Rob Bell's Notes from a Yorkshire Internet Megalomaniac

Thank heavens for The Ability to Ask Questions – after previously struggling to commit to sustained action for some time, I couldn’t really begin to get a clear Internet Marketing plan together, outline my strategies, or find the ‘eye of the tiger’ within, so to speak. My goals weren’t clear, so my route towards them was similarly unclear.

A week of training, effort like I can’t recall, a new determination, some great applications, and the simple application of some marketing science and I’m now gathering the information that will help me to understand the real needs of my market, so I’ll then really be able to help them better – to all our advantage.

I decided to make my first product in the Internet Marketing space because:

a. I’m an Internet Geek (that happens when your mobility is impaired, although the healthy me was also a real Net Nerd, so that’s just a bs excuse on my part!)

b. I was a Marketing Manager in my ‘old life’ before my accident, so I’ve years of experience to fall back on – and piles of books to enhance my knowledge and skills.

c. I’m very techy for a non-tech – even qualified to Cisco Cert Network Admin 1/2 level, so I can understand and use technologies yet still explain them to someone who maybe isn’t technically minded. I’ve even got a 70 year old friend I taught to write and publish his own website (patience, lots of patience my boy!), which now has some 4500 pages to it.

d. I find it a fascinating subject, something I am happy to obsess about – I think this is key, for without obsession comes no masterpiece.

How much easier life gets when you get access to the tools that can really help i.e. The ASK Database- only 21 days to make it pay for itself though, as I’ve spent $1 on the 3 week trial, so it’s head down all the way to make revenue to pay for the monthly subscription at the end of Oct. I can’t afford to take on additional expenses at present – 4 years injured can cause quite a strain on the old finances, so anything I use has to have a really fast ROI. I already had a few hosting plans and domains – but they finally have real purpose, and I’ve bought some others, including AskRobBell.com!

This whole contest is certainly giving me real motivation, something I’ve lacked altogether since my father’s passing away in June of this year, although my Get-Up-And-Go got-up-and-went right after my 2nd broken back incident (see earlier blog!).

I feel like I’ve finally turned a corner, and the light at the end of the tunnel is only round the corner.This contest has been a bit of a revelation for me – although I don’t have hundreds of referrals, it’s given me a whole new lease of life – don’t know if it’s all for the better though – I’ve not even been to bed on 3 occasions in the past week – preferring to stay on the PC throughout the night and next day too!!!

Dentist in the morning at 8.55am though, and I didn’t sleep last night, so I’m definitely scheduled for an early(ish) night – it’s already gone 10pm! Having a ‘power haircut’ tomorrow too, as further evidence of the transformation from Cripple to Guru taking place in front of my keyboard!

Have got a storyline and some clips ready for the video contest, but I suffer from an annoying ‘mind-blanking’ whenever I’m looking at a video camera – getting over that will be an achievement in itself!

Rob

10 years ago I was a very successful Marketing Manager, after studying Business Management at University then getting my Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing – I’d discovered the joys of marketing in my first year at Uni, and I knew it was something I wanted to pursue as a career – I had a very clear vision at this stage. After graduating I went on to work for some of the world’s top companies, marketing mainly technology products. I loved my work, and loved my play too – I was keen on sports, playing rugby league, rugby union and field hockey. I also found great pleasure in extreme sports – and could often be found performing aerial craziness.

Then, my life took a very unexpected turn when I destroyed 78% of my T8 vertebra in a fall on a BMX track. During the course of treatment I also discovered I had osteoporosis – quite unusual in a 29 year old male! As if this wasn’t enough, some time after I’d rehabilitated from the injury I took another bad fall – breaking my back again, also damaging my hip, rupturing my sacro-iliac joint and subsequently suffering sciatica, chronic back pain and a loss of mobility.

In probably the worst month of my life, I broke my back, got made redundant, lost my company car, my wife left me to go live back in New Zealand, I got evicted by my landlord from my cottage on the edge of a lake as her daughter wanted to move in, I had to give my beloved Old English, Mogul, away and I soon got into debt after losing my rather good salary. And oh, I had to move into a bedroom in my parents’ flat – not having lived them for some 12 years.

Losing my mobility was a very tough, bitter pill to swallow. Suddenly I could no longer play sports, and even simple walking became a struggle. I could get relief laid on my back, or sometimes that could be the most painful thing. For 3 years or so I became a virtual recluse, hardly leaving my flat at all, and eschewing any form of social life. I couldn’t sit in a chair for long periods of time, meaning I couldn’t work in an office, and manual work was not a realistic alternative due to my disability.

About 12 months ago, my obsession with computers branched out in a new direction – that of Internet Marketing, via a personal development programme that enabled me to finally break free of the shackles of depression.

As a Marketer, to discover I could earn a living from the comfort of my home with my existing skills, no matter how my physical handicap might restrict the things I can do was a true revelation – although I still to this day don’t understand why it took me so long to discover it, having been a computer addict since the age of 8 (my computer was a Sinclair ZX80, that’s all you could get back in 1980!). I could set my own hours, even work from bed if I needed to.

Even with my years of experience in Marketing, my beginning with IM was a very steep learning curve – there’s a world of difference between marketing with corporation budgets and marketing with virtually no finances at all, as I soon found out.

I took a 6 month hiatus earlier this year after the death of my Father, but am now back with a plan and a glint in my eye, keen to develop my online businesses to a whole new level. How I ended up doing the $100 Million Challenge is because of a well-timed call from one of Russell Brunson’s staff – although at the time I wasn’t ready to get back to the computer, it set the wheels in motion for my return – now I’m back, more determined than ever, and ready to excel – it’s about time, to be honest!

Best of luck to everyone else taking the $100 Million Challenge

Rob