Interview With Katie Freiling On How Your Mindset Impacts Your Business
Katie Freiling is an up and coming internet marketer who currently focuses on social media and blogging, however she came to my attention after watching a video she did about Eckhart Tolle.
She’s only been on the internet marketing scene for a couple of years, but is already earning six figures and just recently did a blog related launch and made $30,000 in a couple of hours.
I’m a big fan of personal development and how important YOU are to your business, which is why I asked Katie to feature in my first video interview.
In this interview Katie explains how important changing her mindset has been to finally finding success online after some rough patches in the past, and also some of the common mindset challenges that her students have faced and how to overcome them.
If you’re currently experiencing any kind of fear regarding your Internet business, this video is worth a watch.
You can find out more about Katie at http://katiefreiling.com/
Are Blog Comments A Trustworthy Source Of Feedback?
I’ve done a lot of online launches – about eight all up if you include closing down and reopening promotions – and each one included heavy support from affiliates, some of whom run popular blogs, including Problogger, John Chow, Shoemoney, Copyblogger and DailyBlogTips.
During a launch, to get a feel for the pulse of how the campaign is going, I spend time reading the comments made to other blogs on the posts relevant to me, my products and the free resources I release.
This is always an interesting process, but it can be very misleading. Most forms of feedback you get online, including comments made to your blog, other blogs, emails you receive and any other discussion points like forums and social media, should be considered very warily.
The problem with this sort of feedback is that it comes from people who rarely represent the majority, yet because they are vocal, what they say does have an impact on the silent majority, those who read the posts and comments but never write a comment of their own.
As the creator of a product feedback is a great thing, but it’s so easy to read a negative comment made about you or what you do on another person’s blog and read into it as indicative of what everybody thinks, which it rarely is. The same goes for positive commentary too, but most people don’t stress about good comments – it’s only the bad ones.
Reputation management is important, but being careful not to involve yourself on an emotional level is important too.
Setting Expectations
The selection of blogs I listed above are very different. The personas behind each blog are different, thus the voice and writing style is different and hence the type of audience they attract is different too.
This is an important consideration, because you have to realize that what is being said on one blog relates to the environment established at that blog from prior blog posts and interactions with that particular blogger. Darren Rowse is different from John Chow, who is different from Brian Clark and Daniel Scocco.
These guys all have followings of people who have come to expect certain actions, types of posts and standards. It’s safe to say that the audience of a blogger generally likes the person behind the blog and shares some, not all, but some of the opinions and viewpoints of that blogger. In other words, they resonate with the person behind the words, hence they read their blog.
This is why, when you head out there and conduct a launch, which is presented in your voice and style, there’s a friction between how you “speak” and how the blogger who writes about you as an affiliate speaks too. The best affiliate is able to use their understanding of their market, and take what you give during a launch and promote your offer so it lines up well with the desires of the audience they have the attention of, using the right language.
Of course there are times when the alignment isn’t there and certain things you do as a marketer are frowned upon by some audiences and not others. This is why you have to be careful when reading comments on other blogs. If your style contradicts the expectations of the vocal minority at that blog, you’re going to hear about it.
State Based Opinions
Another interesting observation I’ve noticed when looking at feedback I receive is how state-based each situation is. This applies to comments made on your blog, or any other blog or any feedback anywhere you get.
Do You Fail Because You Lack This Special Ingredient?
It’s Saturday here in Australia and I’m about to head to an all day workshop run by my Yoga teacher. I do a Yoga class once a week, although it’s not like your normal Yoga, it’s more like an all-in-one spirituality, meditation and Yoga package. At the end of each lesson my teacher gives a little talk about a subject – sometimes it’s about a Yoga posture, other times he reveals interesting things like niyamas and yamas, the guiding principles that all yogis follow.
I really enjoy the talks because it’s very clear my instructor has a passion for what he does. He can ramble on about the Yoga practice and leading a yogic life the way I can ramble on about Internet business and blogging.
Willpower
A few weeks ago one of the topics covered was willpower. Frequently I find many of lessons from the Yoga tradition have parallels with business, which makes complete sense given we are talking about life and we are all governed by the same universal rules.
The willpower discussion particularly grabbed my attention as relevant for people who are starting businesses and blogs. My Yoga teacher made a statement that some people have natural strong willpower and when they decide to do something they just do it. Others watch on and wonder how these people continue to achieve what they want, while they struggle to get anything done.
What Little Victory Did You Celebrate Today?
I was at the Business Mastery Secrets conference on the weekend. The person I wanted to meet was Ed Dale, well known Australian Internet marketer most famous for selling his 38 niche sites for $5 million a few years ago. He’s also know for his “underachiever” program designed to teach anyone how to make profitable niche sites.
After Ed’s presentation I went and introduced myself and had a chat. I had plenty of questions to ask but I had to wait my turn since a lot of my fellow attendees eager to join Ed’s program were asking questions about how to make niche sites. Eventually I got my chance and it was great to talk because Ed knows a lot of the Internet marketing guys like John Reese, Frank Kern (his Underachiever partner), Rich Schefren, Brad Fallon (Ed’s on the faculty at StomperNet) and pretty much every top Internet marketer.
Two things make Ed Dale extra special though – he’s a fellow ex-Magic: The Gathering player (he knows Mike Long too) and he’s an aussie. He’s also bought and sold websites, which related to some of the questions I had since I do a bit website flipping as well.
While we were talking a middle aged lady came over to us who had been talking to Ed previously. She rushed over, very excited, went up to Ed and said “I’m your latest mentoree – I so excited, I’m going to make a million dollars”. She had just spent the $2,500 to join Ed’s program.
It was eerie the way she said “I’m going to make a million dollars”. It was clear that the sugar rush was running through her veins and she was entranced by Ed’s presentation and her focus was on getting rich building niche sites.
When I was listening to Ed talk to some of the people asking questions after his presentation he lamented the fact that he forgot to mention his guarantee for his paid program when doing the presentation.
