One of the big questions I got after returning from NAMS was whether or not it was worth it. Well, I can tell you that for me, personally, NAMS exceeded my expectations by a wide margin.

I mentioned before that I had two primary objectives in going to NAMS. One was to learn stuff, of course, because a lot of exciting stuff was being taught there. But, the second and possibly more important objective was to connect with people.

One of the people that I connected with that just blew me away was Bob Jenkins, you probably know him as Bob the Teacher. Bob is awesome. Not only is Bob a great guy to talk to, but Bob has got a lot of really great ideas between those two ears of his.

Bob's SIMPLE Plan

One of the things that he presented at the workshop was a really cool and very straightforward business plan for someone who wants to make money on the internet. (He calls his plan SIMPLE 10K).  I was actually pretty shocked, because right there at the conference Bob presented (using a mind map of course, LOL)  his actual plan for internet business.  He teaches this plan at his Simple 10K workshop, which is happening in North Carolina later in February.

I was blown away by the presentation. It truly is a simple straight forward and intelligent approach to building an internet marketing business. But, more than that it’s something that normal people can attack. I loved that about Bob’s presentation.

Out of respect for Bob I’m not going to completely reveal everything that he presented at  NAMS. After all, I had to sign a nondisclosure agreement at the workshop. But, I do have Bob’s permission to reveal what I think is one of the key elements of Bob’s Simple strategy for building an online business, and that is the idea of making affiliate offers that fill in a gap between what a product is offering and what your client needs.

Bob gave me permission to show you this little piece of his overall mind map that he has for the Simple system. You notice that one of the key elements that Bob teaches is how to start off your business by making affiliate offers and how to make those affiliate offers in a way that adds value for the customer. Now, this is awesome, because it shows you how to put the customer first while making honest and well thought out recommendations to your readers or followers.

This Is The Same Thing That I Do

In fact, that’s exactly what I try to do here at MasonWorld.com where I only recommend products that I have actually use and really believe in. The twist that Bob adds, which is shown here in the graphic, is Bob recommends that you find a small gap in what that product offers and fill it for your customer. This is an awesome approach that Bob has formalized here and it’s something that I always try to do, but Bob just said it so much better. I was really blown away at how well he communicated this very simple idea.

The entire Simple flow that Bob showed at the workshop was full of these little ah-ha moments. It was clear to me immediately why Bob carries the moniker Bob the Teacher. He’s just such an excellent communicator of ideas. I was just really blown away by his presentation.

Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to attend Bob’s Simple Workshop in North Carolina. I’m actually going to be tied up with my day job learning about advanced lithography and that impact of patterning on manufacturability in integrated semiconductors.   You can see the agenda for that conference here.  See me co-chairing Session 5:  Layout Verification and Optimization.  Whoo hoo!   Doesn’t that sound exciting? So, while everyone is out in North Carolina at this fancy resort I’ll be in Silicone Valley kicking back learning about design for manufacturer ability.

I’m hoping that Bob will offer the recordings from Simple. If he does so, I’ll be sure to let you know. I’m sure those will be just a tremendous value.

The Bottom Line On Bob

Here’s the bottom line on guys like Bob and the things that Bob is teaching. Bob’s program, for me, passes the smell test. It makes sense. What Bob is basically telling you is that one of the steps in building your business ought to be leveraging the work of other people (affiliate offers) and adding value to that.

Adding value has to be a key component of anything that you do online, because if you expect to make money you need to be delivering some value for that money. That’s exactly what Bob is teaching. That’s one of the things that I like about him and his program.

Follow Bob on Twitter – he’s @BobTheTeacher (you’ll be glad you did).

I hope this has been helpful to you. I’d love to know what you think about what Bob has to say. Leave me your thoughts on this post and I’ll be looking forward to talking to you soon.

P.S.  You and the FTC will both note that my post contains affiliate links to Bob's workshop and to NAMS.  I am proud to recommend them both, and I get paid if you attend either.  I hope you are OK with that, because I enthusiastically endorse both of them based on my personal experience with NAMS and my 1:1 interaction with Bob.  Drop me a line if you are wondering if either is right for you and I will help you decide.

Man oh Man!  Finally back on the air.

In this episode of the MasonWorld Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast, we continue with our series introducing the different ways that you can make money online. Specifically, we take a look at how you can put it all together -- niche marketing, affiliate offers, blogging, information products, etc.

Better than that, we have the lovely and talented Nicole Dean in the house!

When the transcript is available, it will be here.

In the podcast, I mention that I am still spending time in Lynn Terry's forum, and that I recently attended NAMS.

Some links mentioned in the podcast

• Moonlighting On The Internet (a real book)
• Ten Ways To Make $10K On The Internet (free)
• Lynn Terry Elite Member Forum
• Nicole Dean's website

Be sure to leave us some feedback and subscribe in iTunes!

Podcast Alley is another option:
My Podcast Alley feed!

Here is the Raw RSS Feed.

I'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. Drop me a line here on the blog on on the digital recorder at 214-444-8655. Ask a question or leave a comment and we may use it on the show.

I am sitting in a room at NAMS with 20 people in a masterminding discussion with Mark Hendricks.  Talk about “business savvy” – Mark Hendricks is truly an amazing guy and incredibly insightful.  Mark Hendricks has probably already forgotten more about being in business on the internet than I will ever learn.

The conversation today was about many things, including the “True Path” and whether or not Social Media is on the true path.

Mark talked about managing relationships on the internet.  Relationships on the internet go through stages: Know Me, Like Me, Trust Me and about “Fish Jumping into the Boat.”  You just had to be there to get a full appreciation for Mark and the genius therein.

We spent some really good time talking about Benjamin Franklin and how that has impacted Mark’s business plan.

Best quote from Mark (there were many): “I’m a really good test dummy.”

Mark is not a huge fan of the hyped product launch model – he is more about delivering value over time, and encouraged us all to deliver real value to our customers.  He would rather have a lifetime customer than a quick buck and told us to avoid the “she got the coal mine and I got the shaft” model.

Great time with Mark – you can find him on Twitter @MarkHendricks.  My masterminding and 1:1 time with Mark was one of the real highlights of my trip to NAMS.

Last night at the Niche Affiliate Marketing System Seminar in Atlanta, GA, Lynn Terry finally opened that MacBook Pro that she ordered for video editing. She swears up and down that she is not switching to Mac, but we all know that "once you go mac, you never go back."

In the video, Lynn opens Her MacBook Pro to applause.

Paul Colligan believe it?

Will Ed Dale fly to Tennessee to confirm personally?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lZ8cLW17AY

Lynn Terry Opens Her MacBook Pro

Let me know your predictions.  Will Lynn GO MAC, or will she GO BACK?

Good morning.

Today I am in Atlanta at the Niche Affiliate Marketing System Seminar.  I’ve been spending some time with top internet marketers learning and mapping out my plans for MasonWorld.com.  It’s really exciting to be in the company of the 18 instructors and all the people like me that are here to learn from them.

The tone of this workshop is really cool.  There are two key features that I really like.  First, there is very little pitching here.  In fact, no products are for sale from the back of the room.  A lot of seminars like this are pitch-fests.  But NAMS is different by design (and it’s a great thing).  The instructors are here to teach (not to sell).

Just as an aside, the Niche Affiliate Marketing Seminar Audio is available after the conference if you are interested.    It turns out that you can get all the information presented at a fraction of the registration price.  If you are interested, you should act quickly because 51 people will also get a 2gb flash drive loaded with all of the Niche Affiliate Marketing System 1 and 2 workshop materials and complete audios!

Second, there is great access to all the instructors between sessions.  I’ve already had long conversations with Nicole Dean, Sid Hale, Lynn Terry and Kevin Riley.  At this moment, I am listening to a Lifestyle Design talk from Mark Hendricks.  I had not met Mark before this weekend, but I am blown away by his presentation, and have a 15 minute consulting session scheduled with him on Sunday.  The only weird thing was that he made us sing during his presentation. 

Of course, for me meeting Nicole Dean and Lynn Terry are two of the big highlights from the weekend (that’s Nicole at the left).  It’s been really neat to realize that they are just as cool (and genuine) as they seem.

Last night, a bunch of us from Lynn’s elite forum sat around and talked about internet marketing long after the planned events for the day had ended.  There are a ton of people from Lynn’s Elite forum here. 

More on NAMS later.  Right now this is looking like the most important investment in my business that I have made to date.

Next up later today, the entire conference is creating an info product live at the seminar.  Pretty cool exercise, especially for people who are trying to get started with info products on line.