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If you had to do it all over again...

by a1pena
45 replies
So if you guys had to do it all over again with your IM business what would you do different. What would you first focus on? What business model in the umbrella of IM would you start with first.

Im interested in your responses... My response would be focus on product creation straight out of the gate. Offering my first couple WSO as mostly lead generation products offering 100% commission FE and OTO. And do that for a couple of launches. Attracting a fair amount of JV's building a decent sized list. And learning to monetize that list on the backend.
  • Profile picture of the author nightrider85
    Originally Posted by a1pena View Post

    So if you guys had to do it all over again with your IM business what would you do different. What would you first focus on? What business model in the umbrella of IM would you start with first.

    Im interested in your responses... My response would be focus on product creation straight out of the gate. Offering my first couple WSO as mostly lead generation products offering 100% commission FE and OTO. And do that for a couple of launches. Attracting a fair amount of JV's building a decent sized list. And learning to monetize that list on the backend.
    I will start with things that I love to do..

    "The only way to do a great work is to love what you do if you haven't found it yet keep looking and don't settle" Steve Jobs
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    I would have built a list SOONER. There is a saying here at WF: 'The money is in the list.' I can't agree more.
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  • Profile picture of the author visimedia
    if I had to do it all over again it means I would become a newbie again, I will never hesitate of taking real actions, and not just buying and reading from one products to another.
    And i will realize that there are no quick bucks success , just work smart and use our brain!! lol
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  • Profile picture of the author zeroaffiliate
    I would do CPA. It help me and others make lots of money in a short period of time.
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  • Profile picture of the author StevenJones
    Originally Posted by a1pena View Post

    So if you guys had to do it all over again with your IM business what would you do different. What would you first focus on? What business model in the umbrella of IM would you start with first.

    Im interested in your responses... My response would be focus on product creation straight out of the gate. Offering my first couple WSO as mostly lead generation products offering 100% commission FE and OTO. And do that for a couple of launches. Attracting a fair amount of JV's building a decent sized list. And learning to monetize that list on the backend.
    I would not wait for 5 months to start building my list. I would start right now.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      I'd start to build a list on day one.

      Almost all the people who are actually making a good living online tend to give the same answer to this question, in every thread in which it's asked (and that's a lot of threads, now!): we'd start to build a list on day one.

      Because we all know we weren't making a living and building a real business, without that.

      Because hardly anyone ever does make a living or build a business, without that.

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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    1. Avoid the BS. Before getting involved in IM, I operated numerous authority sites. Unfortunately I got swayed by a lot of the misinformation that gets around.

    2. Have a solid offer. I'm a big believer in knowing and understanding exactly what the offer is FIRST, before doing anything. You cant monetize thin air. Too many people do a lot of "stuff" without understanding what it is that they're actually trying to sell.

    2. Spend time building a solid sales process/funnel with a strong emphasis on recurring income.

    3. Build a list

    4. Work with clear purpose. Another mistake a lot of people make (and I made it too). They build a site that sells this one day, that the other, then something different again two weeks later. In the end they end up with a website that sells lipstick, toasters and bird baths.

    5. Address my target customer - or at least know exactly WHO my target customer is. This is critical.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Amen to what John and Alexa wrote.

    Here's the list I wish I FIRST had when I first got started........

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5202291

    RoD
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    • Profile picture of the author substance
      I think I am ready for my own product creation even if it is just a simple e-book now. It is a new beginning for me.

      I should say I was never constant in just one method. There were too many distractions and the SOS Syndrome makes me try so many methods like ebay, fiverr, facebook ads, Google ppc, affiliate marketing at e-junkie, MLM, etc. I even tried article writing but found that it takes too much time to research even for a single article.

      In all the above methods, I was able to make some bucks and I knew there was money to be had but with a full time job, I could not devote my time to a particular method.

      Now I feel that I should have concentrated more on the "passive income stream" instead of just making few bucks here and there.
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      • Profile picture of the author OfferDuck
        Find something people are already doing a lot of and figure out a way to turn that into a service that will save them time. Save people time and or money and they will pay you for it and you can build a list in the process.
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  • Profile picture of the author davidfern76
    I would find the right mentor who can help me to follow his/her success steps to financial freedom ...
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  • Profile picture of the author dave147
    Yeah it's gotta be the list building!
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  • Profile picture of the author Kaden44
    hi,

    I would avoid cases of scamming, and focus on what is actually working throughout the world of Online business, and that would be building a list,
    and gaining as much subscribers, that would generate and increase your list, the more the merrier.

    Thanks

    Mohamed
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  • Profile picture of the author retsced
    My first year online nearly damn well burnt me out altogether. Creating review sites and ranking keywords in the search engines would be the main thing I'd avoid if I was starting from scratch. The list building thing is a no brainer too. It took me almost a full year before I even understood anything about list building.

    Another thing: The very first course I purchased was centered around review sites and SEO - which is why I got so lost in the beginning. I wouldn't mind - but I bought that damn course via an email message - and yet there was NOTHING about list building inside the course Go figure.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by retsced View Post

      Creating review sites and ranking keywords in the search engines would be the main thing I'd avoid if I was starting from scratch.
      For sure! :p

      I kind of "wince" a bit, when I see threads asking simple questions about "potentially good things" (such as publishing articles, commenting on blogs, or whatever) and it becomes clear from the wording of the OP that they have an entirely "SEO perspective" of the entire subject of internet marketing, and interpret pretty much everything about everything only in terms of ranking their sites for keywords. :p :rolleyes:

      It sometimes makes me want to post telling people how much SEO traffic I get, to all my sites, and how little I ever manage to earn out of that traffic, by comparison with so many other traffic sources.
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      • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
        I would have focused on software development from day one, as that skill has been far more lucrative and satisfying for me than everything else I've done, IM-wise.

        Building a buyers list and recruiting affiliates would also be top priorities. And I would definitely focus more on doing things that resulted in recurring income, instead of one-time sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author MelanieandMiles
    I would have signed up for Aweber directly instead of trying to be cheap and spending months trying to get a free solution to work... After we got 1000 subscribers on a 'free' service we tried to move them all over to Aweber and lost 60%+ of them...

    Talk about one step forward, two steps back....

    List building, list building, list building!
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  • Profile picture of the author nadal619
    I will concentrate more on building my list , and concentrate in helping more people to make more money , make a difference in this industry
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  • Profile picture of the author PicnicTutorials
    What do you guys mean by "list"? What list?
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by picnictutorials View Post

      What do you guys mean by "list"? What list?
      A list of the email addresses of readers/viewers of your site who have given you their email address (typically by typing it into a little box included on your site) and permission to send them emails.
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      • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
        If I had to do it all over again as soon as I learned something
        new I would have put it into action.

        Like most marketers I wasted a lot of time gathering information
        instead of developing skills by taking action.

        Also after getting my first paying client for $1,500 I would have
        approached a lot more brick and mortar businesses offering to
        help them with their internet marketing.

        In other words I would have been more aware of what worked
        and why and would have done a lot more of that.

        Kindest regards,
        Andrew Cavanagh
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    • Profile picture of the author Ricky Allen
      Well about the only thing I would do as hindsight is a great thing of course:

      Bearing in mind I have domain names I could sell for thousands if I chose too, and I mean just domain names not websites and I may do at some stage of course would have been to start buying domain names from day one of my Internet start.

      As yes in those days you could still get real one word dot coms.

      Ricky Allen
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      • Profile picture of the author luane
        I agree with those who have talked about starting a list. Affiliate marketing is grand, but it limits you to building OTHER people's list, while building your own list is building a branded business that you can call your own and expand forever.

        Kristie from Georgia
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by luane View Post

          Affiliate marketing is grand, but it limits you to building OTHER people's list
          No - sorry Kristie, but it just doesn't, at all.

          We affiliate marketers are building our own lists. They're the primary asset of our affiliate marketing businesses. Without them, we can't keep people returning to our sites, let alone make repeated sales of different products to the same customers (which is where most of the long-term money is, in affiliate marketing ).
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    • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
      Originally Posted by picnictutorials View Post

      What do you guys mean by "list"? What list?
      A "list" is a database of people's contact information where they have opted to give you permission to have their information in order to communicate with them. The most common form in the context of this forum is their e-mail address and sometimes their first and/or their last name too.

      Some marketers are also collecting:
      • Phone numbers (your mobile # so they can text you).
      • Your address (so they can mail you direct mail pieces).
      • Your birthdate (so they can mail you offers on your birthday)
      • Etc.
      I've noticed this more and more, especially in non-MMO (Make Money Online) niches and markets.

      RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author troymarkz
    built a list from the star
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    • Profile picture of the author Gonzosan
      Well looks like I'm going to sign up with Aweber this weekend. I have mailchimp but haven't used it at all. I have an RSS feed on my site but obviously I don't have control over that. I went through that link posted above "57 Lessons Learned Over 14 Years In Internet Marketing" which was very inspiring. Gives me a little push in the right direction.
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  • Profile picture of the author gurugrimmer
    I agree... I would have got in to 'producer' instead of consumer mode much earlier in the game. I also would have done more research in to what people need when creating products. Instead of presuming I knew!
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  • Profile picture of the author PerformanceMan
    I would focus primarily on building effective sales funnels.
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  • Profile picture of the author george b
    I would have set my mind to focus on one project, and one project only.

    I now realize 100% effort focused in one area is much more beneficial than splitting that 100% on loads of areas.

    George b
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  • Profile picture of the author alksense
    I make most of my income via eCommerce... I started making money very early on but did not know about conversion tracking. I ended up throwing tons of money into advertising every month and had no clue which traffic sources were converting for me. After a year of having a HUGE advertising budget I enabled eCommerce tracking in Google Analytics and within a few months I cut my ad budget in less than half because TONS of traffic sources simply weren't converting! I literally wasted $xx,xxx without even knowing it.

    If I could change one thing it would be tracking where my sales were coming from starting on day one!
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    • Profile picture of the author a1pena
      Originally Posted by alksense View Post

      I make most of my income via eCommerce... I started making money very early on but did not know about conversion tracking. I ended up throwing tons of money into advertising every month and had no clue which traffic sources were converting for me. After a year of having a HUGE advertising budget I enabled eCommerce tracking in Google Analytics and within a few months I cut my ad budget in less than half because TONS of traffic sources simply weren't converting! I literally wasted ,xxx without even knowing it.

      If I could change one thing it would be tracking where my sales were coming from starting on day one!
      Conversions and sales tracking would be huge if your focus is eCommerce.
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      • Profile picture of the author Gonzosan
        Originally Posted by a1pena View Post

        Conversions and sales tracking would be huge if your focus is eCommerce.
        I need to track this myself once I set up my Shopify store this weekend. hopefully they have some good tracking software for all this stuff. I'd like to create small products to sell (digital) once a week.
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    • Profile picture of the author PerformanceMan
      Originally Posted by alksense View Post

      I make most of my income via eCommerce... I started making money very early on but did not know about conversion tracking. I ended up throwing tons of money into advertising every month and had no clue which traffic sources were converting for me. After a year of having a HUGE advertising budget I enabled eCommerce tracking in Google Analytics and within a few months I cut my ad budget in less than half because TONS of traffic sources simply weren't converting! I literally wasted ,xxx without even knowing it.

      If I could change one thing it would be tracking where my sales were coming from starting on day one!
      This is how Google makes most of its money - with uninformed advertisers.

      Everyone who starts out with them wastes a lot of money - because they don't know to make the most out of all the available tools.
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      • Profile picture of the author alksense
        Originally Posted by PerformanceMan View Post

        This is how Google makes most of its money - with uninformed advertisers.

        Everyone who starts out with them wastes a lot of money - because they don't know to make the most out of all the available tools.
        You're right but it's not just Google who makes absurd amounts of money this way... I was advertising on huge authority niche related blogs and multiple shopping comparison websites with high CPCs.

        My profits were far outweighing my expenses but I was still throwing away tons of $$$ without realizing as I'm sure thousands of other merchants do daily.... you're right about people just not knowing about the available tools though (most of which are free).

        To any newbies reading this: DO NOT PAY FOR TRAFFIC UNLESS YOU'RE TRACKING CONVERSIONS!!!

        (that feels better...)
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    For those that haven't done yet what they would do if they had a chance to start over, the good news is that each new day is a new start.

    In other words if you regret not building a list when you started but still aren't giving list building the attention it deserves, you can change -- have a new start -- today.

    There's no reason to live with so many regrets when you have so many chances for new beginnings.
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  • Profile picture of the author angela99
    Originally Posted by a1pena View Post

    So if you guys had to do it all over again with your IM business what would you do different. What would you first focus on? What business model in the umbrella of IM would you start with first.
    What everyone else said -- lists, lists, lists...

    I wouldn't change my business model -- info products -- I'd just focus on creating smaller products more often, rather than fussing and creating big products.

    In addition, I'd do more affiliate marketing, creating bonuses to products which are doing well, and which are complementary to my own products.

    I'd explore more too, looking at new niches, and new trends.

    Cheers

    Angela
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  • Profile picture of the author Mo Jogee
    Cut out the BS and find a mentor you want to model on and laser focus on building your business
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  • Profile picture of the author mikeac
    Originally Posted by a1pena View Post

    So if you guys had to do it all over again with your IM business what would you do different. What would you first focus on? What business model in the umbrella of IM would you start with first.

    Im interested in your responses... My response would be focus on product creation straight out of the gate. Offering my first couple WSO as mostly lead generation products offering 100% commission FE and OTO. And do that for a couple of launches. Attracting a fair amount of JV's building a decent sized list. And learning to monetize that list on the backend.

    I would probably do the exact same thing. Also I would add I would stop chasing the next shiny object "push button" ebook. All those ebooks are just downward spiral,and wont get you anywhere.
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  • Profile picture of the author tremayne
    I would spend on a solid mentor what I spent on bright shiny objects.

    Sydney
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  • Profile picture of the author jchengery
    Hello a1pena,

    - Taking more action and doing less reading and studying (have to read and study, of course, but too much just leads to information overload and makes you less likely to take action).
    - Building my own list.
    - Creating my own products.
    - Mixing both product and affiliate offers to boost reputation and income.
    - Utilizing PLR and outsourcing more earlier on, as I tried to do everything myself, which caused a lot of stress and headaches.

    Of course, Kindle/iBookstore/NookPress came several years after I started, but I would start with them immediately if I was a newbie today (I'm focusing on those platforms right now and in the immediate future).

    Take care,

    Joe Chengery
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  • Profile picture of the author madeye32
    Would Work Harder Would not pass any chance I got..
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