TJFinch featured in: Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness magazine

I just picked up a copy of the May 2009 issue of Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness magazine, an international publication dedicated to a drug-free lifestyle. This is an excellent resource for all natural athletes, whether you’re a teenage, novice or pro bodybuilder/fitness/figure athlete. Grab a copy from your local newsstands.

Each issue will keep you up to date with global news including thorough contest coverage, nutrition and training sections.

Check out the WNBF Asia-Pacific News section on p164 written by WNBF Pro Figure Athlete and World Figure Champion - Asher Dobson.

Featured is a picture of me at the 2008 WNBF Newcastle Championships where I won both the Junior and Open Men’s Heavyweight divisions.

World Internet Summit - Insider Updates: Day 4

Brett McFall – thoughts in closing:

• Why, if you are a professional, why can people say you are worth $x? Why should you be subjected to that. Be unrealistic, you know how much you’re worth so get $. Don’t be realistic, what is being realistic?
• Your potential is unlimited, so why is your income capped?
• Why make $50,000 in a year, if there is a way to make it in one day? Perhaps you are like a fly repeatedly flying into a window. If you’ve been realistic and it’s gotten you to where you are now, do something different. Obviously your mentality needs to be changed. Earning $500,000/year isn’t 10x harder than earning $50,000/year. You just need to do something differently.
• Do you do what everyone else is settling for, or do what everyone else won’t do?
• Mistakes people make: thinking that the internet is the last frame of the picture and getting stuck behind a desk…

My flight back to Sydney seemed to take longer than expected (and no I’m not talking about the flight delays at Brisbane airport). I’ve learnt about so many different business models, it’s amazing how many opportunities that are available at this very moment.

Thanks to Tom Hua and Brett McFall for hosting the 2009 World Internet Summit in Brisbane.

World Internet Summit - Insider Updates: Day 3, Part 2

Barnaby De Palma:

In 1995 Barnaby discovered something life changing in a smoke filled hippie house somewhere in Australia. On a screen in front of him was the World Wide Web (Web 1.0). As a graphic designer, he was fascinated by the static text……..AND IMAGES. In the same year Barnaby became aware that fatherhood was just around the corner, to quote “hearing this really put a rocket up under me”. He had to monetize his passion for the internet, in 1996 he started his web design studio: AliveOnline. 10 years later he met Brett McFall and Tom Hua and was given an intro to direct response marketing.

Web 2.0: sites are becoming more and more interactive, for example blogs and other social media.

There’s a movement in how people find their information. Instead of relying solely on a Google search for example, aggregate consumer trust has been abused and the attractiveness of expert testimonials is greater. Many people are aware that even the organic (non sponsored) links are adulterated and may not be giving them what they ask for. A power shift has occurred and word of mouth is becoming king.

Barnaby went on explaining that using 2.0 to guide traffic requires leveraging videos, blogs, article submissions, social bookmarking as well as social networking. Google wants relevancy, relating to the people visiting your site or a site. If there is a large flow of people heading here it will send its’ spiders there regularly. By a having a keyword rich domain, title, description and content there is a greater chance of ranking higher against other search results.

The online product development cycle:

1. Market research: a pivotal step, any crack that occurs here will spread through your whole launch. Have your bases covered here before you start developing your product.
2. Traffic: no point having a website floating around in the ‘ocean’ if no one is visiting.
3. Conversions:  to a membership, sign up or sale.
   
4. Testing: sales pages, split testing with emails. Find what works and what doesn’t.
5. Product development: finish here, instead of starting here. If you have started here there’s a good chance you’ll have an entrepreneurial seizure later on.

See Day 4

World Internet Summit - Insider updates: Day 3, Part 1

While hanging around outside, I ran into a guy called Matt from Atlanta. We started chatting and I shared with him some ideas about taking my offline business online. He clearly knew what he was talking about and shared with me some tips on how to make it work and gave some words of encouragement. As an ex-golden glove boxing champion, by applying his boxing tactics to business he has been able to stay three steps ahead of his competitors which has been key to his success. We chatted some more about our training background and when he’ll be coming back to Australia.

Thirty minutes after this, Matt Bacak ‘The Powerful promoter’, internet veteran and monthly millionaire takes the stage to deliver his presentation on membership sites and ‘The Ultimate Lead Generation Plan’. In his intro he flashed through some slides of what his craft has given him: house at a country club, his own block of bush land to explore (he found gold in one of his streams last week), his cars, his family and…his jet. Could this be the same guy I was with in the lobby? What a humble dude.

Starting off we were ran through a visualization exercise. “What you need,” it is important to get this clear. By calculating how much it would cost to meet your business goals or finance your lifestyle, you can at least make as start in setting your targeted online income. As an example Matt uses a scalable membership site business model. By knowing your target market size (number of members) you can easily adjust your membership price and package to reach the financial goals of your project.

Matt Bacak’s six steps to developing a membership site:

1. Identify your market – which group of members your site will be able to add the most value to.
2. Create monthly content – to be made available to your subscribing members.
3. Build conversion process - to collect information of members.
4. Drive web traffic to your site - through SEO (search engine optimisation), article submissions and various online social networks.
5. Sign-up and retain members.
6. Optimise forever – continually improve your content and the mechanics of your site.

More about Matt Bacak

See Part 2

World Internet Summit - Insider Updates: Day 2, Part 2

By far the highlight of the day: James Schramko…

…the underground marketer and business growth specialist who makes ‘complex’ e-business systems simple. Although James was at the top of his previous business role, the online world has lured him in. With three years in e-business and around one year of full time internet marketing, James has become  sourced by many for his abundant insights and ’sneaky tips’.

In his area of the marketplace “there is no spoilage, no shrinkage” and only growth; how could he avoid not investing more time here? One factor supporting James’ success in internet marketing is his mindset; he knows that complex problems have simple solutions. He makes things happen HIS way.

James’ tips for internet success:

• Affiliate marketing: work for people who sell expensive stuff.

• List building: make a theme tight, improve your page rank through testing.

• SEO: use one keyword per group with adwords, don’t pay Google Tax.

• Sales: a two step sales process works. Also, use buying keywords rather than other descriptive terms.

• It’s easy to set up a system which looks after many clients at once, rather than looking after clients on a case per case basis.

• If you’re not good at something, partner with someone who’s good.

• People often overestimate what they can do in the short term, and underestimate what is possible in the long term.

Learn more about James Schramko.

Sean Roach wrapped up the 2^nd Day of the World Internet Summit.

• Having success and a known name is not about being a guru, it’s about walking your talk.

• Eliminate all distractions. The internet and life are good at distracting you when it’s time to knuckle down.

• If you’re doing something good offline, get it online. Imagine if a billboard advertiser got paid for every time a car drove by… on the internet this is possible. Having online real estate and using it properly is a useful business tool available, do not ignore it.
• Pretty site = no money, ugly sites = money (so I have a chance!).

See Day 3

World Internet Summit - Insider Updates: Day 2, Part 1

At this point in my life, career development for me has been has been a major topic of focus. Debra Thompson Roedl started the days’ presentations by sharing her insights into career progression. Her initial job wasn’t leading her in the right direction. Once her intuition, rational thought and logic were inline the line in the sand became clearer. Once Debra became aware of her dream, she took action. She is now one of the globally most sought after marketing strategist for information marketers.

Debra’s tips on professional development:

• Learning feel comfortable being uncomfortable.

• Don’t fear risk. It doesn’t matter if you take action and hit a wall, all that matters is that you took action and didn’t just think about the opportunity.

• Be decisive. Make decisions quickly and change your mind slowly.

• It doesn’t have to be perfect it just has to be.

• Live your dream, not your J.O.B.

To tell you the truth I haven’t spent a great deal of time on ebay, but after hearing Matt and Amanda Clarkson’s thriving business I’ve been thinking more closely.

ebay – the market with 70,000 new customers daily, spending $141 million. 42% of this revenue comes from ‘buy it now’ sales. Apparently, more searches are made on ebay daily than on Google. Spending 10 hours each week on their business, Matt and Amanda are turning over $50 000 monthly in everyday products. They have developed a business which is 90% automated, the largest job is replying to customer inquiries.

Matt and Amanda have shared five of their Twelve Golden Steps to Making Money on ebay:

1. Find hot, untapped niche markets. Dominate one, then move on.
2. Source your product
3. Create the best listing in your category – provide all product information and take great photos. Be sure to mention imperfections.
4. Give outstanding customer service and be the expert in your chosen area.
5. Be smart, invest money into your family and time into your family.

See Part 2

World Internet Summit - Insider updates: Day 1

The not so golden weather on the Gold Coast didn’t dampen the mood of the opening of the 2009 World Internet Summit, hosted by Tom Hua and Brett McFall. This four day event has brought local and international internet marketing gurus and ebusiness experts from different backgrounds together to share their insights.

Following an introduction with Tom Hua’s ‘Dream’ and Brett McFall’s tips for newbies, Sean Roach came to the stage in front of a full house. Sean’s story as a successful dyslexic ebusinessman and social media entrepreneur was of great interest. He confirms that he sees or finds fun in everything he invests time into and for this reason he does well. Through knowledge of self Sean has been able to find people to JV with who complement his character. Although Sean mentions that his learning difficulty interferes when trying focus on the task at hand, he utilizes an innate sense of finding imperfections wherever they are so he can improve his business.

As an intro to one of tomorrow’s presentations, he presented the history of social media sites, and where his ‘web 3.0’ platform will take social media in the future. Will these networks own, license or have rights to distribute your data in the future? Apparently this may not be the case. I’m looking forward to hearing more about this tomorrow.

Sean touched on some affiliate marketing product concepts and the relevant idea generation behind process which led to their development. Key points mentioned:

• For information products, start with one related to a hobby or something your passionate about. Chasing $ may not take you where you want to be.
• Choose a golden nugget ‘niche’ - something an inch wide and a mile deep. You can’t cater for everyone with your product.
• Look at trends across a variety of websites and flick through as many magazines as you can, what sort of content should you be producing?
• The key to success is having multiple ’systems’ of income. Have a number of projects running will reduce exposure to any unforeseen events.
• Keep trying things until you get something right. Once this is setup move to your next project.
• If your going to sell products on a web page, just choose one lead product (up/down/cross sells not included).

This is just a summary of one presentation on a day focused at newbies. The next three days are going to be big!

See highlights from Day 2

I’m not sure if the presenters realised this, but the seminar is going to be streamed live over the internet!

Free info from Schramko

Internet Mastery Secrets 2009 - Sydney

While travelling over the December 2008 – February 2009 period I had been keeping pulse on various internet marketing product launches. It was exciting looking at the amount of opportunities available to internet marketers on a weekly basis. I wanted to make sure that on my return to Australia I would invest time towards the path of a developing internet marketer. On the 24^th of February Jon Giaan of Knowledge Source hosted Internet Mastery Secrets.

Brett McFall – copywriter, Internet Market, author of ‘How to make money while you sleep!’…

…laid a foundation for the day looking into business goal setting, the advantages of operating an e-business and how to use time to your advantage. The next part of his speech was devoted towards the mechanics of internet marketing, from finding a niche through to traffic maximization techniques. Following this Brett McFall presented some of the tools he uses to drive his impressive revenue figures as well as other personal marketing secrets.

Tom Hua – intrapreneur and top ranking site owner on major search engines, and YouTube…

…started his dynamic segment hammering home how search engines are designed to promote your product by providing accurate search results (according to the searcher’s keywords). This was linked to how an internet marketer can use search engine optimization (SEO) in their favour to stimulate sales (through the use of ‘golden keywords’). Before closing Tom Hua underlined how joint ventures (JVs) can be instrumental when looking to strengthen your presence in existing niches and expanding into newly found niches.

Nikhil Parekh – a ‘newly emerged from the underground’ affiliate marketer and master of pay per click (PPC) marketing…

…got straight to the point letting everyone know about his biggest frustrations when starting out in affiliate marketing or as he calls it “trial and terror”. Nikhil then shared his thoughts on why an affiliate marketing empire is better than any other business model he has considered! The most engaging part is this segment was being shown how easy it is to setup affiliate relationships through ClickBank.com and how to start making money. Nikhil Parekh has proven how by following a proven system, being guided by a mentor and focus can deliver thousands of dollars into your account, WEEKLY.

Thanks Brett McFall, Tom Hua and Nikhil Parekh for your generosity. Thanks to Jon Giaan for bringing these guru’s together for new and developing internet marketers to learn from.

2008 Asia-Pacific Championships

The following four weeks after the Newcastle Championships were focused on further fat loss, while trying to avoid overtraining or losing muscle mass. The positive outcome of my last competition propelled me into the WNBF Asia-Pacific Championships. At this point there was no sense in trying to build muscle, as my daily nutrition would not allow this. The number one goal was simply to maintain what muscle I had, while focusing on improving my overall conditioning.

The day before a bunch of friends came over to hang out and keep my mind off the next days competition. I had already prepared myself to a point where I was satisfied. Plans for the days before and day of the event were in place.

The 12^th of October was a busy morning. I was making last minute checks that I had packed everything on my ‘to pack’ list before our convoy of cars left for the day. Friends and family were having a late breakfast. My food for the day, tanning products, towels, water, exercise bands and dumbbells for pumping up, spare copies of posing routine music and so on.

At the venue, a competitor-only meeting was held to confirm the timings for the day and to allow organizers/judges to share any comments. I had qualified for the Open Men’s Light-Heavyweight division, at the age of a junior. It would be a while before I would be required to go backstage and have the finishing touches applied (tan and oil). So I kicked back with my friends and supporters, many I hadn’t seen since I started my preparations 20 weeks earlier.

Once backstage there was some commotion. Due to the number of competitors in my weight division, we were divided into two sub-classes: short and tall. At least I would be competing against people of a similar height, making the judging easier. Tanning and pumping up went well, and timed perfectly (apart from the usual delays we anticipated). Having James Healey backstage was a huge help for me.

It was time for judging, the Open Men’s Light-Heavyweight (tall) division filed onstage. The auditorium seemed larger than last time I was on that very stage two years prior. All poses were called no more than twice, the judges seemed to agree with one another. After some further comparisons their minds were made up and the placings were called, from last place to first. This time around I was more nervous than I had ever been, this was not a small event, it was the Asia-Pacific Championships. The only level above was the World Championships in New York.

When third place was called I was feeling pretty light headed. The next few moments seemed to drag on forever. All I could do was look straight up. “And in 1^st place, the Asia-Pacific Light-Heavyweight Champion, tall class is……Thomas Finch!” I couldn’t believe my ears, the feeling was indescribable. 20 weeks of hard dieting, countless hours in the gym and on the treadmill at home, the time spend weighing and preparing meals…all worth it.

After having a few quiet moments backstage with some friends I returned to the area where my family and supporters were. We took a bunch of photos together, and I treated myself to some dark chocolate. After the event was over a small group of us went for some dinner at a Teppanyaki restaurant. A perfect finish to my 2008 competitive season.

Thanks to my family, friends, training partners and colleagues for supporting me throughout my contest preparation time. Bodybuilding is a team sport, and without my team the outcome could not have been as favourable. A special thanks to those who were available on the day to share the occasion with me.

See more photos on the official WNBF Asia-Pacific website.

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