Startup Advice - Have 8 Months, Skills, and $1,000 to Establish an IM Business
I'm a student in Canada, who is voluntarily on leave from university (business degree) for a term, for personal reasons. Why I joined the Warrior Forum is because I've always dreamt that my end-game is owning a business and working for myself - not climbing up a corporate ladder. Since I was very little, I've been interested in computers & the Internet, and I have some technical skills which are appreciated by people around me.
Right now, I have 8 months before I ostensibly will be going back to school and I believe this is the most free time I'll have in my life to do this. It seems to be now or never, making me very worried I'll blow this opportunity. My goal is to establish a working web business that will allow me to further my studies without financial worries, at least - and know that I'll have something unique to count on if I can't get into my desired field come graduation.
I've been lurking around the forum, reading about strategies that other Warriors have been using, and downloading some of the products from the War Room (I cut to the chase and plunked down the $37.00) - particularly the local/offline PDFs and Amazon affiliate guides.
I'd like to ask for some advice from the seasoned Internet marketers here, many of you who are already independently successful.
Below is a list of my skills I have gained from dabbling with "making money online" in the past few years. I never made any amounts "to write home about", but have amassed some assets which I think will be useful in the journey ahead.
* Domain Name Speculation - I now own around 40 generic domain names, without really investing a cent of my own money (I bootstrapped the operation). I know how to valuate domains using keyword data + qualitative metrics, and have flipped over 100 domains to resellers. A few were up to $xxx, but I never targeted end users where the big money is.
* Wordpress - I'm very competent with managing a cPanel account, creating MySQL databases, add-on domains, and routine tasks like that. I have been hired for several "odd jobs" setting up Wordpress websites, installing themes, and plugins. Over the years, I've used Wordpress for all of my domains that I get around to developing. Unfortunately, many of the projects sit abandoned, looking slightly empty.
Examples: MobilePhonesTablets.com, OnlineBusinessperson.com (simple e-commerce site selling downloadable products using Paypal), BuyRealEstateProperties.com, TextTalkData.com
I count myself as a power-user of WP, because I'm knowledgeable enough to edit simple PHP snippets in the template code but nowhere near being able to create one from scratch. I would rate my HTML and CSS knowledge as slightly above average, but I don't design as in slicing PSDs or anything.
SEO - The extent of SEO I've done to them is verify them in Webmaster Tools, keep conscious of guides (like using H1, H2 tags and alt text) when creating content, and submit sitemaps.
Ads - I've made some change using Amazon Associates, but it's the only ad or affiliate program which has made me any money at all so far.
* Graphics - I know how to create simple web graphics using Adobe Fireworks, including banners, headers, and text logos. I usually design in the Web 2.0 style, along with the glassy effects and gradients.
* Content Writing - I can write do research on a topic and turn out an article, with proper spelling and grammar. All the articles on the sites I listed above are 100% unique & written by me, but they take me such a long time that I question whether it's worth it.
* Google Apps - Because I'm a domain investor and webmaster at the same time, I've gotten very accustomed to setting up DNS settings and configuring Google Apps so I can have Gmail-powered emails at my domain. It doesn't take me very long.
Ultimately, here are the tools I have at my disposal
- Hostgator Shared Hosting account
- Amazon Associates account
- ClickBank account which I've barely used
- Chitika account, a whole bunch of affiliate accounts at webhosts
- Craigslist account
- Premier Paypal account
- Google Adsense account, approved a few weeks ago
- About 40 generic domains, that are ready-to-develop, anytime
- Around $900-$1000 to spend on tools/services that are needed
- A few GBs of PLR software/graphics/articles lying around
The Problem
I have so much going on, and so many ideas running through my head, that I don't know what to focus on! I don't know what's the best way to generate some immediate cash, build my reputation, and establish ongoing business/recurring income for the future. Should I continue building my websites (promoting and SEOing them), should I be selling products or offering services online, should I finish the offline marketing website and calling prospects? What should I do??
What I feel is happening right now is that I'm doing a little bit of this, and little bit of that. It's been over a month screwing around and I haven't made any money. I don't think my friends believe me when I talk about the "online business" anymore and how it's always "almost" ready to launch.
Can I have some advice please? :confused:
At least I feel safer having all of you here who'll understand better than most. How can I put the assets and skills I already have to good use?
Thanks in advance!
[Free] Learn How to Crush Web Traffic with Kenster