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Jermaine Internet Marketing Success Story
Part 1

For over a year and a half, my marketing team and I have published a private web site (www.SecretsToTheirSuccess.com) every month that profiles two successful entrepreneurs who are making $30,000 to $2 million per year with their Internet businesses.

Each interview tells a real-life story of hard work and dedication, but every once in a while one really strikes a chord... and I'm reminded of my own early start in the world of online marketing.

When I interviewed 19-year-old Jermaine Griggs -- a college student who earned $200,000 from his HearandPlay.com web site last year -- I knew I simply had to share at least some of his story with my "Marketing Tips" subscribers for a couple of reasons...

First, Jermaine's story is a lot like my own. He didn't start with any kind of special knowledge or a whole lot of money. In fact, he grew up in a rough neighborhood where his life could have easily gone wrong.

And second, Jermaine is successfully using a ton of the strategies I teach to my subscribers. So by sharing his interview with you, I'll be showing you a real-life example of the success it's possible to achieve with a few of the simple techniques I recommend.

As you read this very special interview, keep in mind that the success Jermaine has already achieved is just the beginnning... since he keeps testing and refining his marketing strategies every day!

So let's dive in and see exactly how Jermaine's doing it!

QUESTION: Jermaine, to start with, would you mind giving our readers some background on what your site is all about?

Jermaine:
HearandPlay.com specializes in teaching students how to play the piano by ear.

The site features over 60 free piano lessons and six newsletters ranging from beginner lessons to advanced music theory. So there is a wide variety of topics musicians can explore.

QUESTION: Can you tell us about how you first got started on the Internet? What was your first web site, and how did you grow from there?

Jermaine:
I started my first web site when I was about 15 years old. Basically, I had become an affiliate of over 1,000 online merchants and had my own virtual shopping mall. It took weeks to create -- but it only made money from ONE web site that was willing to pay me $.50 per click!

To my surprise, at the age of 15, I received my first check for $800 (all based on click-throughs from my site to theirs). This was a quarterly check, however, so I definitely couldn't get rich making $266.66 a month.

After that experience, I was thirsty for another venture. I had taught myself how to play the piano by ear at the age of nine and had been asked to teach several children in the community. I developed workbooks for all of my students, composed of several exercises and worksheets.

Then one day a parent said to me, "You should sell these workbooks to other piano students." That thought had never really crossed my mind. So I took what I had and I made some flyers and posted them in laundromats, grocery stores, thrift shops, etc. No one called.

Then I thought: "What about creating a web site marketing these piano workbooks?" And to make a very long story short, that was how HearandPlay.com started.

QUESTION: How did this site do when you first launched it?

Jermaine:
Well, I sold my first set of five music workbooks in November of 2000. Boy, was I overjoyed. Since then, I have combined the five-book series into a 300-page book (released in March 2002), which has been a great success with revenues of over $200,000 so far!

I've also created a software program aimed at helping students train their ears. Basically, while students are studying my 300-page course, this program will test them on the various sounds of different scales and chords. I offer this program as a bonus item to encourage customer orders.

QUESTION: Can you give us some background on yourself? What was your experience before you first got started online?

Jermaine:
Fortunately, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I say fortunately because perhaps if I was, I wouldn't have had a reason to work so hard for my success. My mom raised my sister and me all by herself for most of our childhood. We grew up in the inner city and I could have easily hung out with the wrong crowd, but my mom raised us in the church.

When I was 15, I went to live with my grandmother because she needed someone around to help. That's when my first web site was conceived. My grandmother would beg me to go to bed at nighst, but I would hear this imaginary voice telling me to stay awake and work.

I was always studying how to make money, how to market, what customers wanted, what customers needed, what to do, and what not to do.

So I am proof that it is possible to start a company with very little money and the right "know-how." It all started from my small office in the corner of the living room of my grandma's one-bedroom apartment.