Did I get Lucky, or is it actually this easy?

[sashas]

I recently had my first $500 week.

Not a lot, I know, but I started off less than 3 months ago with IM.

I believe I have the *formula* somewhat figured out..I'm stuck at my income level because of time constraints, but I believe with a bit more time (or outsource), it could really be scaled easily.

But I've heard so many stories of people not making a single sale for months and years. I've been lucky to have made my first sale within two weeks of launching my first website.

So I ask you guys: is it actually easy, should I carry on with the same level of confidence, or did I just get plain lucky in selecting my niches and my promotion strategies?

[cheesy]

Wow, thats pretty good, ive been doing it for about 3 months, and the most i've done in a week is about $80.
Im not sure if it was luck or maybe you were born for ths Whatever it is your doing, stick at it for a few months, see if your still making the same kind of money.

[sashas]

thanks..I'll be scaling this up for now.

Btw, anybody knows a good, cheap writer, please let me know by PM

[big steve]

Dude that's a pretty good start. It does take a while for most people to start seeing $500 wks so whatever it is your doing must be damn good, maybe you could share with us what your doing??

[Charles Washington]

The first thing you have to realize about the people who never make a cent is, they usually do nothing but read, and never take action. Dont judge the simplicity or complexity of IM just from what other people tell you.

Take me for example. I really want to tell you that you got lucky. Sustaining the $500 a week is the key. But what do I know about your work ethic, your plan, and your strategies? I know NOTHING.

So, keep doing what you are doing. Tweak the things that dont work, and you will be fine. Try not to pay to much attention to any negativity in any of the posts in this thread. A lot of people are going to tell you that you were just lucky. FORGET them!

So instead of telling you it is hard or you got lucky, I am just going to to say WAY TO GO and KEEP IT UP!

Great Job, but think about using some of that money to outsource like you mentioned.

[geoffcruz]

Well i think you just got lucky, but like Charles said i dont know your methods, so congratulation. However, its the maintaining of the 500 a week is whats critical. This is faith pushing you to do this, its telling you 'hey you! i am giving you a signal here'.

[Matt Jutras]

It was already pointed out, but don't stress over what others are doing...or in this case: not doing.

A lot of people that come on here complaining about not making any money are usually doing something wrong....or maybe just not doing anything at all.

It's not like you can just toss up a website, kick back, and watch the money flow in.

Apparently, you've been taking appropriate action and have been smart with delegating your resources.

Keep it up.

[tommen]

$500 per week is really good! I know many people who have been online for years and are still not making any income.

[sashas]

From what I've learned in the past 3-4 weeks, its really, really important to take action.

And I mean real action that sees you devoting 10 hours to your work.

Here's a tip: go download this software - TimeLeft - Free clock, reminder, countdown, stopwatch, timer, sticker, auction watch and time synchronization utility using Winamp skins to show digits and text.

Use the stop watch included in it and start if whenever you start working (not reading, actual work - writing articles, making websites, etc.).

I time myself everyday, making sure that I put in at least 8 hours.

I think its important to treat it not as a hobby but as a business. You have to work 8 hours in any 9 to 5 job, and I think IM should require as much too.


Another little tip is to include an email/contact form in every website. You either use your own name or a pen name. I get at least 6-7 emails per website per week. I make sure to respond to them and answer their queries the best way I can, and also politely ask them to be added to my subscriber list. More often than not, these people will me MUCH more receptive to any offers you might send their way. A personal email really lets them see you as another human being and not just some machine bot.

[Karen Connell]

Originally Posted by sashas

From what I've learned in the past 3-4 weeks, its really, really important to take action.

And I mean real action that sees you devoting 10 hours to your work.

Here's a tip: go download this software - TimeLeft - Free clock, reminder, countdown, stopwatch, timer, sticker, auction watch and time synchronization utility using Winamp skins to show digits and text.

Use the stop watch included in it and start if whenever you start working (not reading, actual work - writing articles, making websites, etc.).

Hey,

Thanks for that link - great idea!

Regards

Karen

[garyv]

Don't go by what others say or think. Once you have this thing figured out, you have it figured out. Of course you never have it completely figured out, because it's always changing, But when you have that aha moment in online marketing, then it just becomes a matter of scaling it up, tweaking, learning new methods, and diversifying.

[HiTom]

Hey congrats !
If you have seen your earnings improving from 3 months ago to today, then it wasn't luck. Of course you'll see if your earnings are consistent, that certainly means to keep taking action.

So keep doing what you do ! Don't forget to track (what products/niche/website brings you the most money, how is it monetized, source of traffic...), that's very important and you'll know what you can improve and what you can expand.

As you said, you can consider outsourcing, it can be frustrating to know a system works but not being able to implement everything because lack of time. Always see spending as an investment (and an estimate in the ROI), not just a loss of money (where there is no ROI).

$500 should get you some content created or few tools to automate your process.

Good work ! And thanks for sharing the TimeLeft software.

Tom

[Zeus66]

Hey, $500/week is $26,000/year. Unless you have to work full-time to make that much, it ain't shabby! Congrats!

Now the questions include:

1. Is it scalable? Can you take the same basic process making you $500/week and double it, triple it, and so on, given the time constraints you have?
   
   
2. Can the "grunt" work be outsourced cheaply and effectively? This is the part that can take a 'pretty good' income to a 'quit your job' income.
   
   
3. Is there enough room for competition that you could write up a guide and sell it to other aspiring marketers? Now you're making money doing it and teaching it to others. Then you can get affiliates, pay them a % and really take this to new heights.

John

[Kappa]

I think it is part luck, part warrior forum, part not being led astray with claims of $10,000/hour by the "gurus." I never had that "9 failures and 1 success" experience either, my first campaign is a success (according to me of course, I get 2-5 sales/day). I am actively trying to scale up, and I have the potential to make $500/day with a combination of pay per click and SE traffic. If you feel you have a formula, carry forward, reinvest your earnings, and definitely be confident (why wouldn't you be?).

[ramone_johnny]

Thats awesome. Ive been online for years, (not IM) and have only just hit the $500 a week mark in the last 12 months.

Would you be kind enough to at least give us a hint at what youre doing?

Article marketing?

[sashas]

Originally Posted by ramone_johnny

Thats awesome. Ive been online for years, (not IM) and have only just hit the $500 a week mark in the last 12 months.

Would you be kind enough to at least give us a hint at what youre doing?

Article marketing?

I would say keyword research.

For example, for one website I made recently, my keyword research was very haphazard. Now, after almost four weeks of article marketing, blog commenting, Angela's packets and other links, I'm still to get more than 1-2 uniques per day.

Cause: I chose bad, competitive keywords.

I've found that low competition niches with low search count but even lower indexed pages work great. You can very easily dominate the SERPs and have multiple web properties making up the top 10 Google results.

[lonpora]

Nice one. Thats sound like more than just luck to me.

Looks like you're putting in the hours and working pretty hard too. Guess you've made your own luck.

[Adam Bshero]

There is no such thing as luck... so many people here are so fast to say his results are luck.

Create your own luck.

Obviously he is driving targeted visitors to an offer that is converting... please someone explain to me how that is luck?

Keep up what your doing and focus on what is working for you. Congrats.

[dle45]

sashas,

If you are making $500 a week this is not luck. You can't just put up a site and expect it to make money

You are doing what most people do not do...you are taking action

Your action and determination resulted in $$$$ in your account.So I say congratulations to you!!! Keep up the good work. Just keep this action going to make it $1,000 then $2,000 ...etc

[harrysidhu]

its actually very easy you didn't get lucky people tend to over complicate things and never focus so if you have something figured out stick to it scale and become a millionaire lol good luck.

[Vanquish]

Congrats on your success! But i don't know how you have been marketing for only 3 months if you joined this forum in September 2008.

[UndeniableSpirit]

Be very picky when you begin outsourcing - especially if you do it with a limited working capital.

[timpears]

Originally Posted by sashas

I recently had my first $500 week.

So I ask you guys: is it actually easy, should I carry on with the same level of confidence, or did I just get plain lucky in selecting my niches and my promotion strategies?

Not sure what you did exactly, but what ever it was, you did it. And ad for lucky or not. Luck is when opportunity and preparedness meet. So I guess you were. You were prepared to do what you needed to when the opportunity was there. Just keep it up.

As far as a cheap writer goes, I would caution you. Typically you will get what you pay for.

[amanita]

I think you made some clever research and did your JOB :-) That is how you got lucky

Kudos and create a WOS so that we can learn your process as well.

[rosan9]

Cool timing tool, it pains me to see how long something takes when I'm not paying attention to the clock.

Excellent start. Remember things happen so keep on your toes.

Roy