There Is A New Kind Of Sheriff In Town
May 25, 2011 
107 Comments
It’s been exactly a year ago to the day that I last posted on this blog, and I boy have got some announcement to make. Yeah that’s right I am back, and I promise you this much it aint the same old two-step, things have CHANGED and there is a whole new kind of sheriff in town.
So let’s quickly get reacquainted (incase some of you actually care) because a whole year has passed and man oh man have I been “mind bendingly” busy.
365 Day personal run down:
- Welcomed my daughter into the world.
- Discovered parenting, yoga and meditation.
- Did 5 awesome mind blowing exotic vacations.
- Had an off-road riding accident and had a knee operation.
- Spent 5 months rehabilitating my knee and got fat.
- Got some much needed introspective during knee rehab.
- Started working out twice a day.
- Started swimming a mile a day.
- Completed 9 major open water swimming races
- Lost 15KG’s.
- Read 7 books on weight loss.
- Started a weight loss blog.
- Read 46 books on business and marketing.
- Moved from BB to iPhone.
- Changed Cars.
- Dramatically increased my networth.
- Became even more self-assured about life.
365 Day professional run down
- Consolidated my business to concentrate on core projects
- Sold 262 of my online projects
- Sold a business to the New York Times
- Sold a business to Virgin
- Sold a business to Verizon
- Took on my 100th employee
- Closed my offices and took the entire company virtual
- Flew the entire company with family members to Mozambique for New Years
- Launched a full blown SEO service in South Africa
- Launched a Social Media Marketing Company
- Continued to mentor my Internet Marketing Upstart group
- Met with some notable big wigs in the traditional business world
- Sort of became an advisor to government on industry policy
- Had more fun in the last 365 days doing business than ever before
- Made more money in the last 365 days than ever before
Yip, I’ve been busy and thankfully learnt to limit my attention more than ever before to the things that matter most personally and those that produce the most profit professionally.
Which leads to the question, why am I reopening my blog?
- I enjoy sharing business ideas and insights
- I want to connect with other business movers and shakers
So why should you follow me in 2011 and onwards?
Quite simply, I am the 900 pound industry gorilla that lurks at virtually every corner of the net, name an industry online and chances are I am either in it and dominating it, or about to go into it, and about to dominate it.
You need to be following me, learning from me and networking with me and the people I know because unlike all the so called “names” in the industry, mine is the one that is behind a record number of real world, first of its kind, ground breaking businesses. And despite my track record I’ve purposely always kept a low profile and stayed humble in comparison to many of the loud and in your face Internet marketers.
So if that makes sense to you, by all means follow me, if not then don’t, either way the choice is yours. That being said, I have learnt my lesson last time I ran this blog and gave of my time, so please understand that I will have a clear set of rules for this blog going forward:
These new rules include:
- Nothing will be for free EVER again; if you want to learn from me you must be prepared to invest in yourself by paying for my time, so yes there will be a fee attached to the majority of information I put out.
- If you’re a jack ass and a haggler I refuse to engage with you and I will go out of my way to publically embarrass you.
- I will not respond to emails from this blog, but feel free to comment on the content I put out and I will comment back.4. This blog will no longer be exclusive for South Africans.
- This blog will no longer be industry specific, so prepare for some real business and life lessons, I think I’ve earned some authority on the subjects.
- Don’t expect me to post regularly, I will post when I have something of value to share, but feel free to follow my Facebook page and Twitter accounts for more regular updates.
Please don’t make the mistake of judging my confidence as arrogance, and don’t make the mistake of underestimating the value of what I have to share, because like I said things have CHANGED and there is a whole new kind of sheriff in town.
Great to see you’re back on your bike…although it looks like you’ve upgraded it a bit.
Really looking forward to seeing what’s on offer in round 2.
Thanks Paul – lets just say its new and improved so more straight talk, more info and LOADS more attitude to the power of 10
Awesome! Nice to have you back on the blog. Looking forward to it!
Thanks Dawie, and things are going to be way different this time round.
Ja things have changed a lot this last year. Glad to see that it’s not only going to be internet marketing and general business as well.
I’ve been testing a lot of stuff out on my Facebook page and the two topics that repeatedly get the best response rates are money management topics and business motivation – so I am going to use that as a guide for some of the stuff I am going to bring to this blog.
Two very hot topics in the business world, great to see you back with so much zest.
Howdie Joan, it sure has been a while and I am well rested with some much needed perspective back in hand and ready to add value.
WELCOME BACK Mr Harrison !!!!
Thanks Laura
Welcome back. Can’t wait to see this getting going again. I love the debates
Yip, I am looking forward to it just as much and I know that this time around things are going to get hot and heavy when it needs to, going to be a kicker of note!
Great to have you back Justin, and looking forward to getting loads of good content from you. The blog is also looking super cool.
Thanks Patrick !
waiting paitently
Dude I still need to reactivate my old email list, you know thats going to stir the pot
So glad you’re back man, and we all look forward to learning from the master himself.
Totally digg the new rules by the way, I think you are getting off on the right foot, and that this time around people must pay to get your knowledge that way you will get rid of all the people who are not serious about themselves or their businesses.
Peter thats the plan pal, I have no time for people who are not seroius about getting ahead!
I think you are an arrogant pompous ass, and I love it. If you’ve earned the right then you deserve your place. So go for it Justin!
well said
THANK YOU – I THINK ?
lol
Been following your Facebook page for sometime and I love the tips you share, some of them are real gold nuggets.
I just have a question (please don’t shoot me down)… your tone of your article is very aggressive, don’t you think some people might be offended and not return, I mean you want help people right.
Just a thought!
Thanks Alice, and yes my post is agressive because I am not taking any bullshit from anyone EVER AGAIN. I’ve earned my stripes and honestly if people want to learn from me then they need to be respectful of my space (this blog), and if that means me being agressive and offending some people to get rid of the straggles and hagglers, then so be it – like I said things are changed and I am here to play nice with those who play nice also!
OK Justin I get it, I read the post Werner provided below and I can totally see where you are coming from and I understand the history, but what about the people who don’t they might just think you are an ass?
Hi Alice,
Please read Justins post from last year – http://www.justinharrison.com/id=1089.
The basics of why he closed it last year was that there was very valuable Internet Marketing and Business tips shared for free, that if applied could make a huge positive impact on businesses, but rather than applying south africans chose to be negative, complain or just sit and watch on the sidelines without paticipating in the conversation. Hopefully this time round people will get active and build a truly positive online community here.
Hi Werner
Thanks for sharing that link, I do understand where Justin is coming from I just think he might be cutting some people off who don’t know him and might perceive him as being an arrogant or big headed.
I mean if you read his post, its very aggressive and arrogant. I don’t want to offend him because clearly he is a big deal in the industry but that should not give you the right to make people feel like you are putting them down.
I hope this is taken constructively!
Alice I disagree, I think the people who are offended are the exact people Justin does not want here, and he seems like a pretty clever guy to me, so I am sure he knows why he is doing what he is doing.
See past the glass window is all I am saying
Right on, lets do this thing.
Nice to see you off the bench Randal, so now you’ve got your first comment approved, we hope to see you involved a lot more!
Welcome back Justin! Good to see you’re back and blogging again. Will add your RSS feed to my “Vital Reads” section of the RSS reader
Good luck and hope to read some good posts here, especially from the business management side.
Hey Chris, thanks man. As I said earlier in the comments here it will be one of my key areas of focus and from my test posts on FB there seems to be a very strong intrest and need for this info.
Hi Justin,
I have I learnt a lot from your posts in the past and look forward to the new ones. It sounds like they will be packing some big punches.
BIG PUNCHES indeed… there won’t be as many posts as the last time round, but when they do come expect them to rattle some serious cages
Hey Justin, welcome back. Your input’s been sorely missed.
Thanks James, I look forward to sharing.
Good for you Justin and so happy to have you back with us and I hope you will be valued this time round. I myself was guilty of not being part of this blog in the way I should have been.
Thank you for giving us another chance.
Thanks Lauren and your honesty is a big step forward
When I first read this post I thought OH YEAH he is back, then I thought to myself OH NO what a dick, now reading the comments here, I realise I am the dick.
You have your reasons for posting such a message and I think some people will get it, others wont.
I am glad you are back
P.S. You dont seem to have changed a bit apart from the weight loss.
I cant be all things to all people, so I dont plan on trying either.
At first I thought the same thing, but you know what Justin is a heavy hitter in the business world and he might come across as a “dick” but the truth is when you have climbed the ladder like he has, I guess you have to be harsh with some people, because once you’ve made it the world and their friends want the same ride for free.
If there was a prize for arrogance, you’d win it hands down! But good to have you back.
Yip, I’ve earned the right!
Good to have you back Mr Harrison and all I can say is not a moment to soon because this industry needs you and we need you. Cant wait for your posts to start.
Thanks Aaron, good to be back
This is my first time reading your blog and I look forward to learning more from you and about you.
Thanks.
Welcome and stay tuned, you’ll get it raw and to the point on this blog for sure.
LOVE IT, direct to the point and no punches held. We are all waiting with baited breath for content and more from you.
More power to you.
Thanks Wilhelmina
Nice! I’m really excited to see what the next chaper will hold. Sign me up!
Congrads and good luck
Hey Carine, loads of good hard hitting material comming your way – I am rejuvinated and ready to blow your minds
I don’t know what to make of this post. On one hand its yay for you, on the other hand I feel like I am being spoken down to, but at some level I know what you are saying is true because I was one of those people that took you for granted.
I feel like I have been reprimanded, and I like it (which I guess is weird)??????????
Thank you.
That is weird, but OK as long as you come out of your comfort zone and communicate then its all good in the hood
Thanks Justin, I am not some kind of weirdo or anything, reading my comment I back I kinda feel stupid now and hope that you don’t think I am into some weird stuff.
No worries Sandy, if you are into some weird shit thats your prefrance LOL and you should not care what other people think… the point is just communicate openly on this blog, we wont judge you (unless you’re being a total ass) but you seem far to nice to be a total ass… so rock on.
LOL thanks Justin, I feel like I am amongst my people now
But on a serious note thanks a million.
Just by reading your older posts has added lots of value to my business. Welcome back & eager to learn!
Thanks George, and I look forward to sharing some good stuff with you guys!
Good to see you back Justin. You certainly have had a very eventful year.
Hey Cynthia, its been a long and intresting year indeed, look out for loads of great info comming your way.
Looking forward to your posts. Always inspiring!
Hey Phillip, look forward to connecting again.
Justin my man … I love it,
really looking forward to keeping upto date with your talks, rambles & good spirit my man.
Alex
PS – glad you made the correct choice and moved from BB to iphone – now your cool right?
Hey Alex, yeah mate its good to be back and we’re going to heat this space up big time. As for the iPhone, it does somethings that BB can’t (like skype, and a few other apps I needed), but honestly I takes a long time to get used to after BB and the battery life is SHOCKING man, like it sucks balls. But yeah atleast I look like one of the cool kids on the block now I guess. So take a bow Steve Jobs!
This is an enourmous achievement! Rock n Roll entrpreneur! So inspiring !
Thanks Tobie, stay tuned loads of intresting stuff lined up!
with regards to teh new sheriff in town, how about coming to clean up the IM space,
man this place has become a real GRIM place
these past few months with all the LATEST push button traffic BS going around.
but im still keeping my head HI and making a change
Alex
ps – congrats on the swimming – i swim daily myself and that is where im able to meditate … ( i LOVE it
Alex that is a big part of the plan to clean up the IM space and business online in general, some hucksters had better watch themselves. I have not been following the IM space at all simply because its all the same old bullshit served up a different way. While these light weights have been busy playing when themselves and their stupid little toys, like stupid little boys, we’ve been building real businesses and creating real wealth… so pound for pound some people are gonna get bitch slapped properly.
As for the swimming its only because of my knee injury that I started, and I have come close to winning a few races so the season ahead looks promising, but dude I love it, its by far one of the best stress relievers ever. How far are you swimming each day?
I really look forward to seeing more of you again justin,
you have always kept me in good frame of mind with this SMALL IM space.
I’ve done alot since we’ve talked but i still haven’t branched out to bigger niches,
( kinda still a small player ) – but happy
i kinda lost my way – i didn’t go down any wrong paths or anything – just got lost growing a company bigger, so earlier this year we scale back
and business is BOOMING …
just had our biggest month EVER online (without a launch) and see consistent growth.
and i guess watching you & hopefully working along side you one day – we’ll outgrow this IM niche and take on bigger fish 0 which i feel ready to do
Alex
ps – im off swimming right now – do about 20 lenghts a day and go for 40 once a week
i just enjoy it so much, and the beer belly is going so thats a plus
Glad to hear it Alex and the biggest lesson I’ve learn’t along my journey is not to compare company size, but bottom line cash in the bank. I have a big chuckle to myself knowing that last year I made more money the General Motors and many other “big” companies. Big is NOT better, MORE profit is!
As for the swimming that’s pretty decent, you better get pushing because i might rope you into doing the channel swim with me in 3 years time (that’s the goal right now).
what the English channel?
crikey that’s like 12 straight hours swimming dude … most people need 5 years to build upto that and MOST fail.
and i agree – more money in bank is what counts 100%
i scale back my company from 7 people to 2 this year and we’re making 500% more money already after 60 days.
okay its still only 5 figures net a month
but to me that is ALOT of money.
it just always sounds cooler when i tell people my story how i made $1,000,000.00 in 21 days, but the truth is i only kept about $300,000 of that myself ( and that was quickly spent after taxes etc )
so now im on a totally diffrent level this year – no BIG launches just building nice income streams that pad out the bank.
and invest the money into asset investment accounts to create cash-flow so im wealthy for life.
that’s my game plan … smaller but solid.
Well done Alex that’s solid dude, and I am proud of you mate! It sounds like you’ve got your head screwed on straight now you just need to branch out and get into the real business online which is as far away from the IM space as you can possibly imagine. I hope you’ve already distanced yourself from all those crazy Yanks and wanna be movie stars who are all show and tell but quite frankly come up short when they really are measured?
As for the swimming I am already clocking the distances, so if I can get my mind ready its nothing but a thing!
Justin great post man and welcome back I can see you have been very busy. Congratulations on becoming a father and I look forward to learning much more from you.
Bueno X Italy
Thanks Bueno
Great to have this blog up and running again and thank you for sharing. I totally get what you are saying about investing in yourself.
Life is about educating yourself and the more educated you are in your chosen field the more chance you have at success, so ready to learn and willing to pay for your time 100%.
100% Shawn
It’s great to have you back again.
Now that you are back on the pedestal with a brand new and shiny sheriff badge, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us knowledge-hungry people.
Hey Christo, thanks and I look forward to sharing loads of great stuff with you guys in the weeks ahead.
Hey Justin, hello from Singapore. Just wanted to stop in and say that I am so happy you open you blog again.
Hope to learn lots of good tips and advice from you.
Hey Rany, thanks and I look forward to chatting with you more over the comming weeks.
LOL, back with a bang huh?
I have always been amused and inspired by what you get up to, and now that I am into my 30th month online full-time (or so)I myself an not the same guy that first fought the fight with you way back about PayPal in early 2009.
Looking forward to whats going to happen.
keep it coming.
Back with a new perspective and certainly ready to create waves. Good to hear from you Rob and congrats for making it this far.
LOL, I am going to write up a freebie that is titled the top-100-things-that-you-should-never-do-as-an-Internet-Marketer-and -what-I-did-each-time-to-fix-my-mistakes.
By this time next year I can title it the top 200 etc.
As you know this industry is very simple, and equally so full of nuances that change all the time that is never dull.
Still you were spot on with your take on SEO-is-dead back then.
Ja for sure Rob the majority of things are real simple, the problem is everyone is looking for a shortcut or a quick fix and there are enough people out there willing to “supply those”. As for the SEO is dead report, a big part of my business relies on SEO so when I speak on the subject its with total authority and we are always way ahead of the trends.
Welcome back Justin, and congrats on the new baby girl !
Thanks John, how are you doing bud?
Doing great tks. Also had my busiest year / 18 months ever. Got married, moved 800km, travelled around SA twice and tons of short trips everywhere in between doing Virtual Tours, etc. Pace is intense, but very fulfilling! Looking forward to following your blog again. Keep well.
Awesome news man, well look forward to sharing and reconnecting again.
Justin Hi!
What can I/we do to support your new campaign – I work with entrepreneurs on a daily basis and would love to share with them the potential of “THE INTERNET”
Hey Lluwellyn, the last time I ran my blog we had two problems:
1) Very few people actually engaged and commented on content. As you can see from the comment threads above this blog offers an incredible opportunity not only to engage with me, but other people in the same industry and business also. My personal mentorship group that I have been coaching are all on here and engaging in this blog, so its a great place to meet some heavy hitters and also every day folk who are making a go of things.
2) The second problem was that I very foolishly in wanting to give back and help people decided to do it for free, and that set a precedent where people landed up expecting more and more from me and I landed up resenting giving my time. Thanks to my good friend Dale Maxwell and a few other people who have encouraged me to make people invest in themselves I believe this problem will be solved moving forward.
So what can you do to help?
1) Get as many people as you know to follow this blog by subscribing to the RSS Feed, Newsletter, and my Facebook page
2) Encourage them to ask questions, and get involved in the discussions here.
3) Help get the word out when we do have events.
Maybe some of the other followers of this blog also have some suggestions – feel free to weigh in guys!
Hi Lluwellyn
The best thing to do is email them the link and tell them why they should be on this blog.
Anyone starting an online business needs good information, because there is just so much to learn and here they will get the facts and no bull shit.
Hi Lluwellyn
Like Justin said – encourage them to get into the discussion on the blog and the Facebook page. Like you can see – there’s already a lot of people on it with internet marketing (and general business) experience so it’s the perfect place to start meeting like minded people.
The most important part – let them ask questions, that way everyone can get into the discussion and it will eliminate some of the questions others already has. It will also help Justin in knowing what the people are interested in and will be great for future posts.
Personally I use Google reader to stay up to date on the new comments and posts so maybe that’s something to think about.
And then of course Facebook!
I think by now everyone knows how the potential of the internet. The problem is that these entrepreneurs don’t yet know how to profit from it. So once again – this is the best place to find out then
Hi Justin
I won’t make the same mistake twice as we discussed. Look forward to your guidance in years to come. Regards Sean
Hey Sean, good to have you on here mate, and yeah for sure there be loads of good solid advice based on what I’ve built and done in business over the last decade. You more than most know some of the achievements, so you know this advice is coming from a position of experience and it’s not just some ivory tower nonsense.
Great to see you back Justin you have been missed.
Hey Michelle, thank you and I look forward to reconnecting, look out for loads of good content coming soon!
pS – congrats on ya baby mate,
we’re having our second this year
and i can’t believe my son is now 4 {;-0
Thanks man, and congrats on the news of the new babba on the way, but listen its a F%$#ing miracle anyone ever has more than one – it’s lets just say an adjustment!
haha … i agree, it is HARD mate,
just recently i had to get an outside office as i was not getting anything done – dad dad dad dad dad dad dad dad dad LOL it’s crazy
but we wouldn’t change it for the world right
Hi Justin, there is definitely power in being “away for a year”. It made me read your e-mail and almost all 90 comments above. Really enjoy your direct writing style!
I took a peek at the archives and bookmarked it as a “must read again”. Recently ventured into domaining and looking forward to learn more.
Hey Hendrik – its been a good break and I know that this year going forward we’ll have a good active community here plus as I am sure you’ve seen I am pulling no punches with any of the content, so its bound to get the debates and conversations started – which is much needed.
Thanks for your support!
Hi Justin,
I’d like to learn more about what it is you are doing , Unfortunatly Sandi is no longer with me .
Regard
Neville
Hey Neville, sad to hear that but happy to have you on-board. If you get emails in Sandi’s name or address, please just click the update link and change it to your details so that you can get the updates correctly when I post them.
Great to see the blog is back!
When one sees how much you have achieved and experienced in the last year, one can only be impressed. Well done!
The idea of charging for what you offer is true, people don’t appreciate, or should I say in people in general, what you do for them when it is free. I think “abuse” is the appropriate term when describing the practice.
Anyway, glad you back on your soap box.
Good to be back and ready to rock out with some good info. And you are right about these “abuse” part – but there will be no more of that I assure you.
http://www.justinharrison.com is amazing, bookmarked!
Thank you.