Dan McGonagle, Internet Infopreneuer, and the 10 Mistakes He Made On His Way To Success

by Bonnie Boots

As a writer, the best part of my job has always been interviews. Writing them gives me the chance to meet wonderful people from all over the world and immediately dig into their lives in a way no casual acquaintance could.

When it comes to choosing interview subjects, I seem to have a nose for genuinely nice people, so it's not unusual for my interviews to transform into fast friendships. Add Dan McGonagle to the list of people I liked the minute I met, and didn't want to let go of once the interview was over.

Dan's blessed with many of the qualities I admire most-intelligence, integrity, and the courage to take risks and pursue the things he's passionate about. Add in his lack of artifice and the fact that he's a proud and loving parent, and you pretty much wrap up my definition of a good guy.

Dan lives near Boston, a seacoast city whose proud Irish-American people value family, hard work and especially, service to others. It's not surprising, then, that these are themes that come up again and again in conversation with Dan. "I feel really good when I'm helping people," he says, and later, "It doesn't matter how much money I'm making; if I don't feel I'm really helping people, I get a real sense of dissatisfaction."

Dan's done exceptionally well at making money on the internet, a place that's notorious for it's ability to suck in naïve and desperate people and spit them out broke. Dan readily admits he was naïve when he started. "I was a biz-op junkie," he says. "I spent way too much money, probably bought in to about 30 different programs."

But it wasn't until he became desperate that he started to make money.

"I was working as an IT tech when I got fired just before Thanksgiving," he recalls. "I was actually glad I got fired, because it made me realize I'd just been playing around with what I knew. Now I'd have to make a real commitment and put all my time into it."

Dan had entered into the arena of internet marketing as a hobby. He was armed with a comfortable paycheck, a good education and a lot of technical computer knowledge, but had no idea of how to set up a web site or write sales copy, let alone how to make money with them.

Dan started spending 14-hours a day working on building his business. Within 60 days, he was making a full-time income, and his business grew from there on. Dan says total commitment and intense focus, coupled with the knowledge he'd gained from a few years of study and practice, quickly propelled him into very respectable profits.

Dan laughs when people call him an overnight success. He points to the long time and large money he invested in educating himself and building his own business before he finally hit his first $10,000 month. "I learned some hard, expensive lessons," he says. "That's why I wrote my report "The Top 10 Mistakes Everyone Makes In Internet Marketing."

Reading the report is like sitting and listening to Dan. It reveals a smart man who made some very dumb mistakes, the same mistakes that trap so many internet newcomers. At 74 pages, it's a thorough and honest depiction of every big mistake Dan made, and he does nothing to pretty himself up. "I was stupid about a lot of things," he says. "What's the point of trying to cover that up and act like a big shot? I'd rather just tell people what really happened and save them from wasting their time and money."

You won't waste any money on this report. Dan gives it away free. I urge you to read it by signing up at this web page:
http://firsthandreviews.com/topten/

Putting your name and email address there will get you the report and an occasional email from Dan. He doesn't write very often, because one of his rules for running his own business is that he never sits down at his computer unless he has a goal firmly in mind. "I wasted too much time wandering around the internet," he says. "Now when I sit down to work, I have a purpose firmly in mind. I focus on that. And I get it done. That's how I'm able to keep my business running working just a few hours a week."

Dan takes great pride in the integrity of the material he creates. He worked hard to build his business, and works just as hard to pass on what he's learned to people looking for a leg up on the internet ladder. His marketing is reality based, emphasizing the work and time it takes to achieve success. Dan, then, has little patience with people that try to grab the gold ring from red headlines screaming, "Get Rich Overnight!"

"People have to take some responsibility for themselves. They have to stop looking for that fast money and quick fix. Building a business takes time and work. It doesn't just happen over night."

"I'm a little dissatisfied with all the desperate people out there," he says, describing people that try to buy their way out of debt and dead-end jobs by clicking the "buy-it-now' button on anything that promises easy money.

"I actually unsubscribed one buyer that bought every single thing I put out. She was a loyal buyer, but she wasn't doing anything with what she bought. Personally, if someone's on message 31 in my email course and they're not making money yet, I almost don't want them on my list. To me that's an indication something's wrong, something is keeping them from taking action. I'm not going to allow anyone to put me in a position where I'm essentially preying on their weakness."

With a successful infrastructure set up and money rolling, you might think he'd be satisfied to go with the flow. But not Dan. He says he's developing a deep sense of dissatisfaction that's pushing him to stretch further. "Right now all I'm doing is making money by showing people how to make money by showing other people how to make money. It's like a wheel that keeps going round and round, and it's not making me very well-rounded."

Dan has talents he wants to expand and interests he wants to pursue. And most of all, he wants to find a way to be more helpful. "That's what keeps me awake some nights," he says. "Thinking about better ways to help people."




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