Can you really make money on line?

[gerrie]

It seems to me that the biggest problem to over come is exposure. Build a web site and find yourself on Google page 3,445,681. Who will ever ftnd you or your offer there?

Gerrie

[Frank Murphy]

Hmm..have you tried building a site for less competitive keywords? You can rank better for long tails keywords than one wordkeywords.

[Michael Oksa]

Hi Gerrie,

You are right, sort of. First of all, not everyone uses Google to do their searches, so don't let anyone tell you different. However, you can employ the simplest of SEO strategies and start to climb the ranks nicely.

You can make money without worrying about search engine results, too. For example, you can write tons of articles and submit them ezinearticles.com. And have the resource box point to an affiliate page. (On EZA it will have to be your own URL, but you can promote affiliate products on your site). People have made a lot of money this way.

You can also offer a WSO right here at the forum. I would recommend building a good reputation first though, as it will help sales.

Offering services is another way you can make money without relying heavily on search engine results.

So, you can do things to rank higher, but at the same time you can do things without concern for those same rankings.

~Michael

[JonnyAndrews]

gerrie,

Yes you can make money online... BUT (and it's a big one!) you have to do it right.

For example: personally I would never try using SEO as a traffic strategy in the "Weight loss" niche or the "make money" niche... billions of competitors out there.

I would, however use it in a less combative marketplace.

What I would do (and did) would be to try to interview other IMers in the market and drive traffic through joint ventures.

This is a great WF link for that:
How I was able to interview people like Mark Joyner, Michel Fortin and Jeremy Schoemaker...

Your success and ability to make money all depends on your strategy. Some folks are great with SEO and can slash through mad competition with ease... me? I'm good at it but just don't feel like taking the time.

So I use different strategies.

Find out what works and use it. Make sure you ask questions, and when you fail (which WILL happen) don't give up or look at it as a "failure"... instead try to figure out WHY it failed modify your approach and keep going.

At the end of it all you'll come out on top. But that's only if you don't give up.

FYI: Got my Mass Control Monthly box last night... great little yellow letter in there. Stock story but good to read none the less.

[ErinJoi]

For me, I have decided that if I get listed on the first page of Google - that's great. But it is not my goal.

I have so many other things to do to make my site GREAT, I sure don't have the time to make sure I get all the SEO done correctly. Sure, I will use my keywords, but I am not going to make it a priority. Like Michael had said - there are many other ways to get customers to your site.

If you really want to learn about it - check out "Bum Marketing Method". It WILL get you listed on the first page of Google if you do it right. Plus, it is easy to boot. It worked for me on several occasions when I was doing stuff that I really didn't "love". I was just trying to make a buck. (But, hey, that's how a lot of us start out - right?!)

[scorpion]

Gerrie,
You mentioned that your problem is that your website could not be found. That's the most common problem. You can have the most beautiful website and yet nobody knows it exist.

For me, I use Google adwords. It's fast but can be costly. The product I sell is a tangible product and I target my country only. This one makes money for me. You got to know how much to bid in order to get your ads displayed on the first page. You need to know which keywords to bid on. Try phrases instead of one or two keywords.

If you are on a tight budget, then you need to write your own articles and submit as many articles as you can. It's free but it takes some time to see result. Marketing marketing is very effective.

I believe blog is a must because it gets index by the google very fast. I use google alert for ideas on what to write on my blog.

Your success in making money online rest on 3 things - your product, your sales letter and your traffic.

[jhongren]

Hi Gerrie,

Good effort in building your first site.

May I know what is it about?

Cheers,
John

[Andyhenry]

Who said you have to care about Google or any other search engine?

Who said you have to have a website? What is a website anyway?

Making money doesn't using the Internet doesn't have to have anything to do with search engines.

I think maybe you should do some more research into what some of the available business models are.

Andy

[cottpfoc]

Forget about Google for now. Instead focus on blogging, writing articles, and forum participation. Also, make sure you spend time reading/learning about Internet Marketing. Increase your skill set and take massive action and you too will make money online!

[doylesoft]

Yes, it is very possible to make money online. I made my first $5.95 from a ten page report in 1997. 11 years later, I am starting to wise up and seriously pursue the lifestyle.

If you start "making money online EVERYDAY" I would say you are SERIOUSLY on to something!

[JasonKing]

If you have something of value (information, products, services), I like your offer, and we negotiate a deal to split profits, could I recommend your offer to my list of 200,000 customers?

There are many people on the internet who haven't made a penny from ANYTHING to do with Google.

-JasonKing

[Bill Brickman]

Gerrie,

Slapping a website on the internet doth not a business make. You need to think in terms of distribution channels.

In every niche there are certain distribution channels that tend to yield the highest results. Depending on the niche this could be anything from adwords to affiliate marketing to joint ventures.....it really depends on the behavior of the niche. (That's a topic for another post)

Your job is to do effective research to identify which distribution channels are the most effective for your niche.

How do you do this? Simple. "Hang out" with your niche online as much as possible. Get on the same lists. Join the same forums. Get pitched the same way. Etc. Etc.

As you do this, look to see which products and services are showing up consistently in front of that niche. Then figure out what those companies are doing - specifically what distribution channels they are using to effectively reach the most customers.

Bam. Once you have this you can start building a real business.

Bill Brickman