Hi Richard,
Right out gates I'd like to say that I'm not here to comment on anything specific to Shane.

I see you referenced him in the post.

I respect his views, wish him all the best but I could sense that he took the entire mini report as aimed at him. Whereas my point was that his scenario is a dime a dozen... I've literally seen it over and over again.

I have no points and no comments re: Shane, his experience, his business model or anything specific as that was never the goal. And I guess I did a terrible job at conveying that. The write-up was put out based on just my obseverations of VERY *COMMON* flaws made by MANY MANY beginners.

That being said, I'm no end-all-be-all expert by any means. My feedback is simply based on MY experience and my observations.

With that bit of disclaimer out of the way (seeing as I simply will not jump back into an emotion driven debate with a fellow JV Notify board member), I'll comment on your question...

""What's the progression for someone to start at zero and move on up?""
Keep on keeping on.

There's nothing complex here... so let's help bring this back to basics...

You have website that is either monetized by direct sales or by advertising etc.

You make more money based on your ability to improve conversions (usually tied into presentation and value) and your ability to get more targetted prospects to your site and better and better ROI.

This concept of "JV" which, in this marketspace is actually just a solicitation for an affiliate partnership and nothing more... is just ONE way to generate business.

Affiliates offer great leverage, no question but a business can be built without affiliates.

So in terms of a guideline of what to do next...

If you opened a restaurant, what would your next step be?

Marketing maybe? Getting people in the door?

But now you have a flow of customers, how do you increase retention (get them to be return patrons)?

Now you have regulars, how do you turn that into upsells and back-end opportunities?

How do you then get those customers to help you spread the word (word of mouth / viral growth promotions)?

How can you improve the menu, the value, the overall customer experience to impress and retain even more of your customers coming through the doors?

How can you better test, track and improve your advertising/marketing plan?

How can you re-invest your profits to take things to the next level... possibly a second location or increasing the size of the first (for more seating capacity).

etc etc.

Nothing flashy there.

Same idea...

How can you create a unique product or sevice? Stand out in the crowd as someone worthy to do business with? How can you impress customers? How can you retain them? Where else can you advertise? Once you have a great value funnel, excited customers, a proven product, good ROI... how can you levarge affiliate partners (aka. "JVs").

There's nothing special about someone who is "new" (a noob, newbie, beginner). *EVERYONE* started there. The way some then advanced further and built an audience, a leads list, client base, affiliate base, brand name etc was based on general business principles of delivering a unique offer, high value, having smart and effective marketing.

So if you're asking how does a start-up ("beginner") becoming a large operation ("big guru" or whatever label you prefer)... it's a universal process of just putting in the work, doing more of everything and improving everything in system for better ROIs along the way.


- a former "Tim"