Michael Feil

I just finished a great interview with my new friend Maren Kate Donovan . She is an up and coming leader in the online marketing and social media industry. Below is the actual interview that we did. Enjoy….
 
MAREN: How’d you get started in online marketing?
 
MICHAEL: I started about 7 or 8 years ago doing Autosurfing and “get rich quick schemes.” I made a little money and lost a lot of money. It was a good learning experience for me.
 
MAREN: What kind of 9 to 5 job did you escape from?
 
MICHAEL: I have my undergrad in Sociology and my Masters in Health Care Administration. I was in the business side of health care for several years (hospice and long term care) and I got tired of Corporate America so I just quit. I am also a Sign Language Interpreter so after I quit my health care job I started my own business doing Sign Language interpreting. During that time I also started my online business with 5 other guys. We have rolled out 2 online marketing courses already and have some great plans for the rest of 2010.
 
Our company is called The Empowered Tribe. Our philosophy is that we can’t succeed in this business alone and we need to rely on each other for accountability, traffic generation, and special skill sets that each one of us bring to the table.
 
Together we have made tens of thousands of dollars in just a few short months and we have never met in person yet. That is the power of the internet! However, we will be meeting for the first time at the end of March in San Diego, CA and we will be doing a live event for people that are interested in learning how to monetize online. This will be a great time to network with industry leaders and we will be co-hosting a charity event with Raven Starre (http://mlmrealityshow.com).
 
MAREN: Break down the ways you monetize your blog or online business(es) and if you have other streams of passive income that you’d like to share please elaborate on them.
 
MICHAEL: There are several ways I monetize online. On my blog http://michaelfeil.com you will see tabs up towards the top. Let me discuss some of these tabs and how I monetize through them.
 
1. The first monetization tab is called “Featured” and this is where I highlight the network marketing company that I am involved with. People can come here and get all the necessary info they need in order to join my organization. The product I have is very unique and there is no other product out there like it. Plus the social media marketing and tribe building education that the person gets when they are in business with me is second to none!
 
2. The second monetization tab is my “Mentoring” tab. This tab discusses why it’s important to have a mentor and if someone is interesting in my mentoring services then they can purchase it right there on the page.
 
3. The third monetization tab is my “Live Events” tab. This talks about hiring me to come to your live event and speak on a variety of topics. It also explains how my business partners and I can come to your live event and do a whole social media / tribe building workshop. It’s a very great time and well worth the money! In fact we are doing one in San Diego, CA on March 26 – 28, 2010. You can find all the info at http://tribesyndicationrevolution.com.
 
4. The fourth monetization tab is my “Resources” tab. This tab lists several of the affiliate programs that I am linked up with. When someone buys from my affiliate link I will make a commission.
 
5. Right under the “Resources” tab is my “Facebook” tab. For a price I can build people a custom Facebook welcome page for their Fan Pages.
 
6. Right under the “Facebook” tab is my “Website Building” tab where I show people how they can easily build sales pages themselves through a product called XSite Pro. I have created a video tutorial series that goes along with the XSite Pro software and people can purchase my video tutorial series that will help them get the most of the XSite Pro software.
 
So those are six ways that I monetize just through my blog. I also monetize through the online marketing courses that I develop and teach. Depending on the time of year it is you can get more information on these courses at http://tribemastermindformula.com. If the class is closed you can opt-in to get information on when the next class is starting up.
 
MAREN: What would be your 3 top tips for budding internet marketers to take heed of?
 
MICHAEL: 1. This industry is not a get rich quick industry. I thought it was when I first started 8 years ago and lost a lot of money. Once I learned that I have to actually build a business I started to become successful.
 
2. Brand yourself, not your company. When you start to brand yourself people will see you as a leader in this industry and then they will start to follow you. Once they start to follow you can then start to take the conversation offline and get to know them on a more personal level and “interview” them to see what they are really looking for. Maybe you can help them by mentoring them, direct them to one of your affiliate products, introduce them to your network marketing company, doing a joint venture with them, etc. The important thing is getting to know them personally and creating that trust. Once the trust has been established the possibilities are endless.
 
3. Build your business through the Tribe Concept. I can do a whole 2 hour lecture on this but it basically means that you are to go out and find about 5 or 6 peoples that have the same goals and aspirations as you do and you meet a few times a week to syndicate each other’s VALUABLE (that’s the key word) material all over the social media sites to get back links and massive exposure to your website or blog. There are many different principles to this kind of marketing which again is too long to get into now, but believe me, it works!
 
MAREN: What is the single best action you’ve taken that has positively influenced your biz and life?
 
MICHAEL: To find and PAY an already successful mentor that helped me get to where I am today. I was struggling before I got help via a mentor, but when I broke down and paid someone that is already successful and did exactly what they told me to do I then started to make money online. Success didn’t come overnight. It was s stepping stone process and like I said, I followed every instruction to the “T” and I started to see results.
 
The second biggest thing I did was find a good group a guys to go into business with. We talk daily, have become best friends, hold each other accountable, and are actually making money online.
 
To sum things up I just want to say there is no overnight success. Everything takes time so don’t worry that you’re not making money yet. If you follow the right steps and principles you will start to see success. Get with a mentor to show you the RIGHT ropes, and then seek out a group of people that are like minded and have the same goals as you do. Then start working with them creating projects and joint ventures.
 
Thank you Maren for this interview and if anyone has any further questions about what I have talked about you can contact me at mike@michaelfeil.com or Skype me at michaelfeil.
 
Have a great day!
 
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think about this interview. I would love to hear your thoughts! Also, Please Tweet and Facebook Share while you’re at it!
 
 

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