“If you are brand new to the Internet game, my best advice is to “imitate first, innovate later.”

 

Peter Nguyen is currently the CEO of Advertiser360, the most comprehensive course ever created to help people build their own products and services online. He has launched over fourteen businesses over the past decade as a serial Internet entrepreneur. Accredited universities, including Baylor University, the third-ranked entrepreneurship program in the U.S., are using his course material.

Peter is one of the foremost authorities in Internet marketing and has created several of the Internet’s leading direct response campaigns. His consulting agency works with leading brands and Fortune 100 companies, helping them maximize their digital media buying and develop highly profitable Internet campaigns. Peter also serves on the board of six national and global nonprofit organizations. Peter currently resides in Irvine, California.

MO: Advertiser360 teaches others how to build a product or service online. What products or services have you built and sold online, and how has your experience given you the insight to teach others?

Peter: I’ve sold a little bit of everything. I’ve sold huge volumes of weight loss products and beauty products. I’ve created very niche campaigns from everything to toe fungus to pet products. I have sold digital, educational, online, and offline products. The big difference in distinguishing marketers today is that most try to make money just one way and have only moderate success doing it. Being a serial entrepreneur, I have internet ADD, so I have been around the block and tried all sorts of things. I sold half a million dollars’ worth of product in 48 hours, all online! For me, that was proof that I’d figured it out.

There are a lot of advertisers and a lot of affiliates out there, but not a lot of networks. As an entrepreneur, I have been involved with all three outlets, which most people don’t have access to. Trying different ways of building a product or service is essential to eventually finding success, so gaining access is important. Network and research others in your industry.

MO: There are a lot of people who sell information products online that are not legitimate. How do you distinguish yourself as a true expert, and what types of barriers do you have to overcome in gaining trust from your audience?

Peter: There are a lot of guys who claim to be an expert or guru. One thing I would say to determine who knows what they are talking about is to look at their proven track record. I know a lot of guys who have sold millions of dollars’ worth of their own courses, but only made of tens of thousands on the internet selling an actual product. They may be great at making money selling information, but they’re not truly great internet marketers.

Secondly, ask yourself, “Are they authentic?” (not authentic in a used car salesman way). Is the person someone you feel you can trust?

And there are a lot of people who have had a bit of success, but they don’t know how to teach. Being an expert in an industry, you have to be able to teach others. Their success doesn’t matter to you, as a learner, if you can’t take anything away from it.

Take a look and see what type of successes their students have had. For example, we had a Million Dollar Challenge for all of the users of Advertiser360. The winner was a 17-year-old who made a million dollars in four months. Pretty impressive!

MO: What is one major mistake that entrepreneurs make when first starting to market online? 

Peter: One major mistake entrepreneurs are making is not doing the right marketing or competitive research. They have this brilliant idea for a product, but they may not realize it’s already out there. Or they might not realize whether the product is in the right market.

Two, they don’t have the proper sales funnel or marketing channel to even market. I won’t launch a campaign until I know I have the right distribution to build the campaign. My last dozen or so campaigns have been hugely successful not because I got lucky, but because I found the right niches and distribution channels. I checked out my competition and knew how I could compete with the big guys and potentially do better. This is where a lot of people falter. They don’t think about the full plan ahead of time. A great product isn’t good enough – you have to follow through.

MO: For those of our readers who want to build a product online, what would be your advice for the very first step they need to take?

Peter: The first requires you to master two things:

1. How to build a campaign that is automated. Try to automate as many components as possible.

2. Create the right distribution channels. You don’t have to be an expert in every different type of traffic, but be an expert in something, whether it’s SEO, PPC, social media, etc.

When you have those components in place, now we’re talking. You’re on the right track.

MO: How can readers know that they have a product that people will actually want to buy?

Peter: If you are brand new to the Internet game, my best advice is to “imitate first, innovate later.”

Pay close attention to other business models that are working online. Imitate the business model and sales channels because something there is working. Do not break copyright infringements, but pay close attention to why the campaign works for the target audience. When you master these aspects, you will really be able to accelerate what you’re doing.

Try to innovate next, and make what other experts are doing better. There is a lot of room out there to get into this industry in niche areas. I don’t try and create new categories; I make sure there are previous business models that already pioneered the way. Over time, I become the number-one leader in that niche because I innovated from others’ success.

As far as your product, do your competitive analysis and see if anyone has done it before and was profitable.

MO: What is the achievement in your career that you are most proud of?

Peter: I would say the biggest achievement has been the widespread attention we are getting in the education world with our program, Advertiser360, and the lives that are being changed from our program. We were blessed to see our students have success from our program in student competitions and in the classroom. We were able to create a product that is truly changing people’s lives in a big way

MO: What is on the horizon for Advertiser360 in the university setting?

Peter: There are huge plans for Advertiser360. We are in discussions to add our program at about a dozen different universities around the country. Students nationwide are getting the opportunity to take advantage of the program and are actually getting government credits toward our curriculum. These are the broader initiatives that we are focusing on, and things are going really well.