What way to go ?

by suggs

Posted: 8 years ago 13 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hi

Im wondering if i could ask for some friendly advice.

I've been out of the IM game for a little while now but prior to that i was mainly building affiliate sites on exact match domains which i made a few quid from. Nothing to get too excited about mind! I wouldn't say i was successful int he slightest.

Lately i've been wanting to get back in to doing something online to try and build a second income but ive hit the information overload point though

and really don't know which way to go and Its really annoying lol.

My Options are:

I have an old "general" blog thats getting around 2000 visits per day, i was thinking about revamping this and adding some new content, product reviews and tutorials.

I also have an old domain thats in a niche that i really like! I was thinking about developing this along with social signals and running competitions to help build a list which i can market products to.

Or do something different, ive got about $1000 to invest

Or a combination of all three, however this is where ive went wrong in the past "i believe", diluting my time over multiple projects rather than just working on one! and making a success of it!

goodfuture

8 years ago

Originally Posted by suggs

I have an old "general" blog thats getting around 2000 visits per day, i was thinking about revamping this and adding some new content, product reviews and tutorials.

If you are already getting 2K visitors a day, what else you need?

I guess you are already set. You just need to monetize your blog or start building a list.

Thanks

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ezmail16 8 years ago

I would suggest you to go for normal blogging with your "general" blog. If you make some update with new contents then it will work best.
And finally if you really love affiliate marketing then stick with niche blog. Good luck.
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- Carsten Tiensuu 8 years ago
  
  I would use my time and money on listbuilding. A guy like Reed Floren recently made a popular course on how to do it, and Martin O´Flynn made a course calked List Detonator last year... solid products...I´m not affiliated with them in any way...
  
  Thanks
  
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blueclcl 8 years ago

You would probably be best to add content to the blog that gets 2000 daily visitors at first.

You could earn some money by selling adspace or through affiliate marketing.

Good luck
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huzie 8 years ago

Certainly if you are getting this amount of traffic to your blog then you should consider getting hold of that traffic.

What I mean is you need to start being able to re-market to those visitors so that you can then start selling to them

There are a number of ways to do this.

Most common is to place offers (for free or for a very low fee) on your site that encourage your visitors to opt in. By doing this you will collect their email address and can then start email marketing to them (ideally on products that are based on the blog niche). Additionally you could use Facebook re-marketing. This entails adding a special tracking pixel from Facebook on your blog which then allows you to start advertising back to these visitors through Facebook. You could encourage them to like your FB page or opt-in to you list from there.

Either way you need to start collecting the traffic that you are getting and start monetising it.

Hope this helps
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Tom Addams 8 years ago

Hey suggs,

I'll throw my suggestion in:

A Fresh Start = A Fresh Business

Reading your initial post, you seem - well - slightly disenchanted with the idea of getting back into the same old business. I notice a lack of passion. And if you're going to make a splash this time - which you can with $1,000 - you need the passion.

I'm a firm believer in spending money when I know how to spend it. So, not wishing to state the obvious, right now you're situation is this: where to spend it?

I invest money on a daily basis. Obviously I won't give many ideas away in a public setting, not in the one place, at any rate, but let me give you a couple of ideas for now.

1. Product + Affiliate Program.

2. Software Leasing.

You have enough to either do both or throw yourself into one.

If neither of those appeal, then I suggest playing the research game. Start by assessing what current methods are working for people. Ignore the free-to-play methods and go for the investment methods, which usually yield a quick ROI.

Once you find some you like, go deeper. Investigate them thoroughly. And when you isolate one or a couple, build your business plan and then - cliche on the way - take action.

GRM
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xharrisonx 8 years ago

I would suggest getting a marketing automation product. That way you can build landing pages, send emails and organize your list into sub-list using smart marketing technology.
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Esteban Gomez 8 years ago

Hi Suggs:

Since you already have traffic which is the most important thing then you need to focus on conversions. (Turning that traffic into leads)

2000 visitors a day it A LOT and no matter what niche you are in with it you can make money.

I would suggest you optimize your site to get leads using tools like Optin Skin $67 and Ninja Popups $20.

Remember that building your list is the most important thing you need to do to make money in this industry. The money is effectively in the list.

Once you have your list you need to build a close relationship with them so that they trust you.

After you do this you can start to promote products or services that will benefit them.

There is no magic to making money online and you already have traffic which is what most people struggle with.

My Simple Advice: build your list and start to promote.

P.S: Continue posting valuable content on your blog so strengthen the relationship with your visitors.

Good luck!
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- suggs 8 years ago
  
  Its been a number of days since i made this first post, and ive finally decided where im going....
  
  Since the first post ive had a number of members message me with offers or suggestions to buy WSO etc, but nothing has really tickled my fancy.
  
  At some point in the future i think id like to create a product and have affiliates sell it, as that looks like where the money is, however im not in a position right now where i can offer a product backed up by any success and one thing i wont do is sell bullshit! On this note i'm going to put this plan on hold until i can offer something fantastic.
  
  Until then, i've decided to take action and get working on two projects which im hoping will enable me to create a product in the future on how i achieved certain levels of success and milestones as such.
  
  So my two projects and plans will be as follows:
  
  Blog: Im going to give my old blog an overhaul. Ive found a nice new theme which i will buy and install over the next few days and:
  1. I will create more high quality content on all different topics.. How to's etc
  2. Write reviews on products in my niches.
  3. Run competitions
  4. Build an email list for the niches i cover.
  5. Increase the social following on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, PINTEREST etc
  6. Create relevant ebooks that will be useful for my niche.
  
  My target for 12 months time is to be getting 5000+ visits per day for this site, im currently at around 2000.
  
  My Niche site:
  I have a lot of high quality content ready to put on this site and can write content in this niche easily! So there is no excuse why i cant turn it in to an authority site as such.
  My Plans include:
  1. Create a downloadable app
  2. Build an email list to sell affiliate items to
  3. Competitions
  
  The main areas where i will earn money i believe will be via the app, email marketing and selling advertising space on both the site an app.. Well thats the plan!
  
  I am going to document everything i do and note down what works and what doesn't! This will not only help me create a future product but also help me do the same for other projects.
  
  I am not going to blow the $1000 i've got sitting there ready to invest just incase an opportunity should arise in the future, whether thats an investment in to my two projects above, or something completely different.
  
  The main area where i need to improve for my own sanity is to plough as much time and effort in to these projects as i can, even when times are difficult and the earnings are low. This is where i categorically know i've gone wrong in the past! Jumping from one thing to another because the money wasn't there as quickly as id have liked and of course reading other peoples success using different methods / niches makes you question everything you do.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  savidge4 8 years ago
  
  uh really? 2000 visitors a day is 60,000 a month. IF that really is the case you DO NOT go in and revamp things. A face lift, sure if you must... but anything other than that? you would be a fool.
  
  Work with the traffic you have and figure out how to monetize them. Get them on a list.
  
  Personally... I would get Google Analytics if it isn't already in place. I would let that sit for a month and get a REAL GOOD idea of where the traffic is coming in at ( as in which articles ) and start developing those aspects of your content.
  
  Based on the OP and kind of what you think a good plan of action is... The only reason this site is where it is..is because you didn't touch it. I don't mean that to be harsh, but you have a good thing and you want to screw with it, and make it better? You ALREADY are on the top rung of the ladder and can only go down.
  
  Figure out exactly what is working for you. Expand on what is working for you. develop a method to getting people on a mailing list and then go from there. Anything else and you will simply have nothing when you are done.
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  Success is an ACT not an idea
  
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Chris-

8 years ago

Some brief comments . . . firstly I recommend NOT spending much money until you've tested methods and got something that really works, THEN invest in growing it.

Not sure if you know the "Dragon's Den" TV series where new businesses pitch for investment from wealthy experienced business people, but there is a big less on to be learned from there too many people are wanting to spend money, either their own or someone else's, to grow something which is NOT working now. They seem to think that by doing the same thing bigger, it will make money, but in reality, if you have a system which is losing money, doing more of the same will just lose more money.

So, learn, experiment and test at a small a scale as is realistic, and only when a method is really working for you, then invest to expand and outsource. And also, when expanding, make very sure you see and test the assumptions you are making about expansion . . . for example I had a few small sites doing well with an Amazon affiliate method, so assumed that making one big site where visitors could more easily read the full details of alternative products and accessories and related products, should do better because it provides a better service for the visitor. In reality it did less well, because Google gives less traffic to content on a big site, compared to the same content on small more tightly-focused sites.

Another point . . . in my experience selling your own product is MUCH more challenging than doing affiliate work, because selling itself is a challenging thing to do in these days of over-supply and under-demand. There are a few people who are natural persuaders . . . the kind of person that can persuade anyone to do anything. If you are one of those, then selling might come naturally to you. If you are not one of those people then selling anything is likely to be much less easy than providing good information that helps people make buying decisions and thus click on your affiliate links.

Hope that helps

Chris

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suggs

8 years ago

Thanks for the great feedback guys, ill will certainly take this on board. I agree that i need to learn how to monetise and start earning from it.

Personally... I would get Google Analytics if it isn't already in place. I would let that sit for a month and get a REAL GOOD idea of where the traffic is coming in at ( as in which articles ) and start developing those aspects of your content.

Traffic sources are basically
Pinterest - ive had a few pins that have been re-pinned a good few hundred times so there is a constant stream of new and repeat traffic.
Facebook - ive used to be very active on here not so much now though.
Blog comments - ive done blog related blog comments in the past.
Google - A number of my posts have increased in positions since the last update.

Thanks

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pxjenkins 8 years ago

Wow, really interesting challenge!

Esteban's advice sounded very solid, to me. If it were me, I'd make single changes to lead capture one at a time, watching signups to list and traffic numbers like a hawk. I'd also attempt to very careful dissect the traffic breakdown to see to what extent it comprises unique visitors versus repeat visitors, to determine whether getting them onto list first time they visit is a priority or not.

If so, I'd probably look at constructing a seductive exit pop and trial that. Again, watching conversions and possible traffic dropoff with very close attention.
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