Newcomers: Simple and Effective 7 Step Plan to Make 1-2k a Month and Beyond

Hi folks, this is one for the newcomers to this forum and making money online.

There was a recent thread started asking how to make just 1k a month. The person had tried a few systems out and had seen no success as of yet and wanted to make enough cash to live. They estimated this to be around 1k a month. I have been in a similar position before and shared a seven-step plan to achieve this that I used a little over a year and a half ago.

The system is still relevant today and my post seemed to be well received, but some Warriors mentioned they'd like a little more detail. That thread degenerated a little and looked like it was going to get deleted. Rather than put the detailed version in there, I thought I'd post it here. This is specifically aimed at people who have yet to make money and would like to make some cash while they learn about the industry that is Internet Marketing.

If you liked this thread, I'd love it if other Warriors contributed with some of their ideas , thoughts experiences and plans to make a couple grand a month in a newcomer's initial months in Internet marketing. This is the first time I have "given-back" to this forum that has given so much, so I have tried to make this post as good as it can be. I'll stop waffling and cut to the chase now:


My Seven Step Quick Income Plan

If you want to make 1k-2k a month then I am going to give you a detailed break down of how I did it a little over a year and a half ago. I did it by selling services to webmasters. It's not for everyone and I'll talk about the strengths and weaknesses of this system in this post as well. Before I go on, I'd like to say, although this is essentially freelancing, I never once advertised or found work on any freelance sites such as elance etc. I'll explain in detail how I got customers in this post.

Some Background:

I had just graduated from University and lived in a remote and rural part of the UK. There were some low-paid seasonal jobs available in my area, but I took a decision I would never work such jobs locally again. I wanted to make my own money until I got good at building a business or until I found a job. I found a job, but used this system for several months to make enough money so I could travel the country to go to job interviews, networking events and so I had enough money to live, run my car, phone and have some pocket change to have some nights out with friends. I worked part time at this system, I decided what hours I worked and in a typical month I would earn between 1k-2k USD a month. Not a lot of money by English standards, but it was all I needed, and it was a start.

The Business Plan in a Nutshell:

I didn't have too much knowledge or skills at the time, so I used what I had, which was a reasonable grasp of the English language. I then assessed what webmasters need and what problems they came across. A lot of them needed content, a lot of them needed backlinks. I could do both easily. I could do video, audio and article content (and I did).
I didn't stop there, I decided on a USP as well (a Unique Selling Point). I had read enough forum threads here and elsewhere that content creators had a reputation of being unreliable and would often disappear after taking the cash. I decided to be reliable, affordable and VERY fast with turnaround times in as little as a couple of hours some times and 24 hours maximum (usually and depending on the order). Good communication and speed were my USP's.
I effectively sketched out a little business plan in one of my notebooks that I keep. I decided what I was going to sell, at what prices and how I would get customers. I covered the basics.


The Seven Steps (In Detail):

1. I created a small website advertising my services. Just a couple pages, about me, my services and a contact form.
I did this by getting a super cheap account with Hostgator (it was less than five bucks a month) and then I installed a wordpress script on my hosting using the Fantastico icon on the cpanel. (New people, learn about cpanel, fantastico and wordpress when making your first site. It will make life so much easier, PM me if you have further questions about this).
It was a basic wordpress site and I installed a nice looking free theme on it. Wrote a couple of pages of the essentials on (no need for any hypey or complex copy) and I was ready to go.
When I did this, I had never made a website or ran one before. I learnt from scratch, bought a course from a Warrior on how to setup and edit wordpress, and then went and applied what I had discovered (still my best move to this day). If I hadn't overcome the "create a website hurdle" I wouldn't be doing this today.

2. I advertised my services in my forum signature links. I belong to several web forums such as this one. Out of respect for Allen and this forum, I won't list them all here. I went to each forum and put a small line of text with a link to my site in my signature link.
The signature link is the lines of text that appear by default every time you create a post, just underneath your post. You can edit them on any forum's "User CP". You can find this on the Warrior Forum in the top left-hand-side of the screen.
I can't remember what the text said, but it basically just said what I did. I.e. "Get articles for $5. Fast, Reliable Service". It was something along those lines. Anything will do really, as long as the text gets to the heart of what you are offering.

3. I setup a Twitter account. I made sure my website url was on my Twitter profile. I saw a lot of threads on this forum and others about people joining Twitter. Anyone who asked people to connect with them on Twitter got added to my Twitter.
I NEVER marketed aggressively or consistently. I just chatted with people, shared ideas and made some new friends. Don't abuse Twitter by using it as an advertisement bill-board. It isn't one and is unlikely to ever be one. By this point, people were finding me on Twitter and contacting me to do work for them.

4. I tweeted a special offer on Twitter. So there was a week where work was slow. I figured it was time to get my name out there. I Tweeted on Twitter that I was offering a free article to the first 5 people that asked. A few people got in touch, I did a free article for them all and all of them seemed satisfied. I got three new orders from that activity and a much busier week than I had first anticipated!

5. I got put on a small retainer. One person liked me so much and had enough work for me to do to setup a contract with me and put me on a $500 retainer. This person gave me consistent work and income, I was very grateful. This person found me on the Warrior Forum and is a friend of mine today. Several of my clients from this period of my life are friends to this day.

6. These people knew other webmasters, entrepreneurs and business people online. My clients recommended me to their friends and peers which meant the work didn't dry up for me. If you do something well, and people like you, they'll help you get more business by talking about you to people they know could use your services. This is the power of building and maintaining relationships with people in life, online, offline, personally and in business. It's an important lesson that I am forever mindful of in everything I do.

7. I offered more services. Throughout this journey, I had discovered how to create a wordpress website, so I offered it as a service. I offered SEO services. I was always learning and expanding what I could do. This meant I could reach and work with more customers and I enjoyed it.
It was at this point I found a well-paid job in Internet and Direct marketing and I gave up my freelancing. I don't regret that decision, but I always wondered what would happen if I had ever scaled up my operations? Who knows. No point on dwelling on that though, the point is, whilst this can be hard work, the business model has a lot of potential.



So there are the seven steps in a bit more detail for those that were interested.


I'd like to briefly talk about why this business model works and why it doesn't, because it is not for everyone. But this approach and system was ideal for me when I was desperate, needed cash fast and needed to make things happen. Not only did I make money I learnt a lot about business, people and myself.

Strengths:

1. I met A LOT of people and it led to me getting the job I had last year. Some of these people have sent business my way for my new venture as recently as this month and I still talk to one old client regularly on the phone. Contacts are valuable, and I love meeting and interacting with people. The people I connected with has been the best part of this experience for me.

2. It forced me out of my comfort zone. I did things that scared me and I had previously found difficult (like creating a website).

3.I learnt so much from this, and in turn acquired a skill-set that I could use and sell as services. I was always leveraging what I had learnt and my prior successes.

4. I worked part time hours.

5. I decided when, where and how I wanted to work.

6. This is work people online will always need. I had virtually no "online skills" but I still made myself valuable to webmasters. With the growth of the Internet there is still so much opportunity in this industry/marketplace.

7. You can still beat the competition. My USP's were based on what I observed what was going on in the market. I looked at where a lot of service providers were failing, and I made sure I didn't make the same mistakes. I communicated effectively, worked hard and fast and delivered. You too can stand out from the crowd of other people doing this.


Weaknesses:

1. It can take up a lot of time.

2. You have to have a good work ethic.

3. You are swapping time for cash, which is very like a job.

4. It doesn't initially generate massive cash.



This system has it's limitations, but it also has it's potential. Lets assume you decide to work on this full time on this for a couple of months. You cover your living costs and make and also make a profit. Now, with this profit you can hire a virtual team to help you take on more work, or you can invest it in another money-making project which you can develop on the side. This is a way in which you can scale-up your business and income. If you approach this as a small business and with the right attitude, you can make as much money as you need.

In summary, I think this works for people who are just getting started in online marketing are good workers and are keen to learn more about the industry. It's especially useful for those who need to make some quick cash. Again, it's not for everyone, but for those that it does apply to, to make this work, all you need to do is put a little bit of effort in and treat it like a business. If you choose to do something like this, I wish you all the very best and good fortune. If you ever have a question, feel free to reach out to me at some point. This forum has given me so much and I owe it and the people in it so much, but that story is for another post.


To help answer some questions some of you might be asking after reading this I have put together a few articles and blog posts as further reading to help you. I have also included a couple of useful resources:

What is Twitter? Twitter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
What is Cpanel? cPanel Inc.
What is Fantastico? Fantastico
Wordpress? WordPress › Blog Tool and Publishing Platform
Good Host with Cpanel Feature : Web Hosting Services, Reseller Hosting, and Dedicated Servers by HostGator (no affiliate link)
Helpful article about businesses and Twitter: Twitter 101 for Business ? A Special Guide
A good place to buy domain names: Browser Update Page (no affiliate link)

P.s. If you have anything to share that you think might help newcomers and intermediates make their first couple grand, then I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'd also like to hear any opinions people have to this business model and the particular approach I took to it. Thanks so much for reading.

Wishing you Success

Alex