What would you do in this situation?

15 replies
Hi Guys,

Thank you for your time. I was hoping you could give me some advice for the situation I'm in right now. I feel sick and burned out.

I've spent the last couple of years studying Internet marketing and consider myself to have a good knowledge.

Out of all the online business models, information marketing appealed to me initially, and obviously ebooks.

I've created a couple of successful ebook sites in the past and learned a ton in the proccess, but of the site's that were successful, I sold them to raise funds for my next project.

For my latest project I did all my due diligence for picking a market and for a number of reasons I chose the "how to get your ex boyfriend back" market.

I wanted a niche where ebooks were being sold, where the demand was high, where it was a strong emotional need and basically where I thought I could compete... and very importantly, a niche that would support a continuity element. So among other factors, I chose this particular niche.

I've now spent about the last 6 months and a LOT of money creating a product in this market. I've been working with a real life, best selling relationship author to create the book and she's also created some online magazines that are to be used as monthly issues, either as a forced continuity offer or as an upsell.

Everything has been going to plan. Until now.

One of the reasons I targeted this market was because I could see that other advertisers were selling similar products via Adwords. I've spent a considerable amount of time learning Adwords and have leaned towards it throughout my learning of IM. I just love the whole format and everything behind PPC, specifically Adwords.

I have been working with a copywriter on the ebook site and was successfully promoting my site via adwords, sending over "test" chunks of traffic while we tweaked the conversion rate.

Everything is now ready and working. The product is amazing, the salesletter converts and it's got the backend continuity all set up. It's all ready to make very good, significant money.

Now the massive bombshell:

Google now don't like the site and my Adwords account has actually been suspended.

I can't advertise the site via Adwords.

So now after all this time and expense and energy, I have everything I need to make a significant income and Google has given me the finger.

I've never felt worse. Borderline depression.

And now I'm just seeking advice and words of wisdom from people that have may be been in a similar situation, can relate or at least have some advice to give.

What would you do?

The fact of the matter is, Google is the main source of traffic for this niche, either PPC or SEO.

Now I'm all for traffic diversification and that was fully my plan. But obviously SEO in this niche isn't going to happen any time soon.

I was planning to get my income going via Adwords and then I'd at least be making money while I work on SEO and pursue alternative traffic methods. I didn't think that was such a bad plan.

But my problem is, I've now run out of money and I can't afford to wait for SEO.

I've looked into other traffic sources but the volume just isn't there.

So now I've come to the following options of what to do:

1. Sell the site. It's obviously not earning but the potential is definitley there if someone has the time and money for pursuing all the other traffic methods apart from adwords. I could may be get a few thousand dollars for it, if I'm lucky. That would may off all the costs I've incurred with it and at least give me some cashflow.

2. Hold on to the site and spend months on SEO for very competitive terms.

These are the two main options I've come to, but what would you advise?

It's such a shame. The site and product is brilliant and the potential is enormous. Everything is here to make money, but I've just run out of money, time and desire.

The whole project has just left a huge lump in my stomach and I've come to resent it. It's just a burden and is weighing me down in the state it is now.

I don't want to sell it, but I just don't have the time and money to wait around for the income.

I'd be missing out BIG TIME in the long term if I sold the site. With good rankings and general traffic, this could very possibly be a $20,000+ month business. Very possibly more.

But the fact is, I've run out of money and time. I've been travelling in New Zealand for the last 10 months so have been building this site whilst out here. I'm 19 years old so this has sort of been a "gap year" for me. In the next couple of weeks I'll be going back home to the UK and to my parents.

I'm just so bummed as I've done everything right to be going back to my parents with a good level of income, but thanks to google it's exactly the opposite. Just a lot of debt.

So from being able to have the respect and support from my parents when I return, and being able to further pursue my IM dreams, I'm just going to feel shame and embarrased, and be back at square one with no money. Internet marketing isn't going to fly so well with them now is it?

I'm just so burned out and depressed.

I realise this is a long post, and more of a rant than anything, so thank you for reading. But do you have any words of advice? What would you say is the best course of action to take given my circumstances?

My mind is just all over the place at the moment and I can't think straight.

Thank you so much in advance, I appreciate any input.

Thank you,

Matt
#situation
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Really sorry to hear that. I think I would check out Clickbank and see how well it does there. Work on getting some affiliates to promote it for you on Clickbank. Many of the get ex back people are on Clickbank.
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      Don't forget there are other ppc networks and also Facebook ads. As well as CB and other affiliate networks.

      Take a few days out - go on a trip or something - then when you've had a break I'm sure the way forward will seem clearer.

      Right now you are panicking! With time, I'm sure you will find a way to move forward that it is better and more reliable than Adwords.

      Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author good2go4
    What a rotten thing to happen, especially when you have spent so much time on your project. I don't know a lot about Adwords but I do agree with others here that you can use PPC on other places like Yahoo, Bing, and FaceBook. Putting your ebook up on Clickbank will cost you an initial $50 to register your product but as already mentioned in this thread I know the "get your ex back" was going great guns on CB and I am sure some affiliates there would be keen to promote another good product in a similar niche.
    Unless you are in Taupo, no matter where you are in NZ you will be near the sea - go and take some deep breaths; you have laid out your problem, now let your brain start working on solutions.
    All the best, Lisa - living on the west coast of Northland NZ, 100 yards from the beach.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    If you sell the site, you're going to have to disclose to the buyer that Google has taken a negative action against your Adwords account because of the site. Failure to disclose that information could be actionable.

    Here's my best advice:

    Seek a JV partner from the Warrior JV forum. You can either find partners to promote your site, or you can find someone who will take over the operation and SEO duties for the site for a share of the profits. Since you've indicated that you've lost the will to actively promote the site, and since you've also indicated that the site and product are of excellent quality, you should have no problem finding a qualified partner in the JV section who would be willing to handle the grunt work now in exchange for a decent share.
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    • Profile picture of the author oohah
      I would try going with cheaper PPV traffic like the Adonnetwork. You can run campaigns there with very little money. try to build up some cash to generate a nest egg for some other traffic sources.

      However, I would be very careful with the other 2 big search engines. I don't trust Bing/Yahoo to let you run your PPS campaigns either.
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt.Lake
      Thanks everyone for some of the great suggestions.

      My site is already listed on Clickbank. Unfortunately, as anyone who has an ebook on Clickbank will know, it's not just a matter of putting the site on CB and letting affiliates run with it. It's been completely ignored by affiliates to this point and I obviously need to physically go out and recruit affiliates. I'm up fpr that to a point, but as I say, I've just lost the energy right now.

      To those suggesting I take a break, I agree. I've tried to take a bit of time away as much as possible but unfortunately I'm currently working as an article writer in order to stay afloat, so it's hard to even get away from the computer!

      Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

      If you sell the site, you're going to have to disclose to the buyer that Google has taken a negative action against your Adwords account because of the site. Failure to disclose that information could be actionable.

      Here's my best advice:

      Seek a JV partner from the Warrior JV forum. You can either find partners to promote your site, or you can find someone who will take over the operation and SEO duties for the site for a share of the profits. Since you've indicated that you've lost the will to actively promote the site, and since you've also indicated that the site and product are of excellent quality, you should have no problem finding a qualified partner in the JV section who would be willing to handle the grunt work now in exchange for a decent share.
      If I was to sell the site, then yes I'd be sure to explain the Google situation. I'm not out to screw anyone.

      The JV suggestion may be just what I need. It would be such a huge mistake to ditch the site now after all this effort, but I've literally run out of money. So selling it is tempting.

      I'll take a look into the JV option some more, but what would you say is the best way to approach this?

      I'm thinking I could find someone to completely take over the site and do all the promotional work etc, but how would be the best way to organize this? How can I ensure the partner would actually actively work on the site? I wouldn't expect someoneto just suddenly start giving their full attention, but then I'd want progress to actually happen... afterall, I'm perfectly capable of ignoring the site!

      How would be the best way to share revenue? It would obviously have to be pretty favourable for the partner but I wouldn't want to cut me out too much.

      Thanks again and any advice is very much appreciated.

      Matt
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      • Profile picture of the author goindeep
        Mate, it doesnt sound like you are doing anything wrong. It sounds like you just need to take a break. Your hunger and desperation really comes out in your post. This is not good.

        You need to chillax. Focus on what you DO have. Focus on all the things that currently make you happy. Take a break from I.M. then come back refreshed and with a new outlook. Seriously.

        Good luck mate
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    Matt,

    Originally Posted by Matt.Lake View Post

    Everything is now ready and working. The product is amazing, the salesletter converts and it's got the backend continuity all set up. It's all ready to make very good, significant money.
    If you have actual conversion statistics, you're in a great position.

    The "get your ex back" niche has been going for some time and it's full of marketers who've built sizeable lists. What they're now crying out for is new, quality content that's proven to convert.

    You might well be able to let them offer your front-end product for 100% commission (or at a specially reduced price) and then profit from the back-end you've already set up.

    Finding these JV partners is straightforward. As Steven mentioned upthread, there's the JV forum at this site. But also you can search with your keywords and pull up dozens of potential partners from the SERPs. Just target the marketers with opt-ins on their landing pages (as they'll be likely to have the relevant lists) and make them an offer they can't refuse.

    Don't despair. By the sound of it, you have a great product and everyone is looking for quality content.


    Frank
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  • Profile picture of the author MatthewM
    I would go to where the people are that would need a type of product like this.... facebook. I would buy status updates from people with large fan pages to test this traffic out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
    Google ain't the only show in town. So forget Adwords and come up with another strategy to get your traffic and you will be just fine.

    Will
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  • Profile picture of the author LocoDice
    Hi Matt,

    Sorry to hear about your situation. However, I see this as a potential blessing in disguise. I know that might sound overly optimistic. I know you have put lots of time and effort into it and expect quick results, but I'm sure if you channel this frustration and energy into finding a way to make it work, it will pay dividends somehow.

    I agree with what some of the other posters have said. Focus on affiliate marketing! This is your opportunity to learn it. Perhaps you could hunt out some gurus here on the site and message them about a jv, and by gurus, I don't necessarily mean those that appear to sell the most WSOs, you can tell a lot by a member by the amount of posts and thanks they have had on here.

    Don't give up, you've come this far. Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
      Why don't you ask Adwords what their specific problem is with your site?

      It is time for you to get busy getting your Adwords account back up and running.

      E-Mail them consistently, repeat phone calls, file multiple support tickets and make as much noise (polite noise) as possible. Find their fax number and fax them repeatedly if you have to, make it clear you have read their advertising policies and you haven't violated any of them.

      Express surprise at what has happened, point out there are similar sites advertising on your keywords.

      Communication is the key.

      As long as you don't lose your temper and stay professional, you have a good chance you will get an answer and they will tell you what the issue is.

      Suspended/banned/closed etc are just words, it only takes a couple of clicks by a senior staff member after a friendly 30 minute conversation with them to put your account back.

      The main thing you need to find out what specific problem there is with your site, especially if there are other sites advertising on the keywords.

      What you need to do is stop feeling sorry for yourself, start communicating with them and focus on getting your account back up and running, and find out what changes they require.

      You have nothing to hide, it isn't like you were selling drugs or scamming people, at worst it is a minor infringement on their advertising policies which are open to interpretation.
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      'If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.' Vincent Van Gogh.
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  • Profile picture of the author jclz3d
    Get a new adwords account..?
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    • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
      Originally Posted by jclz3d View Post

      Get a new adwords account..?
      That is not wise, Adwords will ban you for life if you do that and you get caught - there is no comeback then.

      What he needs to do is what I've suggested, get busy communicating until he gets his account back to normal.

      That is what a genuine seller would do, a scammer would set up a new account because they have something to hide.

      A genuine seller, gets busy communicating openly showing a determination to resolve the issue so they can continue to advertise.
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      'If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.' Vincent Van Gogh.
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