I am a very skeptical person when it comes to programs or offers that are related to sales or marketing, so I went into this group — which emphasizes learning how to create and market online content — full of skepticism. Now, a month later, I’m not skeptical at all about the group itself, but rather my own commitment to doing the myriad of fantastic suggestions that are offered up in that group. I’m definitely sticking with it, because I firmly believe that if I commit my time to it, I can enjoy making money on the internet some day. That won’t come primarily through my (currently) one and only “interesting” web property, German History Blog, but it could come via one of the many ideas that have been part of a veritable storm in my brain since joining Lynn’s group. Has one month with SSWT Elite made a single difference in my income? No, absolutely not. Has it given me hope and lots of ideas? In abundance.

So with one month down, I’m not in a position to judge overall success, because it’s too short of a period in which to see monetary benefit. But I want to be able to evaluate the performance of the group — with respect to my benefit from it — with some kind of numbers, because that’s just how I am: I need concrete proof. So I took the opportunity to scroll through the forum and look back at the first month of my own activity in it, in order to evaluate the level of responsiveness that I’ve received from others, including Lynn herself.

• I have made a total of 53 posts across 24 threads in the group’s online forum. I’m not taking the time to go back and read each one, but I can tell you this for certain: I never once felt ignored, and I never once felt that my participation (be it in the form of a question or a comment to someone else) was not acknowledged in a timely fashion.
• I have started a total of 4 threads so far. Not a single one of those “died” with just the first post and one follow up. I have a 100% success rate getting answers or some other kind of interaction to each of those thread starters. I can’t see the exact time that each reply was received, but my general impression is that it is within minutes when I post during the US daytime.
• Of those threads that I’ve started, Lynn Terry herself has participated in 100% of them. I believe the same is true for every single of those 24 threads that I’ve been involved with, though I’m not going to back to each one to find out!
• Lynn Terry herself was the second person to greet me to the forum when I started a thread to introduce myself. Stephen T beat her by some minutes!
• There have been 4 webinars exclusively for the SSWT Elite group since I joined. These webinars are very useful. We take the time to evaluate some of the members’ businesses (those of them who are looking for feedback), we go through case studies, and Lynn frequently shows us how she does things herself. That’s very valuable, considering her own successes with internet-related businesses, most especially affiliate sales.
• There have been 8 total webinars since I joined, if you count the free (non-Elite) ones.

So that’s the experience so far in numbers. From a qualitative perspective, I can say the following:

• I have never seen anyone be treated with disrespect. If anything there is an abundance of enthusiasm and respect.
• That being said, there is still however plenty of constructive criticism, which is absolutely mandatory in a group like this.

The only thing that disappoints me so far is my own participation in the group. I have only rarely given others constructive feedback. I’m not quite as involved as I should be. I’ve been more of a taker than a giver, though I’ve even been a bit hesitant in the taking role: I probably should be seeking help even more than I have so far. And I definitely should be offering help more.

The long and short of it is this: I can’t yet prove that I’ll ever make money thanks to the ideas or encouragement I’ve gained through membership in this small group. But I can say that I’m glad I joined, that I have no intention of quitting, and that I better do some stuff soon to get this storm of ideas in my head implemented. The storm is loud and distracting, but I’m very happy that it’s here. And it’s here thanks in large part to the stimulating interaction available within the group.

If you are looking for an intimate, online mastermind group that has a mix of newbies and experts, that is very responsive and that will hold you accountable (if you want it to!), I definitely encourage you to join Lynn Terry’s Self-Starters Weekly Tips Elite group.

See you on the inside!

Bill Dawson

P.S. In addition to the personal connections and encouragement available via a mastermind group such as Lynn Terry’s, I’ve also been enjoying curling up with two publications which have really increased my excitement about getting some business going on the internet. They are:

• Darren Rowse’s “31 Days to Build a Better Blog”.  Darren is also known as the famous “Problogger” at Problogger.net.  He is absolutely one of the most successful bloggers in the world and someone whose opinions and methods I am very interested in soaking up.  I haven’t gone through all 31 days yet, but I can see already that this meaty, 100+ page e-book is well worth its $19.95 price.   Darren is very positive about making money via blogging and he dedicates much of this book to income generation ideas.
• Rosalind Gardner’s Super Affiliate Handbook.  This amazing book is actually causing me distress!  How?  I’ve promised myself that I will concentrate on blogging and building traffic before setting up affiliate sites.  But I’m reading this book and I’m simply dying to start putting into action.  If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing, it’s basically putting up a website to sell other people’s products, so that you don’t need to maintain inventory, support customers, etc.  You recommend products and then receive commissions for any sales you generate.  I’ve made it sound easy, and it’s really not rocket science, but you need to know how to do it right in order to be successful.  Let the “Affiliate Marketing Queen” show you how.  Believe me, you will want to start right away when you read this book.   I know that I’m going to break down and start this stuff even though I’ve told myself I should wait!