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How did you first start online?

by thevideoguy
23 replies
Hey what's up guys - Adam here...

Just wondering how all of you first started online, to really help the newbies out there.

I personally first started on eBay - dropshipping mobile phones.

I made really good money doing that, and eventually moved in to ugg boots, accessories, teeth whitening strips and became a Top Rated Seller/Powerseller.

Which was a goal of mine at the time.

Until I realized I wanted a business that I had full control over, so decided to completely change things up - and reinvest the money I made there in to an Internet Marketing business...

...upon which I have FULL control.

Sooo...

...how did you first start online?
#online #start
  • Profile picture of the author fcf360
    I enjoyed being on the forums back in the day.

    I enjoyed being on the forums so much I wanted to own a forum.

    I bought a forum, and I ran that into the ground. And while managing that forum, I was exposed to how to market a website etc. That's what got me started on internet marketing.
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    • Profile picture of the author thevideoguy
      Originally Posted by fcf360 View Post

      I enjoyed being on the forums back in the day.

      I enjoyed being on the forums so much I wanted to own a forum.

      I bought a forum, and I ran that into the ground. And while managing that forum, I was exposed to how to market a website etc. That's what got me started on internet marketing.
      It's weird but when you make mistakes like that - you learn from them.

      It's like you're on this journey, working towards your goal and along the way - you'll f@ck up and make mistakes, but you correct course and keep moving toward your goal.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Posting affiliate links on collegeclub discussions. It was so much easier to START making money online 14 years ago
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  • Profile picture of the author TotalWebsiteControl
    Article marketing or rather bum marketing. Started in 2005 and never looked backed. Made my first sale and i was hooked. My family doesn't know what to think about me doing seo for a living...
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    • Profile picture of the author thevideoguy
      Originally Posted by writeaway View Post

      Posting affiliate links on collegeclub discussions. It was so much easier to START making money online 14 years ago
      I bet it was!

      Originally Posted by ShoeNickel View Post

      Article marketing or rather bum marketing. Started in 2005 and never looked backed. Made my first sale and i was hooked. My family doesn't know what to think about me doing seo for a living...
      When you know someone that doesn't really use the internet that much, and you tell them you're making money online - they can't believe it because it's something they're not used to hearing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Del
    I started off with paid surveys, boy was that a complete waste of time It is way to over hyped on how much money you will make. The reality of paid surveys is that it's long tedious work for very little money. We're talking less than $1 in like 8 hours of work. It's not money you get for each survey complete, it's points. You have to reach a certain amount of points in order to make money. Also, they flood your inbox with companies offering surveys for you to complete. One survey site needed 60 000 points to reach $20 and each survey you get about 50-100 points at about 10-20 minutes each to complete, so if you do the math you can see how long it will take you to just make $20! Stay away.

    The only way you can make money with surveys is if you sign up to their affiliate program and promote it. But, that may hurt your reputation if you have one.
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    • Profile picture of the author TotalWebsiteControl
      Originally Posted by Chris Del View Post

      I started off with paid surveys, boy was that a complete waste of time It is way to over hyped on how much money you will make. The reality of paid surveys is that it's long tedious work for very little money. We're talking less than $1 in like 8 hours of work. It's not money you get for each survey complete, it's points. You have to reach a certain amount of points in order to make money. Also, they flood your inbox with companies offering surveys for you to complete. One survey site needed 60 000 points to reach $20 and each survey you get about 50-100 points at about 10-20 minutes each to complete, so if you do the math you can see how long it will take you to just make $20! Stay away.

      The only way you can make money with surveys is if you sign up to their affiliate program and promote it. But, that may hurt your reputation if you have one.
      O wow i forgot about paid surveys. Man that wasn't worth it at all lol. ughh those were the rough years
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnnyPlan
      Originally Posted by Chris Del View Post

      I started off with paid surveys, boy was that a complete waste of time It is way to over hyped on how much money you will make. The reality of paid surveys is that it's long tedious work for very little money. We're talking less than $1 in like 8 hours of work. It's not money you get for each survey complete, it's points. You have to reach a certain amount of points in order to make money. Also, they flood your inbox with companies offering surveys for you to complete. One survey site needed 60 000 points to reach $20 and each survey you get about 50-100 points at about 10-20 minutes each to complete, so if you do the math you can see how long it will take you to just make $20! Stay away.

      The only way you can make money with surveys is if you sign up to their affiliate program and promote it. But, that may hurt your reputation if you have one.
      I'm sure these paid points surveys and emails only appeal to stay at home moms and teen students who don't have to worry about working or want something fun to do in their spare time. Anyone trying to establish a real business will stay away from this and get down to the real business of creating a product and building a site.
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    • Profile picture of the author ashwinsatyanarayana
      Originally Posted by Chris Del View Post

      I started off with paid surveys, boy was that a complete waste of time It is way to over hyped on how much money you will make. The reality of paid surveys is that it's long tedious work for very little money. We're talking less than $1 in like 8 hours of work. It's not money you get for each survey complete, it's points. You have to reach a certain amount of points in order to make money. Also, they flood your inbox with companies offering surveys for you to complete. One survey site needed 60 000 points to reach $20 and each survey you get about 50-100 points at about 10-20 minutes each to complete, so if you do the math you can see how long it will take you to just make $20! Stay away.

      The only way you can make money with surveys is if you sign up to their affiliate program and promote it. But, that may hurt your reputation if you have one.
      Chris, I started with Paid surveys too and it was a complete bummer, at least for me. I was so convinced that this was the way to go that I borrowed 20 USD, and shipped a check to the company.

      That was a long time ago. God, do I feel nostalgic or what?

      Well, one thing led to another and I fast-tracked to complete digital marketing services, end-to-end. While I am doing this, I am now trying to work on the other stuff now. Let's see how that goes.
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    • Profile picture of the author thevideoguy
      Originally Posted by Chris Del View Post

      I started off with paid surveys, boy was that a complete waste of time It is way to over hyped on how much money you will make. The reality of paid surveys is that it's long tedious work for very little money. We're talking less than $1 in like 8 hours of work. It's not money you get for each survey complete, it's points. You have to reach a certain amount of points in order to make money. Also, they flood your inbox with companies offering surveys for you to complete. One survey site needed 60 000 points to reach $20 and each survey you get about 50-100 points at about 10-20 minutes each to complete, so if you do the math you can see how long it will take you to just make $20! Stay away.

      The only way you can make money with surveys is if you sign up to their affiliate program and promote it. But, that may hurt your reputation if you have one.
      Yeah, surveys sound really good. But then you read the fine print and find out what they're actually like!
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  • Profile picture of the author Manish Sapkota
    My first online income was from CPA marketing. To be specific it was PPD. I had my blogspot blog with some valuable downloadable stuffs. The download link was locked and I was so excited to see my first earning.
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    • Profile picture of the author thevideoguy
      Originally Posted by manish100 View Post

      My first online income was from CPA marketing. To be specific it was PPD. I had my blogspot blog with some valuable downloadable stuffs. The download link was locked and I was so excited to see my first earning.
      Getting your first online payment is a great feeling isn't it?

      CPA marketing is still something I incorporate in to one of my online ventures today.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    My cousin used to live in Atlanta and he attended an info-product seminar. He showed me this marketing book he was reading from there, created by a guy named Dan Kennedy (you should look him up), and it blew my mind after i read it. Then i took the lead and started doing some marketing on my own - but on the internet. This was my beginning. In college i got my first sale, but didn't know what to do with the customers. Took me a long time to figure out. Was messing with too much women in college. I didn't have my head in the books, nor in the idea of a business. So i failed miserably at first. But, you live and you learn.
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  • Profile picture of the author coconutjuice123
    PPC Coach, basically buying traffic and trying to make them buy stuff
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  • Profile picture of the author Carsten Tiensuu
    I made my first money on Flippa selling no traffic no revenue sites between $150-$300 per site. When I figured out to drive traffic i sold sites for 1k+. Right now it seems it is hard to sell No traffic - no revenue sites there because of harsh competition.

    I still sell sites once in a while.
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    • Profile picture of the author thevideoguy
      Originally Posted by keystonecontent View Post

      I started out freelance programming and got drawn into the marketing side of things as I took on more and more Internet marketing clients.
      That's what happens when you find out about the IM community - you get sucked in. It's great.

      Originally Posted by gsboost View Post

      I like researching through the net for some info. On doing the same i stumbled upon few internet marketing offers and course. So got addicted to it after seeing their reviews. It was 6 years before and am still trying to recollect what that offers and courses were :-)
      haha just one course can introduce you here and then you're hooked!

      Originally Posted by cianci1129 View Post

      I actually started with thrift store/garage sale hunting, and reselling on EBay. Was a LOT of work really. From there I realized I preferred digital products (unlimited inventory, no cost to store, no cost to ship) so I moved to kindle EBooks. From there I realized I was technically still "working for someone else" because Amazon takes a huge chunk of commission, and it was still their platform. So from there I moved to hosting my own site and selling products from there. And I'll be sticking to this for a long time.
      Yeah, that's exactly how I got started.

      I moved from eBay to my own online IM business - something I have complete control over.

      Originally Posted by andysyme View Post

      Online betting! Taking advantage of free offers from bookmakers to eliminate (minimise, at least) the risk. People are still doing it today, although like most things, it isn't as easy as it used to be!
      Yeah, I used to do that. Have you ever done spread betting?

      Originally Posted by Carsten Tiensuu View Post

      I made my first money on Flippa selling no traffic no revenue sites between $150-$300 per site. When I figured out to drive traffic i sold sites for 1k+. Right now it seems it is hard to sell No traffic - no revenue sites there because of harsh competition.

      I still sell sites once in a while.
      Selling websites can be very profitable if you know what you're doing.

      Originally Posted by coconutjuice123 View Post

      PPC Coach, basically buying traffic and trying to make them buy stuff
      Great way to make money online.

      Originally Posted by Randall Magwood View Post

      My cousin used to live in Atlanta and he attended an info-product seminar. He showed me this marketing book he was reading from there, created by a guy named Dan Kennedy (you should look him up), and it blew my mind after i read it. Then i took the lead and started doing some marketing on my own - but on the internet. This was my beginning. In college i got my first sale, but didn't know what to do with the customers. Took me a long time to figure out. Was messing with too much women in college. I didn't have my head in the books, nor in the idea of a business. So i failed miserably at first. But, you live and you learn.
      Dan Kennedy is a legend!

      One of Frank Kerns mentors :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author andysyme
    Online betting! Taking advantage of free offers from bookmakers to eliminate (minimise, at least) the risk. People are still doing it today, although like most things, it isn't as easy as it used to be!
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  • Profile picture of the author cianci1129
    I actually started with thrift store/garage sale hunting, and reselling on EBay. Was a LOT of work really. From there I realized I preferred digital products (unlimited inventory, no cost to store, no cost to ship) so I moved to kindle EBooks. From there I realized I was technically still "working for someone else" because Amazon takes a huge chunk of commission, and it was still their platform. So from there I moved to hosting my own site and selling products from there. And I'll be sticking to this for a long time.
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author gsboost
    I like researching through the net for some info. On doing the same i stumbled upon few internet marketing offers and course. So got addicted to it after seeing their reviews. It was 6 years before and am still trying to recollect what that offers and courses were :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author keystonecontent
    I started out freelance programming and got drawn into the marketing side of things as I took on more and more Internet marketing clients.
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