Need A Little Warrior Boost - "How long is it going to be like this?"

43 replies
Hi Warriors,

I have been feeling sorry for myself over the last few days. I have been trying to make money in IM for just over a year now...full-time!!
The only money I make is from Squidoo and that doesn't even come to $100 a month. I am working from the minute I get up to the time I get to bed. Not sure how many of those hours are actually productive because I don't seem to be getting anywhere.

I know I am on a downer at the moment which is why I am writing to you guys in hope that maybe someone like myself has a happy or motivational story to tell about their success. Stories from people who have struggled day in and day out and finally found the light at the end of the tunnel.

I don't know why this is taking me so long to make money. I understand that you have to be patient in the beginning and I am but I would've thought that I would see a little bit more progress by now.

I am strict with myself, determined to get through this and make a success but sometimes I get lows when there is noone around who is interested in discussing IM with. Noone I can brainstorm with or relate experiences with.

I get tired of motivating myself, I guess. Days like these are hard to push yourself. For a year now I have been strict on going out and having fun, mainly because of my lack of cash but also because I feel time away from working towards my goal is time lost.
I know that isn't a good habit to get into but I cannot help it...I need to get this sorted!!

Haha...I sound like a cry baby. I just don't know what I am doing wrong. I don't know why others who have maybe just started IM are making money and I have been at it for a year and still can't make enough to take a girl out for a meal and a show!!!...lol

Boo-goddamned-hoo!!!!

Does anyone else understand this?

whineing is over.


Andy:confused:
#boost #warrior
  • Profile picture of the author SEOPoints
    Originally Posted by sharpturn View Post

    I have been trying to make money in IM for just over a year now...full-time!!
    The only money I make is from Squidoo and that doesn't even come to $100 a month. I am working from the minute I get up to the time I get to bed.
    Sorry about your situation. Assuming you can build at least 10 Squidoo pages per 10+ hour day, my guess is you've built well over 2,500 of these pages in the past year? I'm focusing on the Squidoo stuff because that's what's making you at least SOME money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lisa Gergets
    What do you do during your "work" time?
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Holmes
    How are you actually applying your time? Are you in front of a computer most of the day without actually implementing everything you have learned?

    Have you researched a viable market, tested it and then tried to get it ranked for searched for, relevany key phrases? If so how are you doing it? How are you building links and marketing to your niche?

    Even if not seo, are you marketing with twitter, youtube facebook etc?
    Are you using traffic geyser?
    article spinners?
    article marketing and distribution? is the quality of what you are offering worth linking to by other people? Are you using niche relevant forums, blogs etc?

    Tell us how you structure your day, what is a typical day for you?

    Work smarter - not harder
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    "Live like you'll die tomorrow, Learn like you'll live forever" - M. Ghandi
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  • Profile picture of the author Troy Trump
    What kind of stuff are you doing? Just affiliate promotions? I would focus on making a product of your own to sell.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sleaklight
    Sounds like you are a hard worker and dedicated. Perhaps you are doing something wrong and if you can be more specific on how you are trying to make sales, maybe we can figure it out and point you in the right direction.
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  • Profile picture of the author DPM70
    Like Sleaklight says, it sounds like you're a hard worker and you can write pretty well. Why not try writing articles and selling them as part of your daily routine in order to get some cash in the bank. I'd be a little worried about putting all that work into Squidoo when, ultimately, you don't own what you have produced.
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    I don't build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build. - Ayn Rand
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
    You want to make a million dollars a year?

    Then figure out how much of what you're doing that you have to do scaled up to create that kind of revenue.

    If you create a Squidoo page that generates $100 a month, then how many Squidoo pages do you need to create to make $100,000 a month?

    1,000?
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  • Profile picture of the author sharpturn
    Warriors,

    Well, I stated IM a little over a year ago not even knowing how to use the internet correctly and just getting by with computer learning so I wasn't just a newbie but a newbie's newbie!

    Granted, my main reason for getting into IM is to earn good money. Also, after being laid off a couple times I decided working for someone else, (especially a major butthead!), was not safe. Yes, finacially I am in a bit of a pickle and it is hard to stay focused when you worry about money all the time. I won't rant about that because there are others in worse off financial situations than I am.

    Anyway, I started with Squidoo and learned some basic IM foundation work with it. I have made around 50 lenses, a couple make $15 a month and the rest are on $3 to $0.

    Then a friend showed me how to make my own Wordpress site as "Owning your own site is like owning your very own property"....an investment. The site is in my sig below and you can see I made the mistake of choosing a way too high competition niche to begin with.
    Regardless of all the original articles I wrote and bookmarking and linking...bla..bla....I get crap traffic and zero sales.

    I am a little de-motivated at this point and decide to leave it and try something new. I bought Neil V's great WSO "The Amazon Blueprint" and have focused on that alone since then. I work with Hubpages for the first part of the strategy for testing and make roughly a Hub a day.
    I choose buying keywords, the product name, as these are supposed to be high conversion words.
    I write some quick content with videos and pics and link to Amazon. Then bookmark, RSS, link build, etc.

    I know it has just been 2 weeks but I get disheartened when I look at the stats and see that I only get around 1 or 2 poeple to the sites a day. It starts to remind me of my previous struggles.

    I know I need more copywriting practice and keyword research and market research practice but even after one year of this i still get days when I think I just am not going to get anywhere with IM.

    LISA

    To answer your question I plan from the night before what I am going to do. I have all my chosen Amazon products for the week infront of me with their keywords written down. So all I do is pick one product and fill the Hubpage with content. Then bookmark, Rss and backlink. By then my eyes are hurting from all the concentration. I do that each day. I try not to look at the stats too much coz it puts me off.

    Lexicon555

    Yes I am trying to learn how to research the products market for Amazon and I am doing what I can to get decent keywords without using paid tools. Not sure if I am doing any of these correctly but I am trying. I know these two areas are the most important coz if I choose a product that noone wants then it is pointless. Or if my keyword research sucks then I am doomed...lol.
    I am useing longtailed keywords which I hope will help.
    No, I don't do much Twitter or Facebook marketing. Infact, that is an area I don't go into much at all. I know I am missing out by not being a social person on forums or Twitter etc. I am not sure how to go about it.

    TROY


    I haven't got a clue about making my own product.


    Thank you everyone for the help.


    Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author sharpturn
    MichaelHiles

    Yes, I get that and have tried to do that. I have tried to copy what I did with the Squidoo lens that earns me $15 a month. I figured, if i could make 50 of those I could be on my way to getting a nice sum in.

    So, I made up another 20 odd lenses similar to that first lens. It hasn't worked as I expected. Somehow this one Squidoo lens managed to get to the top page of Google on a high comp phrase! The other sites I made haven't come close!!!

    I tried to copy what I did and it hasn't seemed to work.

    Dang!!!


    Andy
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    • Profile picture of the author Seren
      Hi Andy,

      I'm not an expert, I am new to this game too! So I was reading this thread as those much more experienced often come out with some great tips.

      I took a look at your fat loss site anyway, I am nosy! To me, it's a nice site - clean and uncluttered. You are articulate, there's lots of great info there and you come across as knowing your stuff. I noticed a couple of things that I would change if the site was mine.

      First was the links of interest. They don't appear to be affiliate links so you're giving people fantastic info then almost encouraging them to go elsewhere to actually lose weight rather than buy your affiliate product.

      I also found when I concentrated on only one product I didn't get sales. That started to turn around when I put up a product comparison "review" page. Perhaps that is something you could try? Obviously all would be affiliate products and they would be your links.

      Since you come across as an authority figure in your blog, have you tried actually saying in your posts something like "I recommend Fat Loss for Idiots for..." and then actually tell people to click through a link. You give a lot of great info but not enough pitch, there's no encouragement for people to to buy. You have the ads there, but people rarely just click ads for the hell of it, sometimes they need a little push.

      I'd put an opt in on there too for a newsletter - you have plenty of content to break up into short mailings and to make a report to give away to get sign ups.

      As I said, I am no expert, but I do think you have enough on that site to make it work with a few simple changes and keep promoting it to keep traffic going in - articles, squidoo, hubpages, backlinking - everything you have been doing. I wouldn't give up on it.
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
      Originally Posted by sharpturn View Post

      MichaelHiles

      Yes, I get that and have tried to do that. I have tried to copy what I did with the Squidoo lens that earns me $15 a month. I figured, if i could make 50 of those I could be on my way to getting a nice sum in.

      So, I made up another 20 odd lenses similar to that first lens. It hasn't worked as I expected. Somehow this one Squidoo lens managed to get to the top page of Google on a high comp phrase! The other sites I made haven't come close!!!

      I tried to copy what I did and it hasn't seemed to work.

      Dang!!!


      Andy
      Of course it didn't work.

      I knew it wouldn't when it posted what I did, which was for the purpose of illustrating the point.

      When you break down the goal into those terms, you recognize that maybe the system of "getting there" needs to be re-evaluated.
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  • Profile picture of the author gravtex
    I know that it's really discouraging to be plugging away day after day and not really seeing any results.

    Making a living online can be tough at first.

    One program you might want to look into is Super Apprentice. It's targeted at beginners and I read their "blueprint" a few months ago and based on what you're already doing, you'd probably be able to make a go of it and finally start making decent money.

    Gary
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  • Profile picture of the author Glenpars
    Hi Andy

    We've all been there and I'm no expert marketer but I noticed a couple of things about what you said.

    ..trying to learn how to research the products ......... Not sure if I am doing any of these correctly ,,,,,,,, most important coz if I choose a product that no one wants then it is pointless.
    I recently came across this post.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/make-mon...ml#post1770062

    I have lots of free reports and stuff ( I did buy his products as well) from David and He's been really helpful to me.

    As for motivation, you just motivated me with this.
    I decided working for someone else, (especially a major butthead!), was not safe.
    A well known marketer (In one of his Ebooks) told me how he managed to get so much productive work done in his day.

    He has planned breaks (not waiting till exhaustion floors him) and a strict regime even for what he eats and drinks. All healthy food and no high caffiene stuff.

    I find that with planned breaks I come back energised and get more done that way.

    Still on productivity, someone mentioned creating your own product.
    I haven't got a clue about making my own product.
    Information is a product whether it's a physical Book, CD, DVD, or an Ebook, Short Report, Email Course, Video, Video Course etc etc

    Product Creation.
    What you said about knowing what people want is correct.
    Remember that people are coming online every day and want the most basic information.

    People Want to know "How to make my own Wordpress site"
    People Want to know "How to make a Hub that works"
    People Want to know "How to make a Lens that makes me money"
    People Want to know "How I plan my day ahead to get the most done without going nuts"

    You've got all that info already ( from your own personal experience) just waiting to go into
    a short report or email course or ebook.
    Use these Info Products of your own to build a list or give away with
    Resale Rights or Re-Branding rights etc.

    Make Pdf reports with Open Office or use the PDF Printer from
    Warrior - Allen
    Put in your affiliate links and give them away or sell them with
    added video to increase the value

    Another person who helped me a lot
    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...ml#post1586656

    I hope you get something from the above.

    All the best

    Ian McLaren
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    \"Pleasure in The Job Puts Perfection in The Work\"
    Aristotle

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  • Profile picture of the author Tyrus Antas
    You've fallen into the "Affiliate trap". Sure, you can start making money with affiliate marketing right away. But medium to long-term, building your own assets is the right choice.

    By now, you should already have a relatively popular website with your own brand, your own relationships with your costumers, you own list and 1 or 2 products making you money.

    Stop building other people's business.
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    • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
      Let's take a look at this from a very logical standpoint. Your site is probably OK. Your traffic is what is killing you.

      It is not an issue of the keyword you chose for the domain name, it is highly competitive, and you may never rank the site on the front page, but so what? You can rank for content on your site, interior pages, articles you post to your site. Don't get totally hung up on the domain name. Do you think the words Amazon, Ebay, EzineArticles, Buzzle, or a myriad of other sites domain names make a bit of difference? Their content is what makes the difference.

      How are you DRIVING traffic to the site? Are you writing articles on low competition phrases, and linking them to your site? Are you creating YouTube videos about weight loss, fat burning, getting fit, etc. and linking the videos to your site?

      You need to be putting up content scattered around the internet, all pointing to your site. Get your content ranked, and you will push traffic to your site.

      Secondly, before you put the articles on directories, post them on your site, social book mark all of them. Make sure you at a minimum social bookmark articles on the best article directories, too.

      Create Squidoo, Hubpages, Scribd documents, and other web 2.0 sites with the low competition phrases you find, and drive traffic from those sites to your blog.

      You are creating a funnel of properties all within the niche, which drives traffic, and gives you the opportunity to start testing your methods of presenting offers. When you are getting 100's of visitors per day, you can quickly evaluate changes. When you have only a few people per day, you can not test anything.

      Make sure you have analytic software setup on your WordPress sites so you can evaluate where the traffic is coming from, what keywords brought them there, and where they exit to. I like Google Analytics.

      Your skills and work ethic sound great. You just need to work on techniques. You are getting close to the success you are seeking, you just need to battle through these obstacles. Focus on learning traffic generation methods now. It is the essential ingredient you appear to be missing. This is true for your money making Squidoo Lenses, also. Find ways to drive more traffic to them, and you will increase their profits, also.

      Now, do me a big favor.....in 3 months, come back and tell us about your first $200 day, your first $1000/week, and how pumped up you are.
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  • Profile picture of the author shabit87
    I didn't start taken my marketing seriously until I almost got hurt. It was an awakening for me. Like you I was in it for a year, but I saw nada, nothing. Here's a couple things that helped me. Hope this helps:

    1. Stick to one main money making source at a time. Create a system around that one source and if you see its not working, move on, and go to the next. Multiple sources in the beginning can be a bit of a strain, not to mention nothing gets the attention needed

    2. Stop buying other's products...at least for a while. Stay focused. As your own ventures grow and you see where you lack something, then buy products focused on that thing and that one thing only (ex. you need traffic, buy traffic guides, and them only)

    3. Never think there is a secret to making money. Its no secret, yes there's some tactics you may not be aware of, but no secrets. Think of the things you find out and say to yourself, "hmm, i didn't know that' its not that it was a secret, you just were unaware.

    4. If IM is what you really want to do, then stick with it. Regardless of what they say.

    5. Consider getting a coach that has a guarantee. No, it may not be a dollar amount, but someone who can guarantee to teach you a particular strategy, skill, etc.

    6. Know its not easy. Again, know that it isn't easy, but it does get easier and it can be fun!

    7. Try to budget your new ventures...and if you're really bold try not to invest money, but rather time into new ventures. As you first couple of dollars roll in, reinvest some of the funds

    8. Keep a positive attitude. I know it sound cheesy, but it'll take you far. Trust me.

    I hope any of this helps. It seems you got some great responses. I wish you all the best.
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    • Profile picture of the author Soapyshoe
      It sounds to me like you haven't built a solid foundation for your business.

      Do you CLEARLY understand business fundamentals that apply to all businesses, both online and offline?

      Originally Posted by sharpturn View Post

      Then a friend showed me how to make my own Wordpress site as "Owning your own site is like owning your very own property"....an investment. The site is in my sig below and you can see I made the mistake of choosing a way too high competition niche to begin with.
      Regardless of all the original articles I wrote and bookmarking and linking...bla..bla....I get crap traffic and zero sales.
      If you think the primary mistake you're making is that you went into the wrong niche, you've been buying too many WSOs.

      The way you're building your business indicates to me that you don't have a solid foundation. It sounds to me like you got your hands on a few WSO reports that cost $40 that promise to make you rich, you pecked around for a few months to see if they would work for you, and they didn't.

      Hard work isn't enough to succeed in the business world - you actually have to do the right things.

      -Jesse
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  • Profile picture of the author sharpturn
    Warriors,

    Thank you for all your responses and support. I am feeling a little better today and realize that these kinds of feelings are going to come and go until I eventually reach my goal.
    All your information has been very helpful and I will have to step back, read through your responses again and figure out why I am unable to get by this obstacle.

    Seren

    Thanks for taking the time to look at my one site. I agree with everything you have written regarding the site. I have actually given that site a rest for a bit and let be for another time. Right now I am focusing on the Amazon Blueprint WSO because I think I can do well with it if I just hang in there and figure some stuff out.

    Gravtex

    Thanks for the information regarding "Super Apprentice" I will look into that.

    Glenpars

    Your post also made a lot of sense and has made me look at this in a different way. Thanks for the links and all the suggestions.

    Tyras Antas
    I know what you mean

    Shabit87
    Thank you for taking the time to help me with all your suggestions. I have read your post about what you went through and understand that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
    Truth is I think a lot of my problem is mindset. I need to clear my mind of unproductive thoughts and get on with moving forward.

    KansasDragon
    Again, thanks for the great information. I have decided to leave the weight loss niche for a while and concentrate on the Amazon thing because it just feels like something that may suit me for now. Especially if I start getting some sales in that will boost my moral.
    Maybe I will write another post in 3 months and share my successes with everyone......I HOPE!!!!....


    MichaelHiles
    Ok, I need to re-evaluate but I am not sure where to start.....or what to re-evaluate. Maybe I am a little slow when it comes to IM because things are sinking in here and there and I haven't grasped many simple things yet. Things that maybe other IMers may take for granted because it comes natural to them.

    Loren Woirhaye
    Leverage?


    Thanks all, I gotta note this stuff down.

    Feeling better that others understand where I am at.



    Andy
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
      Originally Posted by sharpturn View Post

      ...

      MichaelHiles
      Ok, I need to re-evaluate but I am not sure where to start.....or what to re-evaluate. Maybe I am a little slow when it comes to IM because things are sinking in here and there and I haven't grasped many simple things yet. Things that maybe other IMers may take for granted because it comes natural to them.
      ...

      Does the owner of the development company that envisions turning an empty field into an office park an expert structural engineer?

      Probably not, but I bet he/she knows how to find one. I also bet that he/she knows exactly in which order to hire the structural engineer.... probably not before the bank loan on the development project closes, but more than assuredly far in advance of the carpet layer.

      ALL marketing comes down to one basic concept -- finding someone that wants (NOT NEEDS) to buy a certain thing, and filling that need by providing them with a suitable solution.

      When you understand that, you can identify the exact person that has the exact need, and create a model to create a financial profit for yourself by executing that model, over and over and over.

      When you create a model that generates a profit on a sustainable basis, you can expand that model as wide and as deep as you desire.

      Yes, this is an extreme, over-simplification, but in essence, this is the basis for creating a business 101.

      So what are your passions in life? That's a good place to start looking for people like you, who behave the same way that you do as a consumer in that market. You may or may not be able to create a business around that passion, but you can identify and abstract many important characteristics to other markets if you prove it to not be viable.

      You can learn all the techniques in the world, but in the end, nobody can define what you want out of life. That's your exclusive domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author sharpturn
    Soapyshoe

    I admit I am no expert businessman and this is all new to me but what do you mean by "business fundamentals?"
    Can you give me an example?
    Actually no, this Amazon WSO is the first I have ever bought. The whole year prior to buying that I have been messing around trying to learn what I can and reading from this forum. I finally chose this WSO because it is very good and the creator is very helpful so I didn't just pick one out the blue.
    I am not looking to get rich...yet. My plan is to get a strong business up and running so as I can have a steady flow of income coming in so as I can live better than I am now. After that, as I get better I will go after more.
    Yes, I do need to learn how to work smarter though.

    Andy
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    • Profile picture of the author Soapyshoe
      Originally Posted by sharpturn View Post

      Soapyshoe

      I admit I am no expert businessman and this is all new to me but what do you mean by "business fundamentals?"
      Can you give me an example?
      Actually no, this Amazon WSO is the first I have ever bought. The whole year prior to buying that I have been messing around trying to learn what I can and reading from this forum. I finally chose this WSO because it is very good and the creator is very helpful so I didn't just pick one out the blue.
      I am not looking to get rich...yet. My plan is to get a strong business up and running so as I can have a steady flow of income coming in so as I can live better than I am now. After that, as I get better I will go after more.
      Yes, I do need to learn how to work smarter though.

      Andy
      Hey Andy,

      You've got good energy and enthusiasm, which are good ingredients to success.

      I'm writing a book about the fundamentals, which you can read next month (free on my blog).

      When I say fundamentals, I'm talking about the fundamentals of buying and selling.

      The information thrown around on the warrior forums is designed to help advanced users tweak specific parts of their business - people who have already built a solid business foundation.

      If you don't have a solid foundation, you can't apply all of that "high level" stuff you're reading.

      Let's try an exercise: in one paragraph, explain what you think is a solid foundation for a business - we can troubleshoot from there.

      -Jesse
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      • Profile picture of the author asciscopecunia
        Hi sharpturn,

        I just want to say that I know how you feel and kudos for all you efforts so far! Just keep on trying and you may discover that you are just at the brink of an income break through

        Also I wanna share some quotes that has always helped me to get though these moods.

        "Be thankful for what you have; you will end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough" - Oprah Winfrey

        "Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall" - Confusions

        "Most people give up when they are about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one-foot from a winning touchdown" - H Ross Perot, Dallas billionaire

        "Opportunities multiply as they are seized" - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

        "The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time" Abraham Lincoln


        Hope all this helps

        With that said. I have managed to some money with article marketing for the past year ($500-$2000) a month. The trick is to select the right niche and right product for article marketing (some niche are more popular than others in terms of viewers in article directories). You can try on a few products/topics to see which ones works the best.

        From my experience, reviews on popular products work really well.

        Also you can try hiring writers from Your Trusted Part Time Job Community. Most of the writers there are from Singapore, Malaysia, and other countries in southeast asia. Many of the writers there have English as their first language, and if you are lucky you will find one that is really really good. About 20% of the applicants that you receive can deliver pretty good articles.

        The best thing is, it is free to post an ad there and the fees for writers are way cheaper than those you will find in many other sites (they charge in Singapore dollars, Malaysian ringgit, etc.)

        Also, you should try the Clickbump/Xfactor program.

        Either way, you should invest some time in learning how to make a website (with your own domain), especially if you plan to get traffic from search engines. From my experience, privately own domains rank much better than blogs, hubpages or squidoo lenses when it comes to search engine results. Have someone teach you (or learn yourself) how to make a simple websites. It may take hours at first, but after you get the hang of it (and learn how to create a template or use someone else's webtemplate) making websites will be really easy. I can now make a 4-5 pages website in 30 minutes or less) with writers of course.

        Just wanna share some of my personal experience with you. Hope all this helps in helping you earn your first six figures

        Kudos again for all your effort!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    Originally Posted by sharpturn View Post


    Loren Woirhaye
    Leverage?
    Read Allan Says stuff in the WarRoom. I don't know if he mentions
    leverage much but it's all over the way he thinks.

    In IM leverage is best illustrated by getting affiliates to drive your
    traffic for you. Of course your give them a ripe slice of of the profits
    to motivate them.

    You gotta make offers that magnify your efforts. To build your
    list you need to offer value. Your list gives you leverage power
    too.

    I know you're not there yet - but if you want to go places you
    have to think in terms of how to make it worthwhile for other
    people to do the heavy lifting for you. It doesn't mean you
    can be lazy. Success at this game is challenging for everybody
    because there's a lot to learn and the game is always changing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
    Your site is very nice, for sure. As someone else pointed out, I'd get rid of those links of interest though and put your affiliate site links in there instead.

    The only reason you want people leaving your site is to go to your affiliate links.

    If this site gets any kind of traffic, you may want to think about building a list and writing a 7 day auto-responder series. With a link to your affiliate products at the end of every informative auto-responder message.

    There are free auto responders, just do a forum search, I saw a topic not too long ago on this very subject. Then once you make enough money you can get aweber or another quality paid one.

    You may also want to consider getting a Twitter account and building up a following on Twitter. Just find a big weight loss guru and start following their followers. If they follow you back, great. If after 2-3 days they don't follow you, dump them. Make sure you only add a few hundred followers per day, so Twitter doesn't ban your account.

    I'm not a Twitter expert by any means, so, in this case you would do well to find posts from people who are. I'm just giving you some advice that I picked up from reading such posts. I think you could do very well with Twitter marketing given your work ethic and good writing skills. I think it would bring you a lot of decent traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hydroace
    Greetings from another new-to-IM member. I wanted to add an item to the mix - every few hours, get away from the computer and stretch (Yep - touch your toes, roll your head around, rotate your shoulders, flex your wrists and fingers, . . . ) It breaks the monotony and somehow your body is a little more refreshed. Once a day, go for a 30 minute walk & let your head turn over what you've done and what you intend to do.

    I can't claim great success with the above (like I said, I'm still new to this), but it feels good and it's cheap ;-)
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  • Profile picture of the author ShaneRQR
    I assume that you are wasting a lot of time. I know the kind of situation you're in, because I've been self-employed for several years now. One of the hardest things to get right in this situation is making actual use of your time.

    Sometimes, it can feel like you're working all day, but by the end of it, you haven't accomplished anything. Seem familiar?

    In case I'm right about this, here's a simple tip that you won't want to try, but you really should:

    -------------------------------

    For ten days, limit your working hours to 5 or less hours per day.

    Set a fixed amount for yourself. I recommend 4 or 5 hours.

    Now, here's how this works:
    - You get to check e-mail, twitter, facebook, forums and all those other time-wasters once per day. If you're really addicted, limit the time on this, as well. If it's not too bad, just do it all in one go and then put it aside until the next day. Make sure you don't get any notifications, either.
    - During your working hours, you'll have a countdown-timer running. Any stopwatch will do, or you can use an online timer app (there are many to choose from).
    - You can work your hours all at once or you can split your time up into smaller segments, but you will not work longer than your pre-determined work-time each day.
    - When you aren't working and aren't doing your daily "check-the-messages" run, you leave the computer. Go outside. Read a book. Get yourself moving. Do anything that will get you away from the computer.
    - You're allowed to think about your online business during the non work hours, but if you do so, do it in a leisurly way and focus more on the big picture than on the nuts and bolts of the business.

    -------------------------------


    Why do all of this?
    Because it will force you to work with focus and to focus on what's important. If you're working on an open-ended schedule, you're always inviting distraction.

    The idea is not necessarily that you'll limit your working hours so severely forever. But by doing this as a temporary experiment, you'll experience what real, concentrated and focused work is like and I'm pretty sure you'll be surprised by what you learn.


    Admittedly, this is a bit of a shot in the dark for me to give this advice. I don't know if lack of focus and bad time management is really an issue for you. But in case it is, do yourself a BIG favour and try the experiment outlined above.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
    Originally Posted by sharpturn View Post

    Boo-goddamned-hoo!!!!

    Does anyone else understand this?

    whineing is over.


    Andy:confused:
    It's all down to the traffic and if you don't have it. You don't earn.

    However there are ways to change everything. I am sending you a PM now.
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    • Profile picture of the author cscarpero
      Get off of Squidoo. They can lock you out at any time. They've locked out several of my lenses.
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      I'm an online marketer and mortgage loan officer.

      Connect with me at www.Scarpero.com

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  • Profile picture of the author sharpturn
    Soapyshoe
    "Let's try an exercise: in one paragraph, explain what you think is a solid foundation for a business - we can troubleshoot from there."
    I am not sure. Knowing what you want from the business, having the right mindset to push through the ups and downs....not sure if I am on the right track here.


    Jason_V
    Thanks for all the useful advice. I was actually thinking of writing and sending out a news letter or something but I haven't a list yet...lol.

    Hydroace
    Great advice. I do keep fit and try to keep training regular so I don't get flabby and go mad for staring at the computer screen too long.


    Asciscopecunia
    Thanks for the quotes they do make a lot of sense. I agree that I have to get into building more of my own sites and I will once I find a winning Amazon product worth putting time into promoting. Cheers for the Kudos.

    ShaneRQR
    I have recently started to cut down on my hours and have stopped checking my stats and emails regularly. I don't think it is my main problem but learning more about time management will help me no doubt.
    I am going to follow your 5 hour day routine and see if it makes a difference. I have noticed that when I set a time in my head for completing a project I do find that I work more efficiently and usually beat the deadline. So I know this stuff works.
    Thanks for the great info.

    Intrepreneur
    I do have a feeling that my traffic generation needs to be improved. Gonna check your PM later. Cheers.

    Thanks all,
    Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author dejon97
    I'm new to IM so I would agree that it's a challenge and at time discouraging. As a newbie, I've been learning all I can about the different types of traffic methods. Traffic, Traffic, Traffic is my mantra at the moment.

    I'm also new to the Warrior Forum and it's incredibly inspiring to see all of the help offered by the other members.
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  • Profile picture of the author rondo
    I think building a newsletter would be a far more effective way to spend your time.
    Write an email sequence in advance and mention your affiliate products in every email.

    Spend the rest of your time getting subscribers. Now you have a good reason to use Squidoo, article marketing, forum marketing , social bookmarking and paid advertising etc. I bet you could get 100 subscribers per week easily to start with.


    Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author Sue McDonald
    Amazon would be one of the hardest ways to earn a living. Their percentages are so low. Why don't you get a CPA offer and put that on your site. How are you getting traffic? I could not see an optin page or did I just miss it. For everyone who visits your site you should be getting there name and email through an autoresponder - then foster a relationship with that list after giving some free stuff and then try and sell them a product.

    I agree with cjmo75 - always, always try and rewrite a PLR if you are going to sell it. Even if you are going to give it away always check the spelling and the layout and put in some minor changes.

    From the sounds of your thread you have goals in place so just keep working on it. Yes do build your sites on WordPress - it is so easy to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author indexphp
    I'm guessing you have bought into alot of the crap people feed to newbs.

    You need to FOCUS on becoming a professional marketer. Testing, Tracking, Optimizing, Writing Copy, Producing Landing Pages, etc...

    EDIT: ...and yes, there are dark days for all of us! JUST NEVER GIVE UP, EVER
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  • Profile picture of the author williamrs
    Over a year? And making almost $100 a month? Not too bad. It took me 2 years to make my first buck online. So you can succeed, just...

    ... don't give up

    and...

    ... don't lose your focus

    Find something that other people are doing to make money, then create a plan and stick at it. If you do it you will make money soon. (But you really need to do it!)


    William
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  • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
    You may have to do what I am doing...GULP...keep my day job until things get rolling. That way, you are not working with a sense of feverish desperation pulling your hair out checking for hits every 5 minutes. You almost have to treat IM'ing as a hobby on the outset. Oh yeah and also add to that what cjmo75 said...
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  • Profile picture of the author sharpturn
    Warriors,

    I have had an amazing amount of great feedback here, thank you for your help.

    I am pleased that there are no negative comments and that you all understand some of these things I am trying to figure out. You have all been here at some point in your IM careers and have found a way to learn from it and move on to the next challenge.

    I admit, sometimes I feel I am not cut out for this business because of my very small gains but as many of you have mentioned this is all about making small steps towards my goal.

    Williamrs
    wrote that it took him 2 years to make his first buck. He never gave up, kept searching for that light and found it.

    I think for me the hardest thing is the fact that it can take quite a while to see any results from my efforts. Even then by that time you may have discovered that you made the wrong choice and need to start with something else. There goes 3 more months of creating sites, content, etc and you have no earnings to show for it.

    This is the nature of this beast so that is something I have to accept if I am to get anywhere in this industry. As thebitbotdotcom stated I do sometimes work with a sense of feverish desperation to try to get something to work before I end up joining The Loon Club! I know this is not the way to go if I am to be successful. Yep, it is hard to be creative when you think about money all the time.

    I have noticed that many of you have mentioned list building. I have read this many times elsewhere too and it seems to be quite an important part of making better money. The Amazon WSO I am working with does eventually lead to list building as I advance so maybe sometime soon I will get into this area and maybe then things will pick up more.

    I have chosen my IM strategy and like everyone says I must stick with it until I get good at it and make money. So that is what I have to do, keep at it and see the results after 3 months.

    It is nearly 6am here, couldn't sleep again thinking about stuff again...lol. Gonna squeeze out a couple more hours sleep and start fresh in the morning.

    Keep posting if you can as I get the feeling there are others out there who can also benefit from all this great advice. I myself would really like to hear of any of your experiences that may inspire those of us who sometimes feel that we are going nowhere with this but actually are going somewhere it is just that we don't see it yet.

    Anyway I am off before I write a novel here!!

    Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    Hey Sharpturn, hang in there. I ditto pretty much what others have said. Here are a few other thoughts.

    You've got leakers all over your page. In the right sidebar you have recent posts, all of which provide excellent information--but your goal here is not to provide excellent information--it is to generate some sales. You are giving away too much info and not funneling your visitors to the Fat Loss 4 Idiots page.

    Get rid of the "Links Of Interest" at the top of the page. You do have some cool stuff there, but why not take the info and turn it into a 10-12 page report and offer it as a free download to your list. Which brings me to another thing.

    You are not opting people into a list. You can write well and you have tons of info--why not get an auto-responder and opt-people in and create a 7-part series of emails to send them with cool info in each one. And--put affiliate links in to the Fat Loss for Idiots and other weight loss books in each email.

    Fat Burners Tips is a collection of posts with all types of information put together to help give you an idea as to what is good for you

    Get rid of this. Again, it drains visitors away from your main objective--to click on a link or banner to the vendor's sales page.

    Fat Burner Plan Extras is where you go to get that little more in depth information about particular subjects connected to weight loss, diets, fat burning and generally how the body functions.

    Get rid of this too. It drains people away from clicking on the links to the vendor's sales page.

    Fat Loss 4 Idiots Review is just that. A sample of posts and testimonials that run you through one of the most popular and successful fat loss plans.

    Get rid of the separate review page. Look you already have visitors where you want them on your home page. Do the review there but for gods' sake don't call it a review. Just work it in to your commentary. You have visitors by the b*lls on your home page and them you release them to go all over the place.

    You need a very strong call to action to get them to click on your affiliate link. Don't just toss a link up and hope they click on it. Tell them to click on it and give them a compelling reason to do so. My guess is that you've got some traffic but that traffic is wandering around hopelessly lost and not knowing what you want them to do.

    You want them to click on your affiliate link(s). End of story!!!
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    • Profile picture of the author mmaeb
      site design looks good, nice and clean layout
      Mike raises some good pointers for you - simplify what you are trying to do and break it down into small steps- think of it this way, each of your content pages are magnets designed to gain traffic for those keywords and every content page is the top of a funnel - that funnel should lead to - your list and also the affiliate program - 3 options for users 1. opt in use a free report etc 2. look at your affiliate program or 3. leave
      priority for you is to create the list and drive the traffic to the funnel dont over complicate for yourself or your visitors
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  • Profile picture of the author amitlaufer
    Hi Andy,

    I looked at your blog and I see that you've optimized it for the term "Fat Burner Plan",
    for this term you are #1 in Google but according to the Google keyword tool this term has an average of about 320 monthly searches which are about ten potential visitors a day... this is not enough traffic for you to make money.

    I also noticed you've invested time and efforts in link building and you currently have about 375 inlinks to this blog.

    The first thing you need to do even before you launch your blog is a keyword research, you need to find a key phrase with more searches (around 250 - 300 a day) and not too much competition up to 10,000 - 12,000 direct competing websites.

    In addition, experiment with some other Clickbank weight loss products, see what converts best.

    You need to read more about the art of preselling, in order to increase your conversion rate you need to send your traffic to your affiliate sales page with a desire to buy mood, you need to warm them up, they need to know what to expect and why they should click on the link you provide them, you need to recommend the product to them without them noticing you are trying to sell them anything, mentioned it as if by the way...

    On the other hand be careful not to get into trouble with the FTC latest guide lines
    see: The FTC Update - In Plain English

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
    A year of trying "full time" is quite a considerable length of time, but take some consolation from knowing that my situation was not too different.

    I've been quite skilled as far as computers go for many years, and actually used to run a reasonably successful small web hosting company straight from school at the age of 16, which earned me a full time wage. Despite the knowledge it took to operate that, deal with customers, generate new customers, etc, I still didn't have a clue where to start as far as building up a passive income through internet marketing / adsense, etc went. So I'd say there is quite a considerable learning curve even for those who are already experienced with computers, internet, websites, etc.

    The "problem" really is that there are so many ways to do everything.

    There's many ways to generate targetted traffic. Social media, media buying, search engine optimization, article marketing, JVs, mailing lists, PPC, etc.

    There's many ways to profit from that traffic. Ebooks, memberships, services, physical products, affiliating, CPA, adsense, etc.

    Then there's many ways to combine traffic generation with your target montezation method.

    These things alone (or even combined) aren't always so difficult to learn, especially given that there's lots of good advice (though not forgetting the cr*ppy advice) on forums like this one, and some very legitimate ebooks, courses, etc.

    The problem I see is that most people try to spread themselves too thin. It doesn't hurt to have a wide breadth of knowledge about marketing and online money making in general, but in order to see success with any particular model you must really pick one and stick with it.

    Stick with it, learn the ropes, then go full steam ahead in implementing your chosen strategy. Don't just "dabble" around with one thing and another thing, "testing the waters" to see what works, because chances are without some considerable effort you won't see any considerable (if any) results to reassure you that the method you've chosen is capable of bearing any fruit.

    I've been a victim of this myself, and I can tell you with utmost certainty that second only to number of people who never take any action and fail are those who dibble-dabble around, testing the waters here and there, looking for the perfect break; one which ultimately never reveals itself. You must unveil it, through hard work.

    Making a living online is real; it's real for a great many people already (many who are on this forum, even) and it can be real for you. But you need to approach it in the right way.

    Choose a model which appeals to you, educate yourself (or get some mentoring) on that model and then take massive, ongoing action towards making that model into a successful business.
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