It’s time for the 2nd “20 Questions” interview, as promised I have lined up some great one on one Q & A’s with a few of the Internets well known bloggers and money makers – on that note, I managed to get a hold of Paul Piotrowski from InspiredMoneyMaker.com to grace us with his knowledge.
For those of you who don’t know Paul, he is the owner and force behind InspiredMoneyMaker.com, and more recently, InspiredAffiliate.com. I’ve been a follower of his since I began my quest online, and I’ve witnessed his growth as he has evolved into a well respected authority in the blogosphere. “Make money doing what you love” is something he stands by and teaches through various methods and mindsets, one of his specialties being the law of attraction and how to find your passions.
Paul’s been kicking ass with affiliate contests and establishing his new site, InspiredAffiliate.com, but was kind enough to take out some time to get down and dirty Elijah style – so without further ado I give you 20 Questions With Paul Piotrowski From InspiredMoneyMaker.com:
1. Who are you and what do you do?
I’m just a regular dude, with a lot of ambition. I won’t settle for mediocrity, and the thought of working at a 9-5 job I hate until age 65 makes me want to vomit. When I was younger, we didn’t grow up with a lot of money. My biggest ambition was to be rich. People who think that there is some redeeming quality in poverty are nuts. I truly believe that if we are blessed with the ability to build wealth and help the world with it, it’s our duty to do so.
Once I got a little bit older and built a bit of wealth, I realized that it was no longer just about the money for me. I realized that what I was really seeking is to make money doing what I love, and so my quest to become an Inspired Money Maker began.
One of my biggest passions in life is personal development. When I graduated from high school (13 years ago), I realized that 95% of people in life live in mediocrity and in order to go past that I would have to do what 95% of people are not willing to do. So, I began my 13+ journey of intense personal development and growth. I’ve lost count, but I would estimate that I’ve read over 1,000 books on personal development in that period of time on everything from entrepreneurship, to time management to spiritual development.
Presently I run a Blog at InspiredMoneyMaker.com which focuses on helping people to Make Money Doing What They Love. A few weeks ago, I also started another Blog at InspiredAffiliate.com which will document my journey to becoming a “Super Affiliate”. Inspired Money Maker is mostly about the philosophy and mental game of learning how to make money by doing what you love, whereas Inspired Affiliate is more just an example of me applying my philosophies to a very competitive industry. This way people can watch my
journey right from the beginning.
2. In 7037 words or less describe how you made your first profit on the Internet.
In 1995 I started a little web site project where I had very simple, one-page business card type web pages created for businesses looking to get themselves onto the Internet. I can’t specifically remember the exact one that paid me first, but I believe it may have been a horse ranch up in northern British Columbia.
I created a one page site for them, which I believe they paid me $10 or $20 for. The project never did end up going anywhere because back in 1995, most businesses had no clue how the Internet worked and trying to sell them on a “Website” was not easy. I think my idea was probably a few years ahead of its time, but I did end up learning how to develop HTML pages and stuff which helped me to make a pile of money later on in various jobs and companies I’ve worked with.
3. Were you born in Canada, or do you just live here like everyone else?
Nope. I was born in Poland and have been living in Canada since 1986. I was just a kid when I came here. I love living in Canada, and more specifically in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia. Even if I was a Billionaire, I don’t think I’d want to live anywhere else.
4. I’ve been hearing a lot of stories about young kids in high school making cash with Affiliate Marketing. If I email them death threats and momma jokes does that make me an e-bully?
Absolutely. 🙂 A lot of people feel threatened by the younger generation, much the same way the people before us felt threatened by our generation. I’m 31 right now, and it doesn’t really “bug” me that some 15 year old out there is making cash from Blogging or Affiliate Marketing. I say good for them.
That’s a much better thing for them to be doing than breaking into cars or loitering at the local 7/11. Don’t forget that just because someone at the age of 15 has found a market they can make some good cash with, that doesn’t mean they have life figured out. There are a lot of other moving parts to life than just making money. Kids have a lot of time on their hands and typically very few responsibilities at that age since their parents usually pay for their living expenses. It’s not surprising that they are able to be “profitable” online.
5. Coffee or tea?
Tea, all the way. I can’t stand Coffee. I get my caffeine from Tea and Coke, although I’m trying to cut back on both. To me, coffee tastes like someone mixed some black tar with some water and tried to pass it as something humans are supposed to consume. I’ll probably get a lot of slack for saying this, but one of the places that I absolutely try to avoid going near at all cost is Starbucks. Every time I go into one of them, it just seems like everyone inside is on a big Ego trip for who can order the drink with the longest name.
Starbucks has definitely got it figured out. People want to be unique. Give them a fancy, unique sounding drink with a name like “Grande Mocha Triple Berry Frapuccino Al-Pacino Poo Poo Extra Hot No Whip Cream Extra Caramel Shaken Not Stirred” and they’ll gladly pay $4.50 for it. You’re paying $1.50 for the coffee, and $3.00 for the name (smiles)
6. If you could have 15 minutes with any successful businessman or woman, who would it be and why?
Since I’m only allowed 15 minutes, I think my best bet would be 15 minutes alone with Angelina Jolie. I would ask her about her charity work (smiles)
7. I really feel that the internet contributes to Insomnia, do you ever dream of blogging?
I don’t remember any dreams about Blogging specifically, but last night I had a dream about AdWords, LOL. I think I was tweaking one of my Affiliate campaigns in my dream, hehehe.
8. Name the artist and title of the last full song you listened to.
Cypress Hill, (Rock) Superstar.
9. In your opinion, name 3 tools or services that are necessary to run a successful business online, and briefly explain why?
It’s hard to just narrow it down to three as there is a lot of interdependency between tools. Just off the top of my head, I would say WordPress to run a Blog, AWeber to build an email list, and the Photoshop for graphics. You can do a lot of damage with just those three tools. However, that already assumes that I’ve got a computer, with Internet connection, a mouse, Firefox and notepad at my disposal.
Of course, if you get into PPC Affiliate Marketing, things change. It would be hard to succeed in that without AdWords for example. So it’s kind of a hard question to answer unless I know what kind of online business you’re referring to. But in general, WordPress / AWeber / Photoshop are mandatory in my books for any online business.
10. You’ve shared with me that your attending your first ever Blog World Expo in Vegas this month, If I showed up dressed as a woman in her late 70’s, would you have any problems introducing me as your Aunt Estelle?
Only if you promised to bake me some cookies.
11. Do you watch TV, if so, name one of your favortie programs and explain why?
I try to watch less and less. Lately, the two shows that I’ve been watching regularly are “Paranormal State”, the documentary style show about some students from Penn State University that explore paranormal activity, and A&E’s “Mad Men”. Prior to that I was addicted to 24, LOST and Soprano’s. However, I typically don’t watch them on TV, instead I wait for the full season on DVD and do a weekend marathon. It’s way more fun!
“Paranormal State” I watch because I find psychic phenomena very interesting and I find watching the show much more freaky than the crappy “horror” movies out there right now where human bodies are being mutilated to get a reaction from the crowd. The show kind of reminds me of X-Files which I really liked as well.
“Mad Men” I like because it’s set in the 60’s and it portrays just how different the world was back then, even though it was only 40 years ago. I think the show is made by the same people who made Soprano’s which really liked as well.
12. People know you for InspiredMoneyMaker.com and you recently announced the launch of your InspiredAffiliate.com blog. How long did it take you to think of the name for your new blog?
As soon as I decided to launch a Blog about Affiliate Marketing, the idea for that name popped into my head instantly. Took about 8 more seconds to check if it was taken, so a grand total of 8 seconds.
13. Christopher Reeves, George Reeves, or Dean Cain?
Christopher Reeves. For me, he was the real Superman.
14. I recently saw the results for Yaro Staraks Blog Mastermind Contest and you placed in the top 15, congrats! How was the experience for you, and what were some methods you used to generate traffic for this offer?
I actually just promoted it on my Blog, telling people about it. In my opinion, the program is by far the best Blog mentoring program on the market. Yaro did a really good job on it, so it wasn’t hard for me to say good things about it.
Looking back, I wish I started my Affiliate Marketing path a bit sooner. I could have used what I’m learning about PPC traffic to promote the product even more for the competition.
15. I know you’re huge on the law of attraction. If I was to do the opposite of everything you’ve taught me, would it help me get rid of some people and things in my life?
If you want to “un-attract” something in your life, focus on attracting its opposite instead. You can’t become rich by “un-attracting” poverty. Don’t push against what you don’t want. Instead, turn around and go toward what you do want. If you try to focus on getting rid of someone or something in your life, you’ll just attract more of the same into your life.
16. Ham and cheese or tuna on rye?
Ham and cheese. Oh wait… Tuna on Rye….nope… uhhmm… You’re making me hungry. Either sounds good right about now.
17. In 357 words or less explain why most people fail to make a living doing what they are passionate about.
In one word: Fear.
In a few more words:
People are afraid of the power that dwells within them. Anthony Robbins calls it “Awakening the Giant Within”. I sometimes call it “Connecting to your True Self”.
If you can find that true self, and connect to it on a daily basis and begin to bring that to the surface, you have no choice but to be successful in life. Abundance is out natural state of being. The only thing that holds anyone back is ourselves. As soon as you stop looking “out there” for the reasons and excuses why you’re not able to make money doing what you love, the sooner you’ll be taking your first step to living a life as an Inspired Money Maker. It’s important to realize that it is a journey, and not something that happens instantly.
On my Blog, I wrote an article about making your first Inspired Dollar. That would be a good first step for everyone to take.
18. Where do you see yourself at this time next year? Long term goals?
A year from now I’ll be making a mid six-figure income from my Inspired Money Maker and Inspired Affiliate projects, and I will have inspired and helped hundreds of people to take the first steps towards becoming Inspired Money Makers themselves.
Long term my aim is to help people to awaken to their true potential.
19. Jurassic Park or South Park?
South Park hands down. The last Jurassic Park sucked so bad, I wanted to cry for wasting 2 hours of my life watching it. South Park is my kind of humor.
20. Why did you accept this interview?
1. My intuition said yes. 2. I like helping people. 3. It was fun.
It’s getting to that point – regarding traffic and stats – that Veronica and I should start to think about monetizing our blog beyond an Adsense block and contextual links. It has become common practice that blogs of a certain stature are expected to provide some sort of advert options for others to purchase throughout the site. It seems to be in our best interest that we should take advantage of this opportunity to open up our canvas for potential advertisers, while paying some bills at the same time. Let’s take a look at what options we have…
Over the last few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with a group of wonderful people via