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HELP! I've hit a big plateau but I DO NOT Want to Quit!!

by ikelove
30 replies
It seems in IM that the beginning is the easiest because everything is laid out for you.

In the past 11 months,
* I've chosen my product on clickbank,
* set up my website,
* written 100 articles that I've posted on EZA and several other article sites,
* written a 40 page free report,
* joined an auto responder site,
* gotten about 100 subscribers,
* converted my site from a static to dynamic site by going on Wordpress,
* send newsletters to my list,
* placed on the first page of google with my keyword, getting as high as #2
* made several sales.
* Joined a forum based on my subject area

Like I said, this seems to be the "easy" part because though you have to put in the elbow grease, it's basically cut and dry. The hard part now is, doing all this and STILL not getting any results because it could be any one thing that's not giving you results and you have to go and find out what that may be, and as a beginner, you don't necessarily have the eye of experience to find out.

So here's my current status:
  • I haven't made a sale since October of last year
  • I've made the decision to stop writing articles at 100
  • As I've decided to stop writing articles at 100, I'm not getting subscribers to my list as consistently. Whereas I used to get at least one a day now I get roughly one or two a week
  • It seems as if that BEFORE I put up my squeeze page, I had a better chance of getting sales
  • I've been hovering around the bottom of the first page of google and the top of the second page, yet I'm number one on Bing and Yahoo for my keywords.

I've been losing a lot of the desire to move on and continue this, yet I don't want to quit because I've invested so much into this. At the same time, I often ask myself, "Would you be losing the desire if you were getting more sales?" The answer is, probably not.

Now, the thing is, I have gotten emails from subscribers thanking me for my emails and complimenting me on my ebook. One even said that my free report addresses things that many people leave out, which was my point because as a person who has studied the Law of Attraction, I've seen the gaps and what has been missing.

I've also noted that the vendor of the product put up a squeeze page on the sales page several months back. I was first perturbed by the whole thing because I thought I wasn't going to get any credit for any sales I made, but people on the board assured me that if anyone bought his product through his own emails, I'd get the credit. I confronted the vendor about it and he said the same thing. Also, when I clicked on the sales page from another computer and went through the motions of making a purchase, I did see my affiliate ID on the bottom of the page, so indeed, I then felt assured that I had no idea to worry.

Here's the problem, a subscriber who signed onto my list who had emailed me thanking me for my emails and my free report had a few complaints about the vendors emails, saying that they were more sales than content, though there was some. The funny thing is that a good friend of mine who, though not on my list, knows of the vendor and subscribes to his website, used to praise him about his content also said that as of recent he'd been putting out less content and more of a sales pitch, and she wasn't too happy about that. When I emailed him sharing with him the input I received about him from others, he explained to me that he's been working on a new product for the past year so had less time to devote to his newsletter, and that those who didn't like it have the option to unsubscribe.

That's all good, but doesn't this all reflect badly on me and affect my sales?????

Also, with the product that I'm promoting, the vendor actually has two sales pages. When I decided to promote the product through Clickbank, it was simply listed as an e-book and the first page was simply promoted as an ebook about reality creation, law of attraction, etc., however, when you get to the bottom of the page, you're told that the ebook is available as part of a larger package. You click on the bottom of that link and that's when you get to a sales page about a whole Mind Reality system.

The thing is, up until now, I've been marketing just the ebook, but should I be marketing the whole system instead that's on the second page, or should I be even this whole thing at all and simply just find another product?

Now, I made the commitment when I started to take consistent action 5 days a week and to this day, I still do something, no matter how small, even if it's making a comment on a discussion board just to get backlinks to my site with my keyword - anything to just get my mind used to taking consistent action towards an "end result."

Like I said, I've put in too much to just give up.

I realize before even thinking of improving the wording on my site I realize that I need to find a way to bring larger traffic to my site, but it's been challenging to get in the top 3 on google with my keywords.

I'm at a loss for what to do, one of my thoughts was to join the War Room, as I've heard good things, it's just that now my money is tied up in other things so it may have to wait a bit.

I realize that this is the part where many quit because they've done the laid out work yet they still don't see any results and now have to shift gears, with most people not wanting to make that transition. I can see how this part can even be more challenging than even starting in the first place. Yet, I can also see that if you can get past THIS hurdle, you can actually make some serious coin.

Funny, as I've been writing this post (I put it aside for a day), I just got another letter from a subscriber thanking me for my newsletter. I saw fit to email him back asking him how he found my site, what he would like to hear more of from my newsletters, what type of product would he like to see and what he got out of my free report. Perhaps his input will help to clear the fog I'm dealing with.

In any case, I need help! Any suggestions?

BTW, here's my squeeze page:

http://www.manifesting-abundance.net



and here's my home page after you subscribe:

Home | Manifesting Abundance

Any input would be MUCH appreciated.
#big #hit #i’ve #i’ve #plateau #quit
  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Don't take this the wrong way - but it's a little ironic that you're promoting a "manifesting abundance" product and struggling to get results - don't you think?

    There's only one problem with your strategy.

    It's fundamentally floored.

    You're promoting someone else's business and you've realised that THEY control your results.

    This is something you need to change. Create your own products.

    When they're your products you can adapt and change based on your customer feedback and you have control of all aspects of your business - plus the added advantage that you can approach affiliates and JV partners because you have the product and are not just a reseller.

    One thing did concern me about your comments - it sounds like you're not actually clear about your business and saying "I do something each day even if it's just a blog comment" tells me that you're not doing anywhere near what you need to in order to get the results you want.

    You're just tinkering.

    Your post reads like you came into IM new and followed someone else's advice about what your business should be and you're just going through the motions and wondering why the money isn't coming easy.

    This is a classic recipe for disappointment.

    I know this is probably sounding harsh but I want to make sure you're paying attention.

    There are hundreds of things you can be doing each day to grow your business. If you're struggling to do 'something' each day then you don't have a clear enough plan.

    A lot of people do a similar thing to you and seem to think that search engine traffic is all they'll ever need in order to make tons of sales.

    While it might be free of financial cost - search engine traffic is some of the worst traffic you can get.

    It's MUCH easier to make sales when your traffic comes from pre-sold teasers and promotions from partners and affiliates.

    I think you should take the step of creating your own product and then making sure you ALWAYS have an ongoing promotion of some sort via at least one partner. Even if that means a paid ezine ad.

    If you're trying to do it all yourself and your business is just selling one product of someone else's and it's not even their main focus - you're tying your hands behind your back before you start.

    Does that make sense?

    Andy
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    nothing to see here.

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    • Profile picture of the author ikelove
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      Don't take this the wrong way - but it's a little ironic that you're promoting a "manifesting abundance" product and struggling to get results - don't you think?

      There's only one problem with your strategy.

      It's fundamentally floored.

      You're promoting someone else's business and you've realised that THEY control your results.

      This is something you need to change. Create your own products.

      When they're your products you can adapt and change based on your customer feedback and you have control of all aspects of your business - plus the added advantage that you can approach affiliates and JV partners because you have the product and are not just a reseller.

      One thing did concern me about your comments - it sounds like you're not actually clear about your business and saying "I do something each day even if it's just a blog comment" tells me that you're not doing anywhere near what you need to in order to get the results you want.

      You're just tinkering.

      Your post reads like you came into IM new and followed someone else's advice about what your business should be and you're just going through the motions and wondering why the money isn't coming easy.

      This is a classic recipe for disappointment.

      I know this is probably sounding harsh but I want to make sure you're paying attention.

      There are hundreds of things you can be doing each day to grow your business. If you're struggling to do 'something' each day then you don't have a clear enough plan.

      A lot of people do a similar thing to you and seem to think that search engine traffic is all they'll ever need in order to make tons of sales.

      While it might be free of financial cost - search engine traffic is some of the worst traffic you can get.

      It's MUCH easier to make sales when your traffic comes from pre-sold teasers and promotions from partners and affiliates.

      I think you should take the step of creating your own product and then making sure you ALWAYS have an ongoing promotion of some sort via at least one partner. Even if that means a paid ezine ad.

      If you're trying to do it all yourself and your business is just selling one product of someone else's and it's not even their main focus - you're tying your hands behind your back before you start.

      Does that make sense?

      Andy
      Haha....Quite ironic isn't it?

      Here's the thing, I did start off big and did what was initially advised to every newbie when they get started in IM. What I mean by "big" is that I did put in the time and wasn't "tinkering". I put the time into looking for a product, I put the time into creating my site, and then I committed for several months to writing two articles per day, 5 days per week to hit 40 articles per month. After feeling the burnout from writing articles, I'd revert and take two weeks to post the articles to different sites. I then would go back to the article writing (2 articles per day). After that I took time off again from article writing to write a free report, convert my site to a dynamic site, etc, etc.

      In essence, I did everything I was told to on here and I did give periodic updates for feedback and everyone told me I was doing the right thing, just to keep at it.

      I then became busy with other bigger projects in my life plus work and I didn't want to just drop this so I cut down the work I put in this because I simply didn't have the time but I didn't want to NOT do anything so I made sure I did SOMETHING to get my mind acclimated to CONSISTENT action.

      Now I'm able to devote more time to this again, I see a fork in the road: I've already written 100 articles and I realize enough is enough with this. I've already laid somewhat of a foundation by doing what I was initially told to do by many others. I know I can't do be doing the same thing.

      So you're right, as still a newbie, though I can actually say I did make a penny out of this, I right now have no plan as to where to go further. I simply do not know. I don't know the other methods of getting traffic other than through article writing, and adding backlinks through participating in forums, etc. That was what I learned through here, but now I realize I do need to do more but don't know, that's why I posted this.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by ikelove View Post

        I did what was initially advised to every newbie when they get started in IM.
        Well - that's a matter of opinion.

        I would never have given you that advice so it's not the only advice newbies get here.
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        nothing to see here.

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  • Profile picture of the author shabit87
    I'm glad you have put in your mind you don't wanna give up, that in itself is going to get you where you want to be.

    I gotta ask though, do you like clickbank and marketing products for clickbank? Is this what you truly wanna master or is just something you did in order to get into IM?

    If you're not totally in love with clickbank, explore the other possiblities. What are you interested in learning more about? What are you already skilled at? Maybe clickbank is not something of real interest to you, but the possibilites with clickbank are.

    I would suggest you ask yourself what it is you want, and how do you wanna go about getting it. If it honestly doesn't involve clickbank, move on, but if it does, stick with it. I wish I could help you more, but I myself just made my first clickbank sale the other day. Wasn't hard at all, but I don't think I'll promote too much clickbank stuff, doesn't excite me any.

    If you wanna see how I did it, I made a video, no opt in, go to the following link to view it and I hope it helps.

    Created by Camtasia Studio 6

    Its like 18 min long by the way, but I do try to go into as much details as possible so you "get it"

    All the best,
    Ryan
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  • Profile picture of the author jazbo
    The first thing you need to do is stop being an affiliate marketer and take control with your own product/service etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris The Traffic Blogger
      Originally Posted by jazbo View Post

      The first thing you need to do is stop being an affiliate marketer and take control with your own product/service etc.
      BINGO! Jazbo hit it right on the head.

      You already get people to subscribe and they thank you for your emails/ebook!?

      WELL MAKE A PRODUCT THEN YOU SILLYHEAD!
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      "Aweber Crash Course" Free Mailing List Tutorial[B]
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  • Profile picture of the author InternetSuccess001
    Here is your 'problem' (which isn't really a 'problem', you just need to change your focus & thinking).

    You are promoting something you really don't understand, written by someone who most likely doesn't know what he is talking about either (but instead is trying to 'ride the wave' of the 'secret').

    It's like you've written a book about jet engines, that will be sold to NASA jet engine engineers. But you've never studied them, let alone even flown one. Once they download your report, they realize you have no clue what you are talking about, and totally discard what you have to say/sell them later. Sure, there might be the hobbist that wants to work for NASA, and you convince him that you know what you are talking about, and out of curiosity buys what you have, but the majority will be able to see through it easily.

    You either need to really understand the topic (i.e., read a lot more), or focus on something you are really interested in and understand.

    2. Based on what you've described, what you are doing is not working. And chances are, if you continue to do so, still won't. That isn't to say you can't still say write articles as a promotional method -- but you need to stop 'mindlessly' following someone else's advice. Simply writing articles about something you don't know what you are talking about isn't going to get you sales. But writing about something you are interested in, actually know something about, tweaking & testing to see what generates results for you, will.

    Try this:

    1. Pick something you are actually interested in. Maybe you like eating cheeseburgers, maybe you like jazz music. Maybe you like ballet, football, or whatever. But pick something you like.
    2. Find out if there is a need not being met (or easily met) by others, but there is a strong desire to know about. Maybe they need to know the best places to eat, the best places to buy music, the best plays to see shows, or how to get the best seats at the stadium. Find out what they need.
    3. Devote your time & energies to fullfilling that need, and adding value to other people's lives. You aren't trying to "get" money from them, you are trying to make there lives better, and they 'thank' you by purchasing your product/service, etc. You can continue to write articles if you wish, but now you will be doing it 'intelligently' as opposed to just 'churning' out stuff.

    When you do that, and change your thinking, you will start to see the results you desire.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author ikelove
      Originally Posted by InternetSuccess001 View Post

      Here is your 'problem' (which isn't really a 'problem', you just need to change your focus & thinking).

      You are promoting something you really don't understand, written by someone who most likely doesn't know what he is talking about either (but instead is trying to 'ride the wave' of the 'secret').

      It's like you've written a book about jet engines, that will be sold to NASA jet engine engineers. But you've never studied them, let alone even flown one. Once they download your report, they realize you have no clue what you are talking about, and totally discard what you have to say/sell them later. Sure, there might be the hobbist that wants to work for NASA, and you convince him that you know what you are talking about, and out of curiosity buys what you have, but the majority will be able to see through it easily.

      You either need to really understand the topic (i.e., read a lot more), or focus on something you are really interested in and understand.

      2. Based on what you've described, what you are doing is not working. And chances are, if you continue to do so, still won't. That isn't to say you can't still say write articles as a promotional method -- but you need to stop 'mindlessly' following someone else's advice. Simply writing articles about something you don't know what you are talking about isn't going to get you sales. But writing about something you are interested in, actually know something about, tweaking & testing to see what generates results for you, will.

      Try this:

      1. Pick something you are actually interested in. Maybe you like eating cheeseburgers, maybe you like jazz music. Maybe you like ballet, football, or whatever. But pick something you like.
      2. Find out if there is a need not being met (or easily met) by others, but there is a strong desire to know about. Maybe they need to know the best places to eat, the best places to buy music, the best plays to see shows, or how to get the best seats at the stadium. Find out what they need.
      3. Devote your time & energies to fullfilling that need, and adding value to other people's lives. You aren't trying to "get" money from them, you are trying to make there lives better, and they 'thank' you by purchasing your product/service, etc. You can continue to write articles if you wish, but now you will be doing it 'intelligently' as opposed to just 'churning' out stuff.

      When you do that, and change your thinking, you will start to see the results you desire.

      John
      I chose the topic that I promoted because I did do know about the subject matter. I would've NEVER picked this area if I had NO interest in it. NEVER. There was no way in hell I would've been able to write 40 articles in a month if I didn't like this topic. My whole goal was to help people get over the mental blocks they experience when dealing with the law of attraction, hence my free report, which I have gotten positive feedback from my subscribers because I have personal experience in this area and do know what I'm talking about. One subscriber, which I think I mentioned initially, said that what he liked about my free report was that it dealt with mental blocks which other writers in this area don't address. BAM! I saw a need and that's why I addressed it because I've dealt with the same problems.

      The beginning wasn't the problem, it's now, almost a year into this, that I've actually begun to lose interest, as if I had lost my way or something. Maybe I should choose something else, but thena gain, when I think about choosing something else, I think to myself, "Am I just copping out? If I was making some money would I be thinking this way?"
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      • Profile picture of the author Jim Hudson
        Hi Ike, I would say now you have wordpress platform, you need a plugin foundation that will help with seo and traffic.

        The first huge thing I would do as you write very well is, get rid of the cb product and write your own. You have targeted keywords for that product but you can make a small deviation and add articles and link to your new product. I would change the squeeze page slightly and modify the graphics for the new product.

        If you can write that much content for that cb product of interest, think of writing your material and marketing that.

        I saw some things that will increase your quality score. You need a TOS and privacy policy page that is visible via linking on the home landing page. You may consider flex squeeze themes and be able to make changes and add some other monetary methods to your blog.

        You have no categories built. This will help with seo as well.

        There so many things you can do to make proper changes that will build your rankings and get a better review from the search engines.

        You would also need a linking strategy besides article marketing and anchor text linking in those. You would need maybe press releases and article blasts with your spun articles or originals with two anchor text links.

        Change the name from "home" to your keyword. Another seo tip.

        There is a lot of things to get started on, with these tips and more from others you should be able to see some ranking changes.

        Jim
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        "In order to get a mental picture..You must first put film in the camera.." Jim Hudson
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      • Profile picture of the author Harlan
        The answer is in your mind.

        I'm going to recommend the book Mastery by George Leonard.

        Although it doesn't seem that you are on a plateau.

        More like a valley.

        Still, it's a great book and may just change your life.
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        Harlan D. Kilstein Ed.D.
        Free NLP Communications Course at http://www.nlpcopywriting.com
        http://overnight-copy.com
        Get Fit In Four Minuteshttp://just4minutes.com
        Learn how to build a Super Site Without SEO http://supersiteformula.com

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  • Profile picture of the author LauraJames
    For me, setting up my own business has been the best path I could have ever chosen. If you have questions about this, please let me know. Thank you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fun to Write
    Ike

    I think these are good questions you are asking yourself. You have come to a fork in the road and realize that it's time for you to go down another path that provides you with more personal enrichment.

    Instead of just asking one subscriber what they would like, ask your whole list for their feedback. It seems you have your own unique insights into this niche, and are making a connection with people who have a similar interest. Build on this.

    I think right now you have two options:

    1) Create your own product in this niche and offer it to your list instead of the CB products. You can offer those other guys products as an upsell, or as additional recommendations.

    2) Create a product review site where you write serious reviews of several products in this niche, plus provide people with your own insights and self discoveries. Use a blog format for this, so you build up your own credibility and authority.

    You're right. This isn't time for you to quit, it's just the beginning of something bigger for you.

    Good luck!
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    Focus+Smart Work+Persistence=Success

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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Perez O'Connor
    You said you made money before? was it much, and how were you achieving it. How many searches does your keyword get, and how many visitors were you getting when you hit the top spots.

    Your now near the second page? why?

    etc etc
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  • Profile picture of the author Benjamin Ehinger
    Originally Posted by ikelove View Post

    It seems in IM that the beginning is the easiest because everything is laid out for you.

    In the past 11 months,
    * I've chosen my product on clickbank,
    * set up my website,
    * written 100 articles that I've posted on EZA and several other article sites,
    * written a 40 page free report,
    * joined an auto responder site,
    * gotten about 100 subscribers,
    * converted my site from a static to dynamic site by going on Wordpress,
    * send newsletters to my list,
    * placed on the first page of google with my keyword, getting as high as #2
    * made several sales.
    * Joined a forum based on my subject area

    Like I said, this seems to be the "easy" part because though you have to put in the elbow grease, it's basically cut and dry. The hard part now is, doing all this and STILL not getting any results because it could be any one thing that's not giving you results and you have to go and find out what that may be, and as a beginner, you don't necessarily have the eye of experience to find out.

    So here's my current status:
    • I haven't made a sale since October of last year
    • I've made the decision to stop writing articles at 100
    • As I've decided to stop writing articles at 100, I'm not getting subscribers to my list as consistently. Whereas I used to get at least one a day now I get roughly one or two a week
    • It seems as if that BEFORE I put up my squeeze page, I had a better chance of getting sales
    • I've been hovering around the bottom of the first page of google and the top of the second page, yet I'm number one on Bing and Yahoo for my keywords.

    I've been losing a lot of the desire to move on and continue this, yet I don't want to quit because I've invested so much into this. At the same time, I often ask myself, "Would you be losing the desire if you were getting more sales?" The answer is, probably not.

    Now, the thing is, I have gotten emails from subscribers thanking me for my emails and complimenting me on my ebook. One even said that my free report addresses things that many people leave out, which was my point because as a person who has studied the Law of Attraction, I've seen the gaps and what has been missing.

    I've also noted that the vendor of the product put up a squeeze page on the sales page several months back. I was first perturbed by the whole thing because I thought I wasn't going to get any credit for any sales I made, but people on the board assured me that if anyone bought his product through his own emails, I'd get the credit. I confronted the vendor about it and he said the same thing. Also, when I clicked on the sales page from another computer and went through the motions of making a purchase, I did see my affiliate ID on the bottom of the page, so indeed, I then felt assured that I had no idea to worry.

    Here's the problem, a subscriber who signed onto my list who had emailed me thanking me for my emails and my free report had a few complaints about the vendors emails, saying that they were more sales than content, though there was some. The funny thing is that a good friend of mine who, though not on my list, knows of the vendor and subscribes to his website, used to praise him about his content also said that as of recent he'd been putting out less content and more of a sales pitch, and she wasn't too happy about that. When I emailed him sharing with him the input I received about him from others, he explained to me that he's been working on a new product for the past year so had less time to devote to his newsletter, and that those who didn't like it have the option to unsubscribe.

    That's all good, but doesn't this all reflect badly on me and affect my sales?????

    Also, with the product that I'm promoting, the vendor actually has two sales pages. When I decided to promote the product through Clickbank, it was simply listed as an e-book and the first page was simply promoted as an ebook about reality creation, law of attraction, etc., however, when you get to the bottom of the page, you're told that the ebook is available as part of a larger package. You click on the bottom of that link and that's when you get to a sales page about a whole Mind Reality system.

    The thing is, up until now, I've been marketing just the ebook, but should I be marketing the whole system instead that's on the second page, or should I be even this whole thing at all and simply just find another product?

    Now, I made the commitment when I started to take consistent action 5 days a week and to this day, I still do something, no matter how small, even if it's making a comment on a discussion board just to get backlinks to my site with my keyword - anything to just get my mind used to taking consistent action towards an "end result."

    Like I said, I've put in too much to just give up.

    I realize before even thinking of improving the wording on my site I realize that I need to find a way to bring larger traffic to my site, but it's been challenging to get in the top 3 on google with my keywords.

    I'm at a loss for what to do, one of my thoughts was to join the War Room, as I've heard good things, it's just that now my money is tied up in other things so it may have to wait a bit.

    I realize that this is the part where many quit because they've done the laid out work yet they still don't see any results and now have to shift gears, with most people not wanting to make that transition. I can see how this part can even be more challenging than even starting in the first place. Yet, I can also see that if you can get past THIS hurdle, you can actually make some serious coin.

    Funny, as I've been writing this post (I put it aside for a day), I just got another letter from a subscriber thanking me for my newsletter. I saw fit to email him back asking him how he found my site, what he would like to hear more of from my newsletters, what type of product would he like to see and what he got out of my free report. Perhaps his input will help to clear the fog I'm dealing with.

    In any case, I need help! Any suggestions?

    BTW, here's my squeeze page:

    http://www.manifesting-abundance.net



    and here's my home page after you subscribe:

    Home | Manifesting Abundance

    Any input would be MUCH appreciated.

    This is exactly why I do things a little different. I know the plan you followed and it is quite a good one if you ask me. I just don't like that you concentrate on only one product at a time. Here is my advice:

    First, think about changing the product if you are getting complaints about the vendor.

    Second, instead of writing 100 articles for one product do 3 at a time, even if they are the same niche. Write 30 each and see which one performs best. Then, put more time into the one that is best. If you have all three doing well, then keep working with all of them, but chances are one of them will not be all that great.

    Third, once you start making money from a product start having someone else write for you so that you can double your efforts. Even an extra 10 articles a week is huge.

    You work very hard and you should not give up, but the key is to not stop writing. If you get burnt out spend $50 and get someone to write some articles for you. This will at least give you more to work with and outsourcing is the key to getting to the next level.

    Just my advice

    Benjamin Ehinger
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike McAleer
    Maybe you have gotten all the subscribes you can for this niche. Just keep marketing to them. Make a membership site. Make your own product. Make a video series. Do something and you will succeed.

    Or you could sell it on flippa someone might be interested in the low XXX.
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  • Profile picture of the author NerdGary
    Your strategy would would well for a physical product.. Amazon assoc., or CJ..
    Clickbank as a whole is dying a slow death IMO.. (I say that from experience.. I am a long time CB'er who had great successes in the past)

    CB is getting a bad rap lately.

    I would continue doing what you are doing as far as article writing etc.. just change affiliate programs.

    GL
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    • Profile picture of the author ikelove
      Originally Posted by Jim Hudson View Post

      Hi Ike, I would say now you have wordpress platform, you need a plugin foundation that will help with seo and traffic.

      The first huge thing I would do as you write very well is, get rid of the cb product and write your own. You have targeted keywords for that product but you can make a small deviation and add articles and link to your new product. I would change the squeeze page slightly and modify the graphics for the new product.

      If you can write that much content for that cb product of interest, think of writing your material and marketing that.

      I saw some things that will increase your quality score. You need a TOS and privacy policy page that is visible via linking on the home landing page. You may consider flex squeeze themes and be able to make changes and add some other monetary methods to your blog.

      You have no categories built. This will help with seo as well.

      There so many things you can do to make proper changes that will build your rankings and get a better review from the search engines.

      You would also need a linking strategy besides article marketing and anchor text linking in those. You would need maybe press releases and article blasts with your spun articles or originals with two anchor text links.

      Change the name from "home" to your keyword. Another seo tip.

      There is a lot of things to get started on, with these tips and more from others you should be able to see some ranking changes.

      Jim
      Jim, thank you very much for your suggestions, I had no idea about any of these.

      First off, I've thought of creating my own product but was waiting to get more experience first. Second, what do you mean by press releases and article blasts? What do they entail?

      Also where can I get a TOS and content for a privacy policy? When you say "home landing page" do you mean my squeeze page?

      Originally Posted by Jason Perez O'Connor View Post

      You said you made money before? was it much, and how were you achieving it. How many searches does your keyword get, and how many visitors were you getting when you hit the top spots.

      Your now near the second page? why?

      etc etc
      Jason:

      I've made money but not too much, only four sales. Three of them came from EZA and the other one bought from my list. My keyword gets 1800 searches per month and on a good day, I got up to 20 visitiors.

      Originally Posted by Benjamin Ehinger View Post

      This is exactly why I do things a little different. I know the plan you followed and it is quite a good one if you ask me. I just don't like that you concentrate on only one product at a time. Here is my advice:

      First, think about changing the product if you are getting complaints about the vendor.

      Second, instead of writing 100 articles for one product do 3 at a time, even if they are the same niche. Write 30 each and see which one performs best. Then, put more time into the one that is best. If you have all three doing well, then keep working with all of them, but chances are one of them will not be all that great.

      Third, once you start making money from a product start having someone else write for you so that you can double your efforts. Even an extra 10 articles a week is huge.

      You work very hard and you should not give up, but the key is to not stop writing. If you get burnt out spend $50 and get someone to write some articles for you. This will at least give you more to work with and outsourcing is the key to getting to the next level.

      Just my advice

      Benjamin Ehinger
      Ben:

      Thank you very much for your advice. I chose to start with one product initially because I was new at this thing and didn't want to spread myself too thin.
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      • Profile picture of the author ikelove
        Originally Posted by Chris The Traffic Blogger View Post

        BINGO! Jazbo hit it right on the head.

        You already get people to subscribe and they thank you for your emails/ebook!?

        WELL MAKE A PRODUCT THEN YOU SILLYHEAD!
        I have just under 100 subscribers and so I didn't think it was time yet to make my own product. I wanted to grow my list first.


        Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

        Well - that's a matter of opinion.

        I would never have given you that advice so it's not the only advice newbies get here.
        Well, hey, I didn't know that then. I had bought and read one e-book, and read the posts on here and thought that was the best way to go. I didn't want to make the common mistake of reading book after book after book, simply getting ready to get ready so I just jumped into the pool.
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        • Profile picture of the author Chris The Traffic Blogger
          Originally Posted by ikelove View Post

          I have just under 100 subscribers and so I didn't think it was time yet to make my own product. I wanted to grow my list first.




          Well, hey, I didn't know that then. I had bought and read one e-book, and read the posts on here and thought that was the best way to go. I didn't want to make the common mistake of reading book after book after book, simply getting ready to get ready so I just jumped into the pool.
          Hey bud, I hope that my post didn't come across as condescending, I apologize if it did.

          I am in the same boat as you with a brand new site with just over 125 subscribers, and yes I'm going to be making a product for that list but also for all future members of the list.

          All you have to do is incorporate your pitch into your autoresponder and presto you have your ebook being sold to every single new subscriber.

          Try it!!!
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        • Profile picture of the author paulie888
          Originally Posted by ikelove View Post

          I have just under 100 subscribers and so I didn't think it was time yet to make my own product. I wanted to grow my list first.
          You don't need to have a huge list of subscribers to make your own product. Some of them have already indicated that they like your free report, so chances are that they'll also buy your paid product from you. Furthermore, since you don't like what the vendor is doing with his new squeeze page, why not cut him out completely and instead present your own product to people you opt in?

          This way you'd get paid more and faster, and you'd control your business and not be subject to the whims of the vendor. I wouldn't be surprised if you manage to create a product that's better than your current vendor's one, and you'd make more going this route as well.

          Also, try some other traffic generation strategies besides article marketing, such as videos, blog commenting, forum commenting, solo ads, facebook ads, etc. Don't put all your eggs in one basket by solely concentrating on article marketing.

          Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Jim Hudson
        Originally Posted by ikelove View Post

        Jim, thank you very much for your suggestions, I had no idea about any of these.

        First off, I've thought of creating my own product but was waiting to get more experience first. Second, what do you mean by press releases and article blasts? What do they entail?

        Also where can I get a TOS and content for a privacy policy? When you say "home landing page" do you mean my squeeze page?
        Hi Ike, sorry it took so long to answer. I have a wp plugin I use for privacy policy and a lot of folks do too.

        WordPress › Easy Privacy Policy « WordPress Plugins

        And a TOS generator..There a lot of these types of websites to use for free. If you use adsense, you will need a TOS with double dart cookie explanation and opt out.


        Privacy Policy / Terms Of Service Generator | Tampa Web Design
        Privacy Policy / Terms Of Service Generator

        Press release will announce your new website and draw attention to your site. You just need to study on PR writing and talking in third person. Include an anchor text link if possible or generic url to main page if they do not allow anchor text.

        Article blasts just mean article submissions, many times with one or two anchor text links that will showcase your main or home page as well as an inner page.

        No, I mean on "home" page that is how it is listed and not the squeeze page. You can change that name to a keyword or phrase like the name of the ebook that is being sold on that page and that would increase seo for that term.

        Make categories of each type of ebook or product sold as the actual name of the product. That will create seo for that term. Use the dagon design sitemap generator plugin to make a visual sitemap. This will add navigation along with a xml sitemap that is not visible to a visitor.
        Sitemap Generator Plugin for Wordpress · Dagon Design

        Add these things and it will help a lot. You will have a better score when the bots visit again and see the good changes you have made.

        Jim
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by NY1 View Post

      Here's my suggestion: Choose a different niche.

      The abundance/LOA niche peaked in 2008/early 2009 and has been dropping steadily.

      Anyone can walk into Barnes and Noble and get an abundance/LOA book by big names like Wayne Dyer, Jack Canfield, etc for $ 7 on the clearance table.

      It's also a niche filled with curiosity, not desire. So, they want to browse info, not buy.

      Plus, there are some interesting people with unreal expectations in that niche.

      I had one woman (I have a site in LOA niche) that wanted to know how she could change the sex of her baby and she was already 7 months pregnant.

      Obviously, I told her that was impossible, and she was disappointed. (poor kid)

      Just goes to show what some people are expecting in that niche.

      Plus, to be honest, most of the CB Abundance/LOA market is regurgitated PLR crap (I have the same PLR that a lot of these people are repackaging and it's definitely crapola), so don't expect to make a lot of sales that stick.

      One of the CB products I came across was $ 37, it was just crap PLR that sold for $ 2 (seriously)

      I had one woman with a $ 97 product try to JV with me and all it ended up being was a 25 page manual with a mp3 audio of the same manual. I had a long conversation with her and trust me, she was not manifesting any abundance in her life at all (lol)

      And that is what most of the market is filled with and why it died off so quickly.
      It just seems ironic to me that many of the sellers in the LOA niche are not actually experiencing true abundance in their lives, and are being completely hypocritical. I think this condition will inevitably be portrayed in how they create and market these products, with the end result that the finished product isn't going to be very high quality at all.

      If you're promoting someone else's LOA product, I'd strongly suggest purchasing the product first to ensure that it actually has decent content, and isn't just some rehashed material that can be easily found elsewhere. With LOA inherently carrying such a basic message, I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the products out there are just regurgitated crap that really doesn't convey any new revelations.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarah Bosen
    Sometimes just keeping up with articles is the key. You don't have to do tons, just a couple every now and then to keep current. Always keep your info current.
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    • Profile picture of the author Phil Ainsworth
      DUDE... I totally feel your pain... Trust me, I have been where you are, putting in hours and hours without seeing the major results that I wanted...

      And no one can accuse you of not working hard... you've done loads (way more than most people who try IM and give up after about 5 mins).

      In fact, working so hard, you've taught yourself IM skills which would apply in other niches.

      I think you should work much less harder and much more smarter.

      As many people above have suggested, create your own product. Seriously man, it's so frickin easy it's untrue... training videos, audio products, coaching webinars...any of these could be created quickly and easily with free software.

      You've already created an ebook (which your subscribers love) and it sounds like you've created a good relationship with those subs... it's time to FIRE that joker that you are promoting and start making real money.

      Here's what I would do:-

      IF YOU WANT TO STAY IN THE LOA NICHE:

      Create a simple product of your own (I would recommend interviewing a big player in your niche over Skype and recording the conversation, I recommend a programme called Pamela which has a $1, 30 day trial, then its only $20 or $30 dollars to buy the full package. Skype itself is free)

      Sell this product to your list at a cheap price ($7-$17) to make a quick payday. Now go CRAZY contacting JV partners and affiliates and offer them 100% commissions if they promote your product to their customers.

      Don't worry about giving all of the money away at the front-end, because it's the back-end where you make PROPER money (ie you offer these people your exclusive coaching course for $197 say, also you could create a membership site around LOA where people pay you every month to learn more) The beauty of this method is these people send you traffic FOR YOU... so you don't have to worry about SEO or articles or any of that stuff.

      The other route to take is forget about the LOA niche and get in the IM one. You've obviously taught yourself a lot of skills (article-writing, SEO and keyword optimising) so why not put together products teaching others how to do that? You'll find a VERY hungry market wanting to learn those skills... many people based on this very forum would pay to learn that from you.

      I know you feel like you are a beginner / newbie because you only have a list of 100 subs and you've only made 4 sales... you want to know a secret though? That's 100 more subs AND 4 more sales than 95% of the people in the IM world and (I would suggest) on this forum.

      Now come on fella, time to take the next step and become an information publisher - seriously, that's where the REAL money is. You can do it, as I said earlier, all these skills you have acquired in the last 11 months are valuable commodities... just don't waste them promoting some feckless retard who can't be bothered to listen to his affiliates.

      If you need any help with product creation, give me a shout bro

      Now PROMISE me you are going to stick with it and NOT give up! You just need to tweak your strategy a little. ARE YOU WITH ME?

      Peace and banoffee pie

      Phil Ainsworth
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanjm
    I admittedly didn't read everything on this thread, but my suggestion would be to stop selling crap products and/or gimmicks. You don't have to create your own product as some others have said (which is usually an e-book, and usually **** unless you have some sort of unique experience or ability that is highly valued...most people don't, they just spew out recycled trash or re-packaged PLR materials and market it hard). Affiliate marketing can work, but you have to have a good product. You are in the unique position of being able to choose products that you think offer real value, instead of selling gimmicky trash that does nothing but pollute the Internet and con people out of money.

    Why not try to sell physical products that you think are good and that you have some sort of interest in? If you have a hobby, what niche could you target that you could give useful guidance to people looking for those products?

    I'm far from an expert, having only been in the IM game for around 4 months now, but we're pulling in $1k/mo already from physical product affiliate sales, and I see a clear path to $10k/mo within 2 years by simply scaling up. I also sleep well at night knowing that I'm only selling products that I've researched and feel comfortable recommending. They give people real value and don't rely on HUGE RED TEXT! HURRY LIMITED OFFER! PRICE GOES UP [insert script to show next day]! That type of crap is so slimy but people do it without a second thought just because everyone else does it and it might increase conversions 2%.

    Anyway, don't rely on just one site and one type of product. Build lots of sites and target related niches if possible. But your first step is to figure out what interests you that you can make money with, and then providing people something of value (usually reviews) to help guide them to the right product.

    You've certainly fallen into the trap of working hard, not smart. With the number of articles you wrote, you could have had like 10 sites stocked with useful info and product reviews, plus used a number of them for backlinks from directories.

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author William Prawira
    Now That's what I called "HardWork".

    After reading your post, I can only say that you put too much efforts into your IM business, but the sad part is that you are moving on the wrong path. You've already written 100 articles in the "manifesting abundance" niche.

    From what I see is that, you sure have talent and hobby for that niche. I agree with others that instead of selling other people products, You can just create your own products.

    Just gathered all your articles into one e-book, It'll surely worth something. Start learn a bit on SEO and do your own SEO for your site. If in one year your site is still ranked like that, you sure lack of SEO and backlinking. try to look for a new traffic source instead of Article Marketing.

    One more thing, if you already have 100 articles posted, you should try Ghostwritting . It's good for extra cash, then by using it, you can buy more sites, or even ads and link them to your site.

    Cheers.
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    Thanks,

    William Prawira

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  • Profile picture of the author BonganiS
    If you like promoting other people's products, it is better to promote products by different owners i.e. different affiliate products or programs. It is advisable to put them together in a website and then optimize your website for search engines.
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  • Profile picture of the author PVReymond
    This is the best tip I can give you...

    Get a mentor, someone that can hold your hand and show you
    exactly what to do to move forward.

    This is going to save you a lot of time and energy and in
    the long run money.

    Having a mentor is the easiest and fastest way you have to
    grow your business.

    Thanks,
    ^PV Reymond
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Faber
    Although you could take some people's advice and jump into the crowded IM niche, it seems like you'd be doing your customers a disservice, when you obviously haven't mastered that niche yourself (yet). You'd be in the "fake it till you make it" crowd.

    If you stay in the LOA / manifestation niche, creating your own product could be a great idea, but it would have to be unique enough that it offered a completely new slant. You have been trying to sell a product in the niche already, with mediocre results at best. Just changing to your own product will do little to change that, unless it is substantially different from what you've been offering up to now, and you're doing a better job marketing it.

    That all being said, this is surely not the time to give up. Keep on going with the articles, but before you put them on the article directories, put them on your own site. You should be building an authority site with your content, not simply contributing to building someone else's. With the amount of content you've created, you'd be well on your way. You could still post the articles on your own site, but it's best to put them there first and get them indexed before you submit them to the directories.

    Make some videos and put them on the video sites; all of them, not just youtube. Use tubemogul.com (it's free) Be sure you build back links to the videos so they rank well. Also, have them on your own site. That will do two things: Add attractive content to your site, and increase the view count on youtube.

    The suggestions others have given to do some interviews and make podcasts or use them for another product are great ones. Get started on that ASAP. Many authors are more than willing to give interviews because it boosts their popularity. Find ones who have a book coming out. They'll be more open to the idea because it gives them a chance to pub their book. It also gives you a chance to get in on something before it gets popular and then ride the wave on the way up with what you've created from the interview.

    Make sure you repurpose your content as many ways as you can. That's using the incredibly powerful leverage principle, which is the reason having your won business is so powerful in the first place. You are using your (and other's) resources to multiply your results.

    Don't give up yet, just restrategize and adjust.

    Hope this helps
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