Been out of digital marketing since 2013: Need some help catching up with the latest

29 replies
Hello. I haven't posted on Warrior in ages, but back in the day, I remember this place was packed with friendly and knowledgeable people. Here's me hoping that things haven't changed much here.

To start, I've stopped digital marketing in late 2013. Back then, I had owned 3 websites that in total were generating on average $2,000/mo. The topics of the websites were: Weightloss, Dating, and Celebrity News. Most of the income was generated by affiliate marketing, and Adsense added only about 10% to the purse.

Anyhow, I've sold off the websites and stopped digital marketing altogether, mainly due to the extreme amount of time I had to invest in them. Working a fulltime job + Websites = 4hrs/day of sleep. So after 3 years of that, my body could no longer take it.

Currently, I'm unemployed. I've quit my job recently after paying off the mortgage on my house and then fattening the savings account to start doing something new. That being said, I feel that in the last 7 years, the landscape of digital marketing has changed a lot. And I mean A LOT.

I was hoping that the Warrior people could point me in the right direction for resources in learning. To help me catch up with the latest. I feel like a complete newb, as though I don't even know where to start. Some advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully, I'll get some responses
#2013 #catching #digital #latest #marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author depotgang
    I would do the same thing your were doing just make sure you implement social marketing into the equation. If you were blogging simple post your content on Twitter and a Facebook Fanpage;. Build up your fanpage and you will have a constant source of targeted traffic.

    Also look to integrate email and sms marketing as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author ajm5050
      Originally Posted by depotgang View Post

      I would do the same thing your were doing just make sure you implement social marketing into the equation. If you were blogging simple post your content on Twitter and a Facebook Fanpage;. Build up your fanpage and you will have a constant source of targeted traffic.

      Also look to integrate email and sms marketing as well.
      Wow! Member since 2005? It's awesome that you stuck around this forum for so long. Anyhoo, I should first thank you for the reply. I really appreciate that. You're right about Twitter and Facebook. Back in the day, I had a pretty good following on both platforms but didn't really know how to monetize them.

      It was my celebrity website that had the following but I was making very little money with that website. Adsense barely generated anything even though I spent a ton of time developing the celebrity pages. I should definitely learn more about them. Thanks depotgang.
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  • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
    Originally Posted by ajm5050 View Post

    Hello. I haven't posted on Warrior in ages, but back in the day, I remember this place was packed with friendly and knowledgeable people. Here's me hoping that things haven't changed much here.

    To start, I've stopped digital marketing in late 2013. Back then, I had owned 3 websites that in total were generating on average $2,000/mo. The topics of the websites were: Weightloss, Dating, and Celebrity News. Most of the income was generated by affiliate marketing, and Adsense added only about 10% to the purse.

    Anyhow, I've sold off the websites and stopped digital marketing altogether, mainly due to the extreme amount of time I had to invest in them. Working a fulltime job + Websites = 4hrs/day of sleep. So after 3 years of that, my body could no longer take it.

    Currently, I'm unemployed. I've quit my job recently after paying off the mortgage on my house and then fattening the savings account to start doing something new. That being said, I feel that in the last 7 years, the landscape of digital marketing has changed a lot. And I mean A LOT.

    I was hoping that the Warrior people could point me in the right direction for resources in learning. To help me catch up with the latest. I feel like a complete newb, as though I don't even know where to start. Some advice would be much appreciated.

    Thanks for reading! Hopefully, I'll get some responses
    We get these weekly, often daily. Did it, left it, coming back...what's new, what is hot, what has changed?

    It is almost always someone asking in some form, how can I make money with IM today...whereas, a better question might be,

    What do I have to offer to people? What do you?

    Just from your brief post, we can see a lot of potential...like HOW did you pay off your mortgage and why? How did you sell your webistes? What was your experience with affiliate programs?

    So, to be able to give you better answers from us friendly and knowledgeable people, it might help to know what you offer, what you want and why.

    First thing might be, do a personal assessment of your skills, knowledge and life experiences and dreams, wishes, goals or wants. Then some clarity might take place.

    GordonJ
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    • Profile picture of the author ajm5050
      Originally Posted by GordonJ View Post

      We get these weekly, often daily. Did it, left it, coming back...what's new, what is hot, what has changed?

      It is almost always someone asking in some form, how can I make money with IM today...whereas, a better question might be,

      What do I have to offer to people? What do you?

      Just from your brief post, we can see a lot of potential...like HOW did you pay off your mortgage and why? How did you sell your webistes? What was your experience with affiliate programs?

      So, to be able to give you better answers from us friendly and knowledgeable people, it might help to know what you offer, what you want and why.

      First thing might be, do a personal assessment of your skills, knowledge and life experiences and dreams, wishes, goals or wants. Then some clarity might take place.

      GordonJ
      All good points, Gordon. Although in my defense, I was actually asking you guys to point me to some learning resources, rather than to simply ask how to make money. I know it isn't that simple. It took thousands of hours of research and work to develop my old websites.

      That being said, you hit the nail on the head when you say, "What have you got to offer?" It's very true. Copying and pasting what others do won't yield any meaningful success. Perhaps starting out small, like on personal finance. Exactly as you suggested, "How did I pay off my mortgage?" might be a good start. It's something to think about.

      I've worked in 2 very different fields for most of my professional life. I've worked as a head chef at an upscale restaurant for a good while, but I also climbed up the typical corporate ladder. I was in charge of opening new businesses for my company when I was a suit. I don't know that my professional experiences bear anything interesting to others.

      But hey! You've given me some good things to ponder on. Thanks for that.
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    2013?

    It's a no-brainer in terms of where you should turn your attention whether you want to do paid promotion or the free kind.

    We start with Facebook, take a look at Twitter, consider Instagram and re-evaluate any attention you gave to YouTube 7 years ago.

    My emails with the best open rates are the ones that offer tips on using social media.

    While there are now over a billion blogs, video is gradually becoming the go-to promotional marketing
    strategy and there are now numerous free with paid option platforms to help you get content up and running. Just do a search for 'video creator free' and you can find something suitable.

    With the cost of advertising going up (particularly on Adwords and Facebook) you might want consider Bing and/or a variety of other social media options like Pinterest or Reddit. Quora can also work if you budget carefully.

    If you are still into selling sites then Amazon Niche sites can be a good investment. Lots of automatic product loading and monetization plugins available now.

    Domaining is still a viable sector even with all the new extensions. And the most profitable part of the sector, as before, is selling shovels and pick axes to all the gold miners.

    Much more but all for now.

    Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author ajm5050
      Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

      2013?

      It's a no-brainer in terms of where you should turn your attention whether you want to do paid promotion or the free kind.

      We start with Facebook, take a look at Twitter, consider Instagram and re-evaluate any attention you gave to YouTube 7 years ago.

      My emails with the best open rates are the ones that offer tips on using social media.

      While there are now over a billion blogs, video is gradually becoming the go-to promotional marketing
      strategy and there are now numerous free with paid option platforms to help you get content up and running. Just do a search for 'video creator free' and you can find something suitable.

      With the cost of advertising going up (particularly on Adwords and Facebook) you might want consider Bing and/or a variety of other social media options like Pinterest or Reddit. Quora can also work if you budget carefully.

      If you are still into selling sites then Amazon Niche sites can be a good investment. Lots of automatic product loading and monetization plugins available now.

      Domaining is still a viable sector even with all the new extensions. And the most profitable part of the sector, as before, is selling shovels and pick axes to all the gold miners.

      Much more but all for now.

      Good luck.
      I've got so much to learn when it comes to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I just never cared for those things even in my personal life, but I still should have used them better in my old businesses. That said, I do have some experience on Youtube. I used to run a gaming channel just for fun. I never monetized it even when the channel had surpassed 10k subscribers. It was a hobby and not for money. I got some good experience out of it.

      Btw, the last two things you mention, Amazon Niche Sites and Domaining. I really didn't expect them to still work LOL I remember reading a ton of posts in the past of how Amazon sites were being phased out by google algorithm changes. But I guess people who kept at it are still making good money on it. I should definitely look into that as well. Much thanks my friend.
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    You have a lot of experience and probably most of what you did before will still work. Google is better at catching black hat methods and they mostly don't work anymore.

    I would suggest starting with just ONE website instead of three.

    I don't know about pointing you to learning resources other than good old fashioned web searches. You can find everything you need to know online from trusted websites or YouTube.

    Go for it! (Don't forget to get your sleep.)
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    • Profile picture of the author ajm5050
      Originally Posted by Janice Sperry View Post

      You have a lot of experience and probably most of what you did before will still work. Google is better at catching black hat methods and they mostly don't work anymore.

      I would suggest starting with just ONE website instead of three.

      I don't know about pointing you to learning resources other than good old fashioned web searches. You can find everything you need to know online from trusted websites or YouTube.

      Go for it! (Don't forget to get your sleep.)
      For better or worse, I must admit it was kind of fun back in the day when black and gray hat methods used to work for a few months. I mean, it was foolish to try to build anything meaningful with those methods. But it was kind of fun watching your website climb up the serp week after week as you apply some of them black and gray hat methods.

      I had learned eventually that's it's a huge waste of time. But I'm just saying that it was kind of exciting Thanks for the advice, Janice.
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  • Profile picture of the author venibbs
    Firstly, welcome back to digital marketing. A lot has changed since 2013. i would advice that you take some courses and watch some tutorial videos to catch up. Digital marketing is always evolving and barely the same daily. Am sure since you could do it before, you can do it now. welcome back!
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    • Profile picture of the author ajm5050
      Originally Posted by venibbs View Post

      Firstly, welcome back to digital marketing. A lot has changed since 2013. i would advice that you take some courses and watch some tutorial videos to catch up. Digital marketing is always evolving and barely the same daily. Am sure since you could do it before, you can do it now. welcome back!
      Thanks for the warm welcome, venibbs. I've got a lot to learn as you've suggested. I don't even know if my old cPanel knowledge might still matter today I do like how much cheaper hosting prices have gotten.
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  • Profile picture of the author AffiliateRag
    Its all about marketing. It sounds like you already know how to get traffic to a website. In my experience the one's who truly make it big are the best at marketing and creating relationships with their customer list. One of the most profitable things you can do is become a master at creating a targeted email list. This usually involves implementing either a landing page/lead magnet page designed to gather the persons email or designing your entire site with the one focus of building your list. The money is in the list!
    My favorite person to follow in this area is Matt Bacak. He has a free group on FB called Matt Bacak's Listbuilding Club. He often does free training videos and webinars.
    On marketing principles I LOVE Dan Kennedy. He has videos all over youtube. If you've never heard him, one good video can change the way you think all together

    Things likely havent changed as much as you think! Marketing is still marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author natelive
    I have to agree with most of this. Hootsuite was failing me for a little bit but they are back in my happy place. I have never heard of Proof. I will check it out!

    Hubspot Certified Here!
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    "Marketing" hasn't changed much. There are new platforms and ways to reach people, and some sites have disappeared while others have taken their place. But it's a matter of staying relevant in a marketplace. Niche marketing still reigns supreme, and high ticket items are a sure way to wealth - if you know your numbers, and know the math in your business.

    I'm sure you know that paid advertising still works the same. The tools and platforms in the box have changed, but cost per click, cost per lead, and cost per sale are still relevant. And mix with free advertising to drive advertising costs down... and you will be alright.

    I suggest starting with something that can automate itself, is super profitable, and that gives you alot of free time for yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author depotgang
    I've always taken the perspective of selling shovels to the miners is better than mining for gold myself. I also prefer selling services to the hordes of miners.... Make sense. Provide a service to those trying to make money online and you will make money while they dig for gold.
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  • Thanks for this blog very useful information.

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  • Profile picture of the author xjason2x
    Niche sites still work very well today. You just need to change your strategy a little. Black hat methods no longer works like those days. You need to be constantly posting high quality long form content to rank well in the search engine and also doing white hat SEO.

    Also you need to do social media marketing on your site like what the others have mention. All these will help to rank your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author jeremyspiller
    The best way to get up to speed is get Feedly (or another similar RSS newsreader app) and use it to aggregate news from a couple of dozen sites.
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  • Digital Marketing is still about selling products and services over the internet and you have this experience. What has changed are the tactics and the additional media platforms to social media so better start familiarising yourself with them and use them to build your brand and build traffic.

    Best way to get back into it is by just doing it and selecting a niche that has potential, one of them is SaaS affiliate programs as they pay high and recurrent commissions. For example, you can set up a website or blog about setting up a website then add affiliate links to the corresponding content for example buying a domain, getting webhosting, getting site template, uptime/page speed monitoring etc, etc

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author jgriff225
    Well posting on the warrior forum is a great start to your getting back into the digital marketing business. I would echo a lot of the reply's you have already had. Start doing what you where doing before and try to figure out what still works and what doesn't.

    Content creation is still huge and I find that a lot of the websites that are ranking on google these days have very in-depth articles that are well over 1000 words and offer a lot more information than the their competitors.
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  • Profile picture of the author Profit Traveler
    Banned
    I remember Anik Singal stating that he had it all...millions... and lost it all..millions.

    But one thing brought him back....to millions. His email list.

    This took a lonnnnnnng time to penetrate my skull but it finally did.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ahsan Mirza
    Firstly, you should have a detailed study of every channel of Digital marketing. Then you must start with social media marketing where your goal should be getting maximum followers. And then you should move on to other platforms.
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  • Profile picture of the author seowork913
    I would suggest that you should simply begin with one website instead of running them altogether. And you also need to learn about latest tools and techniques as well and social media platforms will help you get loads of traffic to your websites. I hope you succeed in this new mission of yours, a very best of luck to you.
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  • Profile picture of the author davehayes
    I agree with the people who say about YouTube, its a great source of traffic and will certainly bring you leads. But also if what worked before, worked well then start there and evolve from there
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    I guess i have come across similar posts here. But if you were already making $2000 a month, then I think you know the procedure. Nothing has changed so hit the road running.
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  • Profile picture of the author TobiMDD
    my best advice is do what you already know works best and stick to one thing instead of multiple things.
    because keeping it simple and concentrating all the effort at one can lead to huge success.
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  • Profile picture of the author joaquin112
    What worked back then mostly works now. Competition is tougher. You still need a website. However, most people spend a lot more time on social media now than back then. If you can capitalize on social media, you can do well.
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    • Profile picture of the author Medon
      If he was around in 2013, I believe he should be able to pick up where he stopped. things have changed a little bit. but the procedure is still the same.
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  • I would say one theme to keep in mind these days is "sincerity and relationships". It was a lot easier several years ago for marketing to be faceless or semi-anonymous (not saying that applied to you). People clicked on everything back then. But I think saturation, banner blindness, and growing mistrust have changed things up quite a bit. So people want to know WHO they're doing business. They want to interact on FB. They want to see you on camera. They want to see your face and your name as part of your brand. They want to like and trust you before they buy (or even before they click on your affiliate link).

    In a sense this has always been the case of course, but I think it's become more-so in recent years.
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  • Profile picture of the author msba2004
    If you have an idea in mind to do, run with it. Things have not changed that much, maybe just a little different as far as the way to go about things. Give value, trust the product, and talk from your heart.
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