So many options, where to start?

19 replies
Hi Guys,

I've been following this forum for a good 2 weeks now, reading posts and taking in lots of advice, it's been really helpful so thank you all first of all. I've decided I'm going to cut my working hours to part time to really get into making money online and am not going to give up. Whilst reading through so many articles and posts, youtube videos about the various ways to get into this, the negativity is astounding. For every positive comment about a certain market, 5 people will say it doesn't work etc. and it keeps making move to another market where people convince you that you will waste your time and money and it seems to be the same everywhere! I have narrowed a few business ideas below and would love some honest opinions from you guys on which you recommend for a newbie to start in 2017. I understand that I may not make much to begin with but am looking to learn as much as possible. Many thanks to those of you who reply, I will really appreciate it.

- Affiliate Marketing
- Drop-shipping
- Adsense
- Flipping websites
- Ebay
- Amazon FBA
- Selling web design services online (I can create great looking squarespace sites)

If you have any experience's from the above I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks again!
#options #start
  • Profile picture of the author Isaiah Jackson
    Start knocking of doors of business owners and start selling the web design services.
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    Send Emails, Get Paid - My business summarized in four words. For the how-to go here
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  • Profile picture of the author DWaters
    I like your approach that you are reading and studying and learning about different methods to make money on line. Please keep in mind that two weeks is not a long time to learn about something but actually a very short span of time. I find that this forum is a very good place to research and learn but you have to look out for the junk on here as well.

    I also really like that you are aware of the negatively and complaints that your see. Once you notice negativity is is much easier for you to keep focused on having a positive attitude.

    Of the methods you list i have done (actually doing now) both FBA and affiliate marketing. Both are very different and both can be very profitable. In the long run you will probably want to set up multiple streams of income. Initially you will want to select one, start small, learn as you go and build up from there.
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    • Profile picture of the author melpa64
      Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. My plan is to have multiple streams of income in the future so happy you advice that. In regards to affiliate marketing there seems to be two paths, amazon or clickbank. Again I see so many negative comments about amazon fees being so low and much more positivity about Clickbank so am gearing towards that. Have you worked with both out of curiosity?
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  • Profile picture of the author eDreamer
    I would suggest you start with the end goal in mind.

    Sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in individual methods and techniques without considering if they fit in with your ultimate goals.

    Formulate an image of what your successful internet based business looks like.

    What are you good at, what do you like, and how can you best help others?

    Find a successful individual, product, or website that is in alignment with the 'big picture' or ideal image of the type of business you want to have for yourself, and take a close look at their business to see how they made it happen and how you can follow in their footsteps. If you look closely you can see how they get traffic, what type of products they offer, and how they build a brand, make a name for themselves, and ultimately make money.

    Strive to find a way that you can improve on the status quo or bring a unique spin that helps people even more than the options they have now.

    Once you get a clear idea of the business you want to build, it will be much easier to stay focused and make continuous progress by implementing the methods and techniques that have been proven to get the results you're truly after.

    Find something that taps into your natural talents and excites you for the future ahead. Then learn from those who have already found success or become authority figures in your niche, then use them as a model to achieve success of your own.

    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author melpa64
      Thank you very much! I have decided to start a web design business, I have nearly finished the site Many thanks again for your advice.
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  • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
    Here it is in a nutshell.

    Build a list.

    Create your OWN products.

    Build a simple funnel.

    Tweak that funnel until it spits out cash.

    Lengthen that funnel.

    Build more funnels and increase your wealth.

    That's how you make money and control your own future online.
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    • Profile picture of the author melpa64
      Thank you for the reply appreciate it.
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  • Profile picture of the author DIABL0
    I have been promoting affiliate / CPA offers for over 16 years.

    What has worked the best for me is promoting PPL (pay per lead...lead generation) offers. his is because there is no credit card / purchase required to complete an offer. All a user has to do is fill out a form, so conversion rates are typically much higher compared to offers that require a sale to be made.

    I favor offers that have a make, get or save money benefit to them, as they have overall worked the best. They also tend to have the greatest mass appeal (will be of interest to a large general audience), so the potential exists to produce high volume.

    Some of the verticals (niches) I have done extremely well with are: education, insurance, loans, debt, credit, mortgage, assistance, discount offers, homeowner offers, etc...

    The bulk of the offers that I promote pay $20-$40 per lead, but I also promote offers that pay more and less. You don't want to get too caught up on what an offer pays because how well it converts is just as important. For example, if you have an offer that pays $9, but if it converts at 2X or more of a $20 offer, then it will perform about the same or possibly better. At the same time, if you have an offer that pays $90 and it converts poorly, it may not even be worth promoting.

    Bottom line is that it's far easier to get someone fill out a short form than to get them to pull out their credit card and make a purchase. So why struggle with trying to sell this or that, when you can provide free information that users want/need and get paid well doing it.

    I don't think that most marketers realize that the online lead generation industry is huge...billions of dollars. Everyone that I know that is in the business and knows what they are doing, for the most part, does 6-7 figures. While that's a huge range, much comes down to one's ability to scale and effectively build / manage the infrastructure needed to scale.

    Something to consider.
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    • Profile picture of the author melpa64
      Thanks for the reply. PPL sounds very interesting, I did some research and couldn't find a huge explanation anywhere on how the process works. Will definitely keep this in mind though for the future, thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author Wile E Coyote
    I'll throw my couple cents in here as well...

    First, you really want to get an idea of what you and your business will look like in the future so you can really figure out what is the best fit for you. Quickly looking at your list, some will ultimately have you talking to suppliers and negotiating deals. Some you would have to really sell yourself in person or on the phone. Others you can hide away in a cave and still make money with.

    I wanted to briefly touch up on the negativity comment you made. It's completely spot on, but you also have to realize the perspective of the people complaining and often times, alternative motives they have.

    If you are selling a Facebook Traffic course/coaching/system/etc, most of your posts are going to include "Adwords sucks, Bing sucks ___ sucks, the only traffic worthwhile in 2017 is Facebook". The reason for these kinds of posts and people is that they usually have a stupid signature that reads "Get 5,000 Clicks for $0.10 Everyday on Facebook" that puts you into their funnel of some outdated system that costs you money. That way, when a reader, such as yourself, reads all the horrible things about other traffic sources, then you hear all the wonderful things about Facebookland, you have an amazing link you can click on to "learn more". Get the point?

    The next group of people are the ignorant people who have legitimately tried, but had unrealistic or impossible expectations walking into the game. Money itself is clearly subjective. 100 USD to someone living in America, the UK, Australia, the Philippines etc, means something completely different. So if someone creates ads on Adwords or buy product for Drop Shipping and isn't able to convert or isn't able to sell the product, despite their perception of best effort, they now are completely against that traffic source, and they move onto the next shiny thing. This group of people rely on the money spitting laptops that are portrayed in a lot of IM/MMO courses out there, where you can just cash in with little cost, time or effort. They may have the best intentions when they express that ____ doesn't work don't ever try it, but their experience is built on ignorant or bad circumstances.

    The last sect of negative people are, for lack of a better way to describe them, are Wannabepreneurs. They feel like they have "worked" so hard and bought so many courses, they end up feeling entitled to earning money and they are commonly seen on EVERY OTHER WSO asking the same questions. They equate their mental struggle with real struggle and generally never took "real action" on anything. So for this group, because it didn't work for them (read as just reading an ebook with no action didn't send $100 bills into their pockets) it won't ever work for anyone else.


    Rant over... the one thing I did want to mention is that, in my opinion, Web Design Services is the worst possible thing you can start out in. Check out freelancing sites or gig sites and you'll see the amount of bottom-feeding price points for web design. Everyone offers web design and everyone feels they can sell their own services when there are thousands of off-shore companies competing with you and will low-ball you because of the cost of living differences.

    I haven't sold web services for a while, but I remember when I did, it was a race to the bottom of the barrel starting out. You'll need to be prepared for the hustle involved if you choose to pursue that.
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    • Profile picture of the author rbates
      Originally Posted by Wile E Coyote View Post

      I'll throw my couple cents in here as well...

      Wile E. - Where ya' been all my life?

      Great post! I was going to write a reply of my own,
      but I do't think that I can add much to yours.

      I guess the only thing I can add is be patient and
      don't be afraid to work at it. It is a business after all.
      If you don't consider online work a business, you may
      as well take up checkers.
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  • Profile picture of the author GrowthforLife
    All the ideas you stated can be very solid business ideas. What I would recommend is you first start by creating blog on a niche which you specialize in, forget about making money and focus on growing the traffic and the email list. With good traffic, the world becomes your oyster.

    There are numerous ways to monetize traffic and a quality email list, you could do some affiliate marketing, sell ad space - pretty much most of those ideas you stated. The key thing to to establish an outlet that can get you tons of traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author melpa64
      Many Thanks for the reply. I am in the process of setting up my first website. I have decided to start a web design business Thanks again.
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  • Profile picture of the author MValmont
    They all work, but some methods are better than others, especially if you are just starting out.

    Affiliate marketing is not good for someone starting out. Why? Because it takes too long before you start making money. You want something that will allow you to make money within two weeks, and affiliate marketing is not a good way to do this. You need a list, trust with the list, etc.

    Amazon FBA is great, but the reality is you will need about $1000 to have your product on Amazon and ranked well....So if you fail at your first product, you will have to drop another $1000. Also, it takes about 1 month to get your product running and ranked well...Again, not good for beginners.

    Drop shipping is great because you can make sales within one week, and you can get started with less than $100!! I would recommend this method to all the newbies out there, and even the advanced people because there is a lot of money to be made in this game....I used to do Amazon FBA and I'm making way more money by drop shipping (higher margins too).

    Kindle publishing is great too, even though rules have changed and it is harder to rank the books well on Amazon. This is also a good way to get started online, but I would advice someone to start with drop shipping.

    Things like doing SEO and websites for companies are good ways too, but there are not passive income ways of making money...It is a good way to make money, but it is not really a business, unless you hire people to do it for you...

    Stay away from starting a blog, affiliate marketing, creating a product and selling on clickbank if you are just starting out. It will take WAY MORE MONEY THAN YOU THINK AND IT IS MUCH HARDER THAN YOU THINK.

    You want to start making money FAST, then you can do these things.
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  • Profile picture of the author blackli0n
    Doing the one you like will make you the most money and be the most fun, and give you great experience to attempt your next endeavor. Doing the one you hate MIGHT make money for a while,

    Affiliate Marketing - a lot of work. Many people think they can just release a bunch of "review sites" with Amazon links all over and then forget about it. It never works this way, most of the time you lose SEO rankings if you don't keep producing content. The only way to prevent it is if you're in a niche that doesn't attract new competitors.

    Drop-shipping/Amazon FBA/Ebay - I hate dealing with product but many people like the fun of buying widget for X dollars and reselling for Y dollars...this is for the logistic types. I much more enjoy the fun of creating value (for example, selling an ebook for $100)...then again I have a marketing background.

    Flipping websites - if you have to ask, you are in no position to do this. And if you don't have any experience with the others, you are in no position to do this. Flipping websites takes a lot of money and experience with knowing how to optimize a website and monetize. I'd say it's for the seasoned IM's who can spot under-utilized potential.

    Selling web design services online - this is a great business if you're better than the others. There's lots of room for design skill, programming skill, customer service to help you set you apart from your competition. Also helpful skill for you to use on your own websites or helping fellow friends, clients, customers. This is probably the easiest money and will help you graduate to other money-making skills since in working with websites a lot, you'll quickly learn what does and doesn't make money.
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  • Profile picture of the author joan2009
    I'm making money from adsense and affiliate marketing. You just have to make it work for you. Don't listen to negative people.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rory Singh
    Too many options can be a bad thing. No this is not negativity.

    Most new marketers will try to create multiple income streams and as good as this may sound, most quit way to soon out of overwhelm.

    Why not go for success in (1) of those ideas?

    Frankly they wont be profitable for everyone.

    Don't get me wrong...all those things you mentioned above ALL work and are very profitable.

    But it would be best to pick one product idea / niche and then get on to the most important thing...

    The marketing method that's going to work for you.

    Now again...not ALL marketing methods work well for everyone.

    What is YOUR best form of communication?

    Writing?

    Video?

    Then once you figure out which one is a better fit (for you), then you can determine where to start.

    If you are good at writing, then blogging may be for you.

    If you're comfortable in front of a camera, then video marketing may be for you.

    So...success online is a more of a skill set than just a profitable product line.
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  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    I think you should should start with a method and stick with it until you succed ,but please dont take adsense ,i dont understand why people work for penies when they can work for dolars .Be sure to build a list because this its the core engine of an online business
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    Admin note: Affiliate links are not allowed in paid user sigs

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  • Profile picture of the author fratt55
    hey there

    the answer is...of all the niches out there start where you are most comfortable

    or start with your passion .....

    if you have no passion then start with a blog or affiliate marketing

    Why because they

    require zero or very little resource to start

    ok
    talk soon
    sam f
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