Trying again after 15 years

Well, the quality increase in the courses/coaches is probably the result of having 10-15 extra years in the bucket. Lots of new "tech" and "mechanisms" now than back in the early 2000s.

However, having new tech or new toys to play with doesn't mean they are required or ideal for many businesses. Most IMers these days over emphasize the newest thing than just basic business strategies.

My business has no Youtube Channel, no Social Media Accounts, No SEO-Focused "link-building" and we just phased out messing around with affiliates/contests. We don't "spend weeks providing value" before we sell them things. We don't use traditional lead magnets. We don't have your typical "ascension" funnel either ($7 -> $27 -> $97).

We focus on our core competencies that we are actually good at, and that's about it.

Depending on what you're looking to do in the IM/MMO space, will probably determine what you will try and what will work for you.

Fred, in 1985 I started selling computer parts and pieces online, in 1995 I was selling courses, books, manuals and computers online, in 2005, I was selling mostly information products on the Internet, and same in 2015 and today.

See, the basic building block of all Marketing, online or off, is a TRANSACTION, or an exchange of agreed on value, mostly done with currency of some kind. In USA, we trade dollars for goods and services for the most part with some bartering going on too.

So, what is your TRANSACTION model? What do you have to sell, any goods or services? If not, you have to sell the stuff of other people, which can be lucrative as in eCom and affiliate marketing.

All the so-called advances made, still have the basics involved, an EXCHANGE of value.

You will find scores if not hundreds of people here who lack that basic concept, because your success will come when you make enough exchanges, and sometimes, it could be fewer if you have higher profit margins to work with.

There are 3 PARTS, and you'll see many variations, but you need something to sell, a Product/Service, a PROSPECT (someone with the money to buy and a want/need) and a PROCESS for exchanging value, normally a Payment and before that, a PROMOTION where they find out about what you have to offer.

Now, check this out, most of the responses you will get will be brief, and more than likely will refer you to their signature which gives you the opportunity to do it their way. And there is no shortage of DO THIS, OR DO THAT, or this is best, that is better...and mostly BS to boot.

YOUR success will depend on you choosing a way which suits you, not a blueprint or tested formula, or an investment or even a done for you system, because a week spent in the archives here will show you these don't work for everyone. IF there were a blueprint to follow which guaranteed us an income we desired, wouldn't we all be using it?

But we aren't.

What sort of products do you buy? Use? Want? Where have you traded your dollars recently? Might there be an opportunity for you in one of the markets you are a buyer in? Makes sense to take a look, doesn't it?

What do you want from your efforts? How well defined are your goals? Because if you don't have them, you'll be like a leaf on the wind of all the hot air coming your way.

What or who do you know who makes money with a repeatable, or a model which can be copied? That is the best MMO offers, tested and proven ways for other people to earn, based on reality and not theory or math, ie., if only two sign up and they get 2 more and they get 2 more and so on, BS.

Fred, what do you want?

Answer that, and you can probably be shown a map which could get you there, fair enough?

GordonJ

I remember link farms, but unfortunately we are far beyond those these days. Here is what I can recommend though...

If you are still planning on offering something to do with reviews or education/knowledge, this provides value for your readers and is still a very good niche. It's what I've always done the best with. I'm not sure if you were planning on teaching others how to make online while you do exactly that, but this also works as well.

These days it's less about tricking Google and more about interacting with people. There are so many ways to do this.
Either partner with other related bloggers or website owners. You can make valuable youtube videos. Or join FB groups or social media areas where others are looking for your information. (Drop them a line, have content/downloads that they will share with that same community.) You can also start posting on other blogs as a guest blogger.

It's also a good idea to make yourself different from the rest. Offer something that the other "make money online" websites do not have. Give your audience a reason to come back to you or follow you.


Add: Modern version of link farms are backlinks in my opinion. You can also find out how to find broken links and create content to replace. This is sort of the "easy way" today, ha.

Guys thankyou all soo much for the detailed replies..Excellent advice

Video courses are easy to follow especially today's new technology has made the way of marketing become complicated and sometimes difficult to understand. Having said that, new technology also help to create new system that can make our marketing effort become easier and faster.

Hi Fred,

So I am back again for another stab at this.

Trash that dude. Replace with:

I am 100% committed to creating something valuable and lasting for my readers, clients and customers.

....and you will succeed as surely as night follows day.

Good deal on your mentor. Stick to basics. Learn. Help people. Build friendships. Be patient. Don't panic. Prosper.

Fred,

No matter what you do, you'll still need

TRAFFIC

(people will need to come from somewhere to see your offer)

and CONVERSION

(some of those people will need a way of understanding the problem you solve, and a way of paying you to solve it.)

Get those two things cleared up and stay off the Shiny Object Train.

Who will you solve a problem for, at what level, and where will you find them?

I think that the key is a product/service that people WANT rather than need. They will take out a contract for an expensive mobile when they have holes in their shoes.

Once you have a product or service that people WANT the second step is getting the offer in front of people (traffic). If there was a gold rush you would not have any difficulty selling to prospectors kit that would help them with gold mining. They would be hungry to get started and would not mind much if your website sucked. All they would be interested in was getting the equipment that would help them find gold.

A brilliantly put together website that promotes products that people do not want is unlikely to be a success.

Oh those days. I remember doing that exact same thing back then
Spend and entire week cloning product sites and turning them into review sites in Dreamweaver.

Oh that nostalgia

Luckily there is much smarter, faster and BETTER alternatives nowadays

I also tried back then, I lost over $20000 and I I caved in, left it now I am back on the road, but with a mentor that knows this game.

Yes had lots of attempts at making money online.


In 1998 I searched for "write for us" pages on sites and ended up writing some articles which I got paid for. I got a USD check mailed to me which was a real novelty for a GBP guy.


In 2002 I was out of work during the dot com crash. The weather was terrible that year. I wrote some shareware on my ancient PC and ended up making $100,000 from that idea. I still sell a few copies, but it peaked in 2008.


In 2010 I did well with some niche sites but that peaked a lot more quickly. Again I still make some money from that, but not as much as the $1000 a month AdSense peak in late 2011.


Really the easy money had been made but I still make websites for fun. Since 2014 there has just been relentless pressure from the big guys. Plus everyone is making content these days. Back in 2005 I ranked #1 in Google Images for "peacock". Could you imagine doing that now? Nah, you're gonna have to work your ass off these days. If you build it they will come doesn't work now, unless you have a niche all to yourself (unlikely).


If you learn one thing from my story it's this: I saved 100% of my online income. As a result I now make 3x as much from my investments than I do from my websites.