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Big ideas...Big success but no money

by paradox_qu
13 replies
Like most of the noobs here I really want to make a full time income from the internet (my soul sucking J.O.B. is really draining the life from me).


I like making videos and I like building things. I've been doing these two things mostly separate for a while when it finally dawned on me, why not make this my niche. I've made a few videos and one really took off but I'm thinking for the most part I'll be focusing on things fathers can do with their sons. I don't have kids but I remember growing up making things with my dad and really enjoyed it. So I plan on make videos showing different projects people can do with their sons. The best part is that even if you don't have a son the projects should be cool enough to grab other people's attention. For example, right now I'm working on a hydrogen powered rocket!


My plan to making money was to make videos and drive traffic to the videos then hope that I would get accepted into youtube's partnership program and make money off the ads. The more I think about this the more I realize I'm being stupid. First it's silly for me to "hope" to make money. One of my videos has really took off and I haven't made a penny off it or any of my others. Second I want to be making money a lot sooner than "potentially" months from now and only if youtube accepts me into their partnership program.


My new plan is to continue making videos about cool DIY projects. The difference is that in the video I will show a more general step by step, more of an overview, and if the person likes the video or the project they can buy the pdf which is a very detailed step by step instructions which will also come with a more detailed step by step video.


My problem is that I don't really know how to best organize all my ideas together and get started. For my content delivery when someone buys I'm thing of using something like ejunky. But I don't know if this is the best route for me. Suggestions? Also I don't know what a good price point to start would be. I don't know if I sould sell my stuff for 5 dollars or 15 dollars, or more? Suggestions?


I would love to for some of you to check out what I've done so far (remember I'm still starting out) and tell me what you think. Everything on my site is currently free so I am a little nervous to start charging for stuff. But hey a guys gotta eat.


DIYGenius.tv


The glass coke bottle plant waterer had almost 100,000 views on youtube and over 2,000 downloads of the pdf. And the Bamboo blow gun has 2,500 views on youtube and 300 downloads of the pdf. So I'm pretty sure people are interested in what I have to offer. I'm just looking for some advice on how to monetize my future projects.
#big #ideasbig #money #success
  • Profile picture of the author WebPen
    I'm not gonna lie- your videos are pretty sweet man.

    As far as monetization goes- maybe you could make a teaser video talking about what you built, how sweet it is, etc.

    Then you can mention that you put together an easy video/PDF on how to do it.

    Then sell the DIY video/PDF combo for a few bucks, or put a bunch of them together as a bundle deal.
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  • Profile picture of the author jt808
    Nice post, thanks for sharing your website. The next step you will want to consider is building a list. You could easily put together an ebook or video series of your top 5 favorite DIY activities, that you give only to people that subscribe to you mailing list.

    This should be the precursor to your product which of course would be a book or DVD of 100+ DIY activities that you can do with your dad, or something along those lines.

    The reason this works it because you already have a following and you already know that you have a great niche that is in demand.

    Since you are already doing what you are passionate about, putting this stuff together should be the icing on the cake.

    Once your book is done, you already have a great customer base from all the subscribers that you built up, giving away the free content on your blog.

    This is a proven system that has worked over and over again since the dawn of the internet, and is a great next step to continue to build a great asset that you have already done a nice job building.

    Cheers!
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Sorrell
      My personal opinion is that you're very near to some sort of success and you're experiencing 'the dip', ie - a tipping point where you don't know what to do but in reality, very close to really getting somewhere.

      As others have suggested, doing a teaser video which offers part 2 etc in return for them subscribing is a great way to go. You can then have an autoresponder series set up and some more videos to show once this is done.

      Then of course, you could monetize with some continuity programs, like $xxx per month for access to further videos which focus on the most common diy problems or mistakes for instance. Then I guess you could set up a pdf about various diy methods and offer that as well. This could be put up on clickbank, ejunkie, payspree etc.

      Do some guest blogging or guest posting on people's highly ranked diy themed blogs and sites. The owners will be more than happy to let you contribute some great, unique content in return for a link to your video chanel or your product page etc.

      Put it this way, the diy niche is soooo much bigger than the make money online/internet marketing niche so you know there's big demand for it. Just keep going.
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  • Profile picture of the author priyankat001
    your plans to make money is great.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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    Very cool and creative videos and idea for niche. You are bound to be able to monetize this, whether in the Google Partner program or selling the blueprints for some of your DIY projects or both.
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  • Profile picture of the author ProvenViral
    The hardest part in anything is taking action - you should check out technicalwebsite.com and let them build your money making websites for you if you're too busy doing other things. What I do is have websites make automated income, in which I later create a full stream of affiliates afterwards. Just find your niche and you will one day see true success at the end of the road.
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    "Things may come to those who wait, but only things left by those who hustle". - Abraham Lincoln
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  • Profile picture of the author paradox_qu
    I wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions. I like the idea of building a list then releasing some kinda DIY package which is a stand alone product that could be sold on clickbank or something.

    So for now I am going to continue to release my content for free and use it as bait to build my list. I'm thinking that for people to download the pdf of whatever project, they have to give me their email. My question is, since I have multiple projects and multiple pdfs is there a way to only collect their email once and never ask them again.

    For example, they subscribe to my list and get my pdf about turning a glass coke bottle into a plant waterer. But lets say they also want the pdf about the bamboo blowgun, is there a way for me to already know they subscribed and not to ask for their email again and just give them the pdf? If I ask for the email every time they want to download a new pdf I think I will piss a lot of people off. Maybe this can be done with a cookie or some type of login system? I don't want to create a members area.

    I also like the guest blogging idea. Do you have any tips on how to best approach other bloggers about being a guest blogger?

    -Nick
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  • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
    Mix in some tool reviews and sell the tools from amazon. I would also sell a whack of plans or a subscription to a plans newsletter. Good videos man, very creative.
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    I have no agenda but to help those in the same situation. This I feel will pay the bills.
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  • Profile picture of the author GameVoid
    Someone who seems to have made a pretty decent living doing what you are suggesting is "the wood whisperer". He makes great DIY videos and appears to have done them all on his own. If you watch them starting at episode one and progress all the way up to like episode sixty you can notice signs of his success, like advertisements showing up, expensive tools being sent to him for reviewing, etc.

    If you come up with a plan, and then stick to that plan, I think you will do great. You have a good idea and I have seen lots of "mommy's gardening" videos that seem to be doing well, so it does appear to be a profitable route.

    For your emails, set up an account in Aweber or Mailchimp and go the auto responder route.

    Someone joins your list and automatically gets a free whatever.
    Then a week later they get an informative email about some DIY topic.
    Then a week later they get another informative email but there is a smallish offer attached.

    Alternate between informative emails and emails that have offers, with each offer a little bigger (for your wallet) than the previous ones. As long as you keep providing value, they will keep opening your mails and forgive you for trying to sell to them. Most of them will never buy anything, but who cares? Emails are cheap. The ones who DO buy something more than pay for the dozens who never do.

    Once you have your autoresponder series set up, everything happens automagically more or less.
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    • Profile picture of the author paradox_qu
      Originally Posted by GameVoid View Post

      Someone who seems to have made a pretty decent living doing what you are suggesting is "the wood whisperer". He makes great DIY videos and appears to have done them all on his own.
      Thanks for the info, I will definitely check him out. I always find it easier to see how other people have done it and try to emulate the best parts I find.
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  • Profile picture of the author WebPen
    You could consider putting a content locker on your page.

    So people see the sweet video on Youtube, then go to your website.

    But to actually see the site, they have to fill out an offer like an email or zip submit.

    Prolly won't make you rich unless you're getting just tons of traffic- but its money.
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  • Profile picture of the author try_hard_samurai
    Great stuff above.

    You might want to check out Gary Vaynerchuk's model too. He runs winelibrary.tv where he does a bunch of wine reviews. Look around on You Tube for the guy and listen to a few of his ideas.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Miranda
    Don't give up. I think your idea is pretty awesome!
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