One Year, 1000 Posts Later...Lessons Learned, but Profitable

[Charles Washington]

To mark my 1000's post, I thought I would share my journey with some of the newbies, so they can see the progression of learning, getting frustrated, giving up, and with persistence - Becoming Successful!

I actually began trying to make money online about 5 years ago. The first thing I ever sold, was a list of wholesalers and govt. auctions on Ebay. I didnt know what I was doing then. I just figured I could make money duplicating what others had done.

After that...nothing. In 2005, I stumbled across affiliate marketing. I found this guys site and he had an affiliate page. I didnt know what that was, so I clicked it only to find out that I could make $5000 a month by driving traffic to his pet training guide. I was like "Sign me up!" So, I did.

I created an adwords campaign for the keyword pet training, didnt set a daily budget and just bid the maximum bid. It was only $4, but I was going to make $5000 a month, so what was $4?

Well, I checked my adwords account a couple hours after the campaign was live, only to find that I owed google $280. But, I was going to make $5000 a month. I checked my Clickbank (I believe) stats, and found that I had made ZERO sales.

I emailed the product owner and was like "Dude, what's up?" I forget how many HOPS I had, but he told me if he could convert sales with the amount of visitors I sent to his site, he wouldnt need me as an affiliate - and he could do it on his own.

I canceled my adwords campaign and never looked to affiliate marketing again. The way that guy responded to me made me feel that he only needed my money to draw visitors to his site - and he could have cared less if I made a penny, no matter how much I spent.

Fast forward to 2007. I was looking for a proxy, and stumbled on DigitalPoint. After getting there, I noticed they had a marketplace where people would pay writers to write content. I was like, "I can write. Maybe I have finally found a way to make money online." So, I created some threads offering my services and made some money.

The money wasnt great, but I was making a few hundred extra bucks a month by writing in my spare time. But, I was getting burned out with the low rates.

I dont know how I found Warrior Forum, but somehow in Nov. of 2008, I stumbled across the site. At first I hated it because there werent subforums. It was just one mass of topics. I was used to DP being categorized. So, I left.

In Dec, or toward the end of Nov of that year, I finally started reading and asking questions. Last year, this week, I took a week vacation from work to build websites and try my hand at the techniques in a WSO I purchased.

I sat down, built 5 sites, wrote 10 articles for each site and submitted them to EZA. After that week, I kept on writing and marketing my sites promoting CB products. On Dec. 24, I made my first sale as an affiliate. It was for a Violin course. From there, I kept learning and taking action. I built sites, did a lot of article marketing, and had some successes.

Over the past year, I have had many ups and downs. I have failed ALOT. I have given up a few times, but I always came back and gave it another shot. The result?

I have made GREAT money. I am not going to disclose how much money I have made, but it was nice. I didnt make $100,000 or anything like that. But, a few thousand here and there was nice, especially considering I am still new to this.

My advice:

Dont give up. There have been a couple of times where I had an idea. But, I was afraid to take action. I was afraid of failing, then getting depressed and walk away. But, I eventually (weeks behind schedule) got up and completed my plan. In each case, they were huge successes. Had I not went through with my plans, I would have passed up great money.

With that being said, there were things I still didnt take action on. Guess what? Looking back, there is no telling how much money I cost myself by not taking action.

If you have a plan or idea in mind, take action NOW. If you delay too long, the idea will leave you. Reading forums is fine, but it will not make you money. Money comes through action.

I never understood "learn from your failures." My mentality was always, why try if I am going to fail. And, why continue after I have failed?" Boy did I learn the hard way. Failure is perfectly acceptable. But if you do not take action, you will never get a chance to fail.

Learn and Act. Learn and Act. Learn and Act. Do not chase every fad out there. Pick something and stick with it. You CAN make it work for you, but you have to put in the time.

Good Luck!

[Success With Dany]

Originally Posted by Charles Montgomery

To mark my 1000's post, I thought I would share my journey with some of the newbies, so they can see the progression of learning, getting frustrated, giving up, and with persistence - Becoming Successful!

I actually began trying to make money online about 5 years ago. The first thing I ever sold, was a list of wholesalers and govt. auctions on Ebay. I didnt know what I was doing then. I just figured I could make money duplicating what others had done.

After that...nothing. In 2005, I stumbled across affiliate marketing. I found this guys site and he had an affiliate page. I didnt know what that was, so I clicked it only to find out that I could make $5000 a month by driving traffic to his pet training guide. I was like "Sign me up!" So, I did.

I created an adwords campaign for the keyword pet training, didnt set a daily budget and just bid the maximum bid. It was only $4, but I was going to make $5000 a month, so what was $4?

Well, I checked my adwords account a couple hours after the campaign was live, only to find that I owed google $280. But, I was going to make $5000 a month. I checked my Clickbank (I believe) stats, and found that I had made ZERO sales.

I emailed the product owner and was like "Dude, what's up?" I forget how many HOPS I had, but he told me if he could convert sales with the amount of visitors I sent to his site, he wouldnt need me as an affiliate - and he could do it on his own.

I canceled my adwords campaign and never looked to affiliate marketing again. The way that guy responded to me made me feel that he only needed my money to draw visitors to his site - and he could have cared less if I made a penny, no matter how much I spent.

Fast forward to 2007. I was looking for a proxy, and stumbled on DigitalPoint. After getting there, I noticed they had a marketplace where people would pay writers to write content. I was like, "I can write. Maybe I have finally found a way to make money online." So, I created some threads offering my services and made some money.

The money wasnt great, but I was making a few hundred extra bucks a month by writing in my spare time. But, I was getting burned out with the low rates.

I dont know how I found Warrior Forum, but somehow in Nov. of 2008, I stumbled across the site. At first I hated it because there werent subforums. It was just one mass of topics. I was used to DP being categorized. So, I left.

In Dec, or toward the end of Nov of that year, I finally started reading and asking questions. Last year, this week, I took a week vacation from work to build websites and try my hand at the techniques in a WSO I purchased.

I sat down, built 5 sites, wrote 10 articles for each site and submitted them to EZA. After that week, I kept on writing and marketing my sites promoting CB products. On Dec. 24, I made my first sale as an affiliate. It was for a Violin course. From there, I kept learning and taking action. I built sites, did a lot of article marketing, and had some successes.

Over the past year, I have had many ups and downs. I have failed ALOT. I have given up a few times, but I always came back and gave it another shot. The result?

I have made GREAT money. I am not going to disclose how much money I have made, but it was nice. I didnt make $100,000 or anything like that. But, a few thousand here and there was nice, especially considering I am still new to this.

My advice:

Dont give up. There have been a couple of times where I had an idea. But, I was afraid to take action. I was afraid of failing, then getting depressed and walk away. But, I eventually (weeks behind schedule) got up and completed my plan. In each case, they were huge successes. Had I not went through with my plans, I would have passed up great money.

With that being said, there were things I still didnt take action on. Guess what? Looking back, there is no telling how much money I cost myself by not taking action.

If you have a plan or idea in mind, take action NOW. If you delay too long, the idea will leave you. Reading forums is fine, but it will not make you money. Money comes through action.

I never understood "learn from your failures." My mentality was always, why try if I am going to fail. And, why continue after I have failed?" Boy did I learn the hard way. Failure is perfectly acceptable. But if you do not take action, you will never get a chance to fail.

Learn and Act. Learn and Act. Learn and Act. Do not chase every fad out there. Pick something and stick with it. You CAN make it work for you, but you have to put in the time.

Good Luck!

Good story and thanks for the boost.

[SurviveUnemployment]

Congratulations. Persistence pays -- literally.

[1960Texan]

Thanks Charles! Posts like yours are valuable because the preach the effectiveness of persistence. I wouldn't mind seeing an "Inspirational Post of the Day" here on the Warrior Forum, it would help newbies and experienced marketers alike. Here's to your continued success!
Will

[Charles Washington]

Persistence is remarkable in the way it pays off.