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Success Stories - 12 Doers Share Their Secrets: Interview with Spencer Uresk
Today's interview is with a young man from Utah called Spencer
Uresk. Although still studying at University, he has built his
Internet business to the point where it provides about 90% of
his income.
It is a fair bet that Spencer's business will continue to
develop and grow as he devotes more and more of his energies to
it.
Let's see what he has to say.
BizE-zine: Have you ben involved in any other business or jobs,
online or off?
SU: No, I jumped right in to the Internet. I haven't had any
other jobs. I see this as a full-time occupation.
BizE-zine: How did it all start?
SU: When I was about 14, my Dad worked for Woods Cross City.
They needed a web site and at that time very few people knew
anything about the Internet. I volunteered to build it for them,
and although I didn't know much myself, it was a great learning
experience.
I ran that site for them, on a voluntary basis, for two or three
years, learning new things all the time. Eventually, I became
too busy to run it unpaid, and they found someone else to do it.
When I started, I hadn't even read a book - I just jumped on in
and learned on the job.
I was just looking over some old files the other day, and in
some of them were the old design. Yikes! Frankly, I was a bit
embarrassed. This was before I learned that web sites were
tools. Before I found out the important idea that web sites are
a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
Given the time I made it, it probably wasn't fully as bad as I
thought it to be (this was around 1996 or so), but it was still
YO THERE QUIPPING QUEEN!Copyright The Quipping Queen 2005. YO THERE QUIPPING QUEEN! Or, who is that entourage of questionable ..... very amateur. I'm just glad its still not around for everyone to
see! It just shows you how fast thing have changed.
BizE-zine: How did you move from that early experience to the
idea that you could support yourself with an online business?
SU: My first successful ventures were creating entertainment
sites and selling advertising on them. Greeting Cards, fun
pages, jokes, etc.. They were a mish-mash of general audience
content and debatable value. But, there was a good deal of money
involved, and it got me started.
As the ad market started to crash, I realized that I needed to
add new streams of revenue as any site that is fully reliant on
advertising for money is going to be subject to market
conditions - something I am a bit uncomfortable with.
I used my experience as a webmaster to create new tools for
webmasters like myself. AdvertisingResults.Net was the first
service I created, and I have since created several products to
sell, and I've also branched out into running my own newsletter.
BizE-zine: Lots of people try to run newsletters online. Tell us
a bit about your experiences.
SU: The Uresk Internet Marketing Journal
(http://www.uresk.net/imjournal.html) is my newest newsletter.
It has been a bit of a struggle to get subscribers (I am used to
the entertainment industry where we get them buy the tens of
thousands!) and also determine where they are and what they are
looking for. I've found that they are usually all over - some
are complete novices, some are just into MLM schemes, some are
further along than I am and so forth. Its a bit of a challenge
to write your articles (and pick syndicated articles) that can
help as many of those people as possible.
One of the most rewarding things so far has been the feedback I
get. When I sent out my first newsletter (with under 200
subscribers), I got about half a dozen replies - all thanking me
for sending them the newsletter and telling me they can't wait
to get the next issue. Now I can't wait to SEND the next issue!
>From a sales standpoint, the newsletter fell on its face. I
didn't get a single sale. But, the fact that several people read
the newsletter, and benefited enough to warrant letting me know
makes me feel good. It also shows that down the road, any of
these people could become a customer because they trust me and
find me generally knowledgeable about what I am doing.
BizE-zine: So what is your long-term advice for would- be
newsletter publishers?
SU: Don't go straight for the money. Newsletters can be quite
lucrative, but if you go into it with the mindset of making as
much money as possible as quickly as possible, you'll fail.
Newsletters take time to grow, and also for your readers to
trust and become acquainted with you. Give it time!
BizE-zine: How long did it take your online business to start
making a profit?
SU: I didn't buy much to start with! After my first few months,
I was profitable and haven't looked back since.
BizE-zine: Have you bought any ebooks or courses on online
marketing, and if so, which was the best for you?
SU: I don't care for a lot of ebooks and courses. I've found
that most of them contain little or no new information, and are
often written by people who don't have the experience to back
them up. I honestly think that the best sources for me have been
short articles, good newsletters, and discussion boards. I have
found a few good ebooks though.
One is "Million Dollar Emails" by Yanik Silver. Why? Its
comprised largely of the experiences of those who have done it
before. In my mind, the best way to become successful is to seek
out successful people, find out what they are doing, then pick
out what it is that makes them successful and apply it to your
own situation. "Million Dollar Emails" showed some great
examples of how to make money with emails, and has already
influenced some upcoming email campaigns I'll be doing.
BizE-zine: I'm glad you mentioned that one because it is one of
the free bonus gifts for new BizE-zine subscribers!
1 Simple Key To HappinessWho is the happiest person you know? Not the happiest person you know *of*, but the happiest person you actually *know* ..... SU: Another one the is great for beginners is Jay Conrad
Levinson's "Marketing On Steroids". It has some good stuff for
people who are fairly new. Most importantly, it changes some
misconceptions that people may have about marketing on the
Internet, which often leads to the downfall of their ventures.
BizE-zine: You mentioned online forums as a good source of
information. Which are your favorites?
SU: I frequent these tow most often: http://www.ablake.net/forum
http://www.geekvillage.com/forums
I should also add that I learn a lot by studying the sales
letters of other related products. Taking time to study other
people's sales letters can be very insightful! But never fall
into the trap of copying word for word.
BizE-zine: What has been your most successful tactic for
generating traffic?
SU: Easily the best source of traffic, both in terms of quantity
and quality has been to post on related discussion
boards/forums. I make sure I have links to my sites/products in
my signature, and then try to be as helpful as possible.
Establishing credibility is very important in those situations,
and a drive-by spamming won't get you much business, whereas
being helpful and only plugging your product/service when
pertinent can bring in quality sales.
BizE-zine: Tell us about your biggest mistake.
SU: Assuming too much about potential clients. Namely that they
will find my site easily and that they are looking for my
product/service. Ultimately, potential clients won't know about
your site unless you find some way to tell them. Promotion can
be painful and hard, but it is also very rewarding when done
right.
BizE-zine: Which software do you use to help you run your
business?
SU: I have mailing software I've written. It allows me to keep
in contact with customers and potential customers. This is a
must - current customers account for half my sales, but cost
virtually nothing to market to. Make sure you get your hands on
some sort of mailing software, or at least use a mailing
service. It really is indispensable.
I also use my own AdvertisingResults.net service. It is a
powerful tool that tracks all my marketing campaigns, so that I
can find out which ones are worth continuing and which ones I
should dump. It's saved me thousands in advertising and helped
to boost my revenues. There are others on the market, but
naturally, I like my own best!
BizE-zine: What's next for your online business?
SU: One of the things that I've been working on is how to expand
my business, but keep it profitable and efficient. The thing
I've learned is to make sure expansion is within your area of
expertise and doesn't distract you or draw revenues away. I have
about 5 or 6 webmaster-related products and services in the
works, and they will all complement each other and existing
offerings.
Like I said, most of my sales are from current customers, so the
more services and products I can offer, the more each customer
becomes worth. The idea is to get as many related offerings, and
then I can use them to promote each other by offering current
customers a discount on another product I sell.
BizE-zine: What would you say to someone who is just planning to
start out?
SU: Too many people try and go it alone on the Internet, don't
make that mistake. Participate in discussion forums, email lists
and even talk to people on ICQ. If I hadn't found a few good
forums a few years ago, I wouldn't have an online business to
run.
There are two reasons you should be talking with your peers:
1. You need to learn what is working and what isn't. The best
way to get the most current information is by discussing it with
other people. Some of the most important things I've learned
haven't been from expensive courses or ebooks, but from a fellow
entrepreneur who had tried a few things and shared some tips.
2. You need to network in order to setup deals or joint
ventures, and also to make sales. You can spend thousands of
dollars on advertising, and still not make as much as you would
setting up a joint venture with someone else. Also, many people
that I build credible relationships will buy several of my
products down the road.
Talk to people. Pick their brains. That is by far the best way
to keep current and build sales. And it makes life a lot more
interesting!
About the author:
Martin Avis is a management and training consultant. To get your
unfair advantage (and 6 free gifts) in Internet marketing,
business and personal success, subscribe free to his weekly
newsletter, BizE-zine. mailto:subscribe5@BizE-zine.com or visit
his information-packed website at http://www.BizE-zine.com
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