The Blog Of Greg Rollett

Michael Zenga is a cool dude. We met out in Vegas at Affiliate Summit and we started talking about products, promotions and of all things, Clickbank. I am a super big fan of Clickbank, now with 2 products in their marketplace and a bunch more coming, especially in the music space.

Michael just launched his latest product in Clickbank, the CB Professor, and it’s doing great. He shot me over some information and instead of pitching people on the product itself, I wanted to talk to Mike about some of the things he values in the Internet Marketing Lifestyle. From travel to outsourcing most of his administrative work (a hidden perk of Clickbank), Mike gives us some great insight into taking an offline career and transitioning it online.

Check out the full interview below:

Greg: On your sales page you make reference to some amazing trips you just took from Johannesburg to Iceland and Dubai. Why is doing what you do with Internet Marketing so important for your overall freedom and lifestyle?

Michael: The Great thing about Internet Marketing is that I can run my business from anywhere. I am truly a virtual employee. I met you in Vegas a month ago and I am writing this in Florida. Next week I am in DC. While I live in Boston, I typically travel for fun 1-2 weeks a month. What other business would allow that kind of schedule? The great thing is that when I travel, my business doesn’t suffer. I have no one to report to and as long as I take care of what I need to take care of, customers or business associates don’t seem to care where I am.

Clickbank itself really helps with my lifestyle. With 9 products currently on Clickbank, their workers handle all of my payment collection, front line customer service and affiliate payments. They also make sure my affiliate partners pay me. In most businesses these items are a big concern (I used to be a contractor - no one wants to pay you!) but with Clickbank handling these items, life is good.

Greg: What does a typical day look like for you? What are your favorite/least favorite parts of the day?

Michael: That’s really a 2 part question. When I travel, I am an avid sports junkie and I always try to see sporting events. I have been to almost every major league baseball park, The Superbowl and the World Cup in South Africa. I also love site seeing and do my best to see every tourist attraction like a true dork..

When I am at home, I work 5-6 hours a day. My whole time working is set implementing systems that will run forever on autopilot (something I talk about in great detail in my course). I don’t mind working hard on a system that will pay me for a long time going forward once its created. While living an independent, financially rewarding life is possible, most aren’t able to do it because they never grasp how to implement systems. They are too busy working inside their businesses (doing customer service, putting out fires) rather than working on their businesses.

Once the work is done, I am a competitive martial artist and I train 5-6 times a week. I have been able to compete all over the world: Brazil, Abu Dhabi and I cherish my time in the gym. Once that is done, I am pretty boring and watch a lot of TV with my wife and dog…

Greg: You went from a successful offline business in the construction field, and transitioned that to online. What are some of the skill sets and mind sets you took with you from that business into your current endeavor?

Michael: That’s kind of a funny story. Within the last 5 years, offline businesses have experienced one of them most turbulent times in history - and without question, nothing has been as dynamic as the way they advertise. For years and years, traditional businesses, such as construction contractors advertised in the yellow pages and local newspapers. Then almost overnight, the Yellow pages died, everywhere - Newspapers started firing people and closing up shop too. So I looked into internet advertising out of necessity to get prospects for my construction business. I am the type of person who doesn’t do anything half way so I really threw myself into learning Internet advertising.

I went to Yanik Silver’s Underground Seminar to learn a few things and one of the first things he did at the seminar I went to was talk about an income survey he did with the audience participants. He asked how much money participants were making online and I answered zero. When he read the results, it turned out that the median of the seminar attendees were making about $10,000 and the top 10 percent were making over $100,000. I was somewhat impressed; an extra $10k a year wouldn’t hurt my lifestyle one bit, and who knows, maybe I could become one of the top 10 percent and maybe do this full time.

Then I realized something: he was talking about monthly income. What? Huh? Then I asked myself a question I have never been able to answer “If these guys are making this much money working from home with little stress, what the hell am I doing building houses?”

I have found the exact same skills in construction to be useful in Internet Marketing. As an Internet Marketer, you make the most money when you are not the doer. Yes I do perform some tasks myself such as copywriting, but I don’t set up websites - A contractor isn’t there doing electrical work.

Greg: Your new product is called the Clickbank Professor. How did you discover Clickbank and what drove you to really take charge of your Clickbank marketing?

Michael: I discovered Clickbank because as a newbie, people guided me to go on Clickbank and sell products there because thats where everyone starts. I never graduated… I am actually one of their top 100 vendors out over 100,000. I mentioned before that Clickbank is great because they take care of a lot of my customer service headaches, tax reporting, and there is never an issue getting paid.

Clickbank specializes in Information selling and it is a very profitable business. There is no variable cost to the information you are selling so not only is it profitable, it allows you to offer the no questions asked guarantee. If you have built houses and have been involved with lawyers, you should know that there is nothing worse. If you sell someone a construction project and they are upset because they “thought the bathroom would be bigger” you can’t give them their money back, but you can do so on Clickbank. About 1 out of 10 that buy from Clickbank get a refund, and about 1 out of 20 that buy from me. Because I sell Information, I want everyone who buys to be happy and because there is no real cost to a refund, I never have to deal with a customer who feels cheated.

Greg: As you and your company grow, how do you see that growth taking place and what do you envision for yourself a few years down the road?

Michael: I don’t know if its a good thing, but I live in the present and am not real big on long term plans. If I am able to have a low stress/high paying job that allows me the freedom to work out and spend time with friends and family like I do now, I am happy.

About Michael Zenga:

Michael Zenga is a successful Internet Marketer from Middleton, MA - about 20 minutes North of Boston. Before working in Internet Marketing, Michael was a professional student (3 Masters Degrees from Boston University, Harvard University and Bentley), and a building contractor. Unsatisfied with day to day life in traditional business, Michael had dedicated his life to earning a great living online, enjoying lots of free time to compete in Jiu Jitsu and spend time with his family, and now teaches people to become financially independent through online marketing.

You can learn more about the Clickbank Professor here.

Disclaimer: The links above to Michael’s course are affiliate links and I will receive a commission if you decide to purchase anything from his website. I have not gone through Michael’s course, but his success is real. Being a top vendor is no joke on the biggest information marketplace online. And as always, you need to work hard and do the things these people are teaching. There is no magic button, no matter how good the sales letter is.

P.S. Join me on a free live call tonight with Matt Goldfarb on creativity and selling. It’s going to melt your face. Signup here.