Noobs...Do You Find Making Money Not Simple OR Not Easy?

[Steven Wagenheim]

I know that probably sounds like a strange question, so let me explain what
I mean.

Simple

A step by step procedure that anybody with average intelligence can
execute with little or no problem.

Easy

The steps themselves require no particular skill to execute.

So, as an example, let's take this very simplified procedure.

1. Find a product
2. Write articles related to the niche of that product
3. Write a resource box directing people to review of product
4. Write review of product and include affiliate link at the end.
5. Distribute articles to article directories.

There you go. That is what I consider a simple procedure.

But is it easy?

Finding a product that converts well can sometimes be hard.
Writing articles, if you don't write well, can be very hard.
Same with writing a resource box if you don't know how.
Writing a review of a product can also be hard if you don't know how.

The only part of this simple procedure that is easy, at least on an
intellectual level, is submitting the articles. And even that part can
present challenges.

What directories do you submit to in order to best utilize your time OR
money if you're going to outsource the procedure?

And if you do it yourself, depending on how many directories you
submit to, while it may not be intellectually challenging, it can certainly
drain you of your energy if you spend a lot of time doing it.

So what is it?

What is your big sticking point?

Is it that you don't have at least one simple effective procedure that
you can follow (I'd find that almost impossible to believe with so many
great ones freely shared here) or is it that you don't have the needed
skills to execute the process OR the money to outsource it if you would
prefer others to do it for you?

My gut tells me that it's the ease of the process itself that's your
sticking point. But maybe not. Maybe you haven't found a process
simple enough to execute that also brings results given that you have
the skills OR the money to put it into operation.

Anyway, that's the question I'm asking.

Looking forward to your responses.

[jitterbug978]

Making money is really easy and simple once you learn the mindset.

[Wham]

I'm still waiting for my first batch of articles to be approved by Ezine, and depending on the results I will either be inspired to work harder, or feel like my work went unnoticed.

and I think that happens with a lot of people, maybe they didn't see results when they wrote articles and just give up. writing good enough articles and proper keyword research probably is the roadblock for many.

some people just never take action, not because it's too hard, but because it's work now and MAYBE get results later, and I don't think people like the fact that they don't see results they want fast. They want the results before they start working hard.

[jayveen]

Finding the niche is the hard part about article writing. That is, you can write really good articles, submit to just the high ranking/high traffic article directories, and still not get any traffic to speak of. You may get only 30 views or so on EZA, and one or two clicks.

So the trick to making article marketing work is to have some topic that people are going to want to read, and want to follow up by clicking your resource box. So far I haven't found the magic bullet, but that may be because I am refusing to do weight loss, make money online, or dating sites.

I'm always surprised when people just generically suggest article marketing, but don't point out that for lots of categories the article just gets you links, but no traffic.

[pcpupil]

I just put my site up about 5 weeks ago.Ive been submitting articles,one was accepted at eza.I have 6 on site and ive published the articles to at least 7 Article directories.
Including goarts,squid,hub,plus a few more.Im going to start with a few more.The last 3 days i had 7 hops.Been trying this for about 6 mos now.No sales.Had a sight at weebly for over a month,and no sales.
Just looked at google,none of my arts are on page 1 yet.May not get there either.
Ive bookmarked my site with,digg,delicious,propeller,mixx,reddit,socialma rker,pingoat,pingomatic,feedagg,feedage.

@Steve W.
What do you think of these extra sites to setup articles with:
artc99
buzzle
asso-content
artc ally
artc cube
amazines
easyarticles
ideamarketers
I still am trying to add a clickable link to MOMU.So it can be on my home page.Im using WP with a static home page like a site.
Im always checking out your posts and a couple of the other article people here.

Check my first site and see what you think,
xxx.myxback dot com.
Can i put a link to my site in the body of my post?
Without having to spell it out?

[Biggy Fat]

You know, I explain something like this in my blog. Sure it looks easy, but when you realize that you followed a step by step procedure and get it wrong, then you say it's impossible.

Truth be told, there is no "step by step" system. There are no "blueprints" to follow. And nothing will "take you by the hand" to success. It's pretty much trial and error.

[IMRookie1]

As noob, what attracted me was the money. When I realized I had to provide value, that stumped me because I wanted to make sure I made money. I have purchased quite a number of products that promised proven blueprints and I know they have worked for others but I haven't been able to make it myself. Mostly, I know it's me because I think I give up easily and look for the next Holy Grail or I get distracted because this next offer is so good it just might work for me.

[keithoz88]

Hi Steve,
As a newbie myself i think the key is to have a doable plan that doesnt require too much time and effort initially.
This plan could be to make 80-100 bucks a day as this enables someone to either quit work or at least switch to a part time job, enabling greater time and effort into an IM business.
Then any amount of time and effort is possible without too much work and related financial stress in life

[JeffLam]

Well, I would say for myself it is not Easy.

But for most newcomers whom are yet exposed to these online media...I'm guessing it should be not Simple.

Argh.

Man, next thing you know you have a new topic with "Gurus..Do You Find Making Money Not Difficult OR Not Hard?"

[pharris1]

I would say making money on the internet is not easy. Conceptually the ways to make money are simple to understand (in my humble opinion). The process to make money is not simple (as we may be led to believe or want to believe) from the sales pages we read. Once someone dives into this and puts various methods into practice and is committed to making it work I think the realization of just how much work goes into building a successful online business comes to light.

My opinion is that when that realization is recognized that can become the breaking point for many newbie's.

So simple - yes. Easy - Nope!

Peter

[Frank Murphy]

Steve, personally, I think that outsourcing the distribution, not writing, of articles is the right way to go about with your simplified procedure. However, I know many aspiring marketers who, despite having some start-up cash in their coffers, are afraid to invest in outsourcing, in fear of incurring a negative ROI. Kindly correct me if you feel I am wrong, thanks!

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Lady NaNa

Steve, personally, I think that outsourcing the distribution, not writing, of articles is the right way to go about with your simplified procedure. However, I know many aspiring marketers who, despite having some start-up cash in their coffers, are afraid to invest in outsourcing, in fear of incurring a negative ROI. Kindly correct me if you feel I am wrong, thanks!

Certainly if you can afford it and justify the ROI, outsourcing is the way to
go because you want to use your time for more productive tasks.

Problem is, because so much of the process is uncertain (will the product
even convert) new people are hesitant to take monetary risks and thus
would prefer to do the manual labor, which there is nothing wrong with
doing.

I did everything myself when I first started because I was flat broke. I
had no choice but to do it that way. I was already in debt and couldn't
get more credit if I wanted to.

Ultimately, everybody has to do what they feel is right for them.

[wardo]

The sticking point for me is getting views on my articles and converting people who read my review into buyers. I write quite well and some of my articles have plenty of views but most of the time I am lucky if I get 10 views. Maybe I need to promote each article more, but this is difficult if you have hundreds of articles. Another thing I find difficult is coming up with the right kind of review. Should it be short or long? Should it be written from an experts point of view or an average joe? Should it be salesy or neutral? These are all things I am trying to figure out.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by wardo

The sticking point for me is getting views on my articles and converting people who read my review into buyers. I write quite well and some of my articles have plenty of views but most of the time I am lucky if I get 10 views. Maybe I need to promote each article more, but this is difficult if you have hundreds of articles. Another thing I find difficult is coming up with the right kind of review. Should it be short or long? Should it be written from an experts point of view or an average joe? Should it be salesy or neutral? These are all things I am trying to figure out.

You've brought up several issues here so let me briefly touch on each one.

The problem of article views is one of the most common among article
writers. There are many factors that go into how many views you get, and
as has been discussed here on this forum, some marketers flat out drive
paid traffic to their articles to get them on the most viewed list in order
to eventually get real views from people actually interested in the articles
themselves. I can't speak for other directories, but this is against EZA's
TOS.

Aside from that, keywords chosen, competitiveness of niche, attractiveness
of title and other things all contribute to how many views you get. I too
have articles with 20 views and then I have articles with 20,000 views or
more and that's WITHOUT driving traffic to them. In those cases, it's the
keywords I've chosen and the fact that many aren't in the niche itself.

There is no one thing I can share that is going to increase your views.

However, having a "hard to pass up title" is a great start. If the title sucks,
nobody's going to read it.

As far as the product review goes, there is no one way to go about it. I
keep my reviews simple and to the point. I go over what the product
contains and then give my opinion on how good the info is. I do not make
any kinds of claims in my review, especially now with the FTC cracking
down on people. As far as length of review, as long as it needs to be. As
far as what viewpoint to write from...a user's viewpoint, whatever that
means to you.

If you're looking for a cookie cutter "this is the way to do it" approach for
writing reviews or anything for that matter, it doesn't exist. Each person's
writing style is different. What may work for somebody else may not work
for you simply because of the way YOU write.

This is probably not the answer you're looking for, but it's the best one I
can give.

As I said, it's not the step by step that's hard to follow.

It's the execution that's a pain in the ass.

[wardo]

Thanks Steven, that was really useful. I guess a lot of it comes down to trial and error. Eventually we will find something that works well. I think the key is to not be discouraged when one thing does not work, you need to keep trying and eventually you will get there.

One other thing that I always wonder is- do article marketers rely solely on the views they get from ezine articles to get sales, or do they intend to get the article ranked in the search engines to get sales? I know getting ranked in search engines is preferable, but are the views from the articles directories enough to be successful?

[Vanquish]

For me it's getting the resource box right in one niche I had a resource box that consistently did 43% and I tried to apply the same principles of it to another niche and it is only doing 15%... All about trial and error I guess...

[JackPowers]

My sticking point is SEO and Keyword research, particularly keyword research. With SEO, I feel like I am shooting in the dark. There's so much conflicting advice and without the right tools, SEO is time consuming. I would be very happy if I knew of one bulletproof method to follow.

[Diver's]

well, Steve.. great points in #13!

[WinsonYeung]

Making money is easy once you have your business setup on autopilot. In the past few months ago, I was working everything manually and cost me a lot of hours spending on my desk to reply customer email and processing sales....

Once, I have my automated program build out and saved me tons of customer email and support. Making money is easy for me now, but expanding is hard...

How should I expand my business and increase my profit is the next question.