PlayOn Rocks!!

So I recently found an awesome program called PlayOn. It is incredible! With this new program I have gotten rid of dish, cable and everything. Now my family streams content from Hulu, NetFlix, and many other stations that have their content available online directly to my Xbox360 (without the Xbox Live subscription) and my apple TV (loaded with XBMC).
The best part is that my wife and my kids get it and know how to use it too!!

You can find playon at this site HERE
You can get a free 14 day trial.
We have been using it for months and we love it. Well worth the money.

Download Videos from HULU?!?!

I am planning on testing out some software that allegedly allows you to download the actual videos from Hulu.com and then save it to your computer. Then it can convert the media to other formats so that you can take it with you on an I-pod or other portable media device.

It may provide an alternative to needing a broadband connection as wide as the Mississippi river to be able to stream internet Flash video.

I will let you know as soon as I give the software a thorough test drive.

It's Only a Scam if you Have a Conscience

So after wasting a few weeks of my life, I determined that if you don't have a problem with selling other people an empty promise of making millions of dollars that you have not made yet, then internet marketing may just be for you.

All we had to do was sell people our method of making millions of dollars. So by preying on poor people trying to make their lives better, we could eventually make millions of dollars.

Personally, my conscience had a problem with that, and that is why I put this scam to rest.

But if you have had other experiences, please let me know.

rob@advancedmatrix.net

Step 6 - Get Paid While We Sleep

Basically, all we have to do for this step is set up a paypal account. Really tough isn't it. All we have to do is go to paypal.com and set up our paypal account and link it to our bank account. It's not really rocket surgery or brain science.

We are also supposed to set up a shopping cart for our website. I personally chose oscommerce. There are thousands of shopping cart types of software out there available on the internet. But the only free one is oscommerce.

So set up your paypal account and go to oscommerce.org and download your shopping cart software. Then you can meet me back here for Step 7.

Step 5 - Create an Auto-Responder

Step 5 - Create an Auto-Responder -

So according to Tracy, the auto-responder is the key to making millions without ever having to lift a finger. So what are we waiting for? Let's select an auto-responder.

I looked at all of the auto-responders that Tracy recommended and they are way too expensive for what I am trying to do. We are trying to make money - not spend it. So unless I get a few donations, we aren't going to be buying any auto-responders.

But I did find a free one that will seem to serve it's purpose. You can see how it works here at http://cablechief.com. Go ahead and sign up. Let me know if the auto-responder works or not.

If you want to find out what the free auto-responder is, then just sign up on the mailing list and I'll mail you the link to it with instructions on the set-up of it.

So get your auto-responder, and then meet me back here for step 6.

Step 4 - Create an Opt-In Offer

Step 4- Opt-In Offer
So we've come this far and we are barely scratching the surface. But if we follow the beautiful Tracy's advice (you can check out a picture of her here), we will soon be cashing check and sipping virgin margaritas on the beaches of the beautiful Cayman Islands before the week's end.
So I created us a nifty opt-in offer on our Cablechief.com website at the sales page. You can check it out here.
So we are going to sweeten out opt-in to give them a free cat5 cable to anyone that opts in to our e-mail marketing list. Then we can harass them in their junk mailbox for weeks to come.

Now that that is done, go ahead and get that done and then meet me back here for step 4.

Step 3 - Create a Landing Page

So we are now supposed to create a landing page that will be used to con visitors into spending money on us. The landing page is supposed to long and very informative and offer the 'landee' several times a certain offer. As we progress down the page, we are adding different offers to "sweeten the deal."

So now I will create the landing page for CableChief.com. You can check it out here if you want (if I have finished it yet). My A.D.D. may have kept me from getting it done. But Tracy tells us not to procrastinate, so I will try not to.

Tracy goes into great detail in her book about the mechanics behind creating a landing page and what it should do and all of that stuff. You can check out Tracy's landing page here if you are interested.

So create your landing page and meet me back here for Step 4.

Step 2 - Create a Branding Strategy

Step 2 - Create a Branding Strategy

Ok, so we chose to sell cables. How in the hell are we going to brand cables? Maybe we should have thought this one through a little bit. But anyway, the chips have fallen and now we are going to make lemonade with our lemons. The best way to start branding quickly - according to Tracy - is to create a blog. If you are reading this, then you have found my blog. Congratulations.

So let's talk about cables. They are awesome aren't they? They hook up to stuff. So I created a blog about Cables because it really doesn't fit here. (I don't want Tracy to have any excuses when her "Program" doesn't work) So I created http://news.cablechief.com to do my "branding"

Step 2b - Create a Blog and Personalize it
You're reading it right now. I will personalize it by adding my picture and some other crap. The other crap being outbound links to other stuff and mention other famous bloggers. I didn't know that there were famous bloggers. But here we go!

Meet me back here for Step 3

Step 1 - Pick a Niche

Step 1:

The First Step to making "millions" on the internet is to determine what my Niche is. There are a ton of questions that Tracy poses to help you to find your Niche. I went through them all, and I determined that I have no special talents. It was kind of depressing really. I am an electrical engineer by trade and I guess that the only thing that really makes me get excited is technology. But the market for technology is so cut-throat, that it is extremely difficult to remain adept in the market place. So after much consideration, I decided to start selling cables.

Tracy tells to pick something that we are passionate about and that we can make money with. So i guess that I will confess my passion for cables here. There is nothing quite as impressive as the feeling that I get when I think of those little electrons screaming down the copper conductor at the speed of light times the propagation factor it really makes me drop my jaw in awe. (Actually, the electrons really move very slowly - it is the quantity of electrons and their propagation that makes them seem to move the speed of light, but the actual electrons themselves don't move very quickly at all, and nearly not at all in AC circuits) But anyway - my A.D.D. aside, we are going to sell cables.

All sorts of cables. Cat5, Cat6, USB in all sorts, Fiber-Optic Cables (which don't even transmit electrons) and Computer Cables, and whatever other types of cables that I can manage to get my hands on. I will become the chief of Cables - That's a good name for a website! http://cablechief.com (I already registered it - but now you're thinking like a true entrepreneur)

So that's our niche. Cables. And starting a new website for it will be a good control for our experiment. We can easily track our sales of we go from nothing to something. If you have a better niche or idea, then feel free to share it here and we can go into business together.

Now for the Second Part of Part 1 (I'll call it Part 1B):

Tracy teaches us that we need 4 websites for our one website. It doesn't really make much sense to me, but I guess she's the expert, and we are in this thing for the long haul, so let's bite the bullet and go for it.
So I bit the bullet and registered the websites. I will give you the titles of the types of websites here, but if you really want the details of how the sites are supposed to work, then you really should read the book. (It is available here - Insert Link)

The types of sites are listed below with the examples of her sites that correspond to those types:
(you can click on the web addresses to link to them) - thanks to my handy HTML skills - and google
1. Branding - http://www.MarketingMakeoverMaestro.com
2. Sales Letter - http://www.JVCoachingClub.com
3. Blog - http://www.TracyRepchuk.com
4. Landing Page - http://MarketingMakeoverMiracles.com

So that's it for Step 1 (and Step 1b)
Here are the pages that I created for Me/Our cable business (some of them are still under development so please be patient) and go ahead and click on any sponsor that you may or may not come across on them.

1. Branding - http://www.AdvancedMatrix.net - it has been my business website for years. But it REALLY needs an update. If you are an HTML programmer looking to do some pro-bono (free) work, then please feel free to let me know.
2. Sales Letter - http://www.CableChief.com
3. Blog - http://www.RobertRichey.com - using my name as Tracy suggests
4. Landing Page - http://www.SkepticsView.com - because I truly AM skeptical if this will work.

Get your sites registered and meet me back here for the next Step - Step 2

My Plan to Make a Million Dollars!!

So I was checking out amazon.com the other day and I came across a book that guaranteed me to make a million dollars on the internet. I love to check out amazon because it has so many great products. I hate reading fiction books. I think my hate for fiction stems from a bad experience that I had with a 9th grade English teacher that was "Off her Rocker". It is a long story, but needless to say, I found fiction to be just that - fiction. I really would rather read a book that will allow me to better myself, by either teaching me a new skill, or by teaching me something interesting about history, science, or whatever.

Anyway, back to the point (I have A.D.D. so you may notice that I tend to take tangents every so often). I saw the book on amazon, and decided that it was worth a shot. I am a true skeptic, I believe that the only way to make money is through hard work and diligence and getting your hands dirty. So I came up with an idea. I'm going to prove the "Get rich off of the internet" crap wrong, and YOU are going to come along for the ride.

That's Right - WE are going to follow the "quantum leap" plan that was written by Tracy Repchuk and prove it ... right or wrong. You can order Tracy's book here (insert link) if you are interested.

Here is a brief overview of the book:
There are several steps to becoming a force to be reckoned with on the internet. We are going to follow these steps word for word and make the investment and see if it really pays off. Te steps are divided into days. Hence the title of the book ("31 Days to Millionaire Marketing Miracle$") because there are 31 steps to take. So here goes. (If you really want to follow this program along with me, then I really recommend buying the book because I am very lightly paraphrasing it here on this blog) So go and buy the book and I'll wait here for you to come back.

Then come back and we'll get started with step 1:

Before Step 1:

Start making, setting and following goals. According to Tracy, goal setting is the key to getting started. I tend to agree with her. I suck at setting and writing down goals. That is probably why I have never amounted to anything. I never write down my goals or hold myself to anything.

Begin with the end in mind. I first heard this term when I read (half of) "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" (maybe another reason why I have never amounted to anything, I never finished the book. Maybe because I never wrote down a goal to finish the book. Maybe there is a trend emerging here.

Here are my Goals:

1. Follow Tracy Repchuk's advice by the letter and see if it works.
2. Make enough money that I can spend all the quality time with my family that I can handle.
3. Have a recurring source of revenue so that I can continue spending as much quality time with my family as I can handle.
4. Make enough money that I can take care of my crippled, decrepit parents. (Great People, just have really bad luck)
5. Make enough money that I can get out of debt and spend a few years on a full-time mission with my family serving my church.
6. Make enough money that we can give back to the community and help others. (I would help everyone if I could - I really like helping people out - it is my weakness. I am too nice.)

Create an Action Plan and Victory Chart. This seems like a good idea. I like listening to Dave Ramsey on the Radio and I have read his book "Total Money Makeover" - A GREAT book. I highly recommend it. You can buy it here (insert link). He follows much of the same strategy. If you celebrate the small victories, it makes it easier to keep motivated if you are celebrating the small steps along the way to your big goals.

So here is my action plan on what I need to do to get this to work for me:
1. Get on a schedule - Up at 6:30 and to bed at 11:00
2. Write down goals on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and long-term basis.
3. Limit my "Time Wasters" like the 3-5 hours of TV that I watch a day.
4. Dedicate 1 hour a day UNINTERRUPTED to my kids and lovely supportive wife.
5. Write down the flood of ideas that I constantly have and determine which ones are really feasible and which ones are not going to be productive.

And here is my Victory Chart:
* All websites running - I will treat my family and myself to lunch.

* First Online Sell - I buy myself a Western Bacon 6-Dollar Burger from Carl's Jr. (I LOVE that Burger)

* First Recurring Revenue Customer - Take my lovely wife out to dinner without my kids. (anyone know a good babysitter)

* First 100 sells/customers -Buy myself another Hand Gun (I am a collector)

* First $100 Profit - Go out to Dinner with my kids and my wife. (See how long it takes us to get kicked out of the restaurant)

* First $10,000 Profit - Get Mom and Dad a car. They have two pieces of junk. All my Mom wants is a Hyundai Santa Fe.

* First $100,000 Profit - Buy down my house and try to get more out of debt. (I have a huge debt that I incurred when a corrupt contractor took out bankruptcy on me on a whole bunch of work that I did for him, and rather than file bankruptcy and stick it to the bank, I decided that I would honor my debts - even if they weren't mine and try to pay them off myself.)

* First $1,000,000 Profit - Get a new 6-bedroom house. My wife wants to have 5-6 kids and our small 1500 sq. ft. home is really not cutting it. Nothing huge and extravagant - just large enough to be comfortable and in a nicer neighborhood.

* First $1,500,000 Profit - Pay off Mom and Dad's house so that they can enjoy their lives. They have struggled financially non-stop since they got married, and I really would like them to have a break.

* First $1,750,000 Profit - Get my Sister and her husband out of debt. They have really struggled financially as well, and My Brother-in-Law has really worked his butt off for me in our small business, and I would really like to see them get some kind of pay-out for it.

* First $2,000,000 Profit - Go on a full-time mission with my wife (and with my kids if they are still at home) and dedicate two full years to serving the people of a foreign country and the Lord that gave me life.

So create your action plan and victory chart and I'll meet you back here for Step One.