I want to be open for business tonight, advice, opinions please.

by dad2four

Posted: 11 years ago 18 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hi All

I have wanted my own business for as long as I could walk.

I've been chasing the dream for ever.

I have one teeny weeny problem.

No Action.

Paralysis by Analysis.

Too much learn not enough DO.

So I'm done with it.

I have a massive set of skills to offer the world.

I'm a coder/web developer that has been studying IM for about 5 years.

I'm a wanna be IMer.

So

Obviously offering my services as a coder would be just silly.

Out here in the "freelance" world I'm worth a fraction of what I'm worth at my dayjob so as much as I'd like to be self employed, financially it doesn't make sense. sitting here at the house for 10 hours a day coding or sitting there for 10 hours a day coding, what's the point?

So then I start thinking of all the options available to us and my head starts to spin.

I want a legitimate business. I believe I can help alot of people. My instinct is to start a blog and start teaching the mechanics of applying IM principals. Like how to connect papal to an ecommerce solution. Or all the different ways you can use your cpanel to make money or any number of other "Nuts and bolts" type stuff.

Then it seems to make sense to offer those services. The only way I can seem to justify performing these services is to outsources it all, in essence become the general contractor on the job.

Or, keep teaching the nuts and bolts, answering questions to help those that need it. Provide samples to get them through everything and offering each of those to others on my blog so allow them to solve the same issue when they come across it.

Through this method I'd monetize by doing some affiliate links to software tools and selling banner ads as well as doing some affiliate links here and there to clickbank products and amazon products such as books.

Or should I skip trying to help with my skillset and start doing something more traditional in the IM world like looking for niches and building authority, ecommerce, niche sites and monetizing them.

I would love some opinions, advice on what direction I should go.

My main goals is to replace the day job.

Thanks for any input anyone can give.

#advice #business #open #opinions #tonight

Elmar 11 years ago

I have gone through the same when I was starting out. It took me 3 years to get over what is called paralysis of choice. Its when you have so many options to move forward to you dont know which one to choose in case you fail or even worse succeed marginally but wont be able to switch to another more profitable path as this will be the only income by then.

This was until I met my mentor. He said "Just choose something" "It doesnt matter what" Choose it and see it through. This will strengthen your choosing and descision making muscle in your brain and that is the first thing you need to learn to do if you wanty to be in business for your self. Learn how to make descisions.

And remember

"Successful people make decisions fast but change their minds slowly, unsuccessful make decisions slowly but change their minds in an instant, as soon as the new shiny object appears"
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miklanderson2 11 years ago

Go with what you know. If you can code, use your knowledge of code to create something people are willing to pay for. You could code solutions to common problems people have and sell them here (or any number of other places across the web). You have a skillset many others in the business don't have. Use it to your advantage.
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MikeTucker 11 years ago

I have a lot of questions and comments, but one is
really sticking out right now... What are you going
to teach about IM if you haven't actually done anything
yet??
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- dad2four 11 years ago
  
  Thanks for everyones advice I sincerely appreciate it.
  
  Mike, to answer your question. I have done a toooooooon of stuff. I have created autoblogs, built ecommerce sites, freelanced, written articles, not to mention that I have built sites for many major companies including blue cross/blue shield and Delta Dental of MO here in St. Louis. I have been on the other side of IM doling out feeds to companies using the company i worked for as a drop shipper. I have been coding web "stuff" for 20 years professionally and started coding on my own back in 78 believe it or not. I was going this stuff way before it was cool :-), oh wait is it cool now? hehe
  
  Anyway
  
  I have generated a couple hundred bucks here, a couple hundred there on my own. I created ecommerce sites for others that although they generated money don't make enough to live on. Also, many of the sites I have built were not done via my specs nor was I paid to do any SEO work for them.
  
  ais-mo.net and gomosco.com are a couple of examples. Again, those sites were done exactly as they were requested and on a shoestring budget (free) hehe so dont judge me on that work fellow coders.
  
  I have one autoblog left that generates about a hundred bucks a year, has been running for over 2 years and has not been touched since day one.
  
  Do I want to build a thousand of those and have Google shut me down? Not hardly.
  
  So to answer your question, I've done all of the nuts and bolts stuff and I've ranked on page one in Google many times. I've played with Adwords, I can do all the nuts and bolts stuff no problem so I can teach it for days.
  
  I wouldn't claim to anyone that I have the secret to making a million dollars.
  
  Like I said. I want a LEGIT business. I don't want to tell everyone to buy ebooks that I never read, or push products I have never used.
  
  I want to feel good about what I offer. I want to believe in it and I want to build relationships, make friends, help people, no matter what I choose.
  
  I hope this isnt rambling and I hope some of it makes sense.
  
  Thanks Mike for the question. :-)
  
  Thanks
  
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WorkWithMorgan 11 years ago

I also suffered this problem.

Here's how I got out of it:

I got a clear VISION of where I am headed.

I created FOCUS of what I needed to do.

I narrowed down my marketed methods and stop trying to learn everything.

Get masterful at a marketing method until it is generating you 30+ leads a day.

How else can I be of service to you?
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- Edwards WOrld 11 years ago
  
  Yeah you will be well off if you become a valuable source for E Commerce
  "For The Dummy" Build your list and blog, blog, blog.
  
  It might seem that this isn't getting you anywhere but once you turn the Car On, then you can drive you gotta turn it on
  
  Goodluck,
  
  Edward A
  
  PM'ing you a Question already...
  
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MikeTucker 11 years ago

Exactly as I though. You have already "taken action".
Don't be so hard on yourself. What you need it just
to scale it up. You want to sell nuts and bolts, that's fantastic.
There is certainly a market for that! If you could offer
a quality streamlined process, it could be huge.
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- JohnMcCabe 11 years ago
  
  dad2four, here's a crazy question for you...
  
  Can you code 'black box' or 'push button' applications to do some of those nuts and bolts tasks? Could you then sell those applications? Kind of a 'code once, sell forever' deal.
  
  For example, you mentioned cpanel. Could you develop a program that would take someone's log-in details along with whatever other information the app required, then securley logged in and performed the steps?
  
  You might end up with a tiger by the tail...
  
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moneymakerway 11 years ago

Don't worry! The vast majority of people
who are trying to make money online have or had
the same problems! -----Info Overload.

If you already know the basics of IM, you
should agree with that first thing you need
is to build an email list.

You can build a simple squeeze page with
subscriber form. Think about your follow up emails.
The next thing is traffic (paid or free - targeted, of course).
Starting an blog is also a great idea.
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stig

11 years ago

I would kill to have sufficient coding skills to create simple software products.

Ninety percent of success online is having something everyone else wants, and wants badly. If you can't produce it yourself, you're only option is affiliate programs and trying to out promote the other guys.

Trying to out promote the other guys is what IM is all about. If you have a unique product or service, you're going to be on top of the heap.

Perhaps you should spend your time browsing the Internet, frequenting chat rooms like this one, and start making a list of what sells well or what folks are desperately in need of. There are tons of product examples on this site. It can be a simple bit of code like a widget for WordPress or a utility for managing backlinks, any kind of time saver, etc..

If you can create useful products like that you'll have absolutely no trouble generating huge mail lists. You'll have JV partners knocking on your door in no time.

Thanks
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drewfioravanti

11 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

dad2four, here's a crazy question for you...

Can you code 'black box' or 'push button' applications to do some of those nuts and bolts tasks? Could you then sell those applications? Kind of a 'code once, sell forever' deal.

For example, you mentioned cpanel. Could you develop a program that would take someone's log-in details along with whatever other information the app required, then securley logged in and performed the steps?

You might end up with a tiger by the tail...

This.

Originally Posted by stig

And this.

It seems you have the ability to create products. The ability most people do not have. Plus, you have knowledge of the IM space.

Spend an hour on this forum and you can probably come up with 10 different product ideas.

Thanks

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carathanassis

11 years ago

I think I may have had a similar problem in my life not long ago. I would plan many projects at once for a long time, and not execute. What I do now is focus on one project and get everything out of the critical path. What I mean by this is:

Lets say my goal is to make a peanut butter sandwich?
First thing in the critical path:
Materials, I need to get my hands on bread and peanut butter in the fastest easiest way I can.
Then my tooling:
What is the fastest easiest tool to use to get my sandwich up and running.

Lets say I find everything I need in my kitchen accept a good tool to spreed the peanut butter with. I can use my hand and have the alfa sandwich up and running now then worry about getting beta sandwich along with peanut butter and jelly sandwich 2.0 up later as new projects.

What I am trying to say is just do it and don't worry about refining it till later.

I just got in to Internet marketing this year, just over two weeks, I have all ready started networking, asking people who are doing I.M. well questions, joined this forum on there advice and worked out the outline of my first project. I am just going for it, I think you should as well and see what happens.

If you fail you are no worst off then where you are now.

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stig

11 years ago

Originally Posted by carathanassis

Lets say my goal is to make a peanut butter sandwich?
First thing in the critical path:
Materials, I need to get my hands on bread and peanut butter in the fastest easiest way I can.
Then my tooling:
What is the fastest easiest tool to use to get my sandwich up and running.

Lets say I find everything I need in my kitchen accept a good tool to spreed the peanut butter with. I can use my hand and have the alfa sandwich up and running now then worry about getting beta sandwich along with peanut butter and jelly sandwich 2.0 up later as new projects.

Nice analogy.

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madstan 11 years ago

Dad

Here's an idea. Why don't you use your blog to tutor aspiring programmers free or fee it's your choice. You can also have a section on your blog where you are giving away your sample programs/designs laced with yours (advertising your blog) or sponsor advertisements such as Google Adsense code, Yahoo code, Adbrite code, private individuals and companies...etc.

Money is to be made online you just have to be willing to think outside the box, practice creative thinking and just as important utilize your skills to make bank.
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talfighel 11 years ago

Just having a lot of options on the table will not let you start with anything.

You need to pick one that you like and then get started. Don't stop till you earn enough money from that particular strategy.
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Jgmurray 11 years ago

dad2four from a 'dad2three' - I am going to tell you someting. First off you are me - exactly me - with one subtle difference - you need to think 'recurring passive income' - for example, I also am a hired gun for programming - but my trick - which let me get into IM - was to make sure my programming projects came with hooks that tied my customer to me. Recurring, passive commissions (service contracts)

I would highly recommend you approach IM the same way. Keep it simple, just get a squeeze page up, tie it to an auto responder to Build A List - find a cheap source of traffic, and just keep it going: test/change test/change test/change.

The hardest part sometimes as a techy is thinking we can do it all - or we have to do it all from scratch - you don't want to do that - your a marketer now!

Good Luck!
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justhandsome 11 years ago

dad24 ..if u really are a dad of 4 ,hats off man :-)
I ll suggest leverage ur knowledge and start off with an elearning course in ur technology..
low priced may be but good value..
make some money and reinvest in other areas...

focus on re-using ur current knowledge first .....MAKE A PRODUCT from your current knowledge....its the best as I see for u right now..
all the best for your future efforts ..
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TimothyTorrents 11 years ago

I am pretty much in the exact same position you are now (minus the skills). I personally think that thingss can progress much quicker if you have a solid plan to follow. So, I opened a Word doc and started writing down everything my website needs. Soon my plan will be complete and I will take action and hopefully things will work out. Make a list of topics that you are personally passionate about and then research each one to determine whether or not there is a market for it.

Topic your are passionate about + market = win.

Good luck!
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I want to be open for business tonight, advice, opinions please.

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