This is a Learning With Leslie First, and I enjoyed it so much. In this interview, I got on the line with Marlee Ward to talk about . . . well . . . we had NO IDEA what we were going to talk about.

I considered this interview an experimental interview. No plan, no outline, and lets see what happens.

It turns out that Marlee was the PERFECT person to do this with. We laughed, we discussed, and Marlee shared her VERY interesting journey with us.

Now, even though the conversation started without a plan, it went in a very specific direction where Marlee ended up sharing some KILLER TIPS for anyone looking to make money from their blogs by offering coaching.

This is an EXCELLENT way to use your expertise to help out your audience, and get customers to pay you for your time.

I plan on offering coaching (eventually) and when I start, I will be coming back to this interview to listen again so that I can get started on the right foot.

Here are just a few of the topics Marlee got into:

• How to know who your target audience is. I know – you’re thinking that you’ve heard this before, but I REALLY LOVE Marlee’s take on this
• How to decide if the potential client is the right fit. If they aren’t, don’t work with them.
• How to get your potential client to share their compelling vision
• How to create a plan of action to help them achieve their goals
• How to execute that plan
• How to monitor results

Notice something? The first two words on all those topics are “How To”. Yep, that’s just how she rolls! She really got into some practical and ACTIONABLE tips that I KNOW you’re gonna love.

So stop reading this right now and start listening to the interview. Wait – don’t stop yet!

One more thing before you go. When you are finished, I would LOVE to get your feedback on how you think this unplanned interview went. What did you like? What didn’t you like?

Let me know in the comments section below!

Who:

In a world where Google is in the business of Pimp Slapping online entrepreneurs with their algorithm updates, Court Tuttle from The Blog Builders comes along and says something like “SEO is EASIER today than it has ever been”.

How is that even possible?

How does that make ANY sense?

People are loosing online businesses left and right with each flexing of the Google Muscle, but Court comes and makes these kinds of claims.

Well – Court doesn’t just say it, he gives us practical steps to show us HOW to do SEO in today’s online Economy.

In this interview, we cover:

• Why SEO is STILL relevant today
• How he went from working at Radio Shack to becoming the “SEO guy”
• How he went from doing SEO to teaching
• How To optimize your blog for the search engines
• How to do keyword research quickly, easily and for free
• What kind of numbers should you be looking for
• The secret of Orphan posts
• How to get your stuff shared like crazy
• MUCH, MUCH MORE

Court definitely has a fascinating story. And to add to the story, this is one of those interviews where you get so much actionable data that you leave on a high, equipped to do the kinds of things that will grow your business.

So pull out a pen and paper (or simply your laptop) and start taking notes.

When Moutassem Hammour contacted me and told me about how he launched his blog 6 months ago and then created a product, launched it and made $500, I was EXTREMELY excited.

Not just because he was able to make money. He is actually blogging about something that is helping people. Ok, so here are a few of the details:

Moutassem is a Chiropracter living in France. He decided to launch a blog about meditation because he had experience with the topic and has seen first hand how meditation helps so many people.

His blog is in French and is called Pratiquer La Meditation.

He knew that he wanted to turn it into a business and decided that the route to go was creating a digital product. After going through my Product Creation Simplified and Product Launch Simplified courses (you can find those on my courses page), he basically did EXACTLY what I covered in those courses and is thrilled with the results.

In this interview, we basically dissected what he did, one step at a time. Yes, it’s kind of strange that I would basically have him describe ALL the steps he went through, which is basically giving away almost all the details of what I cover in the course, but I was so excited that I just wanted him to share it all. Why? Because one of my main goals is to help you TAKE ACTION.

So, we dove into:

• How he started his blog
• How he used Facebook Ads to grow his exposure quickly – this is something I haven’t covered ANYWHERE!
• How he created the product – in great detail.
• How he launched the product – the exact steps
• How he made $500 from a list of 350 email subscribers

This is good stuff, and I think you’ll be excited after listening to it.

My Question For You: What’s Stopping you from launching YOUR PRODUCT? Let me know in the comments below.

Who:

Man, I remember it as if it were yesterday. I found out about this new social network that was quickly on the rise. I went to my wife to show her it because it seemed like something she would like.

And her response was something like – “Oh Pinterest? I LOVE Pinterest!

WHAT? My wife knew about a social network before I did? What was this world coming to? I’m the “Online Guy”. I tell her about social networks and she takes a while to come on board.

Our relationship was entering a new, weird space. Ok, maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal, but you get the point.

Pinterest is a very fascinating phenomena. As one of the FASTEST GROWING social networks, it’s a serious force to be reckoned with. It’s so serious that I’ve found myself curious as to how to best use Pinterest to expand what I’m doing here at Become A Blogger.

So, if their somethings strange, in the Pinterest hood. Who you gonna call? CYNTHIA SANCHEZ (modified ghost busters theme song – p.s. if you knew what this was, that’s an indication that you’re getting old).

Since I first time I met Cynthia at Blog World in New York, there was one thing that was GLARINGLY obvious – Cynthia Loves (and knows) Pinterest. From her blog, Oh So Pinteresting, she shares that passion with the world, educating people on how to effectively use Pinterest.

In this interview, Cynthia talks about:

• How she got into this whole Pinterest thing
• Making the tough decision to leave her stable job as an Oncology nurse to focus on her online business
• The Challenges she faced while building her blog
• How Blogging lead to some AWESOME Opportunities
• What Bloggers need to do to be AWESOME on Pinterest (Step By Step)
• How to grow a following on Pinterest
• How to Make Money With Pinterest

So, if you’ve heard of this Pinterest thing and want to know how YOU can best use it for your blog, business, or whatever else you’re into, make sure to check out this interview. You’re gonna love it.

Your Comments

Are you using Pinterest? If so, How? Let me know in the comments section below.

Who:

Ok, I need to let you know how this happened. The truth is that I don’t know where I found out about Natalie, a.k.a. the “Mogul Mom”, but somehow I stumbled onto one of her videos.

When I saw the video, I said to myself – man, I need to check this girl out a little more.

Why? Because she seemed SO genuine. So, I followed the trail, checked her out in a number of places and was SO IMPRESSED with who she is and what she has been able to accomplish, while being a wife, mom, model, blogger AND entrepreneur.

And you guys thought I was crazy (in a good way of course)? This girl takes things to the next level!

In fact, after working online for ONLY 3 MONTHS, she ended up quitting her job so that she could be at home taking care of her daughter – I love it!

Ok, I know I know. You’re probably wondering what the video I saw was about, and how it lead me down this trail of getting her on the show. To satisfy your curiosity, here it is:

Click here to view the embedded video.

How can you NOT be instantly captivated? I know I was.

So, I connected with her and grabbed her on this interview, and she overdelivered (as my guests normally do).

Natalie is known for helping people use social media to get themselves and their ideas out there and in front of the world. Here are some of the things Natalie Covers in this interview:

• What the term Mogul Mom means
• How she got into social media/blogging
• How to use Social Media (especially Facebook) to grow your blog
• “My Story” marketing and how that can help maximize your success
• How to not Waste Time on social media
• Answers to questions from the community
• She even offers me a little bit of parenting advice, which my ears are ALWAYS open for

All in all, there was a TON of value offered in this interview. My recommendation – Sit back, relax, grab a cup of tea (or whatever else you drink when you’re relaxing) and listen in, undisturbed.

Then, once you’re finished, make sure to leave me a comment below with your thoughts

That’s all for now, until next time – Take Care and God Bless

Who: Kim Roach
Blog: Buzz Blogger
Transcript: Click Here To Download

It’s one of the TOP questions I get asked – “Leslie, can you show me how to get MORE TRAFFIC to my blog?”

The question makes sense. I mean – if you’re going to spend your time building your blog, if you hope to be able to influence others, if you’re trying to make a difference in the world, or if you’re just doing it to make money, you’re gonna need to have people actually visit your site. Right?

OF COURSE! Well, for that very reason, I’m so glad to have my new friend Kim Roach, from Buzz Blogger on this interview today, because she knows traffic.

She has written extensively on the topic from first hand experience, and has lots of experience helping others achieve the same.

So in this interview, Kim talks about the following:

• How she started a website in High School that got 50,000 visitors per month and made $1,000 per month.
• How she learned the importance of a subscriber list
• What her Absolute BEST strategy is for driving HIGH QUALITY, targeted traffic to her blog is
• The importance of Epic Content
• How to Promote your content once you’ve created it
• How to start a Blogging alliance that will promote your content for you
• Why she doesn’t pay attention to Google anymore

She then goes on to talk about a bunch of traffic strategies, some things I’ve never thought of doing, but make sense. She also included a list of resources that we can use to drive more traffic to our blogs.

So, if you’re the person who wants to get more traffic (and who doesn’t want that), make sure to listen in. I’m sure you’ll find at least 1 strategy that can help you take your traffic to the next level.

Enjoy!

Who:

Hey, did you know I’m from the Caribbean? Ok, you probably guessed that because of my cool accent

Well, today I’m super excited because I actually get to interview a fellow Caribbean. Not only that, but he’s someone who Blogs about Caribbean food (side note: It’s the BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD).

So, if you hear my Caribbean Accent a little stronger in this episode, you know why

Today’s guest is none other than Chris De La Rosa from from the Caribbean Pot blog. Chris was able to take his passion for Caribbean cuisine and culture and share this on his blog that gets over 100,000 Unique visitors every month.

Now, I don’t know about you but I think that’s A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE.

Here are some of the other cool things he has been able to build to:

• Over 21,000 Likes on Facebook
• Over 14,000 Subscribers on Youtube
• Over 2.3 MILLION Videos views for his Caribbean Cooking Videos

Is that significant? It totally is. But that’s not the most powerful thing in my opinion.

What makes what he does great is that he is able to take something he’s EXTREMELY passionate about, share it with the world, and build a business around it. It’s a beautiful thing.

Inside This Interview, Chris shares the following:

• How he got into blogging
• One change he made to his videos that propelled his blog forward
• How he gets traffic to his site
• How he used social media to take his blog to the next level

I know you’ll enjoy this interview, because I sure did. And yes, you’ll get lots of value from it, in addition to practical tips to implement to grow your blog. So what are you waiting for? Have a listen

Loving this Podcast? Why not take it with you?

Doing so will automatically deliver the podcast to the device or service of your choice. It’s actually pretty simple to do using one of the following two links.

• Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes
• Subscribe to the podcast via RSS

Who:

Today’s interview was a tremendous pleasure. I met Crystal at Blog World in New York this summer and we had a blast getting to know her.

Well, I knew that Crystal was into big things, but I didn’t fully understand how AWESOME she is when it comes to blogging and building online businesses. I mean – I knew she was awesome, but now I know that awesome doesn’t begin to describe it.

I grabbed her on this interview and she shared some awesome tips on how to really build a SERIOUS business with your blog. This interview isn’t for anyone who doesn’t want to take their blogging seriously.

I mean, it has even caused me to reevaluate how I do my business. So trust me on this one – you want to listen to this one, especially if you are someone who thinks big.

Inside the interview, Crystal talks about

• How she got into blogging in the first place
• Why it’s Essential to be passionate about what you’re doing
• How to take your blogging business to the next level in 3 steps
• What a Keyword Theme Map is and why you need one

So, What did you think about this interview? Make sure to let me know in the comments below.

Loving this Podcast? Why not take it with you?

Doing so will automatically deliver the podcast to the device or service of your choice. It’s actually pretty simple to do using one of the following two links.

• Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes
• Subscribe to the podcast via RSS

Who:

Man, I just love having awesome conversations with Awesome people. Well, today’s episode is no exception.

Today, I interview my good friend Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income. Now, I’ve been checking this dude out for a while, and I must say that he is one of the bloggers I’ve come to hold with high regard.

Why? Because he doesn’t come with all that spammy, hard-selling crap that so many marketers force down your throat.

In fact – he has a HIGHLY responsive list, and doesn’t sell directly to that list. Sounds strange, doesn’t it?

Well, I had to get Pat on the line to talk about this topic – how to be an ethical blogger/marketer and still make money. Yes, he makes money, and lots of it.

How do I know? Because, Pat is probably one of the most transparent marketers out there. He is open about his income, successes and failures, and does it in a way that does not come off as bragging. In fact, it comes off as being very inspirational.

So, in this interview, we don’t go into a lot of detail about Pat’s history, since I already interviewed him about that in my very first interview on this podcast.

Instead, I ask Pat to share his best tips on how to be an awesome marketer in a very ethical way.

In the interview, Pat shares:

• What it means to be an ethical marketer
• How he makes money without hard selling
• Why he never sells directly to his list
• 9 Awesome Tips on how to be a Successful, Ethical blogger/marketer

He also answers two questions called into the hotline by two members of the Become A Blogger Community:

• Alain, from AlainInternetMarketing.com called in to ask how so many people fall prey to the Internet Marketing Scams out there.
• Rochelle, From The Single Status called in to ask about whether she should disclose that her links are affiliate links even if her audience has no idea what affiliate marketing is.

If you’re looking for inspiration, and want to take your blogging efforts to the next level in an awesome way, listen to this interview.

Loving this Podcast? Why not take it with you?

Doing so will automatically deliver the podcast to the device or service of your choice. It’s actually pretty simple to do using one of the following two links.

• Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes
• Subscribe to the podcast via RSS

Who:

Today’s interviews was such a privilege to do. In my early days of blogging, when I blogged about Freebie Trading, I was interviewed by Today’s guest.

It was a fun interview, but what happened afterwards absolutely BLEW MY MIND.

Someone else wrote an article that mentioned the interview, and that article got picked up by MSN Money.

All I’m saying is this – it resulted in so much traffic, and opt ins to my Mailing list that I thought there was a serious glitch in Aweber.

So come full circle, Bot is a very successful blogger who managed to build a successful blog in a very competitive niche – Personal Finance. How did he do it?

Well I can’t tell you here, or you wouldn’t listen to the interview. Press the play button above and you’ll hear all the juicy details.

Inside the interview, Bob talks about:

• How he got into blogging in the first place
• How he was able to stand out in a competitive niche
• How he uses keyword research and which tools he uses
• The awesome training he offers

Who:

Ever met someone and instantly hit it off? That was Debba Haupert for me. She runs the site Girlfriendology.com and I just love the name. Don’t you?

It’s an online community of women, and one thing they really have going for them is a strong sense of community.

Of course, when I heard about it, I had to grab Debba aside at Blog World to ask her to share her top 3 tips on how to grow a strong community around your blog.

Here are her answers. Watch, enjoy and TAKE ACTION

Click here to view the embedded video.

Transcript of This Video

Some people like to be able to read a transcript while watching the videos, or just read the transcript without even listening. If you are one of those people, not to worry – We’ve made the transcript available for you below.

Who:

One of the best things about going to blog world was being able to meet up with friends that you know well from online and help to solidify those relationships by having face to face interactions.

When I think Podcasting, I think Cliff Ravenscraft. He’s a good friend who I got introduced to when I wanted to start my own podcast. He’s known as the Podcast Answer Man and is part of the reason why my podcasts sound the way they do.

I just HAD TO grab Cliff aside for him to share 3 tips with you if you’re interested in starting a podcast. If you’re interested in learning more about starting a podcast, check out his FREE (yes, I said FREE) Learn How To Podcast tutorial.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Why? Because I believe that each and every one of us has the potential of doing BIG THINGS.

So, at Blogworld, I got Pace Smith from Connection Revolution to talk about just that – How BLOGGERS (you and I) can use our blogs to change the world.

She gives 3 solid tips that I highly endorse. Do these and your blog will have more of an impact.

Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Transcript of This Video

Some people like to be able to read a transcript while watching the videos, or just read the transcript without even listening. If you are one of those people, not to worry – We’ve made the transcript available for you below.

This was not the first interview I did, but because of the foundational nature of the content he covered, I decided this to make this the first one in this series. In the interview, Adam shares some valuable tips on how to find your Perfect Niche. Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Transcript of This Video

Some people like to be able to read a transcript while watching the videos, or just read the transcript without even listening. If you are one of those people, not to worry – We’ve made the transcript available for you below.

” alt=”" width=”288″ height=”192″ />Who:

I know of a bunch of people who are looking for ways to market their services online. What’s the best way to do it? Well, there really isn’t ONE best way.

What’s the way I recommend? Using your blog to market your service. Whether you’re a writer, graphic designer, web designer, life coach or someone else who exchanges time (yours or your outsourcer’s), I think blogging can be a powerful tool.

So I invited Joe Bunting to do an interview. Joe is a blogger who uses his blog to market his editing and ghost writing services and has a very interesting story to tell.

He built his blog in a relatively short time using some interesting strategies, and has an interesting philosophy on how to be a service oriented blogger.

Inside this interview, we cover . . .

• Why Joe started his blog
• How he got traffic to his blog in a relatively short period of time
• How he got featured on popular blogs and how we can do the same
• The best way to blog if you’re marketing a service
• Much, much more

Attention: This interview was scheduled for next week, but was so good and promotes something that will help so many people that I decided to post it 1 week early. So the reference to Blog World at the end refers to Next Week.

I meet Authority Bloggers all the time – people who have built blogs that have established them as an authority in their niche. This is pretty commonplace today – People start blogs, become popular, start selling info products and make a significant amount of Cashy Cashy.

However, every once in a blue moon, I meet someone who is doing something that just REALLY STANDS OUT!

Well, let me tell you. I saw a tweet about something Adam Baker was doing, within an hour we had arranged to do an interview that same day (which was yesterday), we did the interview and I’m posting it today.

Why such a quick turnaround? Because I BELIEVE IN WHAT HE’S DOING and I want to do my part to let the world know.

When I was in college, I read a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad and it completely changed my mindset. For the first time in my life, I knew that I could do something HUGE in my lifetime, and I didn’t have to settle for the status quo.

Adam and his team are working on a project that I believe can serve as that kind of inspiration for people all over the world, and I wanted to share it with you so that you can be one of the first people to have that experience.

Just check out the trailer below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ok, so now you see what I mean. I think that this film can transform the lives of so many people that I needed to grab him up for this interview.

Inside the interview, you will discover:

• The catalyst that changed Adam’s life forever
• How him and his wife decided to Sell their crap, get out of debt and live the life of their dreams
• How the “Man Vs. Debt” blog started and grew into the powerful force that it is today
• Elements of a successful blog
• About the “I’m Fine, thanks” project
• What to do if you don’t know what to do in life
• And MUCH, MUCH MORE . . .

Who:

How dare they come on my podcast and CHALLENGE ME?

Yep, that’s exactly what they did – and you know what? I’m going to take them up on their stinkin challenge.

Today’s power couple (yes, couple – my first “three way”) are on a mission – to help people to live life now, instead of deferring their dreams to later in life.

They started Jet Set Life, their online business with the purpose of doing just that, and they’ve been sharing travel tips to Jet Setters like themselves.

If you check out their blog, you will see examples of all the places they’ve been. In fact, what they are doing is a perfect example of a couple who has taken their passion/hobby and turned it into a business.

Do they love to travel? YES SIR, they do. Check out this video they made of their trip to St. Barths (p.s. the only reason I’m showing it is because they were in St. Maarten, my island, for part of the video).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jet Set Body

A HUGE aspect of what they do (and a big part of their lifestyle) is their flagship program called Jet Set Body – A 90-day fitness program designed to get people into the best shape of their lives.

Rob and Kim are actually fitness models (go figure, no pun intended) who have been competing in fitness competitions for a while now. And as you can see from the pic below – they ain’t no joke!

This is how I came to know them – I’ve seen the transformations that some of their members have gone through. In fact, I first heard about them from David Siteman Garland, another podcaster who interviewed them after having tremendous success with their program.

In this interview, they share their story (a very interesting one) and how they’ve been able to build an online empire around their passion.

Here are SOME of what we cover in the interview:

• What it means to live a Jet Set Life
• Building a business around your passion
• How they’ve built their online business
• The role that Blogging has played in their business
• How they manage to travel so much while having a teenage daughter (that they almost gave away to me, lol)
• They challenge me to the BIGGEST challenge I’ve ever faced as a blogger
• I accept their challenge (proudly, but I’m still afraid, lol)

This was one of the most fun interviews I’ve done – not just because it was my first three-way, but because these guys are a hoot. Trust me on this one – you’ll enjoy it, and you’ll get to follow my interesting journey through their challenge.

Who:

One of the things I get asked a lot is how in the world I’m able to do all that I do online while having a full time job.

Then, I meet someone like Kimberly Gauthier, who is a full time accountant, has 3 BLOGS and contributes to 2 other blogs, and my mind gets Befuddled.

Well, I grabbed Kimberly on this interview to see how she does what she does. I was impressed because she started a blog in January, and in 1 month, she had over 1000 fans on her Facebook page. Now – only 4 months later, she has over 4,500.

How did she do it? Pure passion, and doing whatever she could to get the word out there.

In this interview, we talk about:

• How she got into blogging
• How she is able to do so much online while having a full time job
• What she did to grow her traffic so quickly
• The 3 things it takes to get traffic quickly
• How to use LinkedIn effectively to get traffic (step by step)

Resources Mentioned in this interview

Right Click To Download PDF Transcript

Who:

Back in September of last year, I sat down in the Cafeteria at the university where I teach and had a conversation with a good ‘ol friend – Matthew Harris.

In that conversation, he told me about where he was in his Network Marketing Business and how he had used Facebook to build a pretty successful team of entrepreneurs and have been able to make a significant income doing so. I’m not into Network Marketing, but I was intrigued by what he was able to do using Facebook.

However, the more we spoke, the more I realized that he was on to something – something that could be a product that would potentially make him some decent cash.

So I outlined for him how I would recommend for him to proceed with product development and was amazed to see the MASSIVE ACTION he had taken over the next few DAYS (Yes, I said DAYS, not Weeks or Months).

Not just that – when he launched the product, it was an INSTANT success – and I’m not exaggerating.

So I just HAD TO get him on a call to do an interview, as a case study of what can happen when we TAKE ACTION (yeah, you’re probably sick of hearing me say that by now, lol).

In this interview, here are some of the juicy details we cover:

• How Matthew got into entrepreneurship in the first place
• Why he failed for the first few years
• What he learned from that failure
• What he did differently in order to achieve success
• The role that mentors have played in his success
• What tools he used to develop his product
• And MUCH MORE . . .

This is an interview that is full of inspiration, and I know you’re going to enjoy every bit of it. So sit back, relax, grab a cup of tea (or whatever else you drink while listening to podcasts), and enjoy!

Tools Matt Used for His Product Launch

• Camtasia – for recording his screen
• Optimize Press – for his squeeze and sales pages
• Digital Access Pass – to Manage his memberships
• Paypal – for getting paid

Who: Farnoosh Brock
Website: Prolific Living
Podcast: The Daily Interaction - Subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher
Connect: Farnoosh on Twitter and Facebook

A few months ago, I mistakenly sent an email to Farnoosh Brock, because I thought she was someone else. That was awkward, right?

Well not at all. Farnoosh used that as an opportunity to connect with me in a way that left an impression of me and what has developed since is one of the best friendships I’ve established with someone online. (Check out my Previous interview with Farnoosh).

Since then, I’ve met a number of people who know her and they all have the same thing to say about her – she’s such an awesome person.

What I realized was this – Farnoosh is AWESOME at connecting (and networking) with others online.

This is something that is very powerful, and I wanted to get her on here to talk about HOW she goes about networking with others in this “internetty world”.

Facebook and Twitter has often been looked at as platforms that have made our interactions more “shallow”, but if we use it correctly, they can actually help us establish REAL relationships and REAL friendships.

As entrepreneurs, networking is essential. Listen to this interview and find out how to do it the RIGHT way.

Inside this interview, we cover:

• How networking has benefited Farnoosh
• Why Networking is so important
• How to Manage contacts effectively
• Why it is important to CARE!
• How to make people feel special online
• Why Live meet ups are so significant

Farnoosh also runs a podcast called The Daily Interaction, where she talks about talks about all the social exchanges in your world and helps you to be effective and understood. It’s a podcast that’s on my shortlist of podcasts that I listen to, and if you are at all interested in understanding these exchanges and taking them to the next level, I highly recommend for you to check it out.

Who:

Have you ever known someone who just  can’t stop complaining about what’s happening in their life?

Have you ever known someone who always sees the negative?

Are YOU that Someone? If so (and even if it’s not the case), you want to check out this interview because it’s AWESOME, and it will help you to see beyond the negative.

Today’s interviewee has a very interesting story and it was great to sit down and chat with her.

Sibyl Chavis quit her job, sold her house, packed up her stuff (and family) and decided to switch things up a bit.

What I loved was a little experiment that she ran – to stop complaining for 40 days. Then, 40 days turned into 5 years and her life has never been the same.

Today, she blogs at Possibility Of Today – a very interesting blog teaching how to live today better than yesterday.

You should check her out on Facebook – Over 30,000 fans and over 10,000 twitter followers. It’s very clear that she knows what she’s doing, so I was glad to have her on the show.

Here are some of the points we touched:

• How she made the decision to leave everything behind and start a new life
• The challenges involved with that change
• What she learned from her days without complaining
• How She started and Grew her blog
• Why you won’t find ANYTHING for sale on her blog
• How to deal with failure
• How to grow a strong following

I know you are going to enjoy this one, so sit back, relax and just listen.

As usual, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you know what to do – Call the Hotline at (888) 835 – 2414

Take care, and God Bless!

- Leslie Samuel

Who:

It was a pleasure to have Mitch Wilson back for a follow up interview.

I interviewed him almost a year ago, where he talked about how he built his blog, Sports Chat Place, into a massive blog.

In today’s interview, we talk about what has happened since then, how his blog has become more than just a blog, and what it takes to be successful.

Here are some of the things we cover:

• How important it was for him to take a Blogging Course
• How he gets his traffic
• The role of Content in his business
• The opportunities that appears when your blog reaches a certain level (and what that level is)
• What it takes to be successful online

Mitch uses HUGE numbers in this interview – numbers that are so huge that they can almost be intimidating. However, it’s something that I think is VERY important to hear.

Why?

Because it lets us know, and understand, what is possible, and how powerful blogging can be. By listening to interviews like this, it increases my motivation to do BIG things.

So go ahead and have a listen. And of course, leave a comment (or question) below, letting me know what you think.

Also, if you have a question you would like for me to answer on the show, make sure to call the hotline at (888) 835 – 2414.

Resources for this Interview

• Sports Chat Place (Mitch’s blog/MASSIVE enterprise)
• My previous interview with Mitch

Today’s interview is nothing less than a privilege.

One of the first podcasts I ever started listening to was Foolish Adventure.

Why? Because I heard that it was being launched by Tim and his former partner and the name sounded a bit weird.

I remember thinking to myself – “Foolish Adventure? Internet Marketing? What’s that about?”

Then I started listening to it and was amazed at the content. At first, I didn’t think I would learn a lot, but man . . . was I surprised.

Tim has been sharing a lot of knowledge that he’s accumulated from over 13 years of being a marketing consultant. This is one of the VERY FEW podcasts that I can say that I’ve listened to EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. That should tell you something.

As we start off the new year, I wanted to focus on the kind of mindset it takes to be successful online. That’s what the month of January will be about.

So I invited Tim on here to talk about his experiences, what he’s learnt over the years and to share what kind of mindset it takes to be successful online.

In this interview we cover:

• Why his first business failed
• What he learned from that experience
• How he moved on from there to become successful
• The one thing you NEED in order to have a business
• The kind of mindset it takes to be successful online

Who:

Today’s interview is about a topic that people LOVE to hear about, when it comes to internet marketing – Traffic Generation.

Why do people love to hear about it? Because it’s the thing that most people struggle with, when it comes to starting an online business.

Well, Ana Hoffman definitely doesn’t struggle with Traffic Generation. According to Ana, there’s nothing new in Traffic Generation. It’s a process that makes sense.

We all know how to drive traffic – sometimes we just need a little reminder.

In this interview, Ana gives some AWESOME tips on how you can drive FREE traffic to your blog. The cool thing is that I’ve never heard some of them before, so it gives me something new to try out (and report back to you of course).

Inside this interview, we cover:

• Why it’s important to take action
• How she got into blogging
• Her experience moving from Communist Russia to the U.S. to climb the Corporate Ladder
• How modeling fit into her story
• How her relationship with Jesus Christ guides what she does
• How to drive FREE traffic to your blog

Resources for this interview

Who:

Evolve. Connect. Inspire.

These are the three core elements in John Kowalski’s consulting company that define and strengthen his business online, which you can find at Babacita.com. After 12 years, he says that by determining this, he has been able to strengthen the message that he would like to convey to his audience.

Consistency is important and with his work aligned with these core values, strengthening his messages to his readers has been a success.

Today he talks to us about how he went through his personal journey of searching for the key assets in himself as John Kowalski – the journey he took in discovering his own personal brand by determining these three core values.

He shares to us the tools that helped him to get to them and how he decided on what they were.

Here are other things that John shared with me during the interview – things that contributed in building the foundation for Babacita and for its success.

• Techniques used in searching for one’s core values.
• Why consistency is critical for personal branding.
• How he used mind mapping as part of his strategy.
• Defining his core values: “Evolve. Connect. Inspire”
• How to be successful with “Personal Branding“

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Babacita – John Kowalski’s website.
• Wordle – Create a Word Cloud – an interesting resource used by John Kowalski in his self-evaluation process.
• Evolve. Connect. Inspire. – The core values of John Kowalski’s consulting company.
• WorldBlu — Helps John Kowalski’s business to grow.
• PeaceWalker Project — Where John is a Certified Level 1 Instructor offering seminars focused on conflict resolution and conflict management.
• John’s “Reinventing” post — Where he talked about the changes he was starting to go through

Word cloud created of this transcript

Today, Marcus Sheridan of TheSalesLion.com inspires us of how he travelled from a blue collar job to where he is today. Owning a successful company in the pool industry didn’t come to him in an instant.

Indeed, there were a lot of trials and obstacles along the way. Let’s listen to his journey as he tells us the story of his life, of how he discovered Content and Inbound Marketing, and how he became known for the talent that he has, that is of speaking and teaching in front of his audience.

His passion and faith in himself brought so much success to his life.  It took so much effort and patience to finally be where he is right now.

Other stuff we talked about in today’s podcast are:

• Taking a stand and being passionate about it.
• What to “will success” means.
• How telling stories can be powerful.
• Getting your audience to understand your message.

Who:

Have you ever hit it off with someone from the moment you met them? Well Farnoosh Brock was that kind of person for me.

Since we had our first conversation, I knew that I had to get her on an interview.

Fortunately, she said yes, and here she is.

Farnoosh is the creator of the Prolific Living Blog, where she writes about living life on your own terms.

She’s the author of “Motivation: From Goals to Greatness“, a book that addresses the sources of true motivation to help you tap into greatness. She has been featured in Forbes, and was also a featured speaker at BlogWorld 2011, where she talked about Personal Branding.

In our casual (but informative) conversation, she talks about the following:

• How she got into blogging
• How she is able to blog on a bunch of different topics and still be successful
• How she went from blogging for fun to turning it into a business
• How she walked away from a well paying job to focus on her blog
• What she did to drive lots of traffic to her blog
• What we can do to grow our blog the right way.

Her story is truly an inspiration, and shows that a blog that started out just as a fun little side-project can turn into something bigger than you could’ve imagined.

There are tips in this interview for every blogger, regardless of where you are in your blogging business, so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND for you to listen to this one.

In this interview, we also spoke about a FREE giveaway, where you can get a free copy of her book “Motivation: From Goals to Greatness“. It’s actually quite easy for you to get one, but in order to know what to do, you’ll just have to listen to the interview

Resources:

• Prolific Living - Her blog
• The Daily Interaction – Her podcast that hooked me in. Subscribe in itunes.
• Motivation: From Goals to Greatness - Her book
• 10 Minute Daily Invigorator – Teaching you to Overcome Fatigue & Energy Lows in Just 10 Minutes a Day
• Scribe SEO – The SEO tool that Farnoosh uses and LOVES

Who:

If you are trying to do something BIG, you WILL encounter resistance.

In fact, if you never encounter resistance, you need to re-evaluate what it is you’re doing.

I’ve been encouraging you to do big things online.

Because of this, I thought it would be fitting to get Guy Kawasaki on the line to talk about how to use Enchantment to overcome resistance.

Who is Guy Kawasaki? He’s co-founder of Alltop.com, founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures, former “chief-evangelist” of Apple, and author of not 1, but 10 BOOKS.

He has accomplished a lot, both online and off.

In this interview, Guy talks about much more than enchantment. Here are some of the points we covered:

• Specific things about his childhood that contributed to his success.
• How he was enchanted by the Macintosh and how Apple uses enchantment
• How he used enchantment to win over developers to the Macintosh way of doing things
• Why we need to enchant people and how to do so
• The difference between Push and Pull technology and why we need to use both
• How to use Twitter effectively to market your business
• How to use Facebook effectively to market your business

According to Guy, the key to enchantment is likeability, trustworthiness, and Quality. Applying those 3 elements to your online (or offline) business can transform your business in a dynamic way.

There was a lot covered in the 34 minutes of this interview, so listen in, and enjoy!

If you need to enchant people, you’re doing something meaningful. If you’re doing something meaningful, you need enchantment – Guy Kawasaki

Resources for this Interview

• Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions (Guy’s latest book)
• Alltop.com – Online magazine rack of Popular topics on the web
• Stumbleupon – Discovery engine that finds the best of the web
• Twitter
• Facebook

Most Influential Book

Starting with this interview, I’m asking all my guest for 1 book recommendation. When asked about the book that has been most instrumental in bringing him to where he is today, guy said “If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit” by Brenda Ueland.

Who: 

This is THE interview. Seriously! Derek, from SocialTriggers.com, jumps right in an smacks us over the head with actionable content right from the beginning.

This is a guy who I never heard about before a few months ago, but as soon as I heard about him – he was EVERYWHERE.

He’s an expert marketer and serial web entrepreneur. He’s built several successful websites in a variety of niches. This guy even wrote Makeup reviews and made a ton of money doing it (and no, he didn’t wear the makeup).

Derek really started focusing on building his business blog (social triggers) in March/April of this year. In a few months, his traffic is the kind of traffic most bloggers dream about, even though he’s in one of the most competitive niches.

So, I really wanted to get him on an interview to ask him questions like:

• How did he grow his blog in such a competitive niche so quickly?
• Should you choose a niche that you are passionate about?
• How can the average person do the same?
• What did you learn from building all of these websites?
• A few other questions

In the interview, Derek gives 5 tips that we can all implement to increase our conversions, whether that means sales, opt ins, tweeting your stuff, or anything you are trying to get your audience to take action on.

Then, I let Derek go to my Biology Website and tear it apart. He shows me what’s working and then gives suggestions as to things I can make better – much like I do on my coaching calls.

In fact, I’ve made some of the changes and it has increased my conversions SIGNIFICANTLY. I’m talking about going from 20 or 30 signups daily to around 50. If that’s not results, I don’t know what is – and I haven’t made all the changes yet.

My advice is this – have something to take notes, sit down in a quiet place and listen to this interview undistracted.

Resources

• Social Triggers (Derek’s blog)
• Follow Derek on Twitter
• Check him out on Facebook.
• Scientific Advertising – Book that says that Psychology is the key to selling.

Who: Erica Douglass

Talk about inspiration! Erica started a web hosting company and sold it at the age of 26 for $1.1 Million dollars (Yeah, I said Million).

Now she blogs about the lessons she has learned, and what she is currently doing to grow her business.

However, at the start of the interview, we started talking about a “no email trial” she did. Email is becoming more and more of a headache for many internet marketers (including myself) and Erica decided to go without for 30 days, which grew to 60 days.

Erica shares how the trial went, and what she did in order for her business to continue to grow even while being pretty much away from her inbox.

She then talks about the lessons she learned and mistakes she made while building her web hosting company, while giving insight into how to avoid making the same mistakes she did.

We also talk a little about her struggle with Celiac disease, her goals for the future, how she plans on meeting those goals, and how she is trying to  make the world a better place.

Go ahead and listen to the interview. You won’t regret it. Make sure to sign up for her “Blog Success Manifesto“, and stay tuned for the launch of her new product “Step by step business“, where she will teach you how to start a business from scratch regardless of your level of experience.

Erica’s Sites:

• Erica.biz – Her blog where she teaches how to build an inspired, successful business
• Whoosh Traffic – Her service website for getting you more traffic
• Follow Erica on Twitter

What would you do if you had to start over from scratch? No place to live, no car, no connections, no resources – NOTHING but $10 and a laptop!

What would you eat? Where would you sleep? How much would you whine about the circumstances you found yourself in?

Some people ponder those kinds of questions. Greg Hartle, creator of Ten Dollars and a Laptop said that he won’t tell you what he’d do. He’ll SHOW YOU (talk about taking action).

Greg sold everything he owns and started from basically nothing. To be more specific, he started with 10 dollars and a laptop, with the goal of building the life of his dreams and document the entire experience online. The good, bad, and ugly.

He is traveling across the entire United states and interviewing 500 individuals who are building the life of his dreams and his goal is to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs who want to succeed in life.If you are looking for inspiration . . . Listen to this interview!

If you are going through hard times . . . Listen to this interview!

If you are struggling to build an online business . . . Listen to this interview!

If you are (fill in the blanks) . . . Listen to this interview!

Why? Because Greg not only talks about what he’s gone through, but he gives advice for anyone who is dealing with difficult situations right now. When I think about the way the economy is today, the advice he gives is more relevant today than ever.

Some of the questions I ask Greg are the following:

• What is the most exciting thing happening in his life right now?
• Why did he start this $10 and a laptop “experiment”?
• What is he trying to accomplish?
• How did he get started with his online business?
• How did he get traffic?
• What would you say to someone who has lost it all and is starting over from scratch?

If you listened to the interview and enjoyed it, Click Here to Thank Greg on Twitter!

Connect with Greg

• 10 Dollars and a Laptop
• Greg on Twitter

In today’s episode, I had a very insightful interview with Andrew Warner, the Founder of Mixergy.com – Home of the Ambitious Upstart.

Andrew spends a significant amount of time interviewing the Big Dawgs in business. When I say that, I really mean it. Here are just a few of the people he has interviewed (with included links):

• Seth Godin, author of Tribe, Linchpin, and many others.
• Gary Vaynerchuk – Creator of Wine Library TV and author of “Crush It” and “The Thank You Economy”
• Timothy Ferris – Other of the “4 Hour Work Week” and “4 Hour Body”
• Jimmy Wales – Founder of Wikipedia
• Many Others (over 400 interviews)

In this interview, Andrew talks about how he started a $30+ Million/year Internet Business with his brother, that allowed people to send greeting cards Free of Charge.

He shares how he was able to use this Free model to generate a massive amount of income. His website processed over 400,000 greeting cards daily and was a Huge Success.

He then goes on to talk about why he left it all behind, took a break from almost everything, and then came back to start Mixergy.

Was it a successful venture? Not in the beginning. In fact, Andrew shares openly how he Failed, why he failed and then how he got back in it and turned Mixergy into what it is today – the go-to place for anyone wanting to be mentored by successful entrepreneurs who would otherwise be unaccessible to the average person.

He then talks about why you should conduct as many interviews and how to do so successfully.

In this portion we discuss:

• How to get the big guys, and when you should target them
• How to get them to reveal as much as possible about their business
• How to conduct successful interviews.

Guys, I know I’ve said over and over that this or that episode is the one you REALLY want to listen to. However, if you want inspiration, motivation, and some real actionable info on how to grow your business using interviews and being mentored by the best of the best – You NEED to listen to this one.

I want to hear your feedback. When you are finished listening to this interview, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Call the hotline at (888) 835 – 2414.

Then go and tweet about this interview, thanking Andrew for what he shared. You can do that simply by going to www.learningwithleslie.com/tweetandrew

Resources Mentioned in this interview:

• Mixergy.com – Home of the Ambitious upstart
• Interview Your Heroes – Where Andrew teaches how to conduct successful interviews

In this episode, I cover the following

Part 1

I give some more details about the Learning With Leslie Mastermind Group. Here are those details:

• The Mastermind Group will be a group of individuals that are determined to build businesses in an efficient way – One that is not dependent on them to function well and thrive.
• We will be studying the book – The 4 Hour Workweek, by Time Ferris, and implementing the concept in our online businesses.
• We will be reporting on our progress on a weekly basis, and encouraging each other along the way.

Based on a recommendation from my buddy Chris Deals from DayJobKnockout.com, I set up the domain www.LWLMastermind.com, which redirects to a section of this website that will be dedicated to all of the updates that the various mastermind members post.

It will link back to all of their blog posts that talks about their progress through the program.

If you are interested in being a part of the Mastermind Group, check out the Mastermind Page.

Part 2

As Promised, I posted Part 2 of my Interview with Cliff Ravenscraft, a.k.a. The Podcast Anser Man from PodcastAnswerMan.com. In this interview, Cliff goes through the details of How to Start a Podcast.

Whether you are interested in podcasting or not, you will benefit from listening to this interview. Here are the things Cliff talks about:

• How to start a Podcast with Free Services in a very EASY way
• How to record a Podcast using your Smartphone
• The format you NEED to have your podcast in
• What options he recommends for Hosting your Podcast Website
• Why it’s smart to stay away from regular hosting accounts for hosting your podcast (Why Web Hosting companies are Liars)
• Using Shownotes for your podcast
• What you need in order to have a podcast with a quality that’s better than most others out there and do better than most
• Why Most People fail when starting a podcast or online business
• Why it is important to be clear who your audience is.
• Much More . . .

As you can see, there’s a lot in there, and it’s nothing but Value. Cliff also mentions a number of resources to help you with your podcasting and your online business in general. Here are links to those resources:

• Podcast Answer Man – Cliff’s Website.
• GSPN.tv Test Mp3 – Showing that every file on your site has an address.
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin. A book I highly recommend.
• Edirol R-09HR High-Resolution WAVE/MP3 Recorder – The digital recorder we both use to record our podcast episodes
• ConnieAndSheilaTalk.com – A podcast that illustrates how a high quality podcast can be produced on a relatively small budget.

I answer Tai’s questions about Social Media, how to get traffic using Social Media and what hashtags are.

I invite you to join me on a 4 hour workweek Journey. It’s an exciting concept. I’m looking for people to join my “4-hour workweek club”, where we read the book – The Four Hour Workweek. I hadn’t realized this when I recorded the episode, but there’s a new expanded edition of the book with a bunch more resources. I just ordered it myself and it’s the one that I recommend for you to get because it comes with a bunch of new resources and templates.

The idea is simple:

1. First, let me know that you are committing to joining me on this journey by leaving a comment and/or calling the hotline and saying “I’m In”. The number is (888) 835 – 2414.
2. Grab a copy of the book
3. We read the book together, according to the schedule I will talk about in the Next Episode (Thursday)
4. We will be sharing our experiences with each other, including our successes AND failures and will encourage each other along the journey.

Lastly, I go into part one of an interview with Cliff Ravenscraft, A.K.A. the Podcast Answer Man from www.podcastanswerman.com. This is probably the most exciting interview so far and you will notice Cliff’s passion for his topic. You will also hear about his experience and learn about why podcasting is such an exciting thing to do.

Whether you want to podcast or not, you WANT to listen to this one. Here are some of the main tips Cliff says can help you to have a successful podcast:

1. The first thing you NEED to do when starting a podcast (or really any other business) is ask yourself the following question – What is my purpose?
2. When selecting a topic, BE SPECIFIC!
3. Do what you are passionate about, not just what will make you money!

Resources Mentioned in the Interview

• Seth Godin’s book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
• Podcast Answer Man

There’s A LOT more coming in part 2 of this interview, which will go live on Thursday. In that part, Cliff goes into the nuts and bolts of HOW to start an amazing podcast. He even talks about how to start one with no budget whatsoever.

Make sure to come back and check it out.

Phil has been featured on sites like Turbotax Online, MSN Money, US News and World Report and CNBC.

Phil is a fellow blogger that has been blogging since 2007 and has seem a significant amount of success.

At his blog, he discusses all things finance and focuses on topics such as making money, saving money, and spending money wisely.

It’s a site that I check out from time to time when I need info about banking, credit, loans etc.

It doesn’t stop there. Phil actually gives a step by step guide as to how you can go about getting media exposure for your online business.

As you can imagine, getting media exposure for your online business is something that can result in a significant amount of traffic.

It’s a strategy that I do plan on implementing with my Biology site, and is very relevant depending on what your niche is.

Here’s a brief summary of what he recommends:

• Get connected to the niche
• Get connected with media sites in your niche
• Be willing to share info for free
• Go seek them out if they dont ask you. Tell them you will do it for them.
• If they are game, start producing the content
• Work on the titles of your articles

Here’s a pic of Phil featured on the Willis Report

Phil Taylor on the WIllis Report

How do you do all of that effectively?

Go ahead and listen to the interview and you’ll have a good idea as to how you can implement those steps in your business in a very effective way.

Resources Mentioned in the Interview

• PTMoney.com: Phil’s site
• HelpAReporter.com: For connecting with reporters
• ReporterConnection.com: Also for connecting with reporters

So, as usual, I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK! Let me know what you thought of the interview. Send in your Questions and Comments. Leave them in the comments below and call the hotline at (888) 835 – 2414.

Take care and God Bless!

Mitch is a friend that I went through Yaro’s Blog Mastermind training program with me, and that’s how I got to know him. From the first day I met him, I could tell he was a Mover and Shaker.

He took his passion for Football and turned it into a Massive Online Business using the concept of delivering a ton of value using a blog.

In this interview, Mitch talks about the importance of producing high quality content on a regular basis.

Mitch has grown his website to where he has quit his job to blog full time, and he receives thousands of people visiting his site EVERY SINGLE DAY, and makes a killing! However, don’t think that it has been an easy ride.

Listen to this interview to see how much work he put in to reach where he is today.

If you are looking for inspiration, and actionable content, this is the one.

He also gives the details of what steps he took in order to grow his website traffic and start making money. If you want to see how passionate Mitch is about his topic, check out one of his videos from his site:

You want to listen to this one, because it’s packed with value. Also, let me know what you think about it in the comments below and by calling the hotline at (888) 835 – 2414.

Main Resource Mentioned in this episode: Blog Mastermind.

What makes it even better is when I get to interview people who I’ve imitated. Seriously. It’s awesome stuff. Well, this is an interview that I know you will enjoy.

I talk with Pat Flynn, from the Smart Passive Income blog, who first started making a dent on the internet world with his Green Exam Academy blog – A site that he started just to keep track of his notes to study for an architecture exam.

Fast forward a little bit and you see him Monetizing his blog by selling an eBook that made him $8,000 dollars in his first month and up to $30,000 in a month.

In this exciting interview, Pat talks about how he went from having a great job to being downsized to up-sizing his life using the tools available on the internet.

The cool thing about what he does is that he has set up his online empire to be a number of passive income streams.

What is most amazing about all of the things he does is that he spends 4 hours a day working on his business and accomplishes more than most people I know who work full time.

He doesn’t just talk about what he has done, but I also get him give step by step advice as to how he recommends for anyone (meaning you and I) to do the same.

Trust me, you don’t want to miss this interview.

Resources Mentioned in this interview

• Smart Passive Income – Pat’s blog where he teaches all that he does
• Ebooks The Smart Way – His eBook that shows how to make a killer ebook
• Green Exam Academy – His blog where he provides resources for people studying for the specific Architecture Exams
• Woothemes – The Site he recommends for getting Blog themes

[audio:http://s3.amazonaws.com/TheFreebieGuy/Interviews/LeeMcIntyre.mp3]

Right-Click To Download MP3 – 31MB (32 Minutes)

In this Interview, I’m talking with Lee McIntyre, from Get More Momentum, who has been one of my mentors for over a year now and have helped me grow my business in many ways. He has a ver impressive story on how he went from being an

overworked High School teacher to growing a profitable online business to the tune of over $150,000 on a MONTHLY basis – more than many people do yearly.

I really wanted to get him on a call because I know his advice works. After having one call with him in the past, I was able to implement one of the things he told me to do and made an extra $1000 in one week. This guy is legit, and knows what he’s talking about.

He normally charges $1000 a month for coaching calls, but I managed to get him to get on the line with me to share some of his tips with you. Lee doesn’t just talk about what he has done, he gives actionable advice as to how he recommends for an Absolute Beginner to get started on their way to a successful online business.

Just take a look at some of the things he covers in the interview:

• How he decided to start his Online business
• How he made over $7,000 in his first month
• How he makes over $150,000 per month after only 3 years of Marketing
• What he recommends for New Internet marketers to do
• The EASIEST way to get started even if you aren’t an expert and have NO technical skills
• The BEST way to high quality targeted traffic
• How to get the BIG GUYS to promote your products

If that’s not a lot of valuable content, I don’t know what is. Also, since we did this Interview, Lee Released his Instant Internet Lifestyle training program where he provides over 10 hours of high quality video training to help you build an online business the way he did. I highly recommend for you to check it out after listening to the call. Enjoy the interview and leave your comments below.

If you are reading this via email, click here to leave your comment on the blog.

Two of the most notable FREE resources are:

• The Roadmap to Become a Blogger
• BecomeABlogger.com – 10 Free video tutorials to get you up and running

In this Interview . . .

Gideon Shalwick

Gideon first talks about how he quit his job, migrated to Australia and decided to start his own Online Business. If you know Gideon, he’s a very good teacher, and he does a great job in this interview of outlining the steps to take to start your own successful online business. He shows how he has used Youtube to drive a massive amount of traffic to his Magic site FreeMagicLive.

What I LOVE about this interview is that Gideon shows from his own experience that it is VERY POSSIBLE to use these principles to make money outside of the “Make Money Online” industry. He teaches principles that can be applied to Freebie Trading, Affiliate Marketing, Magic and even Biology.

If you are interested in learning more about what Gideon Teaches, be sure to check out his Roadmap, Becomeablogger.com and his blog at GideonShalwick.com.

So go ahead and listen to the interview and let me know what you think about it by leaving comments on this post.

Since this interview was with a fellow Freebie Trader, I decided to reveal a little more about myself and some of my plans for CaliStyle101.com. It’s a text interview, but an interesting one that she is posting as a two-part series. The second will be posted at the end of the week. I encourage you to head on over there and learn a little more about who I am. Oh yeah, leave some comment love over there too (In other words, Post Comments)

• Part 1 of The Interview with The Freebie Guy
• Part 2 of The Interview with The Freebie Guy

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Get A Copy Of 31 Days To Build A Better Blog PLUS 2 FREE Bonus Videos

I count myself pretty lucky to be able to have locked down an interview with one of the most famous bloggers in the world – Darren Rowse.

A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to have a nice informal chat with Darren about blogging, and what he actually did to become successful as a blogger himself.

Darren is world renowned for his blog at www.ProBlogger.net and teaching bloggers of all levels how they too can become successful in the blogging world.

Inside my interview with Darren, he spills the beans on a number of really useful topics to help you become a better blogger. These include:

• What kind of a people are most suited to blogging…
• The best way of discovering the topic for your blog…
• Some of the best content creation techniques and strategies Darren has used on his blogs…
• How to keep a healthy balance in your life between blogging and everything else…
• How to get traffic to your blog (this is a big one)…
• The latest social media tools that Darren uses to help him drive more traffic to his blog…
• The best ways of making money from your blog…
• The major key to successful blogging…

As you will see from the interview, the strategies we discussed are not rocket science, and anyone should be able to implement the very same lessons. You just need listen to the advice and then take action!

It’s as simple as that.

How To Get FREE Access To Two Amazing Become A Blogger Premium Videos

Darren is the author of “31 Days To Build A Better Blog” and it goes into A LOT more detail about how you can turn your blog into a resounding success.

If you get yourself a copy of Darren’s book using the link below, I will give you FREE access to two powerful videos inside the Become A Blogger Premium course. These videos are:

1. How to stream video live on your blog
2. How to make your videos clickable – this is great for stealth affiliate marketing

To get a copy of Darren’s new book, and get access to these two FREE bonus videos, simply click on the link below, go through the process, and then send me an email at support[at]becomeablogger.com asking for the two bonus videos:

Get A Copy Of 31 Days To Build A Better Blog PLUS 2 FREE Bonus Videos

Enjoy!

Gideon Shalwick
Become A Blogger

Darren’s Websites

• Main blog: www.Problogger.net
• Tips on Twitter: www.twitip.com
• Digital Photography Tips: www.Digital-Photography-School.com
• Twitter: www.Twitter.com/problogger

To keep up to date with future interviews and content from this blog, subscribe to my RSS feed. If you don’t know what RSS is, read the article “What The Heck Is RSS” to find out more.

Here are the other Videos in the series:

• Preview Commercial
• Part 1
• Part 2

To keep up to date with future interviews and content from this blog, subscribe to my RSS feed. If you don’t know what RSS is, read the article “What The Heck Is RSS” to find out more.

Here are the other Videos in the series:

• Preview Commercial
• Part 1

• His history in the Industry
• What FLR is about
• The Business Model of the forum

So go ahead and watch, and I hope you enjoy. Parts 2 and 3 will cover more recent topics/issues that FLR has been experiencing. Please leave your comments below

To keep up to date with future interviews and content from this blog, subscribe to my RSS feed. If you don’t know what RSS is, read the article “What The Heck Is RSS” to find out more.

[audio:http://www.becomeablogger.com/podcasts/vbuxinterview.mp3]

Download the MP3 [ 34 Minutes - 31 MB]

For the Freebie Show Schedule, CLICK HERE.

Jonathan Manzi is the Owner of v-bux.com – one of the leading Freebie Networks in the Freebie Industry. VBux was officially launched in December of 2006 and has shipped over 1.3 MILLION dollars in prizes to date.

In the interview, Jon addresses the following:

• What V-Bux is
• The history of V-Bux
• What makes v-bux different from the other Freebie Sites
• The relationship between V-Bux and Vintacore
• What his team can do to help you be more successful and get more referrals
• The future of V-Bux and the Freebie Industry

For more information about V-bux, you can visit them at www.v-bux.com.

If you need help with ideas or resources to market their sites and be more successful with them, you can contact them at marketing@v-bux.com.

What are your thoughts on the interview. Share your comments by clicking here or responding below.

LESLIE, The Freebie Guy: Hello and thank you for joining me. This is Leslie, the Freebie Guy, from TheFreebieGuy.net. Today we are going to start with the first of a series of podcast interviews with people that are heavily involved in the freebie industry. Our guest today is none other than Fehzan who is the owner of Macrobucks at Macrobucks.com, which has turned out to be one of the leading sites, the leading freebie sites in the freebie industry. We’re going to talk a little bit about the history of Macrobucks and how it has become what it is today, how you can get involved in the freebie industry, some general tips. And we’re going to look at how the freebie industry has evolved over time.

Without any further ado, let’s get right to the podcast interview. Once again, this is Leslie from TheFreebieGuy.net.

-Start of Interview-
LESLIE: All right. Thank you for joining us on this podcast. I have Fehzan from Macrobucks. He’s the owner of Macrobucks and been running it for a while. And I have him on this interview and I’m going to ask him a few questions.

Fehzan, thank you for joining us.

FEHZAN, Owner of Macrobucks: No problem. I’m glad to be here on this interview.

LESLIE: Awesome. All right, let’s just dive right in. For those of our listeners that might not know exactly what Macrobucks is all about or what freebies are all about, can you kind of give us an idea of what Macrobucks does, how the system works and so on?

FEHZAN: Okay. Macrobucks is an incentivized freebie Web site. Basically, you have users who are referring other users and those referrals are completing offers, which are basically subscriptions like Blockbuster, for credit. And once you reach full credit, they’re counted as completed referrals. And a completed referral is worth a certain amount of money; so it could be $40, it could be $60. And then the referrer earns money that way. And the referral generally gets paid a certain percentage if they’re trading or offering cash for their—to complete the Web site.

LESLIE: Okay, so how much has Macrobucks actually sent out in prizes to this point?

FEHZAN: Since we started, which was in February 2007, we’ve almost shipped $500K to date in gifts and cash.

LESLIE: Wow. That is pretty amazing! How are you able to send that amount of prizes—you said from February 2007?

FEHZAN: Correct.

LESLIE: Half a million dollars. How are you able to do that? Does it come out of your pockets? How does that work?

FEHZAN: Well, the way it works is that when users complete advertiser offers, they pay a fixed amount of commission. So say Blockbuster counts as a full credit on our Web site, which pays about $45 for completion. Therefore, the user gets $40 and we get $5. And so we just pay $40 to the user. Basically, the advertisers are paying for your gifts. We’re just the middleman.

LESLIE: Okay, that makes sense. Is it really worth it for the advertisers to pay you that much for a referral?

FEHZAN: Definitely it’s worth it because they get exposure and they get a lot of conversions. People end up liking things like Blockbuster and Stamps because they all have good uses. They’re all worth trying. And they generally get a better user/customer base. And it works for them and it works for us. Or else—I mean, if it didn’t work for them then it wouldn’t be happening at all.

LESLIE: Okay, so it’s pretty much a win-win situation. The company wins because they’re getting someone to try out the service, Macrobucks is winning because they’re getting paid from the affiliates, and the user is winning because they’re getting paid for every referral that they bring to Macrobucks.

FEHZAN: Right.

LESLIE: Okay, that makes sense.

Why did you start Macrobucks? And in that process, what steps did you take? How did Macrobucks come to be?

FEHZAN: Well, I started Macrobucks after doing freebies for almost 2 years. And the reason I started it was because of the experience I had in freebies already and just my general experience in computers. And I thought I had something really good to bring in to the industry, which I eventually did. And I definitely like—the $80 Web sites that you see now are definitely derived from Macrobucks. I was one of the first sites to ever introduce a 2-credit Web site. At first, we just planned on doing it. It was kind of impulsive. We were sitting in macroeconomics and it was at a community college. Me and my partner were talking. We were throwing names out there like “Free Stuff,” “Cash.net” and just things that people really wouldn’t want to go to.

And eventually, it was 5 minutes before class was starting and we’re thinking—and it’s a macroeconomics class, it’s all about money. And so we’re like, “let’s start putting things together with ‘macro’.” So then we started throwing out a bunch of things with “macro”: “Macrobux” with the U-X, and then the “U-C-K-S”, and then eventually that’s just what we decided on. It was mainly because of the situation that we decided on Macrobucks, which is actually pretty cool, I’d say.

LESLIE: that works out pretty good, I think.

Now you said you were a freebie trader before you became a site owner and you did that for about 2 years, you said?

FEHZAN: Yep. I was a really big trader back in the day, actually. I actually earned an iPod, a digital camera, and TV from the Gratis Network—which is now known as FreePay. And it used to take like a month to get your gift back then. You had to really wait.

LESLIE: Wow. I remember watching one of the videos I have on my site, TheFreebieGuy, the owner of Gratis Network is talking about it, they were backordered for about a month and so on. It’s quite interesting. And obviously, there’s been some large strides because how soon do you guys send out prizes after someone completes the offer requirements?

FEHZAN: Well, we send them out within a few hours to 24 hours now…

LESLIE: Wow.

FEHZAN: … and it generally varies per Web site, but it’s usually very quickly. And even when we first started, we were only shipping only once a month. And that was the standard back in ’07—early ’07. Later ’07, it started becoming more instant. But it’s really just evolved now to where it’s instant, which is really good.

LESLIE: Wow, that’s pretty amazing, especially when you’re sending out that many prizes.

Okay, so you said that you were a freebie trader before becoming a site owner for about 2 years. So you’ve obviously been involved in it for a while.

FEHZAN: Yep.

LESLIE: Have you seen a big change over time? How have things evolved in the freebie industry in that time that you’ve been involved?

FEHZAN: Back in 2005 and even up ‘til mid-2007, like I said before, you wouldn’t receive your gifts ‘til later on. It would be like a month later so it was really hard to keep earning money unless you had a lot of capital to start with to pay your referrals. But the one positive part was that now we pay—what you guys pay $26 a referral sometimes, but we were paying $15, $20 a referral. But it was all at a tradeoff because you weren’t going to get paid until later on in the game.

LESLIE: Okay.

FEHZAN: And there weren’t that many Web sites that existed. I mean, back when we started, there was only 10-15. So you would run out eventually. I mean, I had breaks in between—like 6-month breaks—because I would just run out of sites to do because they weren’t repeatable. There was no such thing as getting your offer requirements waived. Things are much better now, I would say. And there’s a variety of choices, of Web sites. And there’s a lot more advertisers to pick from.

LESLIE: Okay, now for the users that might not be familiar with what you’re talking about, when you say they weren’t “repeatable,” can you explain what that means?

FEHZAN: Right, right. “Repeatable” just means that once you earn your prize once, you are eligible to earn it again. And if it’s not repeatable, it means you can only earn 1 prize on one Web site and that’s it… never again.

LESLIE: Okay. And do you have to complete any more offer requirements in order to get another prize?

FEHZAN: Nope. You get your offer requirements waived right after you order. And it’s no charge, it’s free. I mean, there’s a complete incentive to redo it if you had a good experience the first time.

LESLIE: Okay, so you can just refer people and refer people and get paid and get paid over and over and over again?

FEHZAN: Yep. You can make lot.

LESLIE: That’s awesome.

Now how many members does Macrobucks currently have?

FEHZAN: We currently have about 35,000 members, around that range.

LESLIE: Wow. Now when you started Macrobucks, did you foresee it becoming this big or is it a surprise to you? Do you wake up and check the numbers and say, “wow, this is crazy.” How does that go?

FEHZAN: It’s actually pretty funny because when we first started in February, we actually created a forum, like a points-forum Web site. And I had coded it to where everything was a point interface. And we were making a bit of money that way, but we weren’t—everyone didn’t really like the idea.

LESLIE: Okay.

FEHZAN: So we switched over to the general referral script to where you refer people and you get paid for referrals. And once that got started, within a few days of introducing that, I would just wake up every morning and check the conditions and it just exploded. I never expected it to be like that, but I’m glad it did.

LESLIE: I could imagine you would be glad. Now that many members and so many people interested in the industry, one thing that people are concerned about is scammers. What do you guys do to protect your users against scammers?

FEHZAN: My support rep actually goes through accounts as they sign up. And she’ll check for the validity, she’ll check their IP addresses to see if they match up. She’ll check their number. If their number leads back to somewhere else or even a business, we’ll give them a call to make sure that they aren’t scamming anyone. Our whole goal is to protect everyone from scammers, users and advertisers alike and to make sure that everyone has a good experience. And so we’re also—whenever someone submits an order, we have a few checks—I don’t really want to share exactly because it’s like a private check…

LESLIE: Okay, not a problem.

FEHZAN: …we keep it on the down low so that no one knows exactly what’s going to go on or else the scammers figure out what’s going on and they find a way around it.

LESLIE: Okay. How many sites do you guys currently own at Macrobucks?

FEHZAN: I believe there’s 9 or 10 Web sites.

LESLIE: Okay.

FEHZAN: And they all pay different rates. I mean, some of them pay the same ratio. But in general, we have a do-it-yourself Web site, which is basically, you complete offers and you get paid for completing the offers. It runs out eventually, so then we have the referral Web sites, which are: one pays $40 a referral, one pays $60 a referral, one pays $80 a referral, one pays $100 a referral, and one pays $120 a referral, so there’s a large selection you can pick from depending on how much you want to earn and how capable you think you are doing certain Web sites as they are harder than others.

LESLIE: Now let’s talk a little bit about that. Let’s talk about the earning potential. Some of your top traders, how many referrals are they referring to Macrobucks monthly?

FEHZAN: We’ve seen anywhere from 140 to about 200 with our best referrer ever who generated like $9,000 a month for 3 straight months until for some reason he just completely stopped. But he’s starting to come back now so we’ll probably see that again.

LESLIE: Okay, that sounds good. And what was your craziest day? How much did one person bring in, in 1 day that was just ridiculous.

FEHZAN: Well, there was this one day back in April 2007 where I cut a deal with some guy who owned a blog.

LESLIE: Okay.

FEHZAN: So he would get a ton of referrals. He would get say 20 or 30 to sign up in one day. And I think he actually had about 11 or 12 green on 1 day. It was the $80 payout Web site.

LESLIE: Okay. Wow, that’s pretty good.

FEHZAN: It was amazing because generally, it takes a few more days than that, but…

LESLIE: Okay. Now let’s talk about some of the day-to-day things at Macrobucks. How many support tickets do you guys get on a daily basis?

FEHZAN: On a daily basis, we’ll probably get anywhere from 20 to 30 support tickets. And they’re generally just generic questions that we’re answering and—about orders—basically checking against scammers. That would sum them up.

LESLIE: Okay. And what would you say sets Macrobucks apart from—you said last year around this time there probably were a handful of sites. Now we have so many sites, hundreds of sites out there. What sets Macrobucks apart from the other networks that you see?

FEHZAN: Well, Macrobucks has been around for a really long time. And I think we kind of set the standard for a lot of things. Like we’ll introduce things like 2-credit Web sites and right after, everyone introduced the 2-credit Web site. I think what sets us apart is our ability to come up with something new and eventually, everyone just jumps on the bandwagon also with us. Like we were one of the first to do large referral contests and now you see them everywhere.

LESLIE: Yes, I do see those popping up left and right now.
It sounds pretty good from your side. Would you recommend for someone at this point to start a freebie site or a freebie network?

FEHZAN: Well, you know I’m a bit biased so it’s kind of tough to take my word. But I don’t think I would recommend anyone start a freebie network now mainly because there’s close to maybe 100 and some of them we’ve never even heard of and they require a lot more now because it’s a lot tougher, the competition is definitely there. And it didn’t exist when I first came in.

LESLIE: Okay. So it would be much tougher to start one now, at this point, of course.

FEHZAN: Right. I mean, I know a ton of people who are vying me about how they were going to start up a Web site and months later they’ll offer me to buy their Web site because they couldn’t make anything of it.

LESLIE: Okay, so you would say it’s more beneficial to be a freebie trader?

FEHZAN: It’s a lot more beneficial to be a freebie trader because right now, I’d say about 50% of freebie traders that do it right are making more than some of the Web sites that are out there.

LESLIE: I see. Now let’s talk about freebie trading in general. Why would you say that freebie trading is a good place to start if you want to try to make money online?

FEHZAN: Well, for one thing, it works. It works and there’s no doubt about it. You type it in online and get a ton of proof so you know it works.

LESLIE: Okay.

FEHZAN: And all those other moneymaking online opportunities, the ones that are legit, don’t actually pay that well. I mean, there’s actually e-mail reads and those pay like $0.05 an e-mail. And the earning potential is very high. And you have to have some type of experience with marketing on the Internet to actually rack in enough. But with freebie trading, you can make a good sum of money without being experienced at all.

LESLIE: Okay. So it’s pretty much easy to get into and you can make a decent amount of money.

FEHZAN: Right, as long as you’ve been taught properly how to go about it.

LESLIE: Okay. So that leads right into the next question. If you are starting today as a freebie trader, knowing what you know right now but of course not owning Macrobucks, how would you go about it? What steps would you take? What would you recommend to the average person that comes in off the Web, finds out about freebie trading and is interested in making a decent amount of money in freebie trading? What would you recommend to that person?

FEHZAN: Well, for one thing, everyone just quickly jumps into it. That’s one thing no one should be doing. You don’t want to be so in a hurry that you mess something up. You want to take the time to find someone to teach you properly, to read the articles about it and how to get credit and how to maximize your earning potential, all of that good stuff. So what I would recommend is basically, to read the articles, find someone that knows what they’re doing that could teach you how to do it. And go really slow and make sure that you complete one site at a time because when you’re completing multiple Web sites, it’s easy to get confused and it’s easy to get your credits all jumbled up because the cookies are going everywhere.

LESLIE: Okay, so you would recommend working with one person for a while or do you think it’s beneficial to get an idea of how many people do it? So work one trade with one person, one trade with another person and go on that way? Which one? What would you recommend where that’s concerned?

FEHZAN: I would recommend that someone would work with one person, ideally, the first time. So they work with one person—hopefully they pick the right person. And that first person helps them make money on quite a few Web sites. And from there, if they feel like they’ve got it, they should move on to another trader.

LESLIE: Okay, so it’s kind of like a mixture of the 2. You’re not getting too much of one. It’s not too much of a one-sided experience. You’re still getting some good training from one person.

FEHZAN: Right.

LESLIE: But then you can work with someone else and get another perspective and see how someone else does it.

FEHZAN: Yep. And the best part is everyone’s always making money.

LESLIE: That works. Now you mentioned not rushing into it and I can understand that, but for someone that’s just really excited about something. I mean, I know I’ve been involved with other things before where I’ve just been so excited and I’ve dived in headfirst and have gotten messed up where that’s concerned. What are some of those kinds of mistakes that a freebie trader—a new person coming into freebie trading can make that you would want to avoid?

FEHZAN: Well, for one, you might complete advertiser offers and you might not get credit, which is horrible because you just paid for something and you’re trying the product, but you’re not going to get credit, which means you’re not going to get paid. And that’s why you’re here: you’re here to get paid. And when you really get really mixed up when you first start, you complete offers and you don’t keep track of what you’re completing and you might complete an offer twice. And that would invalidate you on the Web site and your money would be held per the terms of service on the Web site. And another thing is a lot of people who rush in are kind of still skeptical so they’ll provide false information. And that’s definitely not good because the Web sites make sure to check that the information is real. And when false information is provided, there is a chance that their money might be held for a little while.

LESLIE: Okay. And when someone gets put on hold on one of these Web sites for doing one of these things, is that something that can be easily resolved all of the time? How does that work?

FEHZAN: Well, if they provided false information, it’s not very hard to resolve that. A lot of the times, I would just ask for a phone call to have the profile updated. But at other times—this may sound like a hassle, but sometimes you need to submit a scanned ID and a utility bill so that we can verify that this person is who they’re saying they are. And it slows things down, but if they are legit, then they have nothing to worry about. We’re not going to hold anyone’s money that is theirs.

LESLIE: Okay. And if someone just decides to be an idiot and really mess stuff up, can that really affect them negatively?

FEHZAN: Generally, you’ll be looked down upon by the Web sites. You’re going to have to go through all of them and generally ask if you can complete their Web site based on your previous record with freebies. And sometimes site owners will say yes, sometimes site owners will say no. And it really just limits what you can do. You don’t want mess up.

LESLIE: So pretty much, it’s a legitimate industry. If you’re doing it, you need to be honest. You need to hold yourself accountable and make sure that you’re keeping track of what you’re doing and try your best to be as honest as possible because that benefits you in the long run.

FEHZAN: Right.

LESLIE: Good.

FEHZAN: It pays to be honest.

LESLIE: It definitely does.

All right, let’s move on. What advice would you give to a freebie trader that’s having a hard time? They’ve been doing it for a few weeks, a month and they’re having a hard time getting referrals. What tips can you suggest in terms of increasing the success of that person?

FEHZAN: Well, if you’re trading on the forum, you definitely want to stand out. You want to be more active in the forum and helping others without them asking and then the attention will be on you and you can slowly gain referrals that way. It’s all about strategy really and the best strategy wins. But another way of getting referrals is by methods that aren’t on the forum and that’s probably the best way to earn them. Which we can discuss now or later, that’s your choice.

LESLIE: Well, we can actually get into that now. You’re talking about getting referrals outside of the forums like Anything For Free and the Free Lunch Room and so on. How would somebody go about doing that?

FEHZAN: Outside the forum, there are many options because your best traders will actually get their referrals outside the forum. There’s friends and family. You can go out to a college campus and try to get some of those college kids to complete the Web site. And you know they’re always looking for a way to make money so…

LESLIE: Okay—true.

FEHZAN: … they’ll definitely do it. And there’s blogs and people with blogs are fairly successful based on their choice of subject.

LESLIE: Okay. And what about having a Web site, it’s that something of a benefit to someone?

FEHZAN: If you have a Web site and it has very good traffic, if you put up a banner, you’ll definitely see some interest because everyone wants free stuff. And once they sign up, it’s pretty easy to get them on board: you send them an e-mail, then they’ll probably e-mail you back and ask you more about it. And there’s definitely a lot of proof that you can show them. And I’ve seen many times that they’ll jump on and they’ll get into it.

LESLIE: Yes, I’ve noticed that myself because I have my own Web site. And I have a MySpace page and a Facebook page and I tried once where I just posted in my status that I was having fun getting these free prizes that I’m getting. And I got people to respond to me asking me how they can do the same. So that’s a very good point: you can use other sources online to get those referrals.

FEHZAN: Definitely. And like you said—I forgot this completely, but there’s Facebook and MySpace and as long as you aren’t spamming, it works really well to get your friends on board or really anyone that visits on board.

LESLIE: Now what do you mean—let’s just assume someone listening to this might and not understanding what you’re talking about—what do you mean by spamming? What is spamming in terms of trying to get your referral links out there?

FEHZAN: Spamming is where you take your referral link anywhere you possibly can and you completely disregard Internet etiquette, like you’ll post it somewhere that’s irrelevant or you’ll post it somewhere that people don’t want to see it.

LESLIE: Okay.

FEHZAN: Or you’ll send it to someone that you don’t know. There’s e-mail spamming where you just e-mail a list of people. And nobody wants that because when you go to your e-mail, everyone has spam and we’re all pretty angry about that. We all just straight delete it.

LESLIE: I can definitely identify with that. I get so much spam that it’s ridiculous. But that’s another topic for another time.
What do you see as the biggest threat in the freebie industry at this point?

FEHZAN: I think the biggest threat is that everyone is really relying on the forums. I think the forums are a good thing, but the forum is getting traffic from somewhere—with people who want to complete freebies, so why not try to do that yourself because you already know that people are willing and signing up everyday. So hopefully, figure out how to complete freebies. Eventually, what if the forum doesn’t get traffic anymore? What if there’s too many people on the forum to get trades? And that can really bring it down. People leave and they won’t come back because of that sometimes.

LESLIE: Now, if you didn’t own Macrobucks right now and you just found out about the freebie industry, is it something that you would get involved with as a trader at this point?

FEHZAN: Definitely. It’s still worth it. You just have to find new ways of making it work for you. There’s a lot. You just have to find new ways of making it work for you. There’s a lot. There’s untapped potential everywhere in this industry because it’s still fairly young and I’d be just as excited as I was in ’05. In terms of how hard it is, it hasn’t really gotten any harder, it’s only gotten better.

LESLIE: So it’s good time, in other words.

FEHZAN: Yes, it’s a good time.

LESLIE: What do you see as the future of the freebie industry? Do you see it changing significantly in the future? Do you see it becoming better? What would be your forecast for the industry?

FEHZAN: Well, things are always evolving in the freebie industry, they’re always evolving for the better. I think we’re going to see more unique ideas and I actually have one under wraps at the moment. But when that comes out, I think it’ll make a lasting impression in the freebie industry.

LESLIE: A teaser, I like that! I know the listeners would be very interested to see what that is when it comes out. I know you’re always working on making things better so that’s a good thing. Do you see it lasting a while? Do you see it as one of those things that in a year or so, it reaches to a point where the bubble bursts and people get harmed in some kind of way? What do you think about that?

FEHZAN: I think the freebie industry will be here for a long time mainly because the whole time I’ve been in the freebie industry, there have been times where everyone says, “oh, it’s gonna die out. The advertisers don’t want us anymore. Oh it’s gonna die out. There’s too many scammers.” And there so many phases when it happens, but in the end, we’re growing and growing. It’s never actually shrunk ever since I’ve been around. And as far as I know, it’s always been growing. I think it’ll be around for a very long time since the freebie industry is still fairly new. Most people didn’t know about it. The majority of people still don’t know about it. If you talk to people on the street, if you talk to friends and family, they’re not going to know what the freebie industry is and you can definitely get them into it.

LESLIE: Good point. What do you see in terms of the future for Macrobucks? Any particular developments that you are working on that you’d be willing to share? Where do you see it heading for you guys?

FEHZAN: Right now we’re just working on our relationships with advertisers to pull a larger variety of offers which makes it easier for referrals to complete. And also, we have something that’s coming out soon which I don’t want to uncover yet, but you guys will definitely see it.

LESLIE: Sounds good to me. All right, on a lighter note, how old are you?

FEHZAN: I’m actually 19. I just turned 19 in July, so I haven’t been 19 that long.

LESLIE: So you’re a pretty young guy doing this.

FEHZAN: Yep, I started when I was 17—Macrobucks I started when I was 17.

LESLIE: Okay. And what kinds of things do you like doing for fun? For the users of Macrobucks who are just interested in finding out more about Fehzan.

FEHZAN: What I like to do is go out and having some fun with friends to a restaurant eating and just talking in a large group. And I love going to the gym and I love learning. It sounds kind of weird, but I like to do that in my free time. I’ll just look something up and read endlessly. That’s really something I enjoy. And I like playing various sports. I don’t really particularly stick to one, but I’ll play anything really, for the most part. I really like hockey, but I’ve never really had a chance to play it.

LESLIE: All right. Let’s try to wrap this call up. But before we do that, what would you say has been the most significant big break that has happened to you in this process of starting Macrobucks and getting it as established as it is today?

FEHZAN: I think once we tossed out the forum-points idea and we brought in the referral script soon after, and we thought of the $80 referral, that definitely kick-started us and that’s how we started getting the flood of traffic. It just started pouring in because everyone was all over getting more for the referrals and the referrals were happy about it. Everyone was just happy about it. And then we were just noticing an increase in traffic as we introduced new process to the freebie world. We would provide bonuses on top of what you already received, like the $80 referral was soon $90 for quite a bit of time. And right now we’re actually doing that also. And that really brings the traffic. Pretty much to start that is where we got all our traffic from: the $80 Web site. Like the day after, it was just surged with traffic.

LESLIE: Okay. To really end it off now, is there anything else in particular that you would like to add in general for those that are listening either interested in the freebie industry—just any tips that you would want to give?

FEHZAN: I think everyone should at least take a look at the freebie industry and see if it’s for them. I think it’s for everyone, actually. But it’s not that much work and you can get quite a bit of money. And everyone wants money nowadays. Things aren’t the greatest right now as they were before. So it’s definitely something to look at.

LESLIE: Okay. Well, Fehzan, thank you for joining me on this interview. It’s been a privilege getting to know more about Macrobucks and the freebie industry, especially for the listeners that are new to this. So thank you for your time.

FEHZAN: All right, sounds good.

-End of Interview-

LESLIE: All right. That was Fehzan from Macrobucks giving us a little bit of history and insight into Macrobucks and the freebie industry in general. I hope you enjoyed. I hope you learned a lot. If you want to find out more about Macrobucks, you can visit them at Macrobucks.com or by using any of the links found in the notes page of this podcast interview. Please stay tuned to this Web site because we’re going to be having some more cool interviews for you to listen to, giving you even more insight into the industry and helping you to make even more money. Once again, this is Leslie from TheFreebieGuy.net. Take care and good luck.

[audio:http://www.becomeablogger.com/podcasts/Macrobucks.mp3]

Download the MP3 [ 34 Minutes - 31 MB]

For the Full Transcript, CLICK HERE.

For the Freebie Show Schedule, CLICK HERE.

Fehzan is the Owner of Macrobucks.com – one of the leading Freebie Sites in the Freebie Industry. Macrobucks has been around since February 2007 and have shipped almost $500,000.00 in prizes to date.

In the interview, Fehzan addresses the following:

• The History of Macrobucks
• How Macrobucks and other freebie sites work
• The Evolution of the Freebie Industry
• How to be a successful Trader
• The Future of the Industry

What are your thoughts on the interview. Share your comments by clicking here or responding below.