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How do I proceed with IM from here?

by guitar2tr
7 replies
Do you have any IM advice that might help me?

Here's my situation...

I have one website for selling my ebook and another related website to gain subscribers, provide content and promote my own products, as well as related affiliate products. I have a Facebook business page, twitter acct, Youtube acct. for free videos, Google+, an EasyWebVideo Acct for my ebook videos, and an Aweber acct with 7,632 people subscribed to my email lists.

My original content site was set-up to promote affiliate programs. It reached and held the first position on page one of Google's Search Engine for several years by providing quality organic content for visitors. My traffic and income were steadily increasing to where I was making from $800 - $1200 per month. So, I compiled some of my content into an ebook to sell on Clickbank and provided an affiliate opportunity to help with sales.

As my competition increased it became obvious that I needed to create videos for my product and services in order to stay relevant, so I did. However, the web-host I was using was not meeting my needs adequately. So, I decided to hire a web-designer to help move and create a new site for me. He recommended I use Wordpress along with the WarriorPress Membership plugin to create a new membership site, so this is what I did.

However, the web-designer I hired didn't finish the job he started.

Nevertheless, I created more videos for my membership site and watched the support videos for the WP plugin to learn how to create the layout for my pages. I was just about ready to launch the membership program when I had a family emergency which pulled me away from my work. When I returned I discovered that the WP Membership plugin support site and videos were no longer available online.

This really threw me for a loop because I had spent lots of time and money trying to set things up, but now there is no way to know if I did it correctly. I downloaded a different membership plugin, but I feel stuck and in need of some direction and advice.

Should I...
- continue building a membership site?
- sell my websites?
- start over in a new niche?
- focus exclusively on affiliate marketing?
- hire someone to analyze what's wrong and/or fix it for me? If so, who?
- quit?

My husband is retired without a pension. I am not looking for a get rich quick scheme, but would like to automate the IM process as much as possible.

Helpful resources, motivational ideas, experience, or insight will be appreciated. =)

Thanks!
#proceed
  • Profile picture of the author AntonioSeegars1
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    • Profile picture of the author mentat47
      Originally Posted by AntonioSeegars1 View Post

      I think you made a mistake when you decided to switch your main focus to videos and creating services. You grew the site based off of your quality organic traffic from written content, so the videos and everything else should of just been a secondary supplement to the site. The fact that you had the number one spot based solely off of your quality content means that Google gave your site authority status. You have a formula that you have already proven to be effective, so there's no reason to change it. What you should focus on is greatly increasing your quality content output.
      You know what they say. "If it's not broken, don't try to fix it."
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  • Profile picture of the author mrgoe
    If I were you, I`d try to replicate the first method that worked for you. An authority website with great content, but in a different, somewhat newer niche.
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    Worked as a senior editor on ThePricer.org, experienced in financial topics
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    • Profile picture of the author guitar2tr
      Thanks for responding.

      Re: "I think you made a mistake when you decided to switch your main focus to videos and creating services."
      You're probably right. That's when things began to change. It was much easier providing free content and promoting affiliate programs. However, I felt it was important to build a subscriber list, which led to requiring an opt-in to access my lesson material, which led to the need for a private member area, etc.

      If I don't require an opt-in to access lesson material, how would I attract subscribers to join my list?
      Re: "If I were you, I`d try to replicate the first method that worked for you. An authority website with great content, but in a different, somewhat newer niche."
      Do you have any suggestions on what I should do with my current websites?

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  • Profile picture of the author GarlandBergeron
    I'd say membership site would be a great idea, it's always good to have guaranteed income coming in every month
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    Hi - your niche is fine, looks like your ebook is solid and you have a great story and ability to teach others guitar. As long as you are happy with your niche, I would definitely stay with it.

    Second - what was the original site that was targeted at affiliates through content?

    While you may have wanted to move that site to WP to gain more flexibility going forward, you should not have changed the model of that site if it was working.

    Further - if it was working to convert affiliate products, then you could have easily transitioned that into converting traffic into your list and then had the flexibility to either market your own products or affiliate products after capturing their information.

    The current design of the sites needs some serious work - I would create another lead-gen page that followed some basic marketing principles - simple, clear, benefit oriented and only one clear choice for your visitor. Then - choose a theme or template that lets you optimize the same content you had offered (and were successful with) in the past. Where you would have promoted affiliate products in the past - insert offers for your landing page (free videos or training, chapter of your ebook, etc...) and go from there.

    Jeff
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    Turn Your Knowledge Into High-Paying Digital Products To Sell Online
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    • Profile picture of the author guitar2tr
      Hi Jeff-

      The site was abclearnguitar.com, but it was created using a different site building program and host. I started out with affiliate programs because I didn't have my own product. After my site earned a #1 position on Google SE, I created my own ebook and also started receiving income from other guitar sites who wanted to advertise on my site, etc...

      Google's "Panda and Penguin" updates apparently affected my site SE position because it slowly began to sink lower down the SE page after that. I knew I needed to change things, so I hired someone to help me. They convinced me to move my site to WordPress and build a membership site. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but things didn't work out the way I expected. Now I'm trying to regroup.

      I've been thinking about restructuring the site again, but I'm also considering other options.

      Thanks for your insights. I appreciate the constructive criticism and time you took to provide some intelligent advice. I will consider what you said, and the work that is involved, before making a final decision.

      guitar2tr
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  • Profile picture of the author Tech Pyjama
    Network and market like crazy. Believe it or not, if you're passionate enough, you'll find hundreds of unique ways to market yourself online without spending a dime and build up an audience that wants to pay for your services.
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