Help...Been Away For a Few Years

41 replies
I have been away from Online Marketing but interested in getting back in to try again...I would love to find a sustainable business online that I could build...Anything working well these days? Any advice on where to start or what to look at?

I have tried a lot of different venyures with some moderate success
Teespring...Did well for a while but it died out for me
Amazon Review Sites...Had a couple good sites for a few years but they eventually were deleted
Google News...Had a good site for a while but it was too much writing to keep up with and not enough money to outsource writing

Would love to get some direction if anyone is willing to offer...And any help would really be appreciated
#helpbeen #years
  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

    I have been away from Online Marketing but interested in getting back in to try again...I would love to find a sustainable business online that I could build...Anything working well these days? Any advice on where to start or what to look at?

    I have tried a lot of different venyures with some moderate success
    Teespring...Did well for a while but it died out for me
    Amazon Review Sites...Had a couple good sites for a few years but they eventually were deleted
    Google News...Had a good site for a while but it was too much writing to keep up with and not enough money to outsource writing

    Would love to get some direction if anyone is willing to offer...And any help would really be appreciated

    Hello!

    It looks like you got a good start but you had other priorities.
    I would suggest focusing on affiliate marketing, there is lots
    of info here on that topic or you could read a couple of books
    about it and watch some videos. Then get as many of your
    previous projects up and running again and add some new
    things to it. Register a few domain names, brush up on your
    Wordpress, develop some content, things like that. If you
    spend a couple of hours each day working on your online
    marketing, you'll be up and running again in no time.
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    • Profile picture of the author AmRittyy
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author JoshFlake
      I agree. Tons of great information on this site and tons of great videos on YouTube to help get you started.
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  • Profile picture of the author 55sadhikar
    Content marketing is still going strong, since you have the base already thats probably where you want to dip your toe at; you can add others like affiliate marketing/video marketing/e-mail marketing in your repertoire as time passes.....
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  • Profile picture of the author trump44
    Thank you for your replies...So I guess it has not really changed much...Build sites with quality content and get it ranked?
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

      Thank you for your replies...So I guess it has not really changed much...Build sites with quality content and get it ranked?
      Or, sell expensive brand name products, dropshipping them, and then there is enough profit to pay for ads so that you can immediately start making money.

      The other route is selling your own private label products, which takes more of a financial investment, but you can get that going for under $1,000 usually. This model also relies on advertising as the primary traffic generator (usually Facebook ads).

      Neither method requires you to wait forever for SEO efforts to kick in.
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      • Profile picture of the author trump44
        Thank you Dave...I did FBA for a while but was not successful...Being able to create a product and be price competitive was impossible...Shipping to Amazon.com from Canada was just too expensive and ordering in bulk from China was way too expensive...I am very interested in learning more about bundles and have been following mommyincome online but I have been hesitant to pull the trigger on their course as of yet

        I just got back into reading Niche Pursuits by Spencer Haws and might follow his plan for building sites as it seems to be successful and more of the longer term stable approach I am looking for...But it does look very involved which is kind of scary after being out of the game for a few years
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        • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
          Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

          But it does look very involved which is kind of scary after being out of the game for a few years
          I'm glad to hear it when someone says a course "looks very involved". It indicates to me that it is comprehensive, which is a positive thing considering so many courses gloss over so many important aspects of eCommerce and are far too basic.

          As far as I am concerned, the more detailed, the better, provided things are presented in an easy to understand step-by-step process. Just don't kip any steps!

          Oh, and we don't use fulfillment by Amazon for our private label websites. There are less expensive options out there. We're 50/50 on private label sites and high ticket brand name dropship sites we own.
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      • Profile picture of the author Monetize
        Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

        Or, sell expensive brand name products, dropshipping them, and then there is enough profit to pay for ads so that you can immediately start making money.

        The other route is selling your own private label products, which takes more of a financial investment, but you can get that going for under $1,000 usually. This model also relies on advertising as the primary traffic generator (usually Facebook ads).

        Neither method requires you to wait forever for SEO efforts to kick in.

        I am sorry I do not mean to knock your suggestion but
        dropshipping is a drag because you have to deal with
        customer issues such as returns and everything else.
        I used to dropship years ago and I experienced all the
        problems that go with it. It is an ideal way to have your
        orders fulfilled without tying your money up in inventory,
        but that is about all. You are the middleman that has to
        deal with questions, complaints, returns, refunds, etc.
        And people will complain about everything - it's too big,
        too small, too dark, too light, doesn't match something
        else they already own, isn't made in the U.S.A., and on
        and on. I could write a book about the downside of
        dropshipping.

        Take my advice and do not dropship. Find another way
        to earn passive income that does not involve getting a
        headache everyday:

        Affiliate marketing.
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        • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
          Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

          I am sorry I do not mean to knock your suggestion but
          dropshipping is a drag because you have to deal with
          customer issues such as returns and everything else.
          I used to dropship years ago and I experienced all the
          problems that go with it. It is an ideal way to have your
          orders fulfilled without tying your money up in inventory,
          but that is about all. You are the middleman that has to
          deal with questions, complaints, returns, refunds, etc.
          And people will complain about everything - it's too big,
          too small, too dark, too light, doesn't match something
          else they already own, isn't made in the U.S.A., and on
          and on. I could write a book about the downside of
          dropshipping.

          Take my advice and do not dropship. Find another way
          to earn passive income that does not involve getting a
          headache everyday:

          Affiliate marketing.
          It sounds like you picked a bad product niche. If there is a problem with more than 1-2% of the things you ship, you have the wrong products! Part of our training tells you to avoid niches where there are a lot of returns. In your case, it sounds like you were shipping clothing - something that would never come close to qualifying as a high ticket brand name product or one that doesn't have many, many returns.
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          • Profile picture of the author Monetize
            Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

            It sounds like you picked a bad product niche. If there is a problem with more than 1-2% of the things you ship, you have the wrong products! Part of our training tells you to avoid niches where there are a lot of returns. In your case, it sounds like you were shipping clothing - something that would never come close to qualifying as a high ticket brand name product or one that doesn't have many, many returns.

            I sold a variety of products via dropship but never clothing items.
            My average sale was $3,500 and there were not many returns.
            There were plenty of time-consuming headaches though.

            I was simply pointing out a few of the pitfalls of dropshipping for
            those who think that it is an easy method of making money.

            It is not.

            As to your assertion that clothing would never come close to
            qualifying as a high ticket brand name product, you clearly
            are not familiar with designer clothing and accessories.

            Lots of millionaires in that industry.
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            • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
              Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

              My average sale was $3,500 and there were not many returns.
              Wow, that's a serious average sale. For most dropship sites, that should mean you were making at least $535-$700 gross profit per sale. With that kind of profit per sale, I would have outsourced the CS and let someone else deal with the problems!
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              • Profile picture of the author Monetize
                Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

                Wow, that's a serious average sale. For most dropship sites, that should mean you were making at least $535-$700 gross profit per sale. With that kind of profit per sale, I would have outsourced the CS and let someone else deal with the problems!

                I priced my items depending upon MSRP/MAP or I doubled
                the wholesale cost. I preferred to deal with my customers
                myself, it wasn't that big of a deal since I quit my job to work
                my business. But if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have
                bothered with it at all. I made good money, but I could have
                done so much better with a different business model.
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    • Profile picture of the author TobiMDD
      Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

      Thank you for your replies...So I guess it has not really changed much...Build sites with quality content and get it ranked?

      Yes quality content is always great but ranking...Hmm...this is really not easy nowadays since the competition is huge..


      What I would recommend instead is to get traffic through organic methods by using social media.
      Pinterest is a great place to get website traffic if you know what you're doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Carina Negedu
    You can also venture into Affiliate Marketing if you don't want to create your own product.

    There are tons of good ones in the Internet and most offer recurring commissions on their product.

    All you need to do is pick a hot niche, a not so competitive product and run ads on them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Melvin Gonzalez
    Try out Email Marketing, with your vast experience you may give away a free course or PDF and build a list of eager subscribers.

    You can sell them your own course or sell affiliate products.
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  • Profile picture of the author starbaby
    Do you write articles and are you signed up with an affiliate so you can earn commissions thats one way to earn money
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  • Profile picture of the author oppyeaunome
    There are lots of things that still work online. You just have to find something and stick to it.

    It's easy to get started with a skill. If you know how to design websites, then do that. If you know how to write you can sell that. It's all about understanding what the need is online and finding a way to supply it.

    Affiliate websites are also good. It's all a matter of knowing what you want to do and what you're good at learning and taking it from there.
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  • Hi, welcome back to online marketing ! To me, I feel the easiiest way to start an online marketing is using other people's product and promote the products. No inventory issue, no stock-out issue, no storage issue.

    Hence, Affiliate Marketing could be one area of considerations for you. Promote someone else's products and earn a commission from it. To earn a good commission rate, E-products will be best. However, you will need to work on promoting it consistently and lots of patience to see your fruits.

    If you are, are really bought by my suggestion, think of a niche of your choice. Make sure it is a niche that you would enjoy doing and a niche that is viable as well.

    Good luck :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Donard
    You will have so many options but the secret is getting the right product and company. Affiliate marketing has many options and in the current pandemic situation it's important to look towards helping people with the product you decide to market. Personal training or financial advice are all important at present
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  • Profile picture of the author superowid
    Do video! And build your audience.
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    . . . . . Let me help cutting your ad production cost! . . . . .
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  • Profile picture of the author kursat
    I think having your own product would be the best option...but if you do not want to spend the money or time on that, than affiliate marketing is the way to go.

    You can design a sales funnel for a popular product and test it with paid ads to see your returns.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raspgod
    One that you could give a shot at is CPA. I've made really good money with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

    I have been away from Online Marketing but interested in getting back in to try again...I would love to find a sustainable business online that I could build...Anything working well these days? Any advice on where to start or what to look at?

    I have tried a lot of different venyures with some moderate success
    Teespring...Did well for a while but it died out for me
    Amazon Review Sites...Had a couple good sites for a few years but they eventually were deleted
    Google News...Had a good site for a while but it was too much writing to keep up with and not enough money to outsource writing

    Would love to get some direction if anyone is willing to offer...And any help would really be appreciated
    I see people with content make money on You Tube. Tik Tok is coming up so I advise you try your luck there.
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  • Profile picture of the author George Flm
    Find a product that is worth its' salt and blow it off the lid.

    I see many affiliates are after the quick buck than endorsing a product with evergreen value.
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    George Troy Marketing on Youtube

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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Stanley
    For what it's worth (and no affiliation with this whatsoever), I've heard good things about Chris Johnson's Ridge Market product ... his team helps source high margin products from Alibaba and assists in getting you going with your first sale
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  • You have the experience and yes content marketing is still very important with the advantage that you can share via social media channels and generate traffic back to your site where you have the content.

    The next thing would be to select affiliate programs that are doing well at the mo, for example, digital and software services (SaaS products) that are seeing more demand due to more people shopping online.

    Most SaaS affiliate progams offer a high and recurrent commission so a great option long term as you'll get paid everytime the service is renewed.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author petermei
    Currently doing content marketing and email marketing right now, and they are pretty good thus far. Been wanting to branch into drop shipping again though. First time was a fiasco and had to quit. Currently speaking with a potential supplier and finalizing a deal. Also have affiliate marketing in the works.



    If you're not sure yet, why not play to your strengths, for now? It seems you still have the prerequisite skills in a lucrative field. Once you get back on your feet, you can start messing with other areas that you may not be as comfortable with.
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  • Profile picture of the author Simple Marketing
    Im back again too after a big break. Have a few projects on the go that I feel will yield income by September October..

    The problem with affiliate marketing is you have to work for free for a good while in the start, with the hope that when the ball starts rolling you will earn good passive money for a long time..
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  • Profile picture of the author mellisas
    In the current situation, I think you should focus on Jobs, freelancing, and financially related niche affiliate products as many people all over the world facing lockdown issues and lost the jobs, so it will be really helpful for them if you have some good ideas for them.
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  • Profile picture of the author DOO55
    What I will advise you to do is build an audience around a particular niche topic or sub topic and then get a good reseller product to sell to your audience. But make sure to send them useful content in between your sales pitch.
    Hope this help.
    Doo55
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  • Profile picture of the author HarrieB
    U can create and sell sites on Flippa. Been doing it for a while and its a great opportunity to sell different kind of sites there.
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    • Profile picture of the author Simo Kard
      Hello harrie , i wanna ask you about mobile apps , if it still working , as i Wanna start publishing some apps on store , can you please tell me about the situation these days in this industry .. thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author JosMktg
    I like the idea of having email capture pages and bridge pages on Leadpages (no hosting needed, love that) - buying traffic with solo's, sending through that aforementioned capture & bridge page, to the affiliate sales page - following up with autoresponder email sequences offering other affiliate offers. And there's a bunch of high ticket items you earn in the hundreds per sale.
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  • Profile picture of the author iamLizHolmes
    Affiliate marketing is the way to go my friend. Takes a while to set things up, but well worth the passive income. Use tools such as Youtube to gain traffic and attention quickly. Youtube ad revenue is another great way to make some money online. Hope this helps?
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  • Profile picture of the author 55sadhikar
    Also you can do self liquidation offer. It is a low -value offer you sell to recoup your adcost.Your offer on thank you page becomes the affiliate product you are selling. This is an indirect way of promoting any affiliate products out there.
    The concept of bridge page is also very powerful. With the bridge page you are sending visitors from a squeeze page to the bridge page and then to the affiliate offer. The content on the bridge page is like a sample you give to your visitors before you give away the whole enchilada.
    The bridge page also warms up any cold traffic before you direct them to an affiliate page.
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  • Profile picture of the author IMBizPro
    Whatever you do funnel your traffic onto an email list. Others have already mentioned its power here, so I won't repeat, but seriously, building a list is like the best move you can make for your online business.
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  • Profile picture of the author David McGimpsey
    Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

    I have been away from Online Marketing but interested in getting back in to try again...I would love to find a sustainable business online that I could build...Anything working well these days? Any advice on where to start or what to look at?

    I have tried a lot of different venyures with some moderate success
    Teespring...Did well for a while but it died out for me
    Amazon Review Sites...Had a couple good sites for a few years but they eventually were deleted
    Google News...Had a good site for a while but it was too much writing to keep up with and not enough money to outsource writing

    Would love to get some direction if anyone is willing to offer...And any help would really be appreciated
    If you can invest $500 - $1,000 I would go affiliate marketing and paid ads route.

    Try native ads because CPC's are still pretty good, especially on mobile only campaigns.

    You can do some manual spying to save cash solely for your ad budget.

    You'll want to see results fast when you're first getting started so I would go with Clickbank weight loss products. Stick with ones with a video sales page because you're sending cold traffic.

    Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jignesh86
    In Simple words Affiliate Marketing Is a great fit for You. All you have to do is choose. A niche that you are interested in and jump in.

    Here is the list of most popular niche..

    1 Fitness and weight loss
    2 make money online
    3 Dating and Relationship
    4 Pets

    There is more but in my opinion these are easy to deal with for beginner. And There are more offers that are easily available for newbie affiliates.

    Than there is Email marketing, Cpa marketing, Facebook marketing, Seo, Google ads etc.. Basically you focus on one you like and master it.

    I Recommend Buying a good course in the niche you are interested in promoting. and just follow the mentor.

    I hope this is helpful
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  • Profile picture of the author angelx
    Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

    I have been away from Online Marketing but interested in getting back in to try again...I would love to find a sustainable business online that I could build...Anything working well these days? Any advice on where to start or what to look at?

    I have tried a lot of different venyures with some moderate success
    Teespring...Did well for a while but it died out for me
    Amazon Review Sites...Had a couple good sites for a few years but they eventually were deleted
    Google News...Had a good site for a while but it was too much writing to keep up with and not enough money to outsource writing

    Would love to get some direction if anyone is willing to offer...And any help would really be appreciated
    You sound like me. I recently looked around at what is available right now. I have found Etsy digital products selling quite well. I have a shop up and running making around $130 per month. I am planning on scaling up with more stores as Etsy lets you open as many as you like (as of now).


    Originally Posted by 55sadhikar View Post

    Content marketing is still going strong, since you have the base already thats probably where you want to dip your toe at; you can add others like affiliate marketing/video marketing/e-mail marketing in your repertoire as time passes.....
    Does content marketing have anything to do with CPA?

    Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

    Thank you Dave...I did FBA for a while but was not successful...Being able to create a product and be price competitive was impossible...Shipping to Amazon.com from Canada was just too expensive and ordering in bulk from China was way too expensive...I am very interested in learning more about bundles and have been following mommyincome online but I have been hesitant to pull the trigger on their course as of yet

    I just got back into reading Niche Pursuits by Spencer Haws and might follow his plan for building sites as it seems to be successful and more of the longer term stable approach I am looking for...But it does look very involved which is kind of scary after being out of the game for a few years

    I have had this issue also. Getting products from China seems like the most expensive way to purchase wholesale when I was getting quotes. Even a small quantity of something would cost around $3000 to be sent to the UK. I don't know how anyone makes money like that? Especially with Ebay and Paypal fees. If someone wants to explain that one then I am all ears.
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  • Profile picture of the author George Flm
    That's not Cobra Kai material.

    With all this technology disposable...at your fingertips, how can you fail?
    Maybe misled in the past? Maybe it wasn't your bread and butter?
    Signature

    George Troy Marketing on Youtube

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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Originally Posted by trump44 View Post

    Amazon Review Sites...Had a couple good sites for a few years but they eventually were deleted
    OP, what do you mean by this? You were buried in SERPS? Or was the site penalized by Google?

    Normally, if you have an Amazon niche site and it is getting traffic, you only need to keep adding content and targeting related high buyer intent keywords to develop a long lasting asset.

    Did you buy the site as some sort of DONE FOR YOU product?
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