How I Became a Full-Time Marketer & How You Can Too!

15 replies
I realized that as the pandemic hit and I couldn't work as a musician for the time being, I was lucky that I spent so many years developing an internet marketing business on the side. With just a few days of work, I was able to flip the switch and go back to full time. It's my own employment safety net! Internet marketing allows me to live my life my way, and it's there for me when I do truly need it.

For those who are just starting out, I wanted to share some information I learned about becoming a full time marketer. I did internet marketing full time from 2010 - 2017, and from 2017 - 2020 I did it as my side hustle.

Here are my top tips, and I leave out the vague information that you all already know.

1. Validate ideas before you put time or money into the business

This is the most important step I've learned to getting to a full time business, as it lets you know what ideas are worth pursuing and which ones are duds.

To validate a business or an idea, sell the product without a website or any traffic. You can message friends, posts in Facebook groups, or even post a listing on Ebay or in a forum.

If you don't have a product but have an idea, try to get some people to pay for a presale. It can be as little as $5, but having someone hand you money for a product proves that there's a demand for it.

This has saved me so many hours of developing products that nobody wants.

2. Don't be a freebie user

Avoid social media traffic, free domains, free hosting, and free landing page builders. They don't look professional, why would a customer invest money into your business if you won't?

(Please note that validation is different, as you are directly communicating with customers and not marketing, make this distinction)

Also, I've found that once you put money into your business you become more invested in making things work. Money is a form of accountability. Pay for that monthly subscription fee, then maybe you'll work on your business for more than a few hours a month.

3.In my experience, stick with your own products.

Affiliate marketing was always harder for me than selling my own products. Not sure why, maybe I just wasn't passionate or dedicated enough to sell products of others. Are you the same way?

However, affiliate products don't require you to put all the money into a product and you can always find new opportunities.

My best affiliate sales came from promoting items to my list, but in that same list I obviously made much more pushing my own products (even after start up costs).

I just feel this deserves a mention, I wouldn't be full time without my own products. Affiliate products do make me some side money though. Not everybody or every niche is the same.

4. My top traffic methods

My top free traffic method has been guest posting on blogs, the amount of time I put in to a guest post generates more traffic per minute than any other method, and the traffic usually lasts months.

When it comes to paid traffic, my best method has been paying for ads on niche websites. If they don't sell advertising, I'll usually offer them $50 to place my ad for a few days and see how it does.

My top kinda free kinda not method is offering website owners money to test drive my affiliate program. For example, I'll pay them to put up their own affiliate link and see if they generate any revenue. If they do, I give them a higher commission and they usually keep it on their website and I continue to generate free traffic down the line. I hope this makes sense, it's a bit of a weird traffic method but I use it so I wanted to share it.

5. Consult on the side. Have multiple income streams!

I noticed that I would spend 10 hours a day doing maybe 5 hours of work, and I wanted to better use that time. So I started consulting, and the pay is fantastic! For your portfolio, just showcase what you've done for your own businesses. Getting clients is easy if you look in the right places. My top method of getting clients is asking people I know for a referral, and then contacting them saying "[Name] gave me your information, they said you might be looking for some marketing help" - this makes a personal connection and usually gets a sale, then I ask for referrals from that person and keep the train going.

6. List Building

Did you think I would write this long post without mentioning list building?

When it comes to my list, I have less than 5000 subscribers. However, these subscribers make me a full time marketer. You don't need a massive list to be full time.

Everyone in my list PAID for a product of mine, or paid $1 for a trial. I don't have freebie seekers in my list. I put my time into people who I know are willing to pay for certain products.

Also, here's my favorite tip regarding my email list:

One thing that I like to do is filter out customers that haven't opened an email in 6 months. Before doing so, I send an email warning them. For some reason, it turns maybe 50% of these people back into active subscribers. Maybe people just don't like being left out?

I hope some of you find this info helpful. Stay safe out there! Did you know there's a virus?
#full #internet #marketer #time
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  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    Nice tips man .Keep doing the good job
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    Find out my best method to make $200-$300 daily with affiliate marketing
    Atention : Not a quick rich scheme ,takes patience, consistency and some work also
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Good job Joseph.

    Traffic is a very critical part of making money online in any niche.

    I said it many times before and I will say it again....You have to test to see which traffic sources work for you and which ones don't. That's how you win.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mabu Map
    Thanks Jose for sharing.

    This is why we should join a community, a forum

    Linh
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    Even If You're A Complete Beginner - Click Here
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Scott Jr
    Great advice Joseph. I agree with all your points. My favorite one's are #1 and # 6 ( List building). List building continues being super important, but you still have to have a plan and a strategy as to how it's built. It's awesome that every single person in your list is a buyer.
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    Great advice. The problem is that most newbies have to be dragged kicking and screaming into following these suggestions. Most, but not all, and for those who have responded to courses that promise easy riches, it becomes very easy to label affiliate marketing basically a scam.

    And, personally, when I started the last thing I wanted to do was build a list and send emails to people who might ignore me. And, for others, not being able to this for free is a non-starter.

    Good advice to follow, but becoming successful at any one of your suggestions is another matter entirely. It takes hard work, experimentation, overcoming frustration, risk taking and a decent budget. There were a lot of one-hit wonders years back. Not so many now. If you want it bad enough and are willing to keep at it you will find success and I take off my hat to those who make it.
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  • Profile picture of the author George Flm
    Great tips and kudos for giving back to the community. There are a lot of great minds here so you can squeeze knowledge and make bang..
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    George Troy Marketing on Youtube

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  • Profile picture of the author Profit Traveler
    Banned
    Originally Posted by JosephC View Post



    6. List Building

    Did you think I would write this long post without mentioning list building?

    When it comes to my list, I have less than 5000 subscribers. However, these subscribers make me a full time marketer. You don't need a massive list to be full time.

    Everyone in my list PAID for a product of mine, or paid $1 for a trial. I don't have freebie seekers in my list. I put my time into people who I know are willing to pay for certain products.

    Also, here's my favorite tip regarding my email list:

    One thing that I like to do is filter out customers that haven't opened an email in 6 months. Before doing so, I send an email warning them. For some reason, it turns maybe 50% of these people back into active subscribers. Maybe people just don't like being left out?

    I hope some of you find this info helpful. Stay safe out there! Did you know there's a virus?

    Absolutely BRAVO....I really hope people are paying attention if I had a time machine! But never too late.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11612846].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author TobiMDD
    Originally Posted by JosephC View Post

    Did you know there's a virus?

    I have no idea what you're talking about


    ..Oh and great post!
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  • Profile picture of the author 55sadhikar
    Taking off people who don't respond is called list hygiene. Why is that important? Non responsive e-mails, drag down the delivery rates into other people's mailboxes. If you have a high non-open rates; your mail is most likely going to the spam. Because e-mail and newsletters have proliferated; getting them into inbox has also become equally challenging.
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    Originally Posted by JosephC View Post

    Did you know there's a virus?
    I know there is talk of one. But I have not seen any evidence

    al
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    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

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  • Profile picture of the author samanthac
    Wow, thanks for sharing. You inspire me. Best of luck on your new career!
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  • Awesome tips! And yeah, it's the side hustles and multiple streams that helped me get through the pandemic. You should NEVER put all you eggs in one basket.
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  • Profile picture of the author AzharSEO
    Originally Posted by JosephC View Post

    I realized that as the pandemic hit and I couldn't work as a musician for the time being, I was lucky that I spent so many years developing an internet marketing business on the side. With just a few days of work, I was able to flip the switch and go back to full time. It's my own employment safety net! Internet marketing allows me to live my life my way, and it's there for me when I do truly need it.

    For those who are just starting out, I wanted to share some information I learned about becoming a full time marketer. I did internet marketing full time from 2010 - 2017, and from 2017 - 2020 I did it as my side hustle.

    Here are my top tips, and I leave out the vague information that you all already know.

    1. Validate ideas before you put time or money into the business

    This is the most important step I've learned to getting to a full time business, as it lets you know what ideas are worth pursuing and which ones are duds.

    To validate a business or an idea, sell the product without a website or any traffic. You can message friends, posts in Facebook groups, or even post a listing on Ebay or in a forum.

    If you don't have a product but have an idea, try to get some people to pay for a presale. It can be as little as $5, but having someone hand you money for a product proves that there's a demand for it.

    This has saved me so many hours of developing products that nobody wants.

    2. Don't be a freebie user

    Avoid social media traffic, free domains, free hosting, and free landing page builders. They don't look professional, why would a customer invest money into your business if you won't?

    (Please note that validation is different, as you are directly communicating with customers and not marketing, make this distinction)

    Also, I've found that once you put money into your business you become more invested in making things work. Money is a form of accountability. Pay for that monthly subscription fee, then maybe you'll work on your business for more than a few hours a month.

    3.In my experience, stick with your own products.

    Affiliate marketing was always harder for me than selling my own products. Not sure why, maybe I just wasn't passionate or dedicated enough to sell products of others. Are you the same way?

    However, affiliate products don't require you to put all the money into a product and you can always find new opportunities.

    My best affiliate sales came from promoting items to my list, but in that same list I obviously made much more pushing my own products (even after start up costs).

    I just feel this deserves a mention, I wouldn't be full time without my own products. Affiliate products do make me some side money though. Not everybody or every niche is the same.

    4. My top traffic methods

    My top free traffic method has been guest posting on blogs, the amount of time I put in to a guest post generates more traffic per minute than any other method, and the traffic usually lasts months.

    When it comes to paid traffic, my best method has been paying for ads on niche websites. If they don't sell advertising, I'll usually offer them $50 to place my ad for a few days and see how it does.

    My top kinda free kinda not method is offering website owners money to test drive my affiliate program. For example, I'll pay them to put up their own affiliate link and see if they generate any revenue. If they do, I give them a higher commission and they usually keep it on their website and I continue to generate free traffic down the line. I hope this makes sense, it's a bit of a weird traffic method but I use it so I wanted to share it.

    5. Consult on the side. Have multiple income streams!

    I noticed that I would spend 10 hours a day doing maybe 5 hours of work, and I wanted to better use that time. So I started consulting, and the pay is fantastic! For your portfolio, just showcase what you've done for your own businesses. Getting clients is easy if you look in the right places. My top method of getting clients is asking people I know for a referral, and then contacting them saying "[Name] gave me your information, they said you might be looking for some marketing help" - this makes a personal connection and usually gets a sale, then I ask for referrals from that person and keep the train going.

    6. List Building

    Did you think I would write this long post without mentioning list building?

    When it comes to my list, I have less than 5000 subscribers. However, these subscribers make me a full time marketer. You don't need a massive list to be full time.

    Everyone in my list PAID for a product of mine, or paid $1 for a trial. I don't have freebie seekers in my list. I put my time into people who I know are willing to pay for certain products.

    Also, here's my favorite tip regarding my email list:

    One thing that I like to do is filter out customers that haven't opened an email in 6 months. Before doing so, I send an email warning them. For some reason, it turns maybe 50% of these people back into active subscribers. Maybe people just don't like being left out?

    I hope some of you find this info helpful. Stay safe out there! Did you know there's a virus?
    Hi Joshep,

    I read your post carefully and it was interesting post and I appreciate, If we will spend full time in internet then we will success and it is better for our life we can enjoy our life according to our lifestyle...
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  • Profile picture of the author culpetm
    Fantastic tips. Thank you. Can you tell us a little more about the guest posting?
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  • Profile picture of the author Ged3
    Thank you for sharing your personal tips for success with us.


    Its a good moral boost to think realise that it is still possible to

    make a full time income from the internet even in these Covid 19 days!


    Kind Regards


    Gerry
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