5 Years and Above of Doing IM, What Have You Accomplished so Far?

by Adie
31 replies
I started Internet marketing last 2002 and registered my adsense account last 2003. The first couple of years mostly wasted in HYIP, GPTs, and other odd activities. I created my first SEO blog last 2005 but after 3 years sold it to the owners of webpronews (now it's one of the top 10 SEO blogs)... I can say I accomplished something but I was not satisfied with my first 5 years performance. Lots of ups and downs as a result of demotivation, boredom, and laziness. I was employed back then.

I started CPA, Clickbank, and Amazon affiliates last 2007 while maintaining 2 blogs for my adsense. The result was still unsatisfactory...There were even times that I held 120 blogs for nothing...

I left my job last 2009 and focused on CPA while offering writing service. Since I was unemployed, I focused on the following (since end of 2009)

  1. 3 big sites dedicated to CPA (2 are top page of google)
  2. 1 adsense authority site about health (now with thousands of pages)
  3. 1 authority site for clickbank (with around 700 products)
  4. An article writing service

So, I only maintained 5 sites and 4 are heavily maintained. Also developing another new CB site started just few days ago..

I read thousands of ebooks in affiliate marketing, CPA adsense, clickbank, twitter, facebook, amazon, etc and frankly, I found them useless for someone like me who have passion in SEO. I have no plan to buy any of these ebooks anymore as most of the content are recycled.

After that very long journey in IM, I can say I am okay now with the sites I preferred to keep and maintain.

Reading new ebooks and new techniques everyday would result to nothing. That's my ultimate opinion...

How about you? What have you accomplished so far after 5 years of learning IM?

Care to share?

regards,
adie
#accomplished #years
  • Profile picture of the author nasuryono
    I might not be as long as you in the IM but here are my accomplishment in one year:

    * 10 Amazon Review Sites that produces Good Monthly Income
    * 2 Offline Clients
    * A New SEO Company
    * 5 Clickbank review sites

    I haven't tried CPA yet and I am looking to start there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Oliver Williams
    In my first year I started to understand list building and how it was done got my first 500 opt ins after 12 months (because I didn't know what I was doing).

    I built 5 affiliate sites only 2 made money now I have turned one into an authority site focused on generating opt ins with a follow up email marketing campaign.
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  • Profile picture of the author elexmedia
    My accomplishment in one year:
    1. One Jobsite Start-up that help college students to get their dream jobs.
    2. One Web Design Start-up to help companies build up their own corporate websites
    3. Two PPC Clients

    Next destination: An Internet Company, not just a start-up, that have products that help millions of people
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  • Profile picture of the author Adevictus
    Well let's see since I started IM I:

    -pushed **** berry rebills to people who are too lazy to work out and made bank
    -pushed payday loans to people who probably couldn't pay them back and made bank
    -pushed dating sites with virtually no females on them to horny dudes and made bank
    -pushed gambling and penny auction sites to people with no self control and made bank
    -made up all kinds of crazy stuff to get people to check their credit score and made bank
    -pushed mobile rebills to little kids and made bank
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    It's all about the money...

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    • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
      Originally Posted by Adevictus View Post

      Well let's see since I started IM I:

      -pushed **** berry rebills to people who are too lazy to work out and made bank
      -pushed payday loans to people who probably couldn't pay them back and made bank
      -pushed dating sites with virtually no females on them to horny dudes and made bank
      -pushed gambling and penny auction sites to people with no self control and made bank
      -made up all kinds of crazy stuff to get people to check their credit score and made bank
      -pushed mobile rebills to little kids and made bank

      Well don't you just sound like a lovely person.
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      • Profile picture of the author Adevictus
        Originally Posted by Curtis2011 View Post

        Well don't you just sound like a lovely person.
        Just your everyday average affiliate marketer :rolleyes:
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        It's all about the money...

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      • Profile picture of the author Mattie
        Curtis 2011 Funny thing, I was thinking the same thing as you about Adevictus.

        Hey good people, he's no Canadian I ever met!
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    • Originally Posted by Adevictus View Post

      Well let's see since I started IM I:

      -pushed **** berry rebills to people who are too lazy to work out and made bank
      -pushed payday loans to people who probably couldn't pay them back and made bank
      -pushed dating sites with virtually no females on them to horny dudes and made bank
      -pushed gambling and penny auction sites to people with no self control and made bank
      -made up all kinds of crazy stuff to get people to check their credit score and made bank
      -pushed mobile rebills to little kids and made bank
      LOL! you post made me laugh in a very disturbing way
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    • Profile picture of the author Adie
      Originally Posted by Adevictus View Post

      Well let's see since I started IM I:

      -pushed **** berry rebills to people who are too lazy to work out and made bank
      -pushed payday loans to people who probably couldn't pay them back and made bank
      -pushed dating sites with virtually no females on them to horny dudes and made bank
      -pushed gambling and penny auction sites to people with no self control and made bank
      -made up all kinds of crazy stuff to get people to check their credit score and made bank
      -pushed mobile rebills to little kids and made bank
      You're such an extremely busy person..
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    • Profile picture of the author rickalek
      LOL - you're a horrible person!

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      • Profile picture of the author Adevictus
        Originally Posted by rickalek View Post

        LOL - you're a horrible person!

        Gotta pay the bills!
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        It's all about the money...

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    • Profile picture of the author warriorkay
      Originally Posted by Adevictus View Post

      Well let's see since I started IM I:

      -pushed **** berry rebills to people who are too lazy to work out and made bank
      -pushed payday loans to people who probably couldn't pay them back and made bank
      -pushed dating sites with virtually no females on them to horny dudes and made bank
      -pushed gambling and penny auction sites to people with no self control and made bank
      -made up all kinds of crazy stuff to get people to check their credit score and made bank
      -pushed mobile rebills to little kids and made bank

      The most read post... for all the wrong reasons,

      Kingsley
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    • Profile picture of the author HN
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Adevictus View Post

      Well let's see since I started IM I:

      -pushed **** berry rebills to people who are too lazy to work out and made bank
      -pushed payday loans to people who probably couldn't pay them back and made bank
      -pushed dating sites with virtually no females on them to horny dudes and made bank
      -pushed gambling and penny auction sites to people with no self control and made bank
      -made up all kinds of crazy stuff to get people to check their credit score and made bank
      -pushed mobile rebills to little kids and made bank
      There's a population control conspiracy going on to wipe out 90% of population. Who do you think are the people to be wiped out? Hint: probably not a poor farmer actually producing something (food) who can't pay back loans or get a date.
      I am afraid they'll target parasites like you. I am terribly sorry, but let's face it what's the use of people like this in a perfect world?
      Nevermind, I know you were kidding.
      You weren't !!!???
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    • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
      Originally Posted by Adevictus View Post

      Well let's see since I started IM I:

      -pushed **** berry rebills to people who are too lazy to work out and made bank
      -pushed payday loans to people who probably couldn't pay them back and made bank
      -pushed dating sites with virtually no females on them to horny dudes and made bank
      -pushed gambling and penny auction sites to people with no self control and made bank
      -made up all kinds of crazy stuff to get people to check their credit score and made bank
      -pushed mobile rebills to little kids and made bank
      This pretty much defines marketing in a nutshell...the selling of things that people don't need to people who can't afford them...isn't the global economy just a marvel of economic engineering.

      I wonder how long until this whole over-engineered house of cards comes crashing down like a "ton of bricks".
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    Looms like everyone above are doing good. Nice to hear that. Although we have different ways, the result is still the same - money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hasanabd
    I started making money with ppd 2 months ago , then stopped at 2800$ now i am focusing on adsense , amazon , cpa. And clickbank , my next goal is to optimize all my sites for seo
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    • Profile picture of the author Adie
      Originally Posted by Hasanabd View Post

      I started making money with ppd 2 months ago , then stopped at 2800$ now i am focusing on adsense , amazon , cpa. And clickbank , my next goal is to optimize all my sites for seo
      $2800 within 2 months from a starter? Wow, that's pretty fast..
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  • Profile picture of the author vivi62
    I love a tryer,some people have no idea what it takes to be successfull.
    Regards
    vivi62
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelYoung
    If I can make just one suggestion, you should ideally be in one niche, and at most go deeper in the niche, not wider in different niches.

    There is just so much money sticking in one niche you could never, ever, try to leave it if the right pieces are there.

    So in the past year I've done webinars for people IM products and software, helped my coaching clients build their business, and built a master hub for my products and coaching. With everyone that I help I give the same stinking advice: you'll do better in one niche and go deeper than trying to go wide.

    Diversity is the spice of life when you buy assets, not in a profit making business.
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  • Profile picture of the author mlord10
    Well...I haven't quite been in IM for 5 years...but I figured 4 is pretty close so I went ahead and participated in the poll.

    I have built my business primarily around affiliate marketing, with a few other ventures (some very successful and others not so much) factored into the equation.

    What I have learned over 4 years is this (I can't list it all here but this is one big thing):

    Most people simply give up too early. Period.

    Most newbies enter the game thinking they need to generate 1,000 visitors (or more) to their websites or blog daily, and everything else will take care of itself.

    I can tell you right now that I have built successful affiliate businesses sending far less traffic than that (but I sent that traffic to a squeeze page, and built a list of targeted prospects that I could market to over & over again).

    So if any newbies are reading this (and want to get started with affiliate marketing like I did) here are my 3 tips:

    1. Focus on driving targeted traffic to a squeeze page where you can collect opt-ins.

    2. Write a follow-up email series that focuses on solving peoples problems (with "recommendations" for your product(s) mixed in), but do not hard sell them.

    3. Sell affiliate programs that offer recurring income for each sale (such as membership sites or software monthly fees). This way, you can make money month after month, year after year from a customer that you sold ONE product to.

    When your profit margins are higher, you can spend more on marketing, and thus create a ridiculous affiliate income for yourself online.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    Originally Posted by mlord10

    Most people simply give up too early. Period
    I think this is the most common problem for 90% of newbies who want to try IM.... Some successful warriors here also experienced the same but bounced back after sometimes... I had the same experience..
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    • Profile picture of the author richardjes
      Hi Adie,

      I think this is a great thread and i'll give some of my background.

      I think I'll be honest and say that although i have a small company doing IT Recruitment it is something i hate and am trying to use IM to build a different type of business and lifestyle.

      1. Wrote an 85 page Golf Ebook (21 Days to Better Golf) with input from a series of professional Golf teachers (made a few sales on Clickbank)

      2. Wrote a 105 page report (Easy Websites with Wordpress) as a free ebook for people wanting to learn wordpress in an easy screenshot based PDF........600+ downloads

      3. Set up a Horse Racing Membership site (my biggest passion) with currently 80+ members as a recurring revenue stream.

      4. Am currently on the Dean Holland Quick Start Challenge to try and help me get a bit more focus going forward.

      5. Have just finished the development of my first Wordpress Plugin which I am aiming to launch as a WSO

      Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    Not only that people fail because they give-up easily, but because people are continuously looking for more easy ways to make money. The more they look for these types of ways, the more time, money, and opportunities they are losing....
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  • Profile picture of the author mlord10
    I think a lot of newbies also make it harder on themselves than it needs to be...they come out of the gate trying to make money with 100 sites that earn $2/day, or they try to create their own products before they even know what their marketing really wants.

    That is why I think affiliate marketing via residual income programs can be the best way for newbies to get started. Here is what you don't have to do as an affiliate, which makes it attractive to me:

    1. Process refunds yourself
    2. Deal with customers
    3. Create your own product (nothing wrong with this at all, but for newbies it can be overwhelming)

    Those are just a few reasons affiliate marketing rocks!
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    • Profile picture of the author Adie
      Originally Posted by mlord10 View Post

      I think a lot of newbies also make it harder on themselves than it needs to be...they come out of the gate trying to make money with 100 sites that earn $2/day, or they try to create their own products before they even know what their marketing really wants.

      That is why I think affiliate marketing via residual income programs can be the best way for newbies to get started. Here is what you don't have to do as an affiliate, which makes it attractive to me:

      1. Process refunds yourself
      2. Deal with customers
      3. Create your own product (nothing wrong with this at all, but for newbies it can be overwhelming)

      Those are just a few reasons affiliate marketing rocks!
      I think it's still better to promote other people's product than yours. You can also avoid dealing with customers, avoid processing refunds, and avoid product updates. The only disadvantage is that it is difficult to build a list. Selling affiliate products that gives $50 commission is better than having your own product that costs $20. Just my 2 cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author goindeep
    Wow!

    Totally not surprised by the fact that almost 50% are still figuring it all out after five years.

    This just goes to show that real hard work is involved.

    What I am surprised about is that people were honest about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Adie
      Originally Posted by Andrei Rotariu View Post

      Wow!

      Totally not surprised by the fact that almost 50% are still figuring it all out after five years.

      This just goes to show that real hard work is involved.

      What I am surprised about is that people were honest about it.
      Well, I just read somewhere that someone purchased more than 200 WSO and still buying, and I think that's one of the reasons why....
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  • Profile picture of the author goindeep
    Wow!

    Totally not surprised by the fact that almost 50% are still figuring it all out after five years.

    This just goes to show that real hard work is involved.

    What I am surprised about is that people were honest about it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I learned that all traffic aren't created equal. Plus, doing free marketing will give you a great idea of how to promote yourself and build up a brand in your niche... all while lowering your cost per sale from all of the customers of paid advertising you've been doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    Well at least more people are having success than still figuring it out though the margin is small...

    Keep working...
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    • Hi Adie. This is my main accomplishment barely three years after building my business from scratch (from late 2005 to mid 2008):

      And, here are my other accomplishments so far:

      • Helped Paretologic, Inc. from late 2005 to mid 2009 with our onsite database tech content development and online marketing services to skyrocket the sales of their carrier product at that time, RegCure, which became the WORLD'S BEST SELLING MICROSOFT WINDOWS SYSTEM REGISTRY CLEANER SOFTWARE of ALL TIME in 2007, with over 10 million product copies sold in 2010 alone...

      • Given the 2008 Most Inspiring Entrepreneur of the Philippines award by the Philippine Center of Entrepreneurship, headed by then presidential consultant on business and entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III, who also runs and owns RFM Corporation, a giant in the Philippine food and beverage industry...

      • Started the initiative, in mid 2008 with Resources for the Blind, of annually training 20 to 50 blind and visually impaired people here in the Philippines in learning the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise for them to access gainful business and employment opportunities...

      • Have employed more than 50 people with disabilities here in the Philippines (blind, visually impaired, people with spinal cord injuries and cerebral palsy) from 2008 up to this day...

      Those in my opinion are my most notable accomplishments so far, and I didn't answer the poll because my company isn't under any of the given categories...
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      • Founder: Grayscale (Manila, PH) & SEO Campaign Manager: Kiteworks, Inc. (SF, US)
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