If you could start you IM career over again what would you do first?

30 replies
I've been lurking for a while now here along with several other forums/blogs learning about all different types of IM and how people make money from it.

I know some things are easier and some are harder (with it all being hardwork). Like most things some of the easier things don't earn you quite as much.

My question is if you could start all over again what would you do first to make your first $10? I am just looking to get my foot in the door and make a few dollars a day so I can afford some of these great WSO's along with some of the great tools I've been reading about (Market Samurai).

If you could give some examples that would be great.

Thanks in advance!
#career #internet marketing #start #wso
  • Profile picture of the author Underground SEO
    First off Market samurai keyword research part is free - so download that one right away and your keyword research is started. I would submit a couple of articles and submit some posts to some web 2.0 properties with keyword anchor text specific backlinks pointing to your landing page. then social bookmark them and keep doing that -completely free - then you may want to look at some automation software to do the abve e.g. Senuke - it is however 80usd a month.
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  • Profile picture of the author trytolearnmore
    I would use Xfactor blogs from the beginning + i would start my own blog for fun and not for money
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  • Profile picture of the author DaveMassingham
    If i was starting out again (back in 2005) I would learn about traffic generation as this is the life blood of your website. If you do not know about outsourcing then you are in trouble, trying something different every month. To learn about all the topics of traffic generation I would recommend you study traffic generation through the boys at trafficology.com

    I hope this helps
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    • Originally Posted by DaveMassingham.com View Post

      If i was starting out again (back in 2005) I would learn about traffic generation as this is the life blood of your website.
      I totally agree. Traffic Generation is probably the number 1 factor when it comes to online success. If I could go few years back, I'd focus all my efforts on traffic generation.
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      • I would have found Frank Kern, studies Mass Control sooner and understood the power of value based videos and list building.
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        • Profile picture of the author summer07
          The only thing I'd do differently is set up Wordpress, Adsese and at least 5 articles on every domain name I bought instead of letting them lapse.

          I could later flip them or at least sell them as 'aged domains' even if I never touched them again. Lesson learned!
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  • Profile picture of the author Rezbi
    This is probably a slightly different answer to what you're looking for, but an important.

    The first thing I would do is stop spending money on one thing after another.

    Believe me, the desire to get the next BIG thing is addictive. But all is does is ensure you keep spending and wasting money rather than make it.

    And find yourself a good mentor... someone genuine and not only after your money. And yes, I've wasted money on that, as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author wjtyoung
      Amen on finding a GOOD mentor. Can and will save you tons of time and money.

      Other than that, I would build/create products that were attractive to affiliate marketers and build out an affiliate network as fast as possible. I have made good money as an affiliate, but the people who I was an affiliate for made more, so what side of the equation do you want to be on?
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      • Profile picture of the author mldriggs
        trytolearnmore: Where are these xfactor blogs at? when I do a google search all I can seem to find is a lot about the show X-factor in the UK.
        Edit: is this is it? X-Factor Marketing

        Also, I haven't started a personal blog persay, but I have started a blog about my journey into passive income.

        DaveMassingham.com: I will definitely check out trafficology.com thanks for the tip.

        As far as outsourcing, I plan on implementing this in the future but I have first generate a stream on income to take care of my expenses that I'm incurring at the moment. Any good companies that you've had good experience with?

        I plan on trying out several things and hopefully having them all work. I know the importance of diversifying your sources of income as a key to success not only in IM but in life as well.

        Rezbi: I can see where you are coming from, all I want to do is learn and it seems that to get good quality information and ideas you need to pay for them so it has been very tempting to not purchase some of these WSO's that seem to give people some great success. On that note, once I have the money can you recommend some that have helped you out? Some things that have interested me so far are the Autoblogblueprint, The Newbie Workbook (day by day instructions, I need some guidance along with somethings I can "check" off), and another one that isn't a WSO but I've done a lot of research is Niche Blueprint 2.0.

        Any suggestions on finding a good mentor? Are you available ? I may be new to IM but am not new to the internet. I've grown up with it most of my life. I love computers and am great a figuring things out and love to be the best at what I'm doing.

        wjtyoung: I would love to be on the other end of the affiliate spectrum, but I have nothing to promote/sell at this time, perhaps in the future. How did you get into affiliate marketing? What products did you decide on and why? How did you go about implementing these products?


        Thanks in advance to everyone!
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  • Profile picture of the author entrepreneurjay
    I would of started an Email list way quicker .... The money is in the list newbies!
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  • Profile picture of the author rickkettner
    Step One: Choose Your Passion - Pick a niche that you enjoy, so you have a natural advantage over your competition, and have fun doing what you do.

    Step Two: Establish Your Audience - Create value for people in your niche (blog, youtube channel, or another medium), so you are seen as an expert that can provide ongoing value for the community. Start list-building and build trust and credibility.

    Step Three: Meet Existing Needs - Engage with your audience, find out what they want. Then, solve real problems by providing remarkable solutions in the form of products and services designed to meet their existing needs.

    More details in the link in my sig, but this system really works. It's based on proven business principles, and can create long-term success if you put in the time and energy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    I'd do same thing all over again:

    Niche sites + Adsense + SEO.

    That made me enough money and expertise to do what I do now.
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    People make good money selling to the rich. But the rich got rich selling to the masses.
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  • Profile picture of the author jaywilsonjr
    I'd focus on list building from the start, Instead of spending 1-2k a month on products and services I would put that money into solo ads and other traffic sources.

    Jay
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    I wouldn't change much, I learned from CCPRO in October 2007. I do wish I learned HTML code sooner. Still trying to get better with the coding.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Manetzke
    If I could go back, I would have picked one method and stuck with it instead of jumping from method to method and buying lots of products. Once I picked a method and started having some real success.

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
    I would have gotten the technical knowledge down first. When you understand programming/technology/etc. you have a better grasp of what's possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Atkins
    Create a product & start generating sales. Oh and I'll also build a list
    along the way.
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  • Profile picture of the author Igor Kheifets
    Originally Posted by mldriggs View Post

    I've been lurking for a while now here along with several other forums/blogs learning about all different types of IM and how people make money from it.

    I know some things are easier and some are harder (with it all being hardwork). Like most things some of the easier things don't earn you quite as much.

    My question is if you could start all over again what would you do first to make your first $10? I am just looking to get my foot in the door and make a few dollars a day so I can afford some of these great WSO's along with some of the great tools I've been reading about (Market Samurai).

    If you could give some examples that would be great.

    Thanks in advance!

    My biggest problem has always been "asking for the doe".

    So, if I were to do this again from scratch, I'd pick an affiliate offer
    and put it in front of instant traffic (probably solo ads).

    Igor
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    • Profile picture of the author SusanUSA
      I would learn from a top-notch guru. Not someone who makes the claim themselves, but one who has earned the title because s/he over delivers great learning material so you can be successful.

      I bumbled into the business and it's been good to me. At the beginning I was flat broke, so I had to do everything on the cheap. So I invested in a couple ebooks and then worked almost around teh clock. It all worked . . . and I've been doing this since December 2007.

      However, if I had some $$, I would be quick to invest it in excellent training from Eben Pagan, Andy Jenkins, Ed Dale . . . folks who really know what they are doing!
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  • Profile picture of the author JoshuaG
    I'd avoid BlueFart techniques and grifting people for money.

    I would provide people with something they want and can use.

    Only deal in quality, don't settle for less.

    I'd still buy a ton of WSO's and implement them at my leisure because they are relatively cheap and a great way to learn whats out there.

    If you ever plan on developing a million dollar idea, you want to have knowledge of every possible avenue available to you.

    Its a journey, a road, whatever, and you can only start from where you are, with what you know. That's why its so important to just jump in and give er.

    That part I would NEVER do again
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  • Profile picture of the author Ilya Feynberg
    Read less, think less, do more, build my brand from the start, not worry about a quick buck, work around my passions, and trust Google less
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  • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
    If I could start all over again there are three things I wish I would have known.

    #1.) It's not the amount of commission that you earn from the product, but the . . . for lack of a better word (because I'm drunk) the saleability (<---I know that's not a word.) I have one product, not on clickbank, that I have made a 20% commission on for only writing 5 articles. I've made about $300 on the product with very little effort and it was my first affiliate marketing venture. I've promoted many different products from Clickbank. . . but the truth is that if you're making $0 in commission sales on products that offer 75% commission. . . then you can't do any worse by promoting lower comission products that actually get sales.

    2.) The second thing I wish I would have known is that IM is all about patience. For the most part, you can't expect to launch a website and have it bringing in the big bucks within a week, unless of course you have an awesome list or are doing a JV. For most newbies, these things take time to build up. If you're not patient or persistant, you'll more than likely fail. Sad but true. On the plus side, that leaves more profits for the rest of us. I look at IM as a labor of love. If you don't like it, you probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place.

    3.) Most IM marketing methods are the same. I've read a ton of threads and ebooks. Most of them say the same thing, use the same methods, give you the same business plans. You can find extra stuff here and there, but it's all about narrowing down what you actually enjoy doing and what's profitable. Test and see what works for you.

    If I could start my IM career all over again, I'd probably start it the same way . . . because the way I started my IM career taught me the necessary skills to keep at it. I started as an eBay seller. It took me over 6 months to find a consistantly profitable niche. This taught me, that if you try long enough at something you'll eventually succeed. It's the same way with IM. You'll be overloaded with tons of stuff at first. People will tell you to promote a variety of different products from Clickbank products, to Commission Junction products, to Amazon Affiliate products. You will fail plenty, I can almost guarantee it. But, if you stick with it long enough, try and try again, you'll eventually find that one golden egg (and very likely several golden eggs after that) that will allow you to succeed and become an IM success. Just keep hope alive, and you're almost guaranteed to eventually realize your dreams.
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  • Profile picture of the author Leslie B
    If I would start over, I would start with networking sooner. I'm doing this for a few years now, but it's only the last few months, since I came in contact with a great group of people that my business is taking off more and more. So yeah, networking would be my definitif number 1 when starting over.

    Leslie
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    Taking it one day at a time!
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  • Profile picture of the author David Louis Monk
    The internet has changed and therefore what worked 2 or 3 years ago might not be working so well today. So many marketers if they have not changed and things have not been working so well need to change what they are doing.

    There are many ways to be successful, but concentrating on one thing at a time helps. Ditch it quick if you have not picked a winner rather than waste a lot of time trying to fix a dog.

    Even though Donald Trump is successful, if I am correct, he said he wished he had started with Network Marketing.

    To start over again to create some form of wealth a good way is to form a list and have a relationship with that list who you impart and market valuable content. That list becomes your responsive list which does not have to be all that large to start earning regular income.

    Put another way if you had to lose your material possessions except one precious item, the answer in most cases will be your list for it is that list that will restore those things that you lost.
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    David

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  • Profile picture of the author CianMcCarthy
    Banned
    hands down building a list
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  • Profile picture of the author markbyrne
    I'd start by getting a much comfier office chair, and working out how to make the edge of the desk comfy so my wrist didn't hurt like I'd been bowling for the England cricket team for 24hrs straight... other than that, I'd have learnt the tips I got from Kamran Chowdhury, StevenR and Daniel Tan much much sooner.
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  • Profile picture of the author richgrad
    I would get myself a free $50 google adwords voucher that I can activate with $10 and test out a couple of campaigns on carefully researched products and see which products are converting.

    Then I'll dump the junk, change things around on those that are barely breaking even and scale up the converting ones...
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    I wouldn't change anything. I joined CCPRO in October 2007 and still with them. For over 2 years now, I also manage Internet Marketing campaigns for retail businesses. I do wish I had learned article writing earlier...
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