What Would You Do If You Started from Scratch

Keep it simple. Start a blog on something you are passionate about. Post articles consistently. If you're gonna post 3 times a week, COMMIT to it. Build an email list while you're at it. Give away your best stuff for free in exchange for an email. Set up an auto responder sequence, the longer the better, as long is it flows somewhat naturally. Give away more value to your list with an occasional promotion for an affiliate product.

If you simply focus on creating solid content and building your mailing list, that's all you really need to succeed. Granted, this is a long term strategy. It may take a year, but it is almost fail-proof. Plus, it's almost completely automated. All you have to do is create a few articles every week.

If you want to build something that will last you a lifetime and continue to generate passive income, then this is the way to go. It's not easy, most people quit wayyyy too soon, but that is exactly why it must be something you are at least somewhat passionate about. Have a long term vision. Build something from the heart, not just something that will make you money. Money can only bring you so much, but when your passion is your full time job, well there's not many feelings that can compare to the deep satisfaction it brings.

My best results always come when i'm learning something new. When i learn something i am thirsty and hungry and i want to share this knowledge, so it's a opportunity to start a course training about this new learning.
Passion is a great thing but it didn't transmit the same energy than new learning.

- AJ

I think affiliate marketing is a good way.

I used to be in your situation before.

I have to write down what I can do.

I go to Amazon, Ebay, all the affiliate websites and things.

I check the categories.

Write down as deep as possible what I can do on the paper.

Find a book about it.

Then, do research.

A simple blog is fine.

I like blog spot of Google.

Just simple design.

One thing to know, you can go to article directories (Ezine Article).

I set a subscription for the categories I want.

I track new articles.

I find out the author and connect with them.

Then, offer them to do guest blog for you with back link to their site.

Let them advertise on your site, they will let you advertise on their site.

I recommend you should follow Terry Dean.

Or, type "best internet marketer" on Google.

Some name may come out.

Find these people.

Maybe you will learn something more about how they do it.

Don't spend money before understanding what you have to do. You have to study a lot. Read many posts in this forum, and learn as much as you need. Then, start putting everything into practice.

A good way to start making money online is by offering a service instead of trying to sell something. Selling is harder, and there is fierce competition everywhere. Of course, you will find competition also when you will offer your services, but it is easier to make money this way.

If you know how to write articles, how to create websites, videos, etc. start offering this service and making some money. Then, find other money-making methods related to what you are already doing. For example, if you will become an article writer, later you can learn how to write books for clients and for yourself, etc.

When you will better understand how to make money online, then try to sell affiliate products related to the product you intend to create later. This way you will build an email list to promote your own product when it will be ready.

A very common problem.

Pick one thing and hammer the hell out of it for at least a year. Build a list right from the start. If you are promoting affiliate products get people on your list first. Never send your traffic directly to an affiliate offer.

Get your sales funnel set up right: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...step-step.html

You have to have focus above all else. The guy I learned from said "The key to success is relentless, focused action."

The fortitude to keep on going when things get bleak is what separates the successes from the failures.

There is your problem, you hit the nail right on the head, focus and thorough testing are imperative. Marketing is clever it conditions you to keep buying the next big thing until your hard drive gets filled up with products you have purchased but never used. I know, I'm guilty of that too and it's so hard to resist that one thing that is going to take you to the next level, but the fault is with your mindset and you need to change it.

some solid info in this thread. I think the key above all else is to just stick to one thing and take action. Alot of beginners have the problem of trying to learn everything and they end up with a lot of knowledge but no action. But someone who only knows a bit but really pushes it hard stands an infinitely better chance of success.

If I were to start over from scratch, I would do almost exactly what I did when I first got started - build up a blog but I would make sure that it's in a niche that I can make money with by selling as an affiliate and even creating my own product for it.

It's important to find something you're passionate about, but it's also just as important to make sure that it's marketable. Build a list while you're at it (which is why it's important that you're able to come up with your own products for this), there are some free options for this if you don't want to roll up the monthly maintenance cost.

A lot of times you know what you need to do, the problem is actually doing them. I'll admit, I was (and still am) one of them, but it's something you need to overcome on your own.

I would start with a blank piece of paper. On this I would write:

What do I want? Why do I want this? What will getting what I want do for me?

I would put on this piece of paper some off the top of my head answers.

Maybe something like:

I want to make 100 grand a year from my IM efforts. Why? It would cover my bills, my living expenses and give me money to invest.

If I can do this, it will free me up to pursue other interests.

Then, below all of this, I'd write?

HOW?

How do others already do it? (You've answered in your post, and there are so many ways, it can lead to paralysis).

See, I would put some HARD THINKING into what I was doing. I would want to know the result, then search for a pattern, a blueprint, a person who is doing what I want to do and set a course of action to reach my goals.

I would begin with a blank piece of paper and begin to THINK. Because I've seen decades of failure from people chasing one shiny object after another and even those who have achieved success to lose it rapidly BECAUSE they didn't take the time or bother to think through their projects and identify the

bog down points
the dependency
the market
the technology

I would begin again with a well thought out PLAN of Action then I would execute it on a step by step daily basis with metrics in place as checkpoints to insure I was solving all my problems in the direction of my goals.

So, the short and sweet answer:

Think it through.

gjabiz

PS. And a good part of the thinking is choosing the WAY (out of many) which best suits my strengths and desires.

I would pay 10 of the hottest gurus to spend 5 minutes with me answering some of the hottest questions I could find.

I'd then publish that data, and pay the hottest copywriter I could find to create a sales letter.

I'd create a $997 per month coaching program, and pay one of the gurus I interviewed 50% revenue split to handle the coaching.

Naturally I'd promote the coaching as an upsell to the product I created.



(Would work in any niche).

Glad someone opened up a thread on this subject as it pertains to anyone that seeks to create something outta nothing (only banks can do that!). Bottom line. I believe it all works, including the systems that leave out things. Why? Human ingenuity. That creative spark exist in all of us. The emotion to truly avoid is desperation, you make poor choices when you are desperate, and I have made a lot of them. Great information is available here, take advantage of it and be creative. Seek out a coach, Omar Martin comes to mind, as well as Kenster. Give yourself a plan, a goal if you wish. Even Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz had the yellow brick road. Sorry I do not have a step by step. I am traveling the same road buddy. Hang in there.

You are a film maker and video creator and you have a $100/month budget to work with. Pffft! I wish I were "starting over from scratch" in your shoes

Step one: Decide what you want. Be realistic.

Step two: Set achievable goals for getting what you want. Note: a goal without a date for completion is just a wish.

Step three: Divide your goals into annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily goals. This is the beginning of a plan.

Begin to execute: In your case I would write 25-50 articles about how to make effective marketing videos that pop and demand action or something along those lines.

That done, set up a membership site, load your articles into an auto-responder and drip feed them to your subscribers. You could easily charge $9.97/month for membership. (you're only using a quarter of your budget at this point)

Shortly you'll have the beginnings of a list, and at least two products: an ebook made from your 50 articles and a video course from the same source. You'll be well on your way to establishing yourself as an authority.

If I could go back knowing what I knew now, I wouldn't have spent cash like a king when I was making upto $5k a week on Adsense mini-sites. I would have saved it and got into list building, which still works now unlike Adsense (without an authority site anyway).

What you need to focus on is not which technique to use but to build your foundational skills so you actually succeed with any technique. There are a million techniques and they all work...if you have the skills necessary.

THE foundational skill in marketing is copywriting. If you can't write good copy, you won't be successful...unless you can afford to spend a shitload of money every time you need a sales message or ad. I'm willing to bet that this is the real reason why you initially failed. Notice that I said "initially"...because the game is not over and I think you'll eventually succeed.

If you really want to learn to learn how to write profit exploding copy the best course is John Carlton's Simple Writing System. John Carlton - Simple Writing System Express Course

That is what worked for me. I had read all the classic copywriting books but it wasn't until I worked through the simple writing system that all the light bulbs started to go off. It breaks down the writing process into 17 steps and that is really why it works so well. It shows you exactly what to do to write successful copy.

All the classic copywriting books talk about these steps but none of them explicitly lay them out in order and give specific examples and exercises. It's the exercises that is the key. The course will tell you exactly what to do. When I went through exercises the copy for my product just almost magically started to flow out of me.

Before I started the course I was stuck because I didn't know where to start or what to say. The exercises brought everything out of me.

The course will cost several hundred dollars but it will actually save you money. Being trained properly by one of the best copywriters who ever lived means you won't be led astray and learn garbage techniques. There is a deluge of shitty copywriting courses and nearly all of the cheap ones are just bad...really bad.

The thing is that you are the perfect type of person to learn copywriting since you're a salesman. John Carlton says that he'll take a salesman who can't write well over an English professor any day. The salesman will have a much, much better shot at becoming successful because they have the critical foundation to copywriting--salesmanship. Everything else can easily be learned.

If I were in your shoes I would learn copywriting and then start taking freelance gigs while you still work at your current job. Eventually you'll be able to quit your job. Copywriters are really well paid, so what you can do once you're making money as a freelancer is to work 2/3 of your time taking on copy gigs and 1/3 of your time building your IM business. It can take a while to get profitable in IM, but once you're a competent copywriter, money will start coming in quickly.

Anyway, keep your chin up. I just have a feeling that you will succeed. Your original post shows me that you can write well and that you have persistence (most people would have abandoned all hope by now). Good luck...actually f*ck that, take luck out of the equation and go get the skills for success and go pro.

***Edit to add*** The fact that you're a video maker is HUGE since there is such a huge demand for video sales letters. Video making skills + Copywriting skills = Huge Money.

I recommend you to do video marketing with your unique video skills as the products to promote. That's should be can't fail again with the right mentor.

Whatever you decide to do -- stick with it. It will probably take at least a year just to get your bearings.

As someone who has spent four years dabbling in this trade with nothing real to show for it, I'd suggest you get a real education in internet marketing.

I toyed with this game for a long time and only recently discovered that the trouble is "knowing what I didn't know".

There are so many sources of information on internet marketing that there's no way to keep up. What you need to realize is that IM is a business, just like any other. And a business needs a plan. YOU are the one who makes the plan so YOU need to know what you're doing.

I just signed on with a JV partner who has been in this biz for 20 years and I'm blown away with how simple it is, when you actually have a handle on it.

We spend so much time chasing the latest "shiny object" when the fundamentals are right under our feet. Do yourself a favor and GET EDUCATED in how to run an online business.

I'm not a guru. I've got a long string of wasted effort to show in my IM resume. But I (finally) figured out that this isn't a business you can run by yourself, all alone in your home office. Like it or not, there are things that you just don't do well. Bringing in someone who has the skills you don't will open up your profit potential like nothing you ever imagined.

Try the JV forum. Post what you do, and ask for help with the rest. It'll change your life!

Carl