So what's new and where do I go?
I believe that there's money - big money - to be made from marketing, but I am truly frustrated by all the contradictory advice and overwhelming number of shiny objects available. I've looked at and bought tons of WSOs and super-special offers on the Net that are all supposed to lead to that money-making breakthrough, but so far I haven't felt comfortable with any of them.
I just want to say that my mind is engineering/scientifically oriented, but I also love people and helping and "McGyver-ing" solutions. I'm a hell of a troubleshooter and it is immensely frustrating to me because I can't seem to filter out the noise from the real data here.
The local marketing idea appeals to me because I know that there are people in the local community who need what I can do, and in fact that's the only place that I've made any money in the last 3 years. However, I'm AWFUL at cold calling, either on the phone or in a business.
Online, I've looked at Clickbank, Amazon, Squidoo, Commission Junction, and many other places as ways to do affiliate marketing. I've written a book and tried getting it published. I have no idea how many little bits of information I have from online courses, some free and some paid. Much of the information is reasonable within the context of the course, but absolutely contradictory compared to other courses. For example, some of them say choose a Clickbank product with the most gravity possible. Others say don't try for anything with a gravity over 30.
The same sort of thing happens when talking about competition. Some say go into competitive arenas because they are obviously where customers are buying. Others say don't go into competitive arenas because you'll never stand out enough. YAAAARRGH! (h/t to Howard Dean!)
On top of all that, I have found that people are still selling products that no longer work because of Google slaps or whatever.
So, I'm looking forward to OEP in the hope that finally, finally there will be a clear path for me to follow.
Recent Comments
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It sounds as though you are being pulled into far too many directions at once...and this is something that you will need to conquer in order to realize any success online. It is known as the shiny object syndrome and it is an easy trap to fall into.
I can honestly say that you have everything you need here at WA..including the support and the ongoing, current training that will help facilitate any direction that you are looking to go (local or otherwise). Do a search in the training tab for local training and make sure you check out the recent webinars on local.
Great to have you here!
I share your feelings. I first tried SiteSell's product. The trouble was you are so tied into their system that when I realised my niche was a dead end for me and needed to change I was left looking outside their program to continue. But, I learnt a reasonable amount from the program, but at a cost.
Now I have gone back and started from scratch with a WP blog, and I am finding it more enjoyable. I still need to improve my traffic, my article quality etc... which I hope will help equate to better Affiliate sales commissions.
This is just the first step for me.
But, you are right, there are too many WSO's out there causing distractions.
I tried SiteSell as well, with the same results. It took me a long time to rebuild my site after leaving there, but I did learn a lot.
I've been here at WA four years and start my fifth next week. The market changes so that means that this site changes greatly. So here is an active community that is up to date. I have written an overview of the process and put it into three videos but you must get the details of those steps to success right here. Go to http://www.internetbusinesstoolcenter.com for the videos.
From one engineer to another. JOHN
Hi
I think you have to take a step back and go back to basics. The first thing isn't to think about amazon or clickbank or any of the other things first. The first thing you need to decide is your niche - what topic are you interested in - what do you feel passionate about - because it's easy to write about things you have an interest in - rather than something entirely new. It's what I'd do for your first site. The 30 day success club which you will find in the training are - will get you started. Good luck
Thank you! I have a lot of interests, but I'm not sure that I can claim passion to any one of them! The one that I'm most interested in right now is American politics, but I have trouble seeing a profitable niche in *that* arena! I am going through the 30 day plan again to see if I can get better focus.
From what I understand, yes, you can make money from the site, by inviting others to join and by doing Projects for others, but the real focus is for you to *learn* how to make money from your own sites and campaigns.
Wealthy Affiliate University has been the top Internet marketing training platform year over year since 2005. The new Open Education Project platform is delivering an even higher level of training and education. Here at WA, you have absolutely everything that you need at your fingertips to learn about online business and earn a living online.
Yes, you can make money directly within WA, but the FOCUS is teaching online business where you can sell anything and make money from the Internet.
Welcome to WA! You can invite someone with your unique invite link found under the "Share Wealthy Affiliate" main menu. Your link is at the top. Awesome to have you here and I look forward to working with you.
On the top bar of the site there's a place where it says "0 invited", assuming you haven't yet invited someone. Mouse over that and you'll see a "Referral Details Here" link. Click on that and it should give you your affiliate link and have a number of links to training materials on this.
Go to your Main Menu, look down the list of Headings to the one that says Share Wealthy Affiliate, click on it and it will take you to your affiliate page, you should see a blue underlined affiliate link at the top of the page
Copy that link and place it in your posts and communication about WA, if people click on that it counts as an invite.
David
I agree with you that there are a lot of SHINY OBJECTS out there that claim to teach you how to market online. Guru A says _____, Guru B says _____. So it's confusing. With learning something you need to follow someone that you trust. In the GURU market it's in their best interest to have people only achieve moderate to no success. This means they can pump out another 5 products this year and sell you on every one of them because the last one failed to earn you a profit.
Clickbank, Amazon, Commission junction, independent / in-house affiliate programs, they all work. It's not the affiliate network that creates success, it's in your execution.
Whether it's local marketing or online marketing, choose a path and go with it because there is no "SINGLE" way to make money online. There are hundreds. At WA, we have typically focused on Affiliate marketing, but now with the OEP we're focusing on many other ways too.
Stick with the Open Education Project and cut your ties with other training. When you can focus on one teacher you will succeed much faster.
Secondly, I'd like you to choose which path you are interested in. Local marketing? Affiliate marketing?
Making some decisions at this point will really help.
...and regarding competition. No industry has too much competition, it's just a matter of connecting with that industry (niche) in a targeted way. For example, "Weight Loss" is has many people promoting it, and you won't get ranked for the keyword "weight loss" (sorry!!). Choose keywords that have less competing sites. Use the WA keyword tool, or Jaaxy.com. Both give you competition stats for websites.
Carson
Thanks for your comments!
I have largely cut those other ties and will probably, reluctantly, cut the rest. Some of those are to people who are here too, and I hope to follow them here.
As I said, the only money that I've made has been through local marketing (of websites, specifically), but it seems to me that it's likely to be more profitable in the short term but require more work to maintain a good income down the road. Internet Marketing, by contrast, seems a much slower start and then, assuming Google/Amazon/whoever stays stable, a continued passive income that can leverage repeat business.
I need to do something soon, which pulls me toward local, but I'd like to do just enough to get by and focus on a long-term online solution.
I agree that Affiliate marketing may seem a bit slower at the start because you have to build a site, publish content, and get traffic. That said, once you get things up and running the first time, creating a new campaign will become easier and easier. Local marketing and affiliate marketing both are good options.
oh its so frustrating for me to i have tried so many marketing campaign pages and none of them worked from paypal ways to make money to ways to make money advertising other sites, to yahoo marketing, so many and i just want to find one thats easy for me to set up as a single mother who has to stay at home right now. something i can do easily within few hours and have it up and running making money on it within a week you know, is theres anything out there thats for real and not some marketing scam.
Angelastar, I can't see your profile so I don't know how long you've been here. I'm working with the 30 day program and going through the back Wabinars, which include some quick start suggestions. Maybe you've already done that, but if not, that sounds like a good place for you to start... I've also done the "less than a week" deals without finding any that worked. (And I could certainly use that short a time frame too!)
I'm also hoping that maybe I can find some of the Projects that will be worth something for me, as soon as it opens up again.
Hi there! I don't think that there are any legitimate ways that you can be making money within a week, although PotPieGirl - Jennifer, who is also a member here at WA has the One Week Marketing Plan, probably the most honest and truthful program promising results in the shortest time have a look here
http://seacow.potpiegirl.hop.clickbank.net/
Yea, That is an affiliate link, otherwise just look up OneWeekMarketing.com
Probably your best bet in terms of a program promising rapid results, just remember to follow the program through!
Best Wishes
David
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Kyle, you're right on about being pulled. I just got the biggest pull of all - a job. I don't intend to go back to a cubicle and write off WA, though. I need to cover expenses and that means a job for now, but I want to replace my income as soon as possible. I'll be off of WA for a little while (moving and settling in at the new position), but I'm not going to give up this time.
That is great, you will get there through dedicating some time to this and you have a full community behind you if you do every get stuck. Don't hesitate to ask. ;)