Best way for me to invest my limited time? (Need advice)

It doesn't sound like you have much free time on your hands. I'm sure that you will think this through. If you do not work at least a few hours per day for a few months, you are not going to see any results. Internet marketing isn't easy to live by, but I'm sure that you know that.

Forums really are a hard thing to monetize. You can't expect many people to go to a forum and buy something/subscribe/click ads. This isn't a good way for earning money online, unless it is a part of your strategy (let's say that you have an authority site and you want to create a forum so that the users become more engaged in the topic)

Web Design - there is a lot of money there. There are many web designers that are making a killing online. But, if you are just starting out, it will be quite hard for you to find new clients. You can go to Freelancer, oDesk and Elance, but at first you will (most likely) have to settle for lower than your usual prices until you build up a reputation and a portflio. But since you already have a couple of clients, then I think that you won't have a problem with that. This is a very profitable way, but sometimes there is not much you can do to earn more (getting new projects isn't as easy as it seems)

I think that blogs are the best option for you. Why? Because they combine the good sides of the previous two options -
1) You can work at your own pace
2) You can make a decent living from it

Of course, how much money you are going to make is entirely dependent on the time you spend. I wouldn't advise you to create small niche websites and blogs with 5-10 pages. Everyone here will tell you that it takes one algorithm change and your website goes down the sink, when it comes to search engine rankings.

I think that you should focus on building an authority website. Research niches. There are certainly going to be sub-niches that you can get into. Because the sub-niches are going to be different - they will be categories on your authority site.

At first, you will be trying to rank for those pages. After you start noticing lots of traffic, you will see that your website will also start ranking for your homepage as well. This way you are building a website that is more stable, can withstand a hit from the search engines, and it also lets people discover other related to the sub-niche things.

Let's say that you are interested in the website creation niche. A micro niche would be creating the best WordPress website for business. But there are also other types of website that can be built with WordPress. There are also other means - coding, website builders, software, etc. An authority website would include the WordPress way (as a separate page) and all of the other ways (as separate pages). Of course, this is done after the keyword research process.

To sum it all up, go for an authority website. Create a list and start growing it. Rank for your inner-pages and the traffic will start going to your homepage as well. It will take some time, depending on your strategy, but you will start seeing results. I would recommend that you also used Amazon Associates, a lot of people prefer using it with AdSense as an additional way of generating income.

It comes down to what you want to do. What is your ultimate goal here? All the things you are thinking of will take lots of time so you will struggle with getting momentum (I know this because I know what it's like to have limited time)...
There are business opportunities you can invest in that are almost fully automated (90% work done for you) but you may not like the concept based on what you are saying. PM me if you would like to chat over Skype or email if you would be interested in seeing something.

Hey its,
First of all, it is Adsense you are talking about. Secondly, not sure why you would be put off with making money from something like an E book ?

There are plenty of excellent E books and E Courses that people create and the end users find to be be very helpful

Do not be swayed by the fact that there are some Charlatans out there that do in fact Pump bad E books.

But look at it like this...It is an opportunity for you to bring in the forefront good Marketers who have value ridden Products to offer !



- Robert Andrew

You have to prioritize what you want to accomplish and then put yourself on a schedule. You work til 6 and go to the gym. How late are you at the gym, I am sure you can squeeze and hour or two in when you get home. You can also get up a little early and spend some time their. How about getting your girlfriend involved?

If you really want to do this then you will find the time

al

No time, huh? Then autoblogging, but change the titles, a few of the words, etc. And make it more like a directory of topical links than just a straight ripoff of individual pages.

How bad do you want to be successful at this? What are you willing to give up to be successful?


http://youtu.be/CDFC16ptx-0

It's already been said here a few times, but i'm going to repeat it because it really IS that important.

How bad do you want it?

How important is it to you?

What are you willing to give up to make it work?

If you want it bad enough, you'll make time for it - simple enough!

Sadly, the two things needed most to be successful are the two things you don't have much left over each night. Money and time. You need to invest one or the other to be successful. Although there is a third option, which is by coming up with a unique idea and being lucky enough that it takes off without much input.

In other words, your best chance is to go viral. Spend that time at the gym to work your brain as well as your biceps. Spend as much time as you can thinking about any way you can turn your interests, hobbies or skills into a viral marketing campaign.

Also as a side note, Youtube seems to be the best way these days to make money with less time investment. Once you get yourself set up, you could get out a video every week. Good videos with a little bit of good social marketing can be very time efficient.

I have been in a similar situation to you for the past couple of years. Work, gym and the girlfriend keep me from putting much time into my projects. The best advice I can give is to work smart if you don't have much time to work hard. Feel free to message me if you need any advice.

Hi Its,

Congrats on choosing to free yourself!

Note; the desperation should go, immediately, so you can think clearly, calmly and confidently. Your energy creates this journey. So hop into doing 1 hour or more of personal development each morning. Change comes from within. Meditate, visualize and affirm. Then, you can head out to your job, vibing high, and then, when you return home, you'll bring calm confidence and not desperate energy to your work, because desperation repels prospering, successful, helpful people, and money, and all that good stuff......but power attracts the goodness and freedom you desire.

Vibe higher and higher, and act on an idea above - that you shared - which really makes ya feel alive.

Signing off from Bali!

Ryan

Forums are extremely hard to get off the ground and even harder to monetize. Forget about forums.
Web Design, that's another tough area to crack. There are too many web designers out there, and with the competition from places like India, Romania, you'll be very lucky to earn any significant amount money.

Blogs are probably your best bet. If you are good at writing and can write informative articles, you can develop a loyal audience and monetize through ads and affiliate links.

Best of luck.

Hello all,

Just wanted to thank you for all your good advice. The reality is I don't have much time. But that won't deter me from trying my best at this with the limited time I have. Maybe as my earnings increase I'll be able to invest more time... But for now I'll have to stick with small scale projects.

I'll research monetizing blogs.

Thanks again,
its

I would suggest you set aside a set amount of time into putting in the work needed to get where you want to be if you only have limited time. If time is a problem maybe you should consider getting up a hour earlier and working on your business within this hour until you are able to get more time. Place your focus on one goal weather its creating a site providing content and monetizing it, focusing on webdesign or creating a forum. You dont have the time to be juggling around with 2 and 3 things at once. Whatever it is you choose place your focus on just that. Be patient success wont't happen over night.

This reminds me of my old friend Fred, he was just like you, and for all intents and purposes had the same dilemas, he too lived in an expensive city had an 8-7 job, a warehouse if i remember correctly, anyhow he also baited with starting an online website, but couldnt find the time to do it, but needed the money, i recall him starting a blog site, put all his hobbies off that he would usualy do during the week, and done them at the weekend, which created room to divulge in his blog sites during the week

with forums and the time you have, you should forget about them, because they DO take time to get up and running and maintain if its to be sucsessful

Unless your prepared to create time, by parting with one to go to the other then i cant see much past blogging at this moment,

start small, and work your way up to full websites and forums

its all achievable, just depends how much you want it

Goodluck with it tho, life can be hard to juggle, i wish you well


Bertie

You can easily get Webdesign clients online if your diversify your traffic sources on the following websites

-elance
-odesk
-guru
-freelancr
-fiverr (but with upsells)
-warrioforum
-blackhatworld

Additionally you can leverage your own traffic from youtube,web 2.0's, article directories and forums to send people to your own business.

But when generating traffic on your own to go to your own "design site" would have to brand yourself within a particular market.

So don't just be the "website design guy" be the "hip hop site design guy" or the "clickbank site design guy" so you can get more targeted leads.