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What way I will go?

by bluewell
18 replies
Dear Warrior:
As you know, focus is important as you take anything. for me, I need your suggestion about choosing what i will do.
I did the affiliate marketing for 2 years,in the meanwhile ,offering site building for clients.and other activities which i don't want mention here.
Genereally speaking , if i do one thing good, it will be success for me. but I always think if I do both, I will make more.
If you were me, what will u do? place the eggs in one bucket or several bucket?
#affiliate marketing #site building
  • Profile picture of the author andretyler
    Hey Bluewell,

    Really depends what your goals are. It's always best to have your eggs in different baskets but you can do that with affiliate marketing (ie: different campaigns) and you can promote your other services with affiliate marketing as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
    This is a great set of questions.

    (BTW, I used to live between Beijing and HK. I miss the place a lot!)

    Having been doing this now for over 20 years, I operate dozens of different methods, as you can imagine. Some I carry out myself on a daily basis; others I outsource to either in-house staff or freelancers around the world. Before I got started in IM, I put myself through business school, and if there's one thing my professor of finance would tell us both it's the old adage you mention: don't put all your eggs in one basket. In portfolio management, for instance, you're generally safe (ish) with around 20 different investments. Luckily for you, this isn't the case with IM (though I actually run well more than 20 methods).

    What I suggest for you is this: find ONE method that works. One method that you KNOW works. What you do then is throw yourself into making that method work for you. Taking action and not giving up is very important. It's where most newcomers go wrong. It won't take you 2 years to get a method working. It may actually only take you 2 days! Point is to get it working. And when you do, rinse and repeat. You repeat that process - sometimes outsourcing to free up your time - and you will be successful.

    And don't buy into any of the WSO crap about easy money or push button systems. There is no easy route in this business, not really. I've made easy money many times, but it isn't a regular thing. You need to work hard, put in the hours, and stick to my advice up top..

    All the best, buddy.

    GRM
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by bluewell View Post

    If you were me, what will u do? place the eggs in one bucket or several bucket?
    I agree with GRM (just above).

    I think it's also sometimes possible to master one method, but use it in different niches. So that way, you can have the benefits of concentrating your learning and your skills around one thing, but also divide the eggs (income) between different baskets/products/niches you promote in the same way.

    I do exactly this, myself: the skill-set I've specialised in is "article marketing for traffic-generation". And I apply it to each of 9 completely different niches/markets. Eggs in different baskets but only one major traffic technique to learn.

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author jaudet
    Agree too. One main method but implemented different ways. For instance, you do affiliate marketing like you mentionned, you can still do blogs and seo for ranking and monetize your traffic with affiliate, you can do video ranking, PPC, facebook marketing and even offline strategies etc...
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnnyPlan
    There is no reason not to offer your site building services even as you do affiliate marketing. With affiliate marketing, much of what you do is completed ahead of time, such as including emails into your autoresponder list or writing blog posts which can be published later. And this affiliate marketing venture can turn into a residual income source that doesn't require as much hands on time as your site building services. That will give you more time to devote to promoting your services to get new/long-term clients.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      I personally do both. Primarily I am a Web Designer. With that being said, I would not have the success that I have without my affiliate marketing. Anybody can build a website, but very few can build a site that produces results. RESULTS as a web designer throws you into the 1% crowd real fast. You no longer are selling Web Design, you are selling RESULTS.

      Defining web design by purpose, there are 4 basic web sites:
      1. Your basic informational site ( I call these business card sites )
      2. e-commerce sites ( Customers product, or affiliate product )
      3. Lead Generation Sites ( For Lawyers, Doctors, or the like )
      4. Funnel based product sites.
      Learning how within the confines of your own affiliate marketing to produce results to any one of these models or all 4, is a solid base for a good long term Web Design career. Through your own trial and error you develop a working model that will take your web design abilities from building sites, to producing results.

      On the web design side of this, you have to consider a few things. Your clients ARE NOT going to have the time OR the ability to carry out YOUR methods of success. This is something that you will be able to charge for on a reoccurring basis, as in monthly. The issues that will show itself at some point is the SCALABILITY of your method.

      When you read some of the answers with in this thread or any other for that matter, you can start see who has hit the scalability wall and who hasn't. If they are saying they are outsourcing content and this and that, well they have scaled their efforts. There are simply methods that will work scaled and others that wont.

      I personally use SEO methods, it quite simply is very scalable. I use Social methods, again with the right tools this is not only scalable but can be made automated. Writing articles can be scalable. Writing good quality articles however, I am not so sure about.

      I am in no way saying that one method is better than another... I am a big proponent of do what works for you. Seriously how could I not be. I am speaking in terms of transferring the success you have and carrying that over to clients, and by the grace of god I would hope a lot of clients.

      Making money with IM is always a good thing, but if you can produce results for your clients money making with that takes on a whole different scale. I personally on average get $2500 to build a site. My firm develops somewhere between 4 and 8 sites a month. Not to bad, but it gets better. My average monthly traffic arrangement is $200 a month.

      Even at building 1 site a month, 12 a year, that's ( rounding ) $25k a year. taking those 12 clients through the second year that an additional $25k a year, carry over 2 years worth of clients at the $200 a month reoccurring that's $50k After 4 years of only 12 clients a year, your reoccurring income is $100k a year, and that is not including what you charge to build the sites. To me this is personal success. And all of it hinges around developing a WORKING affiliate marketing model.
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  • Profile picture of the author FreedomBlogger
    In my opinion....

    You do not want to put all of your eggs in one basket. AND you gotta build one egg at a time.

    What I mean is that you should work on one income stream at a time. Focus all you can on accomplishing a lot of success with one thing - THEN move onto the next and perhaps work with both.

    One at a time!

    Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris-
    Affiliate marketing is easier and more reliable because you do not need to find clients.

    I have done Amazon affiliate marketing for years, and one of the reasons it is so much more reliable than many other IM methods I've tried is because there is no selling involved. All I have to do is write really good product reports (on products that fit a few simple criteria) and the money comes in. It really is as simple as that. Some product areas do better than others, but that's OK, I just put more work improving and updating the areas that are doing best.

    Selling a service such as site-building is a very different matter. The main difference is that you have to persuade the buyer to buy your service, and that is a challenge for most people. If you've done it before then you know if you're good enough at it to guarantee your income.

    As others are saying, you should clarify what you want long-term, although having said that, both methods can be fully outsourced and upscaled if you want more than an average income.

    My guess would be that if you are really good at selling web-design services, that would be a quicker way to a full-time income, but maybe more challenging to outsource and upscale, because the most important part of the process is sales, so you'd either have to employ sales people or outsource that to freelancers for a commission, which can be done on the outsource sites. Getting the sites built is the easiest part of the job, although getting the exact job agreed with the client can be a challenge . . . a friend of mine built big websites, and it always took him longer to agree the specification of what would be done, than to actually do it.

    On the other hand, affiliate marketing is less likely to be able to provide a rapid income (unless you are using methods different to the typical ones), but since there is no selling involved, is more predictable and reliable and easier and cheaper to outsource.

    I hope that gives you a few points to consider

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author Lightlysalted
    I would definately keep multiple income streams open, because invariable one will dry up on slo down during the year but others will do better.
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  • Profile picture of the author bluewell
    I know all of you are serious businessmen since you are interested in this thread and give your geniune answer, I am very appreciated that.
    to sum up, there are below points:
    1. It is possible that take many things in the business portfolio,these things can be related or not related
    2, do not place all eggs in one basket,
    3, master one method, but use it in different niches. So that way, you can have the benefits of concentrating your learning and your skills around one thing. on another way, sticking one niche,
    but pormote with various methods, such as PPC, SEO , Article marketing and so on.
    4. affiliate marketing vs selling service to clients, they are different biz mode, selling take more challenge and more complicated.
    5. persistent is KEY.
    Thanks your suggestion again!
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  • Profile picture of the author vishwa
    Working on multiple income stream is a Good idea but the major issue is how you have plan it? and how you want to do it? A Proper strategy should be follow in order to get success.
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  • Profile picture of the author OnTheRun
    I say concentrate on the one activity that makes you happy. if you love making websites, do that, if you like affiliate marketing more, do that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Esteban Gomez
    Focus in 1 activity until you have mastered it. I'm not saying to put your all your eggs in one basket but the best way is to start this way. What happens if you start multiple projects at the same time is that you are going to become overwhelmed and see very little results.

    Decide what is the business and activity that you like doing the most and focus on becoming extremely successful at it. Once you have mastered it you can move into another business or activity to expand and get more results. I'm not saying that you can't focus on multiple businesses at the same time because maybe you can, but you won't be as effective as if you focus only in one.

    By doing this you are going to become more successful at one business and do it faster which will enable you to move into another one sooner. This is just my humble opinion and what works the best for me. Look at very successful people, they all are experts in a specific business and not in 5 different businesses.

    Hope this helps
    Esteban Gomez
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Villanueva
    Doing both will actually bring value your brand.

    You can show forth people your worth because of the price of your services.

    This puts your brand as an instant authority while promoting affiliates as another income stream.

    As long as you are not spreading yourself too thin.
    Joe
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  • Profile picture of the author oWEN tEBB
    Implementing and perfecting one method will generate more than 2 decent implemented methods don't you agree? I'm not saying not to do 2 methods because I do but I wouldn't let one method effect the other from reaching its full potential.

    To make both methods work all depends on you and what your ambitions are. It also boils down to how many hours per day you can commit. My ultimate advice would be take a few days to analyse where you are right now and where you want to be in say 6months time. Get some clarity and once you have that, then your answer will be there for you.

    Goodluck

    Owen
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  • Profile picture of the author NetworxNZ
    Hey there Bluewell,

    From my seven or so years experience in IM and a further 20+ in running and launching IT companies here's the main points I'd love to share with you (and this is after going through loosing my wife, my car, my house and pretty much everything I owned from making bad choices when I started out in the IM world) - so I don't want anyone else to have to go through the crap that I did.....

    1. Focus - learn a technique, master it and then YOU MUST apply it - knowledge without application is useless.

    2. Apply that knowledge - in a space that will allow you to generate ongoing income that is already proven to be working but not over-saturated with competition (for instance I've learned a lot about SEO & PPC over the years so I'm using those skills to develop a gold affiliate business (goldaffiliate.info) that helps people turn paper currency into real gold bars, and also a global loyalty card program called beepxtra.com that rewards shoppers for spending money in local retail outlets by giving cash back discounts on their cards - card holders win, retailers get more business ans as the referring agent you'll get a small commission in anytime anyone goes shopping.

    3. Be Persistent - Never, ever, ever give up. I have had some terribly dark days where I have literally sat looking at a piece of rope and considered that to be an easier option to escape the hell I had created for myself. But, only through trying, trying and then some more trying did I begin to get results....

    4. And this is advice for anyone reading this - Don't give up your day job to start the Internet Dream - UNTIL your passive income can at least cover your base expenses. I learned this one the really hard way. Spend your early mornings doing IM, work late into the night if you have too, but the illusion of income after 4 weeks of just starting - can be very tough - especially when it's all new and if you don't have a proven system to follow.

    I'm no rock star, things are just starting to get going again for me personally, but just for an example with the two opportunities I alluded to above, Ive already got groups of over 500 people in each of those opportunities and I'm only just beginning to really line up my marketing materials for each of these so I can see that if I work hard for the next 2 months, by this time next year, I'll probably never have to work ever again if I choose to do that.

    Anyways, I hope that was of some use to you and wish you the best of luck for your future!

    Regards

    Darren
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  • Profile picture of the author IvoryPearl
    Find a method that works really good for you and stick to that method. I have heard that if you find something that makes you $100, expand and continue doing that to make more $$$.
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  • Profile picture of the author Angshuman Dutta
    Originally Posted by bluewell View Post

    Dear Warrior:
    As you know, focus is important as you take anything. for me, I need your suggestion about choosing what i will do.
    I did the affiliate marketing for 2 years,in the meanwhile ,offering site building for clients.and other activities which i don't want mention here.
    Genereally speaking , if i do one thing good, it will be success for me. but I always think if I do both, I will make more.
    If you were me, what will u do? place the eggs in one bucket or several bucket?
    NEVER place all your eggs in the same basket. Having said that do go "basket shopping" so you can place your eggs once you have them. LOL

    Turn your "I Did This For A While" into a full fledged business first. You can either use all your 10 fingers to hold one thing strongly or touch 10 different objects. IMO, the first one pays off long term because you get to learn a lot.

    Once you ahve a full fledged business in place, go take up another basket

    Best of luck.
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