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Source overload and recommendations

by jlcm
18 replies
So I was sent an article about making money through facebook messenger so of course facebook starts hitting me with all the ads for online marketing. I had looked into it many years ago when it was all clickbank products and never got into it. I decided to look into the current state of the business and check what these ads had to say, of course I had to give up my email address.

Well in one week I now have 366 unread messages as I'm just getting further behind, especially since there are many 10min - 2 hour videos that are to sell their programs and give only general broad info. I need to thin this down and I think the best way is to unsubscribe to them all and start over. Those that have been in this business for a bit, who are the material producers that you regularly read and get value from and how much are you making monthly if you don't mind? Who do you recommend for a beginner to sign up to the mailing list?

Long story short, I was medically discharged from the military and fell through the VA cracks. My medical issues are getting worse and keeping me from working a regular job and medical bills are about to start coming in. So starting money is limited but time is plenty.

Say I have $500-1000 what kind of business would you recommend to start in? I have looked at the print on demand and shopify dropshipping but not locked into that.

I'm doubting I could afford a mentor and to get started. Should I get a program? The ones I've seen are rather expensive as well. What is a moderate priced program that's good to get started since the cost will take away from what I have to get started. Looking for quickest turn around time so not months of seo.

Thanks
#overload #recommendations #source
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    I'd advise learning what to DO instesad of readig sales pages to see what to buy.


    Keep in mind the people selling 'how to' make money with their business selling 'how to'.


    Us this forum and LEARN what you can do - what type of online biz is best suited for you, etc. This forum has been online for 20 years - it is a WEALTH of information if you take the time to utilize it.


    Looking for quickest turn around time so not months of seo.

    Everyone new to IM is 'looking for the quickest turnaround' but many try to start with nothing. If you have start-up money, save it for domains, hosting, ads, software, tools....don't blow it on MMO stuff.


    "Get a mentor" is a popular answer here - but I would not advise it at this point. You don't need to pay someone to teach you the basics of working online - on this forum and on google there is enough free info available to get a good start. Your biggest resource is time - with that, you can learn quickly.
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    • Profile picture of the author jlcm
      Thanks.

      I have website hosting available for as many domains as I want, I also know wordpress decently well and have the Genesis framework thanks to previous work I've done. So I've been wondering if spending the money on shopify would still be better since it has all the addons with print on demand and dropshipping that people talk about using in the videos. I haven't seen any talk about any for woocommerce or such.

      It looks like facebook ads can run up a bit of a bill which is why I didn't want to spend the grand on any of the products and then have nothing left. I tried the start with nothing last time by doing surveys, yeah that was about worthless and that was 9 years ago. Looking at the money people have made vs what I've done over the decade, I wish I'd made it work back then.

      The reason I'm looking for one blueprint to follow is because of what happened last time to me. I start researching and I keep reading and I never start because the scope is so wide at that point.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Two free sources that will help...


    Walter Hay is a member here and an expert at dropshipping, sourcing, etc....FREE advice in all of his threads here....


    start with this one:


    https://www.warriorforum.com/members/importexport.html


    Also, in the 'sticky posts' at top of main forum section - FREE training by FradLam


    https://www.warriorforum.com/main-in...ng-online.html



    My point is - learn everthing you can before you start spending on 'info products'.
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    • Profile picture of the author jlcm
      Thanks, I'll check them out. Going through the slow process of unsubscribing and deleting emails now. I skimmed FradLam's post and will look into the other when I'm rested up and can mentally process better.
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

      Two free sources that will help...


      Walter Hay is a member here and an expert at dropshipping, sourcing, etc..
      Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd say that Walter Hay is certainly an expert at product sourcing. I'm not aware that his expertise is also in dropshipping, but maybe it is now. I'd definitely recommend Walter Hay (a.k.a. ImportExport) if you'd like to learn about building your own brand and how to get in touch with the real manufacturers who can make your product for you.

      We've changed a lot of the things we do and recommend as far as dropshipping goes. Due to fairly recent changes in Google's algorithm, it isn't nearly as easy to rank well as it used to be. You can still do it, but it takes longer and a lot more work than it did in the past. We now advise people to look at much more expensive products for dropshipping - things that cost a bare minimum of $400 but preferably an average purchase of $1,000. When you are dropshipping things that are more expensive, your profit per sale is much higher, allowing you to immediately start making money with PPC advertising. Because you only pay for ads after they have been running for 30 days, you should start making profits before you owe anything for the ads and those ads should cost far less than the profit you made from them.

      There is also a way to make money on cheap things (the AliExpress/Shopify/Facebook method) but it only really works well for certain kinds of products and generally costs far more money upfront in ad spend than the traditional name brand dropship model. We've had success with both.
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      • Profile picture of the author jlcm
        The biggest downside I've heard to the big ticket items and getting started is either needed to let the money clear before buying, adding in a lot of waiting time to the customer, or needing enough cash to cover it until it clears.

        One of the courses I saw advertised was about going for the big ticket items and being a middleman / online retailer and selling big ticket items of american producers and I was interested but that course is pricy. I'll definitely check out importexport for sourcing things.

        I guess the other point I heard about it was that the cheaper items could be marketed under impulse buys and the person is less likely to shop around much and just instabuy. But the big ticket items being things people research, look around and compare and possibly to local brick and mortars.

        I'll see what more posts I can find on WF about big ticket items but I think I'd have to scale up to those to build up enough capital to cover big ticket purchases. I'm glad I clicked your name, it's the only way I see your signature. I'll take a look at that link.

        Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    J the only thing I'd add; be careful with using fear as your driver (bills to pay, etc) because fear makes you impatient, and being impatient is the quickest way to fail online. Double down on mindset work to feel and clear these fears, to do the online thing successfully.
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    • Profile picture of the author jlcm
      Thanks

      I think it's less of fear and more of knowing myself. I'm the type that will read and research and study and never do anything. In some ways I'd probably be happiest as a scholar or researcher, but I really hate the higher education system.

      Years ago I started an aquaponics farm, or attempted to. I was researching and studying for months, maybe longer, and with all the conflicting info I just never could make up my mind what to do. Eventually my dad told me to just buy a course and follow it and if it didn't work out then modify or try something different.

      So my thoughts were the same here, maybe if there was a recommended, successful, thorough, well written guide it could start me on the path. If I could get a little success I could get a little knowledge, experience, confidence, and move forward. For me learning, studying, researching is like sitting and putting it into practice is like getting up and taking that step. It's easy to keep sitting pretty indefinitely but getting up is problematic for me.

      I don't know, maybe that makes sense. I still haven't slept so I'm a bit spaced. I do appreciate your advice and it totally makes sense. It has been a bit since I was regularly meditating and such and now that I take a minute, definitely feeling anxiety hiding under the surface that I was trying to ignore or pretend didn't exist. good call. Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author OptedIn
        Originally Posted by jlcm View Post

        I think it's less of fear and more of knowing myself.
        Possibly the single most important attribute to gauge whether or not you have what it takes to succeed, especially if you are honest with yourself. For me, your posts did not highlight many items that most would consider prerequisite tools and attitudes for entrepreneurial success.

        I'd proceed with caution and leave your options wide open. With a little luck (also, important), you may just wander into something that would be perfect for you as you feel your way around.

        I'm not sensing any spark, at this stage of the game. You're going to need a little fire in the belly to get you off to a strong start when it's important to overcome the initial obstacles you'll be facing.

        Good luck.
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        • Profile picture of the author jlcm
          I would like to thank you for your honest straight forward opinion. I know it has taken me a bit to respond but I needed to think after reading it, and life happens, and well, I've kept thinking.

          I am curious as to what most consider prerequisite tools and attitudes. I'm not doubting you and I'll probably agree with at least some. But I'm hoping to think about things differently.

          As for spark, I definitely wasn't feeling it when I first posted, I was looking out of desperation to get by. But now I have a dream to make come true.

          Thank you again
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    Everybody is in different situations. We use a 2% cash back credit card to make all of our purchases. When the money arrives in our bank account a couple days after the customer purchases, we transfer money to the credit card to cover our purchase. That way, we're not only not having to use our own money to make the purchase or having to delay the order by a couple of days, but we're getting 2% back, which almost offsets our credit card processing fees.

    Even if you're not in a position where you can do that, you can still have it in your TOS to please allow 2-3 days for items to process and ship. The vast majority of people will not mind and it's definitely going to get to them much quicker than anything from AliExpress will.
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  • Profile picture of the author Discover Ecommerce
    First off, I'm sorry to here about the situation you are in with the military and VA, however, maybe is was a for a reason.

    You mentioned drop shipping and shopify. Is there a particular reason you would like to pursue making money online in these industries? I only ask, because they are not the easiest to compete in.

    The top two ways to make money online, IMO, are Affiliate Marketing and Self Publishing.

    Here is my quick breakdown:

    Affiliate marketing takes time, but doesn't really take up that much money. You simply pick a niche, pick a platform and pick a product(s). Yes there is a lot you can put into affiliate marketing as far as strategies go, but you are just starting out and there is no reason to complicate it.

    Self Publishing can cost more, but it is a business you can scale up very quickly. A lot of people say Self Publishing is dead, or you cant make money. The truth is, it's saturated with crap. There is still an industry to produce quality product. It's use to be very easy to make money in this industry and that is just no the case. You can still make money quickly, you just have to, have to produce a quality product. Not the best, just quality.
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    • Profile picture of the author jlcm
      I haven't looked into either of those things yet.

      Roughly a decade ago when I looked, I took affiliate marketing to mean having a website that directed people to buy things from others, and seemed to be mostly clickbank stuff. I took it to be usually blogs.

      As for self publishing, is that like kindle books, blogs or something else? I just haven't ever felt like I've had anything to say, especially that would bring people in to read regularly to get ad or affiliate revenue.

      I'd be happy to be corrected in my view of things, I'll check your link and see what it has to say and maybe google a bit.

      Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
        Originally Posted by jlcm View Post

        I haven't looked into either of those things yet.

        Roughly a decade ago when I looked, I took affiliate marketing to mean having a website that directed people to buy things from others, and seemed to be mostly clickbank stuff. I took it to be usually blogs.

        As for self publishing, is that like kindle books, blogs or something else? I just haven't ever felt like I've had anything to say, especially that would bring people in to read regularly to get ad or affiliate revenue.

        I'd be happy to be corrected in my view of things, I'll check your link and see what it has to say and maybe google a bit.

        Thanks
        There are plenty of products besides clickbank ones to promote as an affiliate. The world's largest affiliate product source is Amazon but there are plenty of other major ones - Home Depot, Walmart, Target, etc. Many websites pay commissions for referrals of people who buy.
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        • Profile picture of the author jlcm
          Oh wow, I knew of amazon's but not walmart, home depot, and target. Thanks. You're right, there was amazon affiliate back then too. I'm kicking myself I didn't get into it back then and stick with it. I was blind, didn't see much in it at the time.

          I'll have to look into best practices for doing those. I'm just not sure what blog or youtube channel I could really make go and make it all go.
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          • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
            Originally Posted by jlcm View Post

            Oh wow, I knew of amazon's but not walmart, home depot, and target. Thanks. You're right, there was amazon affiliate back then too. I'm kicking myself I didn't get into it back then and stick with it. I was blind, didn't see much in it at the time.

            I'll have to look into best practices for doing those. I'm just not sure what blog or youtube channel I could really make go and make it all go.
            Almost every major retailer and brand has either an affiliate, dropship or wholesale program in place. Many times, there are links on their websites. In other cases, you have to call them and find out about them.
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  • Profile picture of the author affmarketer101
    You sent via fb messenger? How many could you send per day? Quite curious about it..
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    • Profile picture of the author jlcm
      I think there was a misunderstanding.

      A personal contact sent me a message on facebook. It was a link to how to make money if you're an introvert.

      Facebook sees this and decides that they should target me with make money online, make money from home, internet marketing ads.

      So I get many ads for all these various gurus and products. Each one of course wants your email to see their webinar. So I make a new account and give them the address.

      Within a week I have been sent over 500 emails by all these people. Most lack any content other than come watch my webinar and here's how much my students are making but still, overwhelming if you're going through them.
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