insights for Search is a powerful tool that, when applied properly, will provide valuable information about your prospective niche or niches, the target audience you hope to focus on, and much more!

Google’s keyword tool is a valuable tool, one that will save you time and effort, it will also help ensure that your domain name, articles, posts, tags, categories, in other words everything associated with you Internet marketing platform, your blog, is fully optimized.

Google Analytics, while a bit ahead of where we are at this moment, is also an integral component and will help you fully optimize your web presence. Interestingly, many of these tools and techniques are totally ignored by the “gurus” when they develop their Internet marketing courses. Perhaps it is because they don’t offer affiliate programs? Who knows, I would hope not!

Wordtracker is by far the finest keyword tools I have used. For a small monthly membership fee, this tool will prove an invaluable asset when doing research of any kind related to understanding search tendencies across the web, and for optimization of domain names, blog posts, articles, and so much more!

Some of my other favorite Internet marketing resources are:

EzineArticles.com is by far the best ezine article directory on the Internet! Now, that’s a pretty bold statement, and should raise a few eyebrows! But when you consider the fact that they do not have an affiliate program, so I am not getting a cent for telling you about them, the statement gains weight! In fact, they are just that good! EzineArticles.com is by far the class of the Internet and you should develop a relationship with them first and foremost!

Jeff Herring, The Article Guy, is the man responsible for my picking up the pen again, figuratively speaking, and beginning to write once more! He made it interesting, fun, and easy…his course is nothing short of fantastic. Jeff has the best program on the market for article marketing, hands down! You can do no better, and you can do a heck of a lot worse! And that’s why I have used his course and I endorse it whole-heartedly here. Jeff Herring is indeed The Article Guy!

Tellman Knudson’s List Building Club – Free Trial Offer is Amazing! You may even win an amazing Ferrari 360 Spyder! This is the program I started with and it is complete and very reasonable. I am and absolute fan Tellman Knudson and his products. This is a must for anyone serious about Internet marketing. Invest in The List Building Club Gold Membership, if you can swing it, it is well worth the extra $30 a month and will pay for itself with great ideas that are easy to set up and apply to the Internet.

Russell Brunson’s Absolutely Amazing 27 Day Challenge! Just cover S&H and you will have invested in a program worth thousands! This is as good an offer as I’ve seen from DotComSecrets…don’t miss this one!

Marc Joyner’s Simpleology will do what the name implies and so much more! This program will focus that energy to a knife point and you will experience productivity like never before! The best part? It’s totally free! That’s right, free…always! No trial period, no hitch, just free and absolutely awesome! Sign up today!

Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter and, if you are interested in pursuing the offer I mentioned to work along side me, and along with the rest of the Ultimate Internet Image Mastermind Group…and the business that goes along with it? Contact me at the email below!

Best wishes and I am available for personal consultation any time!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

The “Ultimate” steps leading to success in any online business, regardless of the niche or area of concentration are numbers 8 through 10! Without numbers 8-10 the picture is incomplete, without these key ingredients, success will remain elusive.

Number 8: Take Action

This is self-explanatory, taking action, and yet so many people falter at this step step in the business building process. It is remarkable to think how many Internet marketing programs are sold every year, simply to sit on someone’s hard drive! I tell the story of Howie Schwartz and a young lady to illustrate just how common this is…so I hope it brings home the point, and the possibilities.

Number 9: Follow Through

Without follow through, the picture is incomplete, the business only partially set up. Imagine a car being built and half the way through the assembly process it is pulled off the assembly line and sent to the dealer. Not a great idea? Yet, this is precisely what happens every day in the Internet marketing community, in fact it happens in every aspect of business…people fail to integrate all the components necessary for success. So, make sure you use a tested system (steps 2 and 3) and follow through, A to Z…and beyond!

Step #10: Determination or the quality that drives someone to “Never Quit!”

This is the most important piece in the entire puzzle, neglecting to integrate this mentality into your online business building mentality will lead to failure. When everything in you says quit, don’t! I tell the story of a speech Winston Churchill gave just below this “How to Start Your Own Online Business” article/video series, I hope it puts it in its proper perspective. I certainly can’t say it any better than Churchill did decades ago!

Hope you have enjoyed this video series, in fact, the entire blog! Please feel free to comment and contact me for more discussion on this or any topic of interest!

Jeff Herring, The Article Guy, is the man responsible for my picking up the pen again, figuratively speaking, and beginning to write once more! He made it interesting, fun, and easy…his course is nothing short of fantastic. Jeff has the best program on the market for article marketing, hands down! You can do no better, and you can do a heck of a lot worse! And that’s why I have used his course and I endorse it whole-heartedly here. Jeff Herring is indeed The Article Guy!

Marc Joyner’s Simpleology will do what the name implies and so much more! This program will focus that energy to a knife point and you will experience productivity like never before! The best part? It’s totally free! That’s right, free…always! No trial period, no hitch, just free and absolutely awesome! Sign up today!

Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter and, if you are interested in pursuing the offer I mentioned to work along side me, and along with the rest of the Ultimate Internet Image Mastermind Group…and the business that goes along with it? Contact me at the email below!

Best wishes and I am available for personal consultation any time!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed has taken me from MLM, to Niche marketing, to mini-sites, to social media and social marketing, to affiliate marketing, and finally to my own companies, my own online businesses! What is the correct formula? What prepares you to succeed? What programs are the best and which ones should be avoided like the plague? Well, I will discuss the answers to all of those questions, and more, in the coming video series!

However, in this video we will discuss steps 5 through 7 of the 10 steps I feel are absolutely essential for success in any sort of online business, whether traditional Internet marketing or very specific and specialized niche marketing.

Once again, I will suggest the best of the best…I simply will not put my name on anything else! I hope this helps and I hope you will take the time to comment. Should you wish to contact me, feel free to do so, all my contact information is listed below. It is my hope that this video, and Part I and Part III (coming soon) will help you formulate a plan of action. But I am getting ahead of myself! Enjoy the video and thank you for looking in!

Jeff Herring, The Article Guy, is the man responsible for my picking up the pen again, figuratively speaking, and beginning to write once more! He made it interesting, fun, and easy…his course is nothing short of fantastic. Jeff has the best program on the market for article marketing, hands down! You can do no better, and you can do a heck of a lot worse! And that’s why I have used his course and I endorse it whole-heartedly here. Jeff Herring is indeed The Article Guy!

Marc Joyner’s Simpleology will do what the name implies and so much more! This program will focus that energy to a knife point and you will experience productivity like never before! The best part? It’s totally free! That’s right, free…always! No trial period, no hitch, just free and absolutely awesome! Sign up today!

Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter and, if you are interested in pursuing the offer I mentioned to work along side me, and along with the rest of the Ultimate Internet Image Mastermind Group…and the business that goes along with it? Contact me at the email below!

Best wishes and I am available for personal consultation any time!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed has been an amazing journey into a fascinating line of sales, marketing, and business both exciting and frustrating, simple and incredibly complex. The contradictions seem as pervasive in Internet marketing as they are in the sentence above. In fact, nothing is as it seems in online business. We will explore Internet marketing in this video and the next one as we attempt to sort through the confusion and offer a way through the apparent contradictions.

As you watch the video, and yes it is a little long but full of content and useful suggestions, take the time to think about what you have been taught already and ask yourself this question:

Why am I still struggling?

Then if you can’t answer that one, or even if you can, ask yourself this question:

Am I following the right person, the right “guru?”

And finally this one:

Do I want a way out of the rat race and into an opportunity that will not only provide a decent income but will provide me and my family the kind of life I’ve always envisioned for them…and myself?!

If the answers to the questions above drive you to search for something better, and you are tired of throwing money at the same “gurus” launch after launch, then you have reached the end of your search! You see, in this video, and the next one, I will “reveal,” as part of The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed, what I have discovered along the way to my own version of success; and, I would love to have you come along or, at the very least, apply the tools I suggest, and have used myself, so you can succeed too!

Unplug the phone, run to the restroom, OK walk, no it’s not that long, grab a Diet Coke or a cup of coffee, and let’s take a ride through Internet marketing on the way to your success. I would love to say I had a small part in putting you back on course, or perhaps played a larger role…it is up to you! Buckle up and let’s get going!

Jeff Herring, The Article Guy, is the man responsible for my picking up the pen again, figuratively speaking, and beginning to write once more! He made it interesting, fun, and easy…his course is nothing short of fantastic. Jeff has the best program on the market for article marketing, hands down! You can do no better, and you can do a heck of a lot worse! And that’s why I have used his course and I endorse it whole-heartedly here. Jeff Herring is indeed The Article Guy!

Marc Joyner’s Simpleology will do what the name implies and so much more! This program will focus that energy to a knife point and you will experience productivity like never before! The best part? It’s totally free! That’s right, free…always! No trial period, no hitch, just free and absolutely awesome! Sign up today!

Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter and, if you are interested in pursuing the offer I mentioned to work along side me, and along with the rest of the Ultimate Internet Image Mastermind Group…and the business that goes along with it? Contact me at the email below!

Best wishes and I am available for personal consultation any time!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com