Lifestyle

Why I Turned My Back On Fame And Instead Made Millions in Affiliate Marketing

Published

3 years ago

July 4, 2021

Affiliate marketing is the money-spinning upside to the internet economy, and those who master the techniques of selling online have the potential to fast-track their fortunes. Jono Armstrong’s Ministry of Freedom – built together with his wife Cice – offers a course that has helped hundreds realize their dreams of financial freedom by following the same steps that helped the former musician change his life and his fortune.

Forced to rebuild after an exhilarating rise and dramatic fall as a celebrity in conservative Indonesia, Jono has learned the pitfalls of fame. He changed his mindset, and his life, to create a new path to support his family with his popular courses in The Ministry of Freedom, an online business school that teaches students how to build their own fortunes with affiliate marketing.

“I’m a little more grounded now and a lot more careful about money and success,” he says. “Fame made me an addict, I couldn’t feed my kids, and I ended up being the focus for so much hate,” he says.

Starting from nothing

“2006-2007 was one of the hardest years of my life,” says Jono. “I’d lost it all. I was 26 years old, had no university degree, and no work experience. I had 2 young kids and a wife to support. We ended up back in the UK where we crashed at my parents’ house for 6 months before I went back to the rat race, washing dishes in a small restaurant.

In 2007 Jono taught himself basic HTML and discovered the power of the internet. He started buying products from China and selling them on e-bay, eventually saving enough money to make the move back to Indonesia.

Romance came his way again with an old friend from the music industry, Cice, and together they set up their e-commerce business and raised the family with help from both of their parents.

“We worked from home, selling physical products. It was pretty difficult but we were learning and making ends meet,” he says. Then Jono bought his first digital product, a course, and did a review on YouTube. Within days he saw his bank balance rise significantly and he knew this was the way to go.

Succeeding in affiliate marketing

Jono started to sell more digital products and he and Cice saw a future that looked a lot brighter. He then invested in a course with one of the world’s leading social media marketing gurus in LA.

“The course cost seemed a massive investment at the time but it has paid off a hundred times over,” he says.

Once he had the formula down, Jono became the man to watch in the affiliate space with digital producers sending him sample products to review online. He reviewed the products, showed people how to use them, pointed out their shortcomings, and created hacks to work around them. He and Cice watched their income grow beyond anything they had imagined.

“It was a big learning curve at first. It would take me hours to go through each new product, find out what was missing, or what was required to use the products successfully, and I gave the information out for free to my followers through a series of YouTube videos. The early ones were very rough as we didn’t have the money to buy fancy equipment or the experience to create a slick website,” he says.

The couple stuck at it, and this is one of the key teachings he passes on to his members in The Ministry of Freedom. “You have to keep at it, then it gets easier.” He’s also able to guide his members through the process he spent so long learning himself, helping them to fast-track their own success.

From zero to $2 million a month

In just under four years Jono built a business that is today making $2 million a month, having started from nothing. This is what he now teaches others to do in his course that has attracted positive reviews across the internet.

“The profit margins on digital products are a lot better than on physical products. Once I had the knowledge to pick the products that would sell I was able to start creating my own, and the profits on those were my ticket to financial freedom,” he says.

As his profile in the online space grew, he created Ministry of Freedom and began to teach others what he had learned through years of trial and error. With a string of successful students following in his footsteps, some already making over a million dollars a year, Jono and Cice have realized another of their dreams; to move to Bali.

Having had his taste of fame and all that goes with it, Jono has no interest in a flashy lifestyle, he’s been there and he’s seen the downside. You won’t find any luxury cars parked in the driveway of their mansion, instead, Jono and Cice are happy they can be together with their kids and never have to think about where their next rent payment is coming from.

“I’ve learned all I need to know about the high life. I invest my money now so that my kids will never have to worry the way I did. We’ve bought a nice house, we go on holidays, I have time to spend with my family and that’s everything to me now,” he says.

He’s also proud of the community that has grown around the Ministry Of Freedom and he’s very generous with his tips and advice for newcomers. “We all support each other, we share information on the best new products, we help each other out with the reviews. Not everyone is camera-ready when they sign up but we support them and some of the shyest have turned out to be brilliant with a bit of coaching,” he explains.

“Doing it for yourself and your family is a great feeling, being able to help others do it too is amazing,” says a very happy and content Jono Armstrong.

Lifestyle

The Role of Medicine in Achieving and Sustaining a Healthy Body Mass

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Rosario Farell

The CDC’s latest numbers classify approximately 42 percent of Americans as obese, and over two-thirds of American adults qualify as either obese or overweight. Living with excess weight heightens people’s risk for debilitating and chronic but otherwise preventable conditions like stroke, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

With new weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy on the rise, many are wondering if these medications live up to their hype and can even help end the obesity epidemic. Sergio Padron, founder and CEO of online healthcare and weight-loss support company MD Exam, believes they can — up to a point.

“It’s important to approach these medications with a thorough understanding of what they can and can’t do,” Padron says. “Magic pills for weight loss don’t exist.”

The importance of achieving a healthy body mass

According to Padron, achieving and sustaining a healthy body mass is key to good health. To obtain your body mass index (BMI), online calculators like this one from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute ask for your height and weight, run them through the standard formula, and generate your score. The last step is to find this number in the standardized ranges considered underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.

“Many healthcare professionals use the body mass index (BMI) for a quick approximation of most people’s health,” he explains. “All you need is the patient’s weight and height, and you can calculate this number.”

There are exceptions, however. “In particular, bodybuilders and other athletes can generate results that make it seem like they aren’t healthy, when in fact they’re in excellent condition,” Padron explains. “That’s because BMI doesn’t consider muscle mass, and muscle is more dense than fat. In addition, BMI doesn’t account for visceral fat being more dangerous than fat deposits elsewhere in the body.”

That’s why Padron cautions people not to make snap judgments based on BMI alone and to seek a more comprehensive view from healthcare professionals. “Factors like body composition, blood markers, and lifestyle need to be considered,” he explains, “which is one of the many reasons why we only offer individualized care at MD Exam.”

If your BMI falls in the overweight or obese categories, then it’s time to make a change. “Unfortunately, excess body weight means you could be developing major health problems that you otherwise wouldn’t,” Padron says. “Being overweight has also been associated with depression. In my experience, it can have a negative impact on self-esteem and even lead to the development of eating disorders.”

Luckily, groundbreaking new drugs have become available to help people recover their quality of life.

How Ozempic and Wegovy can help

According to Padron, pharmaceutical solutions like Ozempic and Wegovy can help most people achieve and sustain a healthy body mass. These medications reduce appetite and increase feelings of fullness, thereby enabling people to regulate their consumption better.

“One of the most important things our patients report is that they’re no longer tormented by cravings,” Padron says. “They find it easier to avoid overeating in the first place.”

In addition, Ozempic and Wegovy have been shown to decrease visceral fat — the dangerous kind of fat deposits. “The idea is to optimize health and well-being, not just lose weight,” Padron says. “We want to make sure you lose the right pounds. When you lose visceral fat and keep muscle, you are heading in the right direction and your body composition improves.”

In some rare cases, however, Ozempic and Wegovy aren’t effective. “Luckily, other interventions can be effective in those cases, such as Tirzepatide or classic weight-loss drugs,” Padron says.

Yet Padron emphasizes that weight-loss drugs alone are insufficient to achieve and sustain a healthy body mass.

Personalized, comprehensive support

“Just taking a pill won’t make pounds disappear,” Padron says. “To lose weight, it’s necessary to get real about your lifestyle and actually change your habits. If you haven’t been exercising, for instance, then it’s time to start getting up a little earlier and going for a morning walk. If you haven’t been eating well, then it’s time to stop buying soda and junk food.”

Easier said than done? “We know it’s hard,” Padron says. “That’s why our program takes support seriously. Our medical staff works with patients one-on-one to develop treatment plans that will work for them. We also provide coaching and connect patients to each other for mutual support and accountability. MD Exam is a community. People make friends for life on our platform.”

Lose weight, feel great

Obtaining a healthy body mass often leads to increased energy levels, improved mobility, and reduced joint pain. It can also help control chronic conditions like high blood pressure and sleep apnea, as well as forestall the development of preventable diseases. If that isn’t already enough, it can also boost patients’ self-confidence and mental health.

“Our patients experience an incredible feeling of accomplishment and empowerment,” Padron says. “Losing weight can be truly transformative. I can’t tell you how many people have told me their whole outlook on life has become more positive.”

For Padron, helping people lose weight is its own reward. “I love watching people shed their depression and come back to life,” he says. “This is the most rewarding work I can imagine.”