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How Do I Know If Anything Is Working?

by The Schwa
12 replies
I'm getting very frustrated... I need to see that there's a glimmer of hope somewhere... I'm serious surprised that I still have electricity or natural gas since I'm waaaay overdue on those bills...

Back to the question...

How Do I Know? Google Analytics seems worthless because the reports only come out once per day... when I go to bed at night I know as much as I'm going to know when I wake up in the morning...

I don't even know what to do today... I don't want to keep doing things that aren't working, but don't know what works...

I was able to see some results on Alexa.com... but now suddenly yesterday there is ZERO mention of my site on Alexa... it's like it doesn't even exist...

In general... I don't see how I'm supposed to accomplish anything when the plan is:

1. Do a bunch of stuff
2. Wait weeks to see if anything happens
3. When it doesn't... do a bunch more stuff...

I'm working 20 hours a day for ZERO dollars...

And there are NO JOBS in my home state... we just lost our two largest employers in the past 6 months!!

At this point, if I knew how, I'd hire myself out to do the menial tasks for another warrior... I just need a paycheck!!!!
#working
  • Profile picture of the author mosilager
    Are you asking on how you can check the stats on your website?.:confused: Your question seems very confusing, I don't really know what you're even asking!.:confused:
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  • Profile picture of the author scattermouse
    Things should be happening a bit quicker than that.
    But yes, what you're trying to do seems to be making a long term commitment to build yourself a long term business. This does mean that you probably aren't going to get too much return in the short term.

    If you need a quick paycheck, there are lots of freelance sites where you can get paid quickly for doing something like article writing, or programming, or even posting in forums. Is that something you might be interested in?
    Here are a couple of sites.
    Elance | Hire experts to do your work: outsource to companies, consultants and freelance professionals.
    Find Freelancers, Professionals, and Contract Workers for Hire - Guru.com

    There are loads more, a quick google search should get you a long list that you can try for yourself.

    IM can be frustrating, but it's important to keep some perspective. If you're not making any money, and you really need a paycheck then that should be your first priority.

    You definitely shouldn't need to work 20 hours a day. That isn't going to help you in the long run - it's going to lead to health problems, and it won't help you to make the best decisions for yourself.

    If you want my advice - go and have a rest, relax for a day then come back and check out freelance sites so you get enough money to pay your bills. Then you can start thinking long term again.

    Good luck.

    PM me if you need help getting yourself set up or you want any advice.
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    Kill Your Procrastination Stone Dead!
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  • Profile picture of the author TLTheLiberator
    In general... I don't see how I'm supposed to accomplish anything when the plan is:

    1. Do a bunch of stuff
    2. Wait weeks to see if anything happens
    3. When it doesn't... do a bunch more stuff...

    What online business model are you using?

    ( we don't need to know your niche )

    What are you doing to generate visitors to your offers?

    TL
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    "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. -- Mark Twain

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    • Profile picture of the author The Schwa
      Originally Posted by TLTheLiberator View Post

      In general... I don't see how I'm supposed to accomplish anything when the plan is:

      1. Do a bunch of stuff
      2. Wait weeks to see if anything happens
      3. When it doesn't... do a bunch more stuff...

      What online business model are you using?

      ( we don't need to know your niche )

      What are you doing to generate visitors to your offers?

      TL
      Mostly writing articles, blogging, and building backlinks... but getting zero traffic...

      The only traffic I get is on YouTube... but I have no idea what to do with them... I have nothing I can sell in the only niche my vids could support (as a hint, my videos were filmed in Amsterdam )...

      I'm frustrated because I have essentially ZERO traffic... my articles are well-written and getting picked up by publishers... but still no clicks over to my site...

      Here's the numbers:

      Website went live with Analytics May 19. Since then --

      144 visits
      -46 visits were me =
      98 other visitors
      -51 visits that all came at once from Germany and the Ukraine and all had 0:00:00 time on site... so they were automated hits of some type

      = 46 visitors...

      List sign-ups ..... One

      So 3+ weeks of website work and one member

      I think I need to rewrite my entry page again, maybe make it clear that I'm not selling anything on the site (the plan was to use it to build a list using good information and giveaways)

      I've really been trying to focus on the "process." I need something like a plan to follow each day so I'm not just spinning my wheels... plus having a procedure in place will help if I ever try and outsource since I'll know what I'm looking for.

      I'd like to do PPC, but I have little to no budget... and in the past I've seen conversion rates that equal me spending $40 for every $30 sale I make... can't stay in business that way...

      I also have decent eBay traffic... but you're not allowed to send that traffic away from eBay... so again.... kinda worthless... plus eBay keeps putting all my income "On Hold" for weeks at a time... leaving me unable to do business and driving up all my costs (can't use my UPS shipping account anymore because of the holds)


      Oh... and as far as niche goes... mostly I'm building in an IM niche (except my eBay sales) to start because I needed to learn the techniques anyway... with the plan to take that knowledge into niches that I actually enjoy....

      Blah! OK.... /endrant

      Maybe I will just go play with babies today and forget about it for a bit...

      It's just so hard to get started... everybody has a "can't miss" deal and in order to avoid being scammed, I pretty much ignore all of them... even though one or two may actually work...

      Thanks for listening!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Franklin
    It can be frustrating to see nothing for all of your effort. It really is!

    But the answer is to put in even more effort.....just change things up a bit!

    You have gone the route of blogging and article marketing with backlinking which are great starting points.

    Every day try to keep doing what you're doing but add a new marketing stream every day. So keep doing blogging, article marketing, backlinking and now add forum marketing to the mix. Don't just go through the motions though....Spend some time on forums where they discuss your niche and add value in your posts.

    Then the next day, you're going to continue to blog, article market, backlink, forum marketing, AND another marketing avenue.....This time, try sending your articles directly to Ezines. This is a golden technique! So many people wait for Ezines to pick up their articles on EzineArticles....Why not reverse the process? It works! This is what you do:

    Google "ezine directory" (directoryofezines.com is a great starting point too!) and you will find some good directories. Go through and search these directories by your niche. Next, contact the ezines and offer them good articles on your niche....with your link at the end of the article, of course!

    This technique works phenomenally well!

    I could come up with at least 30 more different techniques. The point is that you need to keep doing a lot of different things and some will stick! Track the marketing streams that work and double up on the winners...Don't be obsesses with the lack of sales! Focus on producing valuable content and distribute it as much as you can and you will see the results....I promise!
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    • Profile picture of the author The Schwa
      Originally Posted by MidwestMike View Post

      It can be frustrating to see nothing for all of your effort. It really is!
      ... Focus on producing valuable content and distribute it as much as you can and you will see the results....I promise!
      Thanks... this helps.... I did take a break today... played with the babies, and ate pizza outside... now I'm going to have a few beers, watch a movie and try to start again tomorrow...

      I have ideas out the wazoo, online and off... just not enough hours in the day...

      Thanks again!!
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  • Profile picture of the author mlongley
    One way to build instant, direct free traffic is to monitor google alerts for your keywords. Especially, how do I's or where can I buy, or if you niche is targeted enough, you can use your main keywords. Then when you find people posting questions in forums on blogs etc... Respond to them with an insightful answer and direct them to your website. You want to be careful not to abuse this or send them directly to sites using blatant affiliate links. Another thing that you can do is search for your keywords on twitter and yahoo answers. Then subscribe to the rss feeds for those keywords. That way whenever anyone mentions something about those keywords, you can be the first to answer.

    Also keep working on your seo, but plan some time to do some social marketing mentioned above as well. this will be your instant traffic, SEO will be your long term traffic. It could take a while to get established using SEO though. So that is why it is important to diversify your traffic strategy
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    • Profile picture of the author The Schwa
      Originally Posted by mlongley View Post

      Then when you find people posting questions in forums on blogs etc... Respond to them with an insightful answer and direct them to your website...

      Good ideas!! Here's a question though...

      What's the right setting for Google Alerts?.... I set all mine for "As It Happens".... then for example today I get an alert for a site they crawled on Jun 7th!! That seems to be the norm... As It Happens means we'll let ya know when we get around to it...

      Should I pick "Daily?"
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  • Profile picture of the author LB
    You know it's working when you make money.

    (and yes, I'm serious)

    Everything else is just guessing.
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    Tired of Article Marketing, Backlink Spamming and Other Crusty Old Traffic Methods?

    Click Here.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Schwa
      ACK!! Just went over to Ezine Directory to bookmark a few sites... when I got to the most popular one "Creating Wealth Through Affiliate Marketing" I was instantly attacked by a Trojan upon hitting their site!!!

      Do you think I should contact Ezine Directory and tell them?

      NOTE: Doesn't do much for my hopefulness...
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  • Profile picture of the author crystalq
    Here's some tips for you.

    1. Submit all of your article's links and websites to twitter add lots of new friends if you need to.
    2. Submit all of your RSS feeds to RSS direstories - FeedAge.com
    3. Make Squidoo Lenses, Submit those to twitter.
    4. Social Bookmark everything using socialmarker.com
    5. Make a FaceBook account, add friends then share links.

    Add thanks if you think I deserve it for more traffic
    you can try usfreeads for $10.00 a month.
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    Newbies! A Free "Affiliates Avoid" Guide for You! | Visit IINTERNETMONEY.COM NOW!
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    • Profile picture of the author The Schwa
      Originally Posted by crystalq View Post

      Here's some tips for you.

      1. Submit all of your article's links and websites to twitter add lots of new friends if you need to.
      2. Submit all of your RSS feeds to RSS direstories - FeedAge.com
      3. Make Squidoo Lenses, Submit those to twitter.
      4. Social Bookmark everything using socialmarker.com
      5. Make a FaceBook account, add friends then share links.

      Add thanks if you think I deserve it for more traffic
      you can try usfreeads for $10.00 a month.
      1. Just signed up for Twitter last nite... gotta learn that
      2. Never heard of FeedAge...gonna check THAT out!
      3. Been meaning to Squidoo... :adding to list: :p
      4. Thought there was something bout Social Marker I didn't like.. can't remember now... will look again (Got some little SM icons on one of my blogs)
      5. I have a Facebook account... it's filled with all my non-IM friends... kinda leery about saying anything for fear of an "Oh... Amway?" kinda response

      I was gonna start my USFreeAds last night... but I was too drunk to do much with it... no point in losing the 3 free days, I'll do that tomorrow

      Some great stuff here!! Thanks a ton... I better get to bed... a LOT TO DO tomorrow
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