Edition #116
It’s been almost two weeks since I wrote the last edition of Eric’s Tips. I’ve been feeling lately that it’s time for something different, so I decided to stop writing altogether until I came up with something inspirational.
Last week I found the inspiration that I was looking for.
I want to tell you about a young woman who has overcome some extreme obstacles on her brief but challenging journey to internet marketing success.
Her name is Ladan Lashkari, and when I say she’s a young woman, that’s an understatement. At just 20 years old, she has a youthful look that defies the maturity she’s developed in such a short time.
Ladan Lashkari
I suppose in the online world, youthful success is not entirely unusual (I met a couple of 21-year-old internet millionaires last month in New York), but this story hasn’t even begun yet.
The fact that she’s a girl making money on the internet becomes much more significant when you realize where she comes from.
She lives in Iran.
When I came across that tidbit of information on one of her sites I was like, “are you serious?”
Make no mistake! like most Americans I’m ignorant in many ways! but I have heard a few things about Iran and its culture.
I know just barely enough to understand that a girl becoming a successful internet marketer in Iran is about the same as the Denver Nuggets winning the Superbowl! and yeah I know those are two different sports.
So I had to find out if it was true.
After several email exchanges, and some online investigation on my part, it became apparent that she is indeed the real deal. As I’ve gotten to know her a little bit over the past week, an incredible story has unraveled that needs to be told.
Maybe you’ll watch her life story in a movie some day, or see her on the front cover of Time magazine! either way just remember that you saw it on Eric’s Tips first 😉
Ladan was born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and lives there to this day.
There are political, economical, and religious obstacles that make it difficult for anyone to be a successful internet marketer in Iran, and in most cases even more difficult for a woman to do so.
With respect for Ladan, I’m not going to get into the details of the specific political and religious barriers that many women face in Iran, but just be aware that this story runs even deeper than I’m able to write about.
If internet marketing was a wrestling match, she’s starting the competition with one hand tied behind her back simply because of the place she was born into the world.
Next obstacle: the language barrier.
Although you wouldn’t know it from her articles and sales letters, Ladan was not born into an English-speaking family. She started learning the language at eight years of age, and devoured every English book she could get her hands on.
Even at such a young age, she began to realize that her fluency in English would open up more doors of opportunity throughout her life. Throughout her teen years, this fervor grew as she tackled the language head-on.
A true entrepreneur, she decided that she wanted to become independent and produce her own income. When her family bought a computer, she quickly began experimenting with ways she could turn it into an income stream. She tried all kinds of business; teaching Windows, graphic designing with PhotoShop, website design, and even learned C++ programming.
Even though she was able to make money through those avenues, she knew that there was a bigger opportunity out there.
At sixteen years of age, she discovered the world of internet marketing through the late Cory Rudl’s website. She bought and studied his internet marketing course, along with other ebooks and resources.
She knew right away that THIS was the business she wanted to be in.
Her friends and family tried to convince her that becoming a successful internet marketer in Iran would be IMPOSSIBLE, and that she shouldn’t continue to waste her money. If you’ve ever faced the negative energy of friends and family, you’ll understand that it’s a powerful force that can quench your enthusiasm and ultimately abort the launch of a new business.
Fortunately, her father believed in her, and the resistance of others made her more determined than ever to find success.
After about a year of learning and studying the business, she launched her first website, and the rest–as they say–is history. But that history has not been without its fair share of bumps and valleys.
Jumping into business forced her to take her English proficiency to a new level. For a long time it was difficult to read and comprehend the many technically-oriented ebooks that she acquired.
And if reading comprehension was a challenge, writing was an even bigger issue.
It would take her six hours to write and proofread an article, but her determination paid off. Today if you search for her name on a search engine, you’ll find a slew of her articles indexed all over the internet.
And as if writing weren’t enough, she wanted to write her own sales copy. Anyone who’s ever successfully written a sales letter will concur that being a good writer doesn’t make someone a good copywriter.
I’m amazed to say that Ladan is a good copywriter. Being a copywriter myself, I wouldn’t say that if it weren’t true. She applied the same vigor to learning the craft, as she applied to learning the language itself.
She studied articles and courses from the top copywriters, and practiced until she had developed her own style. While there is obviously some innate talent at work here, I’d say that she is also a testament that copywriting CAN be learned.
Starting her business was the beginning of a long uphill battle.
Because of the US embargo on Iran, she faces obstacles that most of us wouldn’t imagine. As I mentioned, her culture has already tied one hand behind her back. The language barrier effectively tied the other one. And the following problems essentially tied her feet!a situation that would cripple most marketers and paralyze them from moving forward in business.
Most people wouldn’t jump into a new business with their hands and feet tied. It’s impossible, right? Just don’t use the word “impossible” around Ladan!
To start with, she couldn’t get a credit card. That makes it pretty tough to buy anything online, wouldn’t you say?
My business relies on my credit cards for many things. Not a day goes by without several business-related charges to my credit card.
As I think about it, many of the products and services that I use come from sites that ONLY accept credit cards.
She can’t open a PayPal account. Again, this limits her ability to make online purchases. It also rules her out of participating in a large number of affiliate programs that only pay commissions via PayPal.
Of course probably the biggest disadvantage of not having a PayPal account is not being able to accept PayPal payments. She estimates that this one issue is costing her many thousands of dollars in lost sales.
She can’t get a merchant account, so it becomes very difficult to sell anything online.
She can’t have a bank account in US dollars. So that rules out another possibility of making or receiving payments.
To make matters worse, she can’t have any bank account that accepts wire transfers. This cripples her ability to receive payments from affiliate programs to her bank account, or from merchant services for her own products. So even if she can find a way to sell a product online, getting that money into her own hands is a huge obstacle.
She can’t cash any USD checks. That rules out most of the other affiliate programs.
She can’t travel. It’s almost impossible for her to get a visa to travel outside of Iran. This means that she has not been able to go abroad to attempt to open up accounts, and she can not attend any internet marketing seminars.
Those are just some of the barriers created by the embargo. There are many more limitations imposed by the Iranian government.
On top of these physical barriers, she also faces another kind of discrimination that continues to this day.
In a business built upon online image and perceived trust, she has been severely disadvantaged by the way much of the world views Iranians.
As she puts it, “the reactions are not very pleasant.”
She thinks it’s mainly due to the way the media has portrayed Iran and Islam. This has made it difficult to be open and build relationships online, as she has found that even her own subscribers, customers, and business associates look at her differently when they discover she is from Iran.
She says, “some people even act like I am a terrorist”.
She has received “hate” emails through her websites and also on forums.
“I know who I am and where I stand,” says Ladan, “but what the media shows the world and what my country’s government does has nothing to do with me. So I just wish people in the west – especially the United States – would understand this difference.”
Let me ask you a few questions!
Do you have a credit card?
Do you have a PayPal account?
Can you open a US bank account?
Can you receive US checks?
Do you have the freedom to travel?
Could you go to an internet marketing seminar?
Maybe you didn’t answer “Yes” to ALL of those questions, but for EACH question you answered “yes” to, you are starting one step ahead of Ladan.
Let me ask you a couple more questions!
Are you fluent in English?
If you said “Yes”, take two more steps ahead.
Do people view you as a terrorist?
No? Take three more steps ahead.
If this girl can do it, so can YOU. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are!it doesn’t matter where you live in the world! it doesn’t matter what other internal and external factors are trying to hold you down.
You CAN succeed.
In spite of all her challenges, Ladan views internet marketing as an easy opportunity to take advantage of, and she encourages others to do as she has done!
“I think there’s nothing hard about it. It’s the perfect kind of business for people who want to be independent and work for themselves in a business that there’s no limit to your success.”
If you’re just getting started, she has more advice,
“When you are just getting started, you should know it might take some time to make the amount of money you expect, and you should keep on and don’t give up – no matter how people around you try to disappoint you. I think this is the most important and difficult part… it’s where most people give up.”
In the three short years that she’s been in business, she’s worked hard and implemented many strategies that she’s learned by studying other successful marketers.
Out of everything she’s tried, she deems list-building as the most important component of her business,
“Nothing is more powerful than building a targeted responsive list and building a relationship with that list.”
While her income may not yet be on par with the internet marketing superstars, she’s earning a living online that would impress even those of us living in a more generous economy (she recently earned $6300 USD in a month).
The thing that must be kept in mind is that she is making more money than about 95% of the people in her country, and bringing home more income than her countrymen who have 30+ years of experience in their careers.
I’d love to see what she’d be capable of achieving outside the restraints of her county, and so would she, which is one reason she is considering a move to a locale more conducive of her business–such as Canada or Australia.
She says the biggest key to success is, “Believing in yourself, and promising yourself that you WILL reach your goals and won’t let anything or anyone stop you.”
When I asked her what makes her different from those who fail, she said that her success is derived from her persistence in facing and overcoming challenges and obstacles.
She points out one of her favorite quotes from Ross Perot,
“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.”
When she’s not working on her business, she enjoys reading self-improvement books (who would have guessed?), dancing, watching movies, spending time in nature, and going out with friends.
In other words, she’s just a normal girl with big plans and an indomitable positive attitude.
Today she has more than 20 websites, and she hopes to expand her business by 400% while continuing to help others find their own success.
You can learn more about Ladan and her business at these sites:
Ladan’s blog
Newsletter templates
Product ideas
List profit club
As Ladan says,
“If a young girl who got started when she was only 16 years old, with no previous business experience, with English being her second language, with less than $30 to her name, in a country where you can’t have a credit card or PayPal account and is under a strict embargo from United States, and so much more limitations…
If such a girl can succeed, how is it possible that YOU can’t succeed – while you may not even have one of these limitations?”
Ladan will never give up.
I hope you don’t either.
As always, you can leave your comments here in the blog.
Have a great day!
=====
Update: This article was published 03/10/2007. In the years since then, Ladan moved to Malaysia, and continues to succeed in her business ventures.
hi.very good!
Thanks Eric for posting Ladan’s Story.Truly Inspirational.I have no more excuse now.
Regards,
Azhar
Very good story and indeed an inspiration to work harder.
I love this inspirational topic. It is great news. How did Ladan solved the Paypal problem? I am from Nigeria and Paypal do not accept Nigerians too. The same thing with Clickbank. Eric, i want Paypal and Clickbank to note that we are Good People and a Great Nation. That policy should be reviewed.
I love your lessons. You are just very good.
Thanks
Julius Boye(Kaduna, Nigeria)
hi dear ladan I really proud becouse having you in our familly I think I and every one in our familly don’t know you enough I hope to visiting you soon
good luck
This story is incredible. I am motivated and encouraged. I thought i have too many obstacles to making it online from Nigeria, sure iam humbled and i know can conquer all obstacles.
sure Boye, i agree with you.Not ben able to use paypal and click bank is a setback. Paypal and clickbank need to know tha we are good people. They will gain more by allowing Nigerians
Dear Eric,
I am in the same condition like Ladan Laskhari,I am in Bangladesh and unable to open an account at pay pall.I have no US bank account or Dollar based account. Please Inform me what should I do? Waiting for your kind reply. Thanks. Siddik
No need to learn arabic. That’s iran and they speak Farsi.
Thanks LADAN..U gave me hope!
hello ladan.I am mostafa from Iran.when I read your story I honored you.excuse me I don’t speak farsi hear,because maybe it is not good to write in other language among the people who write in English .ms ladan I want to start my own online business and I want to know that where did you learn online marketing?the above link is my weblog that is a kind of internet shop.please help me to improve it.
all the best
mostafa
???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?????.?? ????.???? ????
Hello
This is Alireza from iran but i am living in malaysia. I raed your story, I think that is very interesting. I heard you are coming in malaysia for continure your business.
I hope you comfortable feel in malaysia, i think that is good selection.
Be succesful in your life and business.
Best Regards
Alireza
Hi ladan
congratulations
I am very happy, hearing your success, I study business so I’m really eager to use your useful experiences.unfortunately I could not find your website in the net.
please let me know how can I contact you and how can I purchase your books.
In advanced I will appreciate your kindly assistance
regards
Shahab
if you say farsi ,farsi is an Arabic word to you have to say parsi you guys have to respect 7000 years of iran history i am 14 years old and i know this things and good job Ladan you are really great i am from iran too but i live in thailand pattaya
Landan You gave me hope
I am an second language speaker too and now 56 year’s old. But I will try it.
thanks!
hi i’m yasaman
i am from iran &i honored lodan….
we can’t open a us bank account because my country is prohibition ..!?
and lodan is in malaysia
Hi Ladan,
I appreciate what you’ve done.
I’m gonna publish an article about you in my blog! wish you More Success in Life and Job 🙂
All the Best,
Behnam
Well done Ladan, we Iranians are proud of you! and a big thank you to you Mr Holmlund for writing this post to your blog!
Wow, thanks for this article, really inspirational. Many of us need this.
I agree with you , we can if we want.
salam ladan jan , omid varam ke khobo moafagh bashi …. kheyli ba karet hal kardam !!! affarrin , rastesh man va dostam ham to iran ye kari shabihe kare to darim anjam midim , ye chand sali hast …. midonam ke saret shologhe , vali arezomon bod ke mitonesti ye kam komakemon koni ya kami azat rahnamee begirim … omid varam harja ke hasti sar boland bashi….
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excellent .
I think i can also start online business.
thanks for great article.
I also have all the limitations she had . And my age is only 17 . So when most people have fun I just think about my limitations . This made me frustrated . But still how can I create a paypal account , create US bank accounts and recieve US paycheaque.
Truly inspirational
I thought we were at a disadvantage in South Africa!
Thanks for the wake up call Eric.
This is a good exemple and congratulations ladan, but remember you people from the united state, canada and australia, your societies are very racist, and that the reason so many people in the world lose opportunities to grow up in many way, I,ve been living in the usa, and canada and if someone doesn,t speak english very well and doesn,t have blond hair and blue eyes, you anglosaxon people see them as if they come from other planet outside this galacxy. I,m from hispanic america and I know they hate us but you anglosaxon must learn that the world is for every person who was born in it go ahead ladan this world is your too.
I normally don’t comment and just read but Guillermo I am an American. I do not hate anybody because of their skin or religion or where they are from including hispanic people but what I don’t like is people coming here and refusing to learn English. If I went to live in another country I would do everything in my power to learn the language. Please don’t lump your assumption that we hate just because you have had bad experiences with a few. Maybe if you change your attitude you would be treated better. But then some people just like making excuses. I think it’s great that Ladan has accomplished what she wanted and that she is a great inspiration for all of us. By the way was is hispanic america?
hi dear ladan how are you ?
I was interested in the trade you can consult.
How can I make a phone call with you.
Please email to me.
Thank you
vahid
Hi Ladan it was so inspirational story of your hard living and how you fought all the obstacles. I’m from Lebanon and having most of the problems that occuring with you before like having a paypal account. I want to wish you all the best for the future.
Very inspirational. For those T.V. couch potatoes, there are no more excuses.
As Sepehr said, Iranian language is not Arabic, actually Iranian speak and write in Persian (Parsi) , but the alphabet is similar to each other, The Persian alphabet consists of 32 letters while Arabic has 28 letters. It should be known by every one that Iran has an old magnificent history and culture which belongs to 5000 years ago while there was nothing special about Arabs in that time, they have lived in desert as bedouins for many years while Iranians were living in outstanding land which has certain laws for living as the factor of civilization.
There are many other wrong impressions about Iranian people and culture which have been published around the world,as you know it’s all about dirty politic.
Dear Eric
Thanks a lot for writing this outstanding article about a very young Iranian talented girl who inspired me a lot.
I am a newbie who attempted IM last year but gave up because of non-performance. I am thankful to My Mentor whom I met on-line and who forwarded the link of this blog to me.
Ladan’s story is truly inspirational. I have been truly blessed by the article which came at the right time in my pursuit of success in Internet Marketing. I shall certainly check out her blog and follow-up her progress in the future.
hi
i am live in Iran-but i dont want this
iam very happy for contact to you
i want learn the internet marketing-
and i need a help from you and ladan lashkari
iam sorry -but i dont know english
Laden is a very successful girl, I say congratulations to them
Have a friend if I can help you do M
Hi I just wanted t o say thanks for your great content your tips are very insightful. I guess i should be feeling pretty low over the past 2 years i have gone through a divorce,bankruptcy,loss of my job,(and even my kitty dieing). But after watching some home movies of a friend who just got back from Malawi in Africa I can honestly say I have NO idea what hardships are really about. Thank God we live in countries where we have so many privileges that we just take for granted. God Bless you and your family on this Thanksgiving Your Friend Bob Day
Truly inspirational.
Best of Luck for your future ventures.
and it is good to know that you also think that these two books are Master Pieces and a must read.
Think and Grow Rich
How to win friends and influence people.
Cheers
Kamcreationz
Hello Eric, Many thanks for the tips. I have gone through Ladan Lashkari’s Article, I am facing the same problems for getting started. English is my second language and because of foreign currency restrictions in my Country Pakistan it is difficult to get Credit Card and I can not open PayPal account. Any how I am working on different options and hope I may succeed.
Sincerely,
Muhammad Iqbal
go go go ladan, your such a good motivator,now i have no reason to be weak or give up in my IM business here iun Angola,were their are limit to some certain things, due to language,,as we speak portugues. great post.
Hi,
I just started with this internet marketing stuff recently and damn the going has been tough. Sometimes I ask myself am I just wasting my time and money but I made a pledge that this is what I am going to do! Like Ladan I am also facing some difficulties because in Zimbabwe we cannot open PayPal accounts because of the sanctions but her story also inspires me. Thank God we learn English here from a young age even though it is not the most common language! I did not have any money to get started and I have to pay USD0.20 for every megabyte that I use on the internet which is pretty expensive. Thank God they also changed the currency of the country into USD. For people who are struggling to get around the PayPal situation you can get around this by downloading free software called hotspot shield. It will make it appear as if you are accessing PayPal from a different country. Make sure when you register for your account you do not choose your country (which is banned). Choose a different one and enter an address there. You will be limited to about 1,750 USD in the account but it is better than nothing. To try get the money you earn from IM from your PP account into your pocket I have thought of a plan in theory that you could use although it could take sometime. You should go to http://www.vworker.com and register an account there. When they ask you for a payment method choose the Payoneer Prepaid MasterCard. I do not know if they offer the card to all countries (Iran, North Korea etc.) but it did work for Zimbabwe and we are sanctioned. Once you sign up for the card you may have to provide more information such as a scanned version of your government ID. Once you do this and are approved you can then wait 25 days for your card to arrive in the mail. This card is key because that is how you will get payment. Anyway you should then open an account with an australian website called http://www.freelancer.com. They also offer the Payoneer prepaid MasterCard as a payment option. So when you get paid in your PP account you simply transfer the money from PP into your freelancer account and then let it stay there and maybe spend it on the site. You may use some money to further your IM efforts. You should then withdraw the money to your Prepaid master card and once the money has been loaded on your card you can go to the ATM and withdraw it from there. I havn’t actually done the process of transferring money this way since i have not made a dime from IM yet but it may work and I guess it is the only way you can get your money out of pp if your country is banned or has sanctions. Another alternative is using Moneybookers. At least this service works in Zimbabwe for me but few affiliate programs pay using this method and they have banned some countries some of which are North Korea, Somalia etc. BTW whenever u intend on accessing PP make sure that the hotspot shield is on! When I was trying to enter the IM business I had to earn money first and so I worked as a freelancer for a measly wage. I saved my money and I had enough to pay for some IM training. When I tried to put the money in freelancer for me to transfer to my mastercard my megabytes suddenly finished and my internet connection was lost and the hotspot shield went off. When I loaded my last megabytes in I then clicked on something on PP without turning hotspot shield on. I quickly realized my mistake but the damage had been done and when I went to the next page after turning hotspot shield on my account was frozen, and I had lost every penny I had saved! so make sure that you use PP with hotspot shield always! BTW do not verify your account with your MasterCard debit card or with a bank account because PP will find out and immediately freeze ur account. I was lucky that I did manage to receive my debit card and I managed to get a VISA card from a local bank. I do not even know why they accepted me. People who cannot use PP are at a real disadvantage. I recently wanted to further my article marketing efforts by using article distributors to distribute my articles but imagine my horror when I went to the checkout page and found out that they accepted payment thru PP only. It is tough having to fight with such conditions but we have to keep rolling on and keep our heads up
Yesss…
We C@n…..!
Ladan You are superstar.
Eric You are bringing in a amazing real story on us., this inspiring lot’s of people,I believe.
thanks Eric
This story is truly motivated.
the story i red realy wonderful.its useful for every body who need mortivation them selves.
Hi Eric, your tips has been very helpfull to me. Thank you for sending these to me every day, without delay. This story is very inspirational. Thank you for sharing and I will check Ladan’s blog to give her a thumb up.
Well, if anybody wants to complain about anything, I’d say: think again!!
Racial discrimination should no longer be practice by now. We are already on a new era. I salute Ladan for standing out despite of all the constraints that she’s experiencing.
Hey Ladan,
Just wanted to say one thing, “Girl Power!”
Okay, one more thing. You are an inspiration.
What a great story.
The part some aren’t seeing is this:
‘She tried all kinds of business; teaching Windows, graphic designing with PhotoShop, website design, and even learned C++ programming…she knew that there was a bigger opportunity out there. At sixteen years of age, she discovered the world of internet marketing through the late Cory Rudl’s website. She bought and studied his internet marketing course, along with other ebooks and resources’.
She did not try one thing. If she had we wouldn’t be reading the story now. She tried various strategies. She became educated on a topic. She was persistent. It may be the first thing you try, but not likely. You may not ever know if it’s the 9th or 10th unless you keep trying. Keep pushing, and a door will open. The club is open to anyone. Harder for some? Yes. Open none the less. Write your own story. We’re anxious to read it.
Live it LOUD!