Gobala Krishnan Interview

Here is a quick interview I did with the successful Gobala Krishnan. You do not have to be a millionare in order to be considered a success, he makes from eight to ten thousand a month with his online businesses, to me that is successful. He and his team just launched their product FiresaleExposed which outlines their success from the previous “SendUsto.Us Firesale” launch. This is a person I met while attending the World Internet Main Event held in San Francisco and it was a pleasure! These are some general questions that I thought would motivate and help anyone just starting out online…

Gobala and Toki Interview:

1. What programs and or services are you providing to achieve 8k-10k a month?

Most of my online income (about 50%) is made from selling my own products, mainly from EasyWordpress.com and a few other sites. The rest of it comes from a combination of reselling other people’s products, affiliate marketing, advertising and Google Adsense.

2. How did you get started in internet marketing?

I got started in Internet ‘marketing’ by throwing in a lot of money on auto-surf programs, almost everything I had. Everything went bust one day, and I decided to build a real business online. I created one information product about VoIP and learned a great deal from it’s failure. My next information product, a simple ebook teaching Malaysians how to withdraw money from Paypal was the first successful product I had. I achieved my first 5-figure (Ringgit Malaysia) month with that.

3. What was the turning point for you to say “I quit” at your day job?

I had been secretly exploring Internet marketing even while I was working as a sales executive in a telecommunications company in Malaysia. One day, my boss found out I had other stuff going on besides my work, and I felt the pressure started to increase in my workplace. I decided I didn’t want to spend 9 hours a day doing something I hated, so I quit and threw myself into Internet marketing even though I was not making a significant amount of money at that time.

4. How long did it take for you to achieve 8k-10k a month?

It took me about 8 months.

5. Why did you start a blog and how long have you had it? 

I started a blog to brand myself, and also to get more traffic to my websites. My blog at GobalaKrishnan.com is my first serious effort at blogging, and it has been online since March 2006.

6. How much do you make from your blog and HOW are you doing it?

It’s difficult to say since most of the traffic I get from an individual blog is converted into my mailing list, from which I can also make money in the future.  I don’t do much advertising programs like other bloggers do, so at most you’ll only find Adsense and Text Link Ads on my blogs.

7. What makes your blog so “stickey”? What is your uniqueness?

My uniqueness is actually the way I write. My writing is really simple, using basic English, and is always directed to the reader. Some people like this, some don’t, but that’s what sets me apart from other bloggers. No one can be Gobala Krishnan except Gobala Krishnan. It’s for this reason that I don’t allow other people to write on my personal blog.

8. Is “FireSaleExposed” an accurate documentation of your first success

(SendUsTo.US)?

It was one of the biggest successes so far, no doubt about it. But it wasn’t the first success I had, and hopefully it won’t be the last either
9. Who were you able to get to JV with you to make the firesale such a success? 

We approached close to 200 partners, and in the end we got about 150 who said YES.

10. More importantly, HOW were you able to get those JV’s? 

Between me, Melvin Ng and Vince Tan, we could get about 50 partners based on our previous contacts.  The rest of them, we just approached them using ANY means necessary
I think the important thing is to go all out and not be worried about getting a “no” from anyone.

11. Can you give me a review of my product and my blog?

TokiTover.com seems to be doing well. I think the most important measure of a blog is how many comments you get, and how many loyal readers participate on your blog.

12. How can I make my blog and product better?

I found the best way to make a product better, is to start asking people what they want / expect from it. You can set-up a simple questionaire form using Wufoo.com or get serious with a dedicated survey engine like ASKDatabase.com

13. How can I monetize my blog to earn a realistic income from it?

It really depends on what you want to do. By selling my own information products I can afford to blog less and be less concerned about putting up a lot of content. That’s because unlike bloggers that depend on advertising revenue, you can make money with less traffic if you OWN a product, and blog about topics related to your product.

If you choose the advertising model, be prepared to slog it out for a few months before you make a comfortable income blogging.

14. How can I improve my theme?

The best way to improve it is to simplify it. Take out everything you don’t need, and highlight the components that make you money.

15. Do you have an accountant that handles your money and taxes?

Yes I do. It makes much more sense paying an expert to do something.

16. What is a good help desk program to use?

The best I’ve come across is Kayako.com. I used the hosted version and it definitely made my life much easier. Now I can have several people logged in to different departments, yet still communicate with each other.  I can also set automation rules and pre-defined answers / FAQs that cut back the actual work involved by about 75%.

17. Where did you get your knowledge about internet marketing?

Initially I got it by trial-and-error. I made my first commission check selling electric guitars on the Internet as an affiliate.  I also learned a lot from Ken Evoy’s guide called “Affiliate Masters Course”.

But for the next 3 years, my income never grew. It was only when I started to invest more in learning (ebook/MP3/software) and seminars did I see drastic changes.  I am currently part of the i5Gold coaching program by Mike Filsaime. I’ve also attended coaching from Armand Morin and Alex Mandossian.

I don’t really bother reading much about the latest trends in Internet marketing. So I meet up with my mastermind group every few months, and they tell me what’s new
18. Who do you conversate with to accomplish your projects and goals?

I plan everything myself. I set the goals and the direction I want to go it. I do consult some Internet marketing colleagues I trust and bounce off a few ideas to see if I’m on the right track.

19. How do you get traffic to your blog?

Initially, I used some Google Adwords. Then, when my products started to sell, I also got traffic from my mailing list. Eventually, I also started to get more traffic from search engines and referral traffic.

20. How did you build up so many subscribers to your blog in such a short period of time?

Create a product that provides value, and it becomes so much easier. When you have that, other people will find ways to get traffic to you as an affiliate, or just by word-of-mouth recommendation. I’m not an expert in traffic generation, and I stick to the few methods I know such as Adwords, article marketing, blogging, and email marketing. <End Interview>

Please give your comments and added advice for my readers to benefit from and enjoy! Or if you have any questions about what was said here, just head to my Contact page  and leave your questions there.