John Carlton – Action Seminar 2011

Event description:
We recently hosted an interactive live, hands-on event DEDICATED to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners put together an Action Plan for the coming year.

In fact, we called it “The Action Seminar”. It was NOT a lecture-type event where you sit passively and take notes while polished speakers pummel you with pitches.

It’s like being AT the event… except you’re home, and you have fast forward, rewind, and skip controls.

And you get to see everything, just as if you were sitting in the audience. We deconstructed, critiqued, and plotted-out solutions for selected attendees… using actual situations, current websites and ads, and real problems brought up by the folks in the room.

(You’re about to learn that many of the biggest revelations in this kind of interactive environment will come from observing… and learning how professionals tear apart and solve the most important problems and blunders business owners are making.)

I don’t care where you are right now in your career arc. Rookie, veteran biz owner, kitchen-table entrepreneur…
… doesn’t matter

If you’re finally ready to devour the knowledge, tactics and secret “unfair advantages” of the experts and marketing wizards who I rely on for growing my own business…

… then we’re ready to share the good stuff with you, and get busy.

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Presentation Descriptions:

#1 Welcome, Day 1 – Session 1 – The Good Idea Trap – John Carlton & Stan Dahl

We kicked off with a reality check.  The “Good Idea Trap” is a common rut that well-meaning entrepreneurs can fall into.

This video segment show you exactly what the trap looks like, and how to pull yourself out.

#2 Melanie Benson Strick – Leverage

We pretty much stalked Melanie Benson Strick until she agreed to share her expertise at this event… because she’s simply the best person we know at this critical part of the entrepreneurial game.

Mel is known as “The Entrepreneur’s Success Coach” because she knows first-hand how to build a successful, thriving company with her secret weapon — LEVERAGE. That’s the simple way to double and triple your revenue, eliminate unnecessary costs, and stay sane as you grow your business. And get this: Melanie’s clients average a 172% revenue increase while creating more time for living their dream lifestyle.

#3 Brian Johnson – The Perpetual Launch

Brian Johnson is one of our main “go to guys” when we need to brainstorm productivity… especially for our sales funnels (where the actual Big Bucks pour in).

We are thrilled that he’s agreed to share his unique secrets to helping production-challenged entrepreneurs streamline everything (so prospects come in automatically, get converted automatically, and become your best customers… all without you needing to apply any personal energy once it’s set up)…

… so you get all the benefits of a launch, without the freak-out headaches. He was the “Magic Man” behind Rich Schefren’s burgeoning Strategic Profits empire online (where he perfected this “evergreen” strategy), and now drives the 8-figure online operations at Precious Moments (which has sold billions as one of the top brands in marketing history).

#4 Copy Court – Website Critiques

Here’s how this works: We selected a handful of submitted websites and manuscripts from attendees… and unleashed our Simple Writing System faculty writers on them.

The panel critiques the effectiveness of the copy, points out weak headlines and sales angles… and hits the essentials they normally cover in their super-expensive paid-consultations with clients.

This segment should give some idea what it’s like to get personal attention from top writers…

#5 Christina Hills – Take Charge of Your Website – WordPress Fundamentals

We brought “heroine to entrepreneurs” Christina Hills in to demystify the steps to getting websites live, without having to rely on geeks (or having to outsource to strangers living on the other side of the world, who can’t be held accountable). She has taken hundreds and hundreds of technology-phobic writers, consultants and entrepreneurs…

… and empowered them to quickly (using simple steps that even techno-scaredy-cats can easily implement) put up sites, test new copy, launch new products… everything needed to grow your biz as if you had a full staff of geeks at your beck-and-call.

Never again be at the mercy of someone else for essential tech know-how.

#6 Jonathan Matthey – Split Testing & Other Website Tips

Jonathan Matthey – our resident technical lead and conversion guy describes the fundamentals of split testing and how you can use it to improve your bottom line.

#7 Speaker Q&A Panel – Day 1

At end of Day 1, we invited the speakers back to the stage and tossed them some of the questions the attendees submitted before the event.

#8 John Carlton – Day 2 Kick-Off

John Carlton kicks off Day 2 of the 2011 Action Seminar.

#9 Scott Rewick – Media Buying Equals More Website Traffic

Free traffic is great…

… but when you’re finally ready to move into the Big Leagues in your market, you need to get hip to the essentials of media buying.

It’s scary as hell to outsiders, but once you know the secrets, it’s a solid cash-generating unfair advantage that can help you dominate your niche. (Biggest secret: It’s pretty easy, once you know the simple steps.)

Scott Rewick is likely the most prolific media buyer that you, and most entrepreneurs, have never heard of.

In the past decade, he’s spend a mind-blowing $100,000,000 on display-based media, frequently averaging $200,000 – $300,000 in media buys every day. (This means he absolutely knows what he’s doing, and we’re thrilled he’s agreed to come share the good stuff.)

Less than 1% of his buys is with Google, which means Scott will reveal to you all kinds of “hidden to the competition” places you should be mining for the hottest, most qualified and ready-to-buy leads.

Most entrepreneurs completely overlook this part of the online world… so it’s RIPE for exploitation, when you’re ready.

Scott is an industry insider with the goods. His tips will teach you how to get more high-quality leads to your business… as well as how to become a big-time affiliate marketer.

It’s a huge “secret weapon” for any marketer looking to zoom to the top of the heap.

#10 Ben Morris & Colin Chung – Find the Hottest Prospects on Your Current List

You know what small entrepreneurs love to do? Steal the secrets used by cocky international corporations… and put that magic to work for the little guy. Ben Morris of Kristalytics is our secret weapon here, finally delivering the almost SCARY “cost-slashing, results maximizing” mojo that Fortune 100 companies rely on through fancy “customer targeting” sci-fi level software… at a tiny fraction of the cost the monsters shell out.

Pay attention: You’re about to learn how to identify and reach the BEST customers you’ll ever find, locally and globally… even though, right now, they are HIDDEN from you. This is a peek behind the MegaBuck Corporate world of unfair advantages… and a chance to scoop them at their own game. Even if you’re working from a kitchen table. (HUGE results await…)

#11 Speaker Q&A Panel – Day 2

Another Q&A Session where we take on, unscripted, the questions submitted by event attendees.

Joining John Carlton & Stan Dahl on stage are our special guests Mike Koenigs, Jason Moffatt, and Harlan Kilstein, along with speakers Lisa Wagner & Ben Morris.

#12 Geoff Zimpfer of Infusionsoft – Grow Your Sales, Fix Your Follow-Up, & Get Your Life Back

Geoff Zimpfer of InfusionSoft (the backend of Marketing Rebel’s business operations and this membership site) bought everybody lunch and talked about –

The Cold, Hard, Truth About Growing Your Business
5 “Must Do” Rules To Grow Your Sales,
Fix Your Follow-Up, &
Get Your Life Back

#13 SPECIAL GUEST: Michael E Gerber

Michael Gerber, author of the E-Myth series, honored us by dropping in to deliver a rousing rant on the State of Entrepreneurship.

Michael Gerber and John Carlton are joined on stage by Mark Brown (the guy behind the “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas” campaign).

This is 30 minutes you don’t want to miss.

#14 Kevin Rogers & Chris Haddad – Launch Strategies That Work Like Crazy

When you’re ready to “launch” your product or service, you can’t do better than to take some tips from these two smokin’ “insider” copywriters.

We’ve worked with both Kevin Rogers and Chris Haddad and can vouch them for without hesitation.

They are notorious for building (from the ground up) every written detail of a well-performed launch… so the whole process is smooth as silk, and successful as possible. If you need to get into launches, or have botched one before, this session will change your life.

We can personally vouch for how massively-awesome the results of a well-handled launch can be. It’s worth your time to be up speed on this strategy as well as Brian Johnson’s “evergreen” model.

#15 Lisa Wagner – Create & Sell More Products

This is good. Lisa Wagner has been deep in our inside circle for years (and was a standout guest expert at the last Action Seminar). She clawed her way to the CEO position at Joe Polish’s organization (“Piranha Marketing”, one of most referred-to and respected entrepreneurial ventures we know of), and also honcho’s a very successful private business on the side.

Lisa has agreed to share her much sought-after secrets on “Using Education as a Stealth Marketing Strategy”… which can quickly help ANY niche-oriented entrepreneur or small biz owner annihilate the competition (and they won’t even know you’ve done it). If you’re in a cutthroat market (and who isn’t), you need to learn and use these tactics before they get used on you.

#16 Marketing Brain Cleanse Hot Seats

Watch John Carlton & Stan Dahl perform “Marketing Brain Cleanse Hot Seats” on attendees biggest problems.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs shell out $10,000 for a full-on consult with us and $15,000 / year to be part of our Platinum MasterMind Group.

We’re renown for instantly solving problems that have sometimes plagued clients for months or years.

This section of the Action Seminar was dedicated to us doing as many of these Hot Seats as possible on willing attendees.

Witnessing how these Brain Cleanse’s work will open up solutions and new paths for your biz.

You’re about to learn one of the little known secrets of Hot Seats & Mastermind groups…

… often, the folks watching a good “break the problem down and solve it” Brain Cleanse get more from the experience than the dude in the Hot Seat.

This isn’t a game. This is real, hard-core, live Hot Seat-style consulting, performed without a net on the stage…

… so you can see how it’s done by the best in the biz.

#17 Action Seminar 2011 Wrap-Up – Platinum MasterMind Group

John Carlton, Stan Dahl, and some of Platinum MasterMind Group members explain how the group works and share some of their personal experiences and successes.

We also explain how the Action Seminar bonus Implementation Day works. A few tips you might be able to put to use from home.

 John Carlton – Action Seminar 2011