Does IM really work

Lol I think you could be onto something I just plain suck at IM, I have tried various backlinking tools and traffic generating tools but nothing works.

ive had a domian parked for six months not one hit lol

Well the first thing I would do in your circumstances is make sure your product rocks. Two refunds from two sales is about as bad as it gets.

You could get a million visitors and sell a thousand units but if they all get refunded, what's the point?

I worked two jobs for twenty years: my day job, usually at some corporation or other, and my own business on the side. Since I usually quite liked both of my jobs, it wasn't that bad.

I have noticed that people who rail against how awful any job is tend not to be college educated or have any significant skills. And it's true: if you are an unskilled or semi-skilled person, jobs suck. I hated working in sales, tech support, service stations, restaurants, construction, cleaning, moving, and hospitals.

But then I got some damn education, put on a shirt and tie, and got my first full-time salaried white-collar position.

Whole different world. So you know, stay in school, and crap.

If it came to it i would happily work two jobs i enjoy what i do professionally and have done for 15 years.

Thanks mate, im just throwing an action plan together now, Im going to drop all the automated stuff and focus on one step at a time if if dont get results ill move onto the next lol

thanks for the advice

If you think that you have put in all your best effort and there are still no results then you should move back one step to see what you have done wrong.After that,make some changes from your previous strategy and then take action.

Internet marketing do works but it is not easy to succeed and achieve a high passive income since there were so much people doing it and the competitive level is really high.Having strong passion to give value to people is really a must to become successful.

Caliban is absolutely right in everything he's saying.

Unfortunately, all of the "Make money on autopilot" junk out there gives people the mistaken impression that they really can run a complete business on autopilot.

That's absolutely false. On the Internet, you CAN automate a lot of things. But one thing you can't put on autopilot is relationships. You need a relationship with your customers, your potential JV partners and even vendors.

You haven't said how you're trying to make money. But if you think that getting to the top of Google is the Holy Grail and you'll automatically make money after that, you're mistaken.

Yes, you want to rank as high in the search engines as possible. But there are dozens and DOZENS of ways to drive traffic that have nothing to do with SEO or Google. In fact, my personal goal is to make my business as independent of Google and SEO as possible. Google is just too fickle. I need STABILITY in my business.

That said, WHAT BUSINESS ARE YOU IN? Do you even know?

Clarity is a HUGE part of IM success.

IM is actually pretty simple: you can sell only one of two things:

1. Products
2. Services

That's it!

And selling products or services online happens in the same basic way for everyone, no matter what they're selling:

Traffic > Opt-in page > Autoresponder series (or e-zine) > Sales page

That's it! It's just that simple. (We IMers tend to overcomplicate things.)

But no matter what your niche is, or whether you're selling a product or a service, do you know what your business model is?

A business model is the framework or skeleton of your business. Essentially there are three types of online business models:

1. Membership-based model

A membership-based business model allows you to build a community of people (your members) who are as passionate about your subject as you are. Your membership fees can be monthly or annual, but either way, you're building recurring, passive income.

There are a lot of resources and information out there to help you build a membership-based business if you're interested in doing this.

2. Product-based model

Selling products allows you to maximize your time and effort by selling items over and over again. This can be hard goods or it can be information products. Information marketing is it's own business model under the product-based model. Information marketing allows you to take your brain to the bank by creating a product ONCE based on what you know and selling it over and over again.

Affiliate marketing falls under both models. You can choose to market either products or services as an affiliate.

3. Service-based model

Selling services can be great for 1) generating quick cash (as in the case of article writing or video producing) and 2) establishing your expertise and getting testimonials.

However, in the long run, your goal should be to offer services at a PREMIUM. The biggest advantage of IM is LEVERAGE. You're able to leverage your time, money and expertise exponentially online. We all have just 24 hours each day. Time to get ruthless about what you expect for those hours you spend in IM each day. Expect more of yourself and more from your business friends, clients, partners, etc.

What results are you getting for those hours you spend online each day? Ultimately, your services should be at the bottom of your funnel and cost the most since they involve your time and personal attention. (We all have a limited amount of time each day.)

The fun (and confusion) comes in with all of the endless mix-and-match possibilities of the above models. If you're just starting or still struggling to make money, keep it simple:

Pick just ONE!

1. Pick ONE niche. (Something you're interested in and know something about.)

2. Pick ONE target market for your product or service. (Who will buy what you're offering? The more specific you are, the more you narrow it down, the more successful you'll be.)

3. Pick ONE business model.

Now that you're clear about what business you're in, FOCUS! (And stop buying any info not related to your niche and target market, period!)

F -- Follow
O -- One
C -- Course
U -- Until
S -- Successful

And remember: build a list, Build a List, BUILD A LIST!

In IM, it's easy to put the cart before the horse. Take a deep breath, step back and consider what type of business you're REALLY want. Don't worry about getting traffic or buying that expensive traffic product until you know 1) what your business model is, 2) what niche you're in and 3) WHO your target market is!

Successful business people will tell you that MARKETING is more than half the effort that's needed for success anyway. So pick a niche, target market and business model. Then spend most of your time and effort marketing it.

If you DON'T have a solid plan or system, THAT'S when it's hard. A good system will shave YEARS (and save you big $$$) off of your learning curve

That's why I recommend investing in at least one good, comprehensive IM course (or mentor who will give you such a system) instead of jumping from one $37 e-book to the next. A lot of people here complain about not being able to make any money. But neither are they willing to invest in their business. (Buying a random bunch of $37 e-books doesn't count.)

The best thing I ever did was invest in a comprehensive IM course aimed at REAL business owners, not just other IM wannabes. Yes it was $1500. (It's no longer available.) But it was truly some of the best A-Z IM info I ever bought. Everything else I've learned (from the $37 e-books) since has simply been plugged into this system.

Get a solid plan or system and then work the plan!

Hope this helps!

Michelle

Yeah you have a point there. I guess IM isn't exactly an actual 'business'. It's just a set of ways to market a business or some sort of passion. IM is more of a practice or a skillset that you apply rather than as you say, a business model with a corporate structure, etc.

I actually like looking at IM as a martial art. There are various moves, techniques and methods that you gotta train every day, refine, and master them like any art form. You can't expect to master a punch in one day and then expect to kill a hundred guys the next day. Nor can anyone just set up one PPC ad and write one article and then be financially free for the rest of time (although it would be a sweet fantasy lol) either.

This is Very true

IM works. Just be consistent and have focus.