A Quick Way to Put $1,000 into Your Paypal Account

[Laura L. Harris]

Sorry, but I would like to ask one more thing, can you give me some hint on how to find such buyers? Means, what niche?

[Maria Gudelis]

Originally Posted by Laura L. Harris

Sorry, but I would like to ask one more thing, can you give me some hint on how to find such buyers? Means, what niche?

Hey Laura - glad it gave you and others some ideas. Here's the thing, I never went 'looking' per se for it - I stumbled upon it when doing a google search for a certain keyword term...and just had my eyes open/brain open to say - wow - can't believe this blog is there and it is not hosted on their own domain etc. as in the future - it will be worth more money and just build in value.

...so that can be also in your back pocket when you are on the web and a scenario like above comes up in your search results.

Here are some key pointers I'd say - the real opportunity is that Wordpress will / could truly delete your blog if it is hosted on wordpress if they deem it too commercial in nature...

so...I'd stay away from pitching blog owners that are not commercial in nature. In my case, that blog was a company, pitching a company and branding key people in their company so I knew wordpress one day would take it out.

it would requred surfing wordpress dot com a bit (suppose you could outsource that too!)- click on the tags on right hand side and you find a bunch of blogs - I just went there and clicked on 'health ' tag - suprised to see one blog that is one year old and yet has no page rank - (you can install seoquake in firefox to quickly see age of the blog, pr, links etc.)

Besides commercial in nature, if the blog is fairly young, OR has no page rank at all - you can also pitch the benefits of growing 'your own asset' to the prospect - when you own the domain and a whole slew of benefits to them such as:

1. ability to put an autoresponder on your own hosted wp blog (when you create a free hosted blog on wordpress.com - you can't install the html code from your autoresponsder (I've tried!) - showing wordpress hosted no like commercial in nature blogs...
2. Flexibility to add more functionality at a later stage in your web development - e.g. adding a forum on it down the road
etc.

Hope that helped,

[xrahull]

I find it hilarious that people are doubting that a business owner would pay $1000 for this kind of service.

I work with a lot of "offline" clients and they easily cut me a check for $2000 as a deposit just for me to find a solution to a problem for them. These people are "offline" business owners and if you have ever operated an "offline" business you will realize that you will not have near the amount of time you may now have (being an online marketer and all) to keep up with methods of technology.

In this particular case the person had a blog online that had acquired decent Google placement but let's remember that it was a FREE blog that is easy to sign up for and operate. I don't understand how this can be seen as someone that "is knowledgeable or internet savvy".

You may be aware of the fact that this could be something you could do for yourself with the proper knowledge, but to take 10 hours researching and learning how to solve the issue (or trying to find someone else to do this specific task for you cheaper), another couple of hours preparing the task (a lot involved in a switch over), and then actually doing all the work involved and praying that your new-found knowledge didn't leave some important tidbit of information out, you would have been WAY better off just paying the $1000 and being done with it. And this is how most, stretched for time, business owners would feel about the situation. This is without the value adds of all the other benefits this service offers the client.

I mean, it may be hard for some to believe a client would pay $600 bucks to have an auto-responder added to their site with advice on what to do with it, but clients pay it all the time. After teaching them what the benefits are, and weighing in on the fact that they are not "techies", plus the fact that it would take them forever (if they actually did it at all), it is well worth the $600 bucks to them.

Just my 1 cent. The economy is too scary to be giving my full 2 cents worth.

[multimastery]

Congrats!!! Now that's what I call savvy business work

[mmurtha]

Hey Maria,

Good going girl!

Lol there are gobs of services like this one you posted that will help people and bring in good money. The thing is, they are so simple, most people don't pay attention to them, or try them out.

I know I was guilty of this for a couple of years. I kept thinking, "Na, that's too simple to work." But I soon found out that nothing is too simple, and if you run a good service, are a little persistant, and do a little reasearch, you can accomplish much in a very short time.

Another thing too is that some people under cut their price underestimating the value of the service. You have to know what to charge, when to charge, and have a keen eye for the need.

Simple SEO, and light design work are other services that come to mind as well.


Mary

[Thomas Wilkinson]

Taking this up one level, it helps to have the mindset of a
Buccaneer. Someone who works a 9 to 5 and comes home
to sit in front of the TV and drink beer is never going to see
this. You have the skills to give the client genuine value, the
mindset to see the opportunity and the moxie to take action.
Nice going.

Tom

[charlesburke]

It's interesting, the wide variation in responses to this post. Some are here to learn and grow, and they "get" the basic idea right away. They may need some details explained, but the concept resonates for them because they're open.

And then there are those who are so locked into their "making money is bad" mindset that they can't see past their own prejudices. It's no mystery why we see so many complaining about not making it and how hard it is. The culprit here is not Internet marketing, and it's not those who are earning the money. It's the mental habits that condemn boldness, confidence, professionalism and self-worth. Makes you wonder why they're so afraid of those qualities.

A suggestion - for what it's worth - when you run across one of those "I'm shocked" posts, mark the name well. Maybe even keep a list. Then if you ever see that name again and they're offering to sell anything about marketing, sales or success, don't buy it. You've already witnessed the size of their vision. Do you reeally think they can teach you anything useful?

What a great opportunity! We can not only learn from the positive, helpful posts here, but we can also learn something from the "other side" too.

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles

[lienadla]

This is a great idea! I will try this soon and post any results that I may get.

Thanks Maria

[mmurtha]

Originally Posted by charlesburke

It's interesting, the wide variation in responses to this post. Some are here to learn and grow, and they "get" the basic idea right away. They may need some details explained, but the concept resonates for them because they're open.

And then there are those who are so locked into their "making money is bad" mindset that they can't see past their own prejudices. It's no mystery why we see so many complaining about not making it and how hard it is. The culprit here is not Internet marketing, and it's not those who are earning the money. It's the mental habits that condemn boldness, confidence, professionalism and self-worth. Makes you wonder why they're so afraid of those qualities.

A suggestion - for what it's worth - when you run across one of those "I'm shocked" posts, mark the name well. Maybe even keep a list. Then if you ever see that name again and they're offering to sell anything about marketing, sales or success, don't buy it. You've already witnessed the size of their vision. Do you reeally think they can teach you anything useful?

What a great opportunity! We can not only learn from the positive, helpful posts here, but we can also learn something from the "other side" too.

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles

Hey Charles,

Some people think this way because they think like a consumer, not a marketer or a person who is in business. When they get to thinking about thrier own business, it'll sink in.

[Paul Moore]

Great idea. Outsourcing rocks! You can apply the same concept for a ton of other tasks...

[emigre]

It's not about how good you are, it's about finding clueless noobs with deep pockets - best way to make money as many have testified here.

[Magic Johnson]

Originally Posted by Mike Williams

Way to RIP THAT GUY OFF!

Please don't take that the wrong way. I know that there is no "real" price for a product. It's just what the consumer is willing to pay. But I still have to point it out.

Now a bunch get bad ideas about money online, and offline...

$1000 and friggin "billy joel" can do it to... this is how I did it,

No No No - The world is just getting worse by the minute with this type of guides that leave a lot of info out, and then overcharges XXX$

[Magic Johnson]

Originally Posted by mmurtha

Hey Charles,

Some people think this way because they think like a consumer, not a marketer or a person who is in business. When they get to thinking about thrier own business, it'll sink in.

Originally Posted by thailand

And then there are those who are so locked into their "making money is bad" mindset that they can't see past their own prejudices. It's no mystery why we see so many complaining about not making it and how hard it is. The culprit here is not Internet marketing, and it's not those who are earning the money. It's the mental habits that condemn boldness, confidence, professionalism and self-worth. Makes you wonder why they're so afraid of those qualities.

You are both sooo wrong, and just generalize/charles like the cluesless do...

Every time I speak my opinion, I speak on per thread basis. This comment by Charles just show how clueless someone can become, and start generalize, if they said it Twice, they out to be "No Marketers".

Guess what In this case, its overcharge, its praying on the gullible. If someone knows how to market for real they go out and bring customers and take a hefty fee, either that or a % of all new sales.

I Care about Customers out there. I'm not thinking like one. Big friggin different so shut your P-hole.

Cheers from cold Sweden skiing here (You sound like a self served MLM pusher btw)

[bingbong]

great idea. it's not for everyone though. centainly one of the quickest way to make money in big way. i'm pretty interested in your product though but i believe that i do not possess those expertise and i end up not ordering. thanks for sharing.

[charlesburke]

Originally Posted by mmurtha

Hey Charles,

Some people think this way because they think like a consumer, not a marketer or a person who is in business. When they get to thinking about thrier own business, it'll sink in.

Very well said. And although the step up from consumer to producer can be a very large step for some, at least the Warrior Forum is the right place to learn.

Special Note to Newbies: It's important to remember at all times that what we write reveals everything about our thinking, our viewpoints, our prejudices and our values. A psychologist (I think it was Mansfield) once wrote that a person's mental blocks are totally invisible - to no one but himself. But it goes much farther than that. One's generosity, openness and willingness to share knowledge are also clearly visible. Just think before you fire off a comment. Once posted, it's there for a long, long time (unless some moderator mercifully deletes it).

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles

[Christie Love]

Awesome job, Maria. Your quick whit never ceases to amaze me.

This is good information for those wanting to make money and lack the technical know-how to do it.

[Mary Gallivan]

That's a really good idea - thanks for sharing - well done!

Mary

[stevenh512]

Great idea! I don't know that I'd charge $1000 for such a simple job (whether I did it myself or outsourced it), but I don't doubt that someone was willing to pay that price either.

Now I'm off to try this one myself.. lol.. could use a little extra in my paypal account right now (I have bills to pay, not a lot of money coming in online, and in this town you couldn't find a "J.O.B." if you paid them to let you work.. there isn't even so much as a liquor store or a gas station in this town lol).

[aboutalhah]

Awesome.

Consulting has no limit on the web.

Bravo!

[mmurtha]

Originally Posted by Magic Johnson

You are both sooo wrong, and just generalize/charles like the cluesless do...

Every time I speak my opinion, I speak on per thread basis. This comment by Charles just show how clueless someone can become, and start generalize, if they said it Twice, they out to be "No Marketers".

Guess what In this case, its overcharge, its praying on the gullible. If someone knows how to market for real they go out and bring customers and take a hefty fee, either that or a % of all new sales.

I Care about Customers out there. I'm not thinking like one. Big friggin different so shut your P-hole.

Cheers from cold Sweden skiing here (You sound like a self served MLM pusher btw)

Hey Magic,

Cluless? Lol thanks for proving his point.

Btw, is it in your nature to assume guilt for everyone out there who thinks like a consumer? Or just simply imature?

Now if you are thru slapping at people, perhaps we can get on with this thread.

Have a great day ....

[morwanneg]

Clever. How many times have you done this?

[seobro]

Thanks for sharing. You can also make a lot of money moving forums from one host to another if you know mysql. Typically what happens is that a person gets tired of poor cheap hosts and their forum is down more than it is up. You ask them if they want to move it. You get money from the hosting company for the new client.

[billionareHuman]

thanks for this it's a really good idea. Do you think you go lucky or do you think a high percentage of company blogs would transfer?

[Vince Runza Online]

Hi guys,

Here's a point that a lot of folks who don't deal with brick-and-mortar businesses don't know: these business owners know their business, but don't know marketing.

Local or regional businesses can spend way more than $1,000 on one-shot ads in newspapers, monthly circulars and the like. Plus (?), they can't track whether or not the ad paid off, unless they put in a coupon or some other way to do so.

If it looks like charging $1,000 is a lot of money to just transfer a free Wordpress blog to one's own domain and server, that's because you're thinking like an IM'er. That's a fatal mindset!

You cannot set the price for a service like this based on the "wholesale" cost of what needs to be done. The real value is long term -- keeping your blog (and the revenue it can generate) versus losing it to the Wordpress Police.

Most importantly, business owners don't want cheap -- they want the best and they want it to work! If you are afraid to ask for big bucks as a consultant to businesses, you may drive away potential clients. That's because if what you offer isn't worth a lot of money, then YOU don't deserve their business.

Remember the story of the furnace repair man? He tapped the furnace twice with a hammer, fixing it, and charged $250. The outraged client demanded an itemized bill. Here it is:

1. Tapping with a hammer -- $1.00
2. Knowing where to tap -- $249.00

Go thou and do likewise...

[Superior Content Creation]

Has Maria or anyone else had anymore luck with this? I tried to do something similar, but so far I have not gotten any responses. Perhaps I need to sharpen my strategy for finding possible customers.

[bellis160]

Originally Posted by xrahull

I find it hilarious that people are doubting that a business owner would pay $1000 for this kind of service.

I work with a lot of "offline" clients and they easily cut me a check for $2000 as a deposit just for me to find a solution to a problem for them. These people are "offline" business owners and if you have ever operated an "offline" business you will realize that you will not...

REMOVED FOR BREVITY

...fits are, and weighing in on the fact that they are not "techies", plus the fact that it would take them forever (if they actually did it at all), it is well worth the $600 bucks to them.

Just my 1 cent. The economy is too scary to be giving my full 2 cents worth.

You are absolutely correct. The idea that somehow the customer was taken advantage of is ridiculous. When you look at these kinds of comments at a deeper lever you see they are thinking like consumers instead of as business owners.

The value the consultant provided was not the labor intensive action of transferring the blog. It was the knowledge of how to do something for the customer that would protect and help his business. It was the trust in the consultants knowledge and experience that were important.

In business that trust and rapport are infinitely more valuable than the cost of the labor. The business owner was paying someone he trusted. Someone he believed had the right experience and knowledge to help protect and grow his company.

This is business 101. The consultant adds value because of her experience and knowledge. The cost of labor is not really even a consideration.

[bellis160]

Originally Posted by Vince Runza Online

Hi guys,

Here's a point that a lot of folks who don't deal with brick-and-mortar businesses don't know: these business owners know their business, but don't know marketing.

Local or regional businesses can spend way more than $1,000 on one-shot ads in newspapers, monthly circulars and the like. Plus (?), they can't track whether or not the ad paid off, unless they put in a coupon or some other way to do so.

If it looks like charging $1,000 is a lot of money to just transfer a free Wordpress blog to one's own domain and server, that's because you're thinking like an IM'er. That's a fatal mindset!

You cannot set the price for a service like this based on the "wholesale" cost of what needs to be done. The real value is long term -- keeping your blog (and the revenue it can generate) versus losing it to the Wordpress Police.

Most importantly, business owners don't want cheap -- they want the best and they want it to work! If you are afraid to ask for big bucks as a consultant to businesses, you may drive away potential clients. That's because if what you offer isn't worth a lot of money, then YOU don't deserve their business.

Remember the story of the furnace repair man? He tapped the furnace twice with a hammer, fixing it, and charged $250. The outraged client demanded an itemized bill. Here it is:

1. Tapping with a hammer -- $1.00
2. Knowing where to tap -- $249.00

Go thou and do likewise...

Amen. That says it all. I really feel sorry for anyone who doesn't understand this and is also trying to make a living online. They are there own worst enemy.

[reynald2790]

Great strategy. You really are very familiar in internet marketing. Thank you for sharing your experiences to us. Hoping it will help lots of warriors here who are looking for some income while they are looking for a right job.

[Ray Erdmann]

DAMN IT!

I had this great response that I typed up after reading the 1st page and it was all ready for me to 'copy and paste' and then...I see the posts from "Vince Runza Online" and "Bellis160", who literally took the words right out of my own mouth..sorta off... :-)

Not sure how you guys pulled that one off, but I guess great minds do think alike! ;-)

Well, that and you two made it sound so much nicer then what I had written down!


Ray

[stateless]

What a great example of tracking down poetnitla customers. It was a goo pitch too, because obviously you benefit, but so does he in a very meaningful way. Too many people wait for clients to come to them, when really if what you're offering is of significant benefit to them, there's no reason wh you can't or shouldn't approach people with it.

[articlemaster]

hmm thats a very nice work..
Great job and good earning with so much less effort..

[JohnMcCabe]

You guys that are moaning about Maria overcharging her client are missing a few very important points, and they have nothing to do with thinking like a consumer or marketer.

1. Maria knew about the risk of putting the company blog on a service which frowns on commercial activity. The client did not.

2. Once aware of the risk, the blog owner didn't know how to fix the problem. Maria did.

3. By turning the job over to Maria, it allowed the blog owner to continue operating his business, rather than pay the opportunity cost learn to do it himself.

As for those who think the job was too easy, think about it. Setting up blogs and websites, moving them around, promoting them - this is your stock in trade. It's fast and easy for you, because you do it a lot, and you get better/faster every time you do it.

For most real world business owners, setting up a blog or website is a one time deal. Sure, they could learn to do the mechanical parts, but they won't have the repetitions to be really good at it.

Just this morning, I paid a local business just over $300 to fix my car window. Part of the power window mechanism wore out, and I couldn't shut my window.

I had choices...

I could let the dealer fix it. I'd know going in that whatever they quoted me would be the highest possible price, at least in raw terms. It would have meant driving to the dealer, and cooling my heels in a waiting room until they got around to doing it.

I could have taken it to a repair shop, maybe saved a few bucks, but still lost several hours.

I could try to do it myself. Research online and at the public library for the proper manual. Dig out the tools buried in my garage. Go to a parts store or salvage yard and try to get the best price on the part. Rip my car door apart. Curse loudly, bandage my knuckles and check the effing manual again... If I got it back together and working, I might have saved some money but lost a whole workday (not to mention the skin on my knuckles and my dignity).

Or I could do what I did. I called a local mobile repair service. He showed up at the house, with the right parts, tools and skill. Start to finish, it took him about 35 minutes. A few more minutes of conversation, and he was off with a check and my business card and I was back at work.

The part I needed ran about $150, so at most I would have saved $150 trying to do it myself.

How many of you value your time at more than $150/day ($18.75 per hour for an 8 hour day)?

I was happy to write the check, and so was Maria's client...

[moneytize]

that is pretty cool but i can't believe someone just dished over $1k and the passwords to their site that easily. good thing you werent malicious

nice job though making a pretty penny!

[wearehere]

Good idea though I don't believe the price of 1000. YOU give us a choice of earning.

[Raydal]

Those who think that $1000 was too much for this job need
to read this book ...


Value-Based Fees: How to Charge - and Get - What... by Alan Weiss

Enough said ...

-Ray Edwards

[SteveJohnson]

I am so amazed at the cluelessness of some of the people who come here supposedly to learn how to make money and run a business, online or offline.

You're the same noobs and bozos who would cry in agony when learning that some IT consultant charges $2500 an hour - and gets it. So he spends 10 hours working out how to revamp a company's IT systems and gets paid $25K. Not bad for a day's work, eh?

RIPOFF!!!, you cry!

The company changed its systems, and because of the changes, saves $350K every year in costs.

Is the IT consultant still not worth $25K?

Many of you would still say "NO, he's not!"

Amazing.

[intratec10]

Originally Posted by Vince Runza Online

Hi guys,

Here's a point that a lot of folks who don't deal with brick-and-mortar businesses don't know: these business owners know their business, but don't know marketing.

Local or regional businesses can spend way more than $1,000 on one-shot ads in newspapers, monthly circulars and the like. Plus (?), they can't track whether or not the ad paid off, unless they put in a coupon or some other way to do so.

If it looks like charging $1,000 is a lot of money to just transfer a free Wordpress blog to one's own domain and server, that's because you're thinking like an IM'er. That's a fatal mindset!

You cannot set the price for a service like this based on the "wholesale" cost of what needs to be done. The real value is long term -- keeping your blog (and the revenue it can generate) versus losing it to the Wordpress Police.

Most importantly, business owners don't want cheap -- they want the best and they want it to work! If you are afraid to ask for big bucks as a consultant to businesses, you may drive away potential clients. That's because if what you offer isn't worth a lot of money, then YOU don't deserve their business.

Remember the story of the furnace repair man? He tapped the furnace twice with a hammer, fixing it, and charged $250. The outraged client demanded an itemized bill. Here it is:

1. Tapping with a hammer -- $1.00
2. Knowing where to tap -- $249.00

Go thou and do likewise...

I had to read this 3 times. Great post!

[Nevada Gal]

Can't believe I missed this post .... maybe I slept through October.

This is a great tactic and I think I might employ it. What some of you are missing is that everyone has a duty to charge for their time and their skill. I think $1,000 is a deal to make sure your site is intact and not stripped off the wordpress site.

Information is money. This is something I'm drilling in my head. I live in such an Internet bubble that I take it for granted that others know what I know and then I shocked when I get out and find out they know NOTHING! I mean nothing. They don't know what PPC is, SEO, keyword research, none of it.

Lately I've been thinking of doing a free seminar with offline buisnesses so they can hire me to do their PPC etc.

Anyway, great post!

[n7 Studios]

This is a useful idea, so thanks to the OP for sharing.

The value of the service is only an issue, because on the face of it, it appears to be a very simple job. When you itemise the work done, the broken down cost becomes more manageable and understandable.

The cost also determines the quality of service and previous experience of the person offering the service. A client paying $1,000 for this job can expect near perfection, wheras a client paying $10 for this job cannot.

It only becomes an issue when high prices are charged for poor services, which then gives others in the same field of business a potential bad reputation (not suggesting the OP is doing this - it looks like a job well done!).

[Andyhenry]

Maria,

You might want to learn a little about Wordpress - as that $80 is only 5 minutes work when you know how to back up and restore wordpress databases.

Andy

[koolphoto]

Maria just proved that if you want to make significant money in business then you need to "think outside the box." I have always found this to be true.

[S Bhaskar]

This is a real nice idea. However, I would'nt have the guts to charge a person $1000 for a $80 job. Is this about the hammer and where to put it to fix the problem kind of story. I guess so.

Anyways, I now understand the WSO about making money giving away free consultations.

[JaySabree]

Hello Hello,

Just wondering how much I should charge for this kind of job???

1) Take a wordpress theme I select and customize it to match a custom designed website. PSD/Fireworks PNG will be provided along with example xhtml/css.
2) Ability to use wordpress as CMS to display content on any page in the site, for example About Us.
3) Ability to use wordpress to show page with 3 recent articles from a news section, press section, testimonials section, events section
4) Ability to use wordpress to show detail/archive pages for each section listed in #3.
5) Ability to show most recent blog section and news section posts in site footer/sidebar
6) Ability to have a section called blog which filters out the sections from #3
7) Ability to index posts by category/section and keyword.

Please provide a ballpark timeline, and a link to your online portfolio or even better a list of links to 2-3 wordpress implementations you have worked on.
Thanks

[adpablo]

Interesting idea on how to make a consulting profit...I will keep it in mind...thanks for sharing...

[JustVisiting]

Originally Posted by jan roos

I think I worded my question wrong basically what I am asking is if he has his wordpress on his own domain and hosting company does he still need a wordpress account in order to use the blogging tools hat wordpress offers ? I have never used wordpress so excuse me if this is a dumb question.

Cheers

If you want a wordpress API then you need a wordpress.com account.
You need an API for some plugins, such as the wordpress stats plugin and askimet.

[visit_faraz]

Wow, that's really so inspiring.
Its these type of posts that makes me want to do offline marketing.

Nice work.

Faraz

[JaySabree]

Maria - I Can not thank you enough... I purchased your wso offline marketing for $5 and then I purchased your wso for $27 a little less then two weeks
ago... I just got home from securing my first deal. A Duct Cleaning Company is paying me $1500.00... I got $500 today and the other half he agreed to pay on Monday... I spent 4 hours this morning explaining the mind map and this was the first time that we met... He then cut me a cheque and signed a legal consultant agreement to pay the remainder by next monday...

This is such a great feeling... Thank You Maria... From The bottom of my heart... Matinees on me... I'll bring my girl ... you bring the hubby... Lets party!!!

[Ian Jackson]

Thanks Maria... a-w-e-s-o-m-e !

Just one thing you do that I can't quite grasp

is a client's WP hosted on my hosting account? or do I set up (a separate host account for each client? I'm thinking of user/password access, but guess I would take care of that on their behalf? and then updates would either have to be accommodated within the original budget, or as an additional cost.

Thanks

[Ian Jackson]

... just read the Maria's OP again and it seems that I advise the client how to set up accounts for domain/hosting, but allows me to access them with the user/password they choose...?

[Maria Gudelis]

Originally Posted by Ian Jackson

... just read the Maria's OP again and it seems that I advise the client how to set up accounts for domain/hosting, but allows me to access them with the user/password they choose...?

Hey Ian! It is better if you host the domain (can charge monthly then) and you give them access to the WP blog via domain.com/wp-admin with a userid / pssword