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A Risk I Took Cost Me $40,000...

by Ben Gordon
57 replies
...and made me over $500,000.

Folks, many of your are forgetting what business really is. Most of you are going after 'free' advertising methods and other 'free' sources to gain traffic, credibility, etc. The problem is...that's not where the real money lays. The real money lays in INVESTMENT. And it's lying there waiting for you to grab it.

I'm not telling you to go off and purchase a whole bunch of expensive media ads, but rather to experiment and find profitable places to invest in. Many of you are wasting stupendous amounts of time hunting for pennies, to the point that it'll be more lucrative to work in macdonalds! So please folks, try to find a few great investment opportunities and make some money. While you're off working a few hours for $40, I'm able to earn it with a matter of a click (literally). Why? Because of lucrative investments I'm able to make, period.

Remember, take investments into account for your business, but don't overdo it. Be smart about the investments you make and always start SMALL then invest larger amounts of capital on lucrative investments. It doesn't take hours of SEO to get traffic, a simple solo ad can bring you a large amount of profit. And again, WITH NO EFFORT. That's what you're going after right? Making money without much effort; generating automated income.
#$40 #cost #risk
  • Profile picture of the author Greg Jeffries
    Agreed. Be smart and let your money work for you - or someone else's

    I love to create online profit formulas. Basically, these micro income streams, that take a little bit to set up, but once they are they pretty much run themselves. Some of the tools you need to run a successful income stream do cost money. So when I put together free reports or courses on what tools to use. I always guesstimate very low on how much you could potentially make doing what I'm showing. Then I suggest getting a small loan (over at Prosper.com, which by the way has a very lucrative affiliate program via Shareasale.com). I show how what I'm teaching will easily allow you to pay back the loan in a matter of weeks or months, eliminating most people's excuse of...but I don't have any money

    People, it's 2012! There are SO many more opportunities available out there, you just have to know where to look. But believe me, I can only say that after about 2-3 years of reading, learning, failing, and failing some more. My advice for 2012 for anyone wishing to succeed online is just do something! There are magical formulas of making money online, but no one is going to give them all to you in one place unfortunately. You have to hunt, experiment, and put the pieces all together yourself to see what works for you, because there are literally millions of ways to make a living online. Make 2012 the year you find what works for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
      Originally Posted by extemporaneousM View Post

      Agreed. Be smart and let your money work for you - or someone else's

      I love to create online profit formulas. Basically, these micro income streams, that take a little bit to set up, but once they are they pretty much run themselves. Some of the tools you need to run a successful income stream do cost money. So when I put together free reports or courses on what tools to use. I always guesstimate very low on how much you could potentially make doing what I'm showing. Then I suggest getting a small loan (over at Prosper.com, which by the way has a very lucrative affiliate program via Shareasale.com). I show how what I'm teaching will easily allow you to pay back the loan in a matter of weeks or months, eliminating most people's excuse of...but I don't have any money

      People, it's 2012! There are SO many more opportunities available out there, you just have to know where to look. But believe me, I can only say that after about 2-3 years of reading, learning, failing, and failing some more. My advice for 2012 for anyone wishing to succeed online is just do something! There are magical formulas of making money online, but no one is going to give them all to you in one place unfortunately. You have to hunt, experiment, and put the pieces all together yourself to see what works for you, because there are literally millions of ways to make a living online. Make 2012 the year you find what works for you.
      Thanks for the reply. The excuse "I don't have money" is not longer valid in this world. If you have a lucrative business model, go ahead and get a small business loan from the bank, JV with an investor who's willing to invest into your business, get a loan from a website, etc. The problem is not that people do not have money, but rather is that people are afraid to take action.
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  • Profile picture of the author tsuccess
    Good information. I wonder what percent of online marketers only go for free advertising only.
    Does anyone have an idea?
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    So true.

    Shift the mindset from "cost" to "investment" and everything makes much more sense.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
      Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

      So true.

      Shift the mindset from "cost" to "investment" and everything makes much more sense.
      That's the exact phrase that I had at the tip of my tongue when writing this thread but couldn't quite get it

      Some people just don't have entrepreneurial minds. All they see is how much money it'll put them back, rather then how much money will pour into their bank account
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      • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
        Originally Posted by Ben Gordon View Post

        That's the exact phrase that I had at the tip of my tongue when writing this thread but couldn't quite get it

        Some people just don't have entrepreneurial minds. All they see is how much money it'll put them back, rather then how much money will pour into their bank account
        Exactly.

        I dont know how many times Ive read over threads that read..

        "How can I learn SEO?, I want to make money..."
        "What are some good marketing strategies...?"
        "How can I build a huge list and monetize it..?"

        Then when given GOOD ADVICE, ie - "Get this course, its $497, you'll learn everything you need, and will benefit from it in the long term"

        They respond with..

        "I cant afford that..."

        I just dont get it. Those that are smart, will consider spending money on their education an INVESTMENT, rather than cost.

        Stop dibble dabbling buying $3 WSO's thinking youre going to "find the magical answer"

        Thats like putting $3 fuel in your car at a time, and thinking youre going to drive to Vegas.
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        • Profile picture of the author bobcarlsjr
          Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

          Exactly.

          I dont know how many times Ive read over threads that read..

          "How can I learn SEO?, I want to make money..."
          "What are some good marketing strategies...?"
          "How can I build a huge list and monetize it..?"

          Then when given GOOD ADVICE, ie - "Get this course, its $497, you'll learn everything you need, and will benefit from it in the long term"

          They respond with..

          "I cant afford that..."

          I just dont get it. Those that are smart, will consider spending money on their education an INVESTMENT, rather than cost.

          Stop dibble dabbling buying $3 WSO's thinking youre going to "find the magical answer"

          Thats like putting $3 fuel in your car at a time, and thinking youre going to drive to Vegas.
          you're missing the point.. yea sure you guys are making money it's easy for you to say, but u have to realize that majority of people will fail......

          so yea, u spend 497 u make money you're happy, or like op you spend 40k and make .5 mil and you're happy..

          but what if you fail? u have to understand most ppl here are using their last savings to put it into IM.. it's understandable that they're skeptical, scared, etc etc..

          sure, if you're afraid to fail you'll never succeed, but i think individual situation has more weight-age on what sort of investment to make. IM is just like any other business.. plenty of weighing of pros/cons ........

          just my 2 cents
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          • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
            Originally Posted by bobcarlsjr View Post

            you're missing the point.. yea sure you guys are making money it's easy for you to say, but u have to realize that majority of people will fail......

            so yea, u spend 497 u make money you're happy, or like op you spend 40k and make .5 mil and you're happy..

            but what if you fail? u have to understand most ppl here are using their last savings to put it into IM.. it's understandable that they're skeptical, scared, etc etc..

            sure, if you're afraid to fail you'll never succeed, but i think individual situation has more weight-age on what sort of investment to make. IM is just like any other business.. plenty of weighing of pros/cons ........

            just my 2 cents
            Do you honestly think that this was a random investment I "eeni meeni miini moh'd" out of the bloom? Hell no!

            As I stated previously, I too started off as a marketer like any of you. I started small then went big. At first I did some freelance work to make $1,000. Next I started investing into some courses which taught me investment pretty well. From then on, I started buying small solo ads and using PPC with Google Adsense. It was just recently that I started buying big media buys. As with anything in business, do your due diligence and find out whether it is profitable by going small scale first.
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            • Profile picture of the author bobcarlsjr
              Originally Posted by Ben Gordon View Post

              Do you honestly think that this was a random investment I "eeni meeni miini moh'd" out of the bloom? Hell no!

              As I stated previously, I too started off as a marketer like any of you. I started small then went big. At first I did some freelance work to make $1,000. Next I started investing into some courses which taught me investment pretty well. From then on, I started buying small solo ads and using PPC with Google Adsense. It was just recently that I started buying big media buys. As with anything in business, do your due diligence and find out whether it is profitable by going small scale first.
              i didn't say anything about a random investment.

              fortune 500 companies can fail. companies pay 7 figures to do an industry study before embarking on a new business and fail. hell even the company i work for loses MILLIONS of dollars a year in new ventures.. although they're smart enough to be a company worth close to a billion dollars..

              did they make random investments? no. i'm sure they definitely did more due diligence than you. but it's a fact of life...

              i read somewhere, 80% of investments fail within the first 3 years.. not sure how accurate the number is, but it does put it in perspective..

              like you said.. u got 1k.. then invested in courses, then invested in solo ads, then invested in cpc..

              what if your 1k failed? what if you courses turned out bad, what if no one converted on your solo ads and cpc?

              you are a minority. kudos to you to making it big. but the fact still remains, it's not as easy as it seems.

              my 2 cents
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              • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
                Originally Posted by bobcarlsjr View Post

                i didn't say anything about a random investment.

                fortune 500 companies can fail. companies pay 7 figures to do an industry study before embarking on a new business and fail. hell even the company i work for loses MILLIONS of dollars a year in new ventures.. although they're smart enough to be a company worth close to a billion dollars..

                did they make random investments? no. i'm sure they definitely did more due diligence than you. but it's a fact of life...

                i read somewhere, 80% of investments fail within the first 3 years.. not sure how accurate the number is, but it does put it in perspective..

                like you said.. u got 1k.. then invested in courses, then invested in solo ads, then invested in cpc..

                what if your 1k failed? what if you courses turned out bad, what if no one converted on your solo ads and cpc?

                you are a minority. kudos to you to making it big. but the fact still remains, it's not as easy as it seems.

                my 2 cents
                Whats that Bob? An excuse?

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              • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
                Originally Posted by bobcarlsjr View Post

                i didn't say anything about a random investment.

                fortune 500 companies can fail. companies pay 7 figures to do an industry study before embarking on a new business and fail. hell even the company i work for loses MILLIONS of dollars a year in new ventures.. although they're smart enough to be a company worth close to a billion dollars..

                did they make random investments? no. i'm sure they definitely did more due diligence than you. but it's a fact of life...

                i read somewhere, 80% of investments fail within the first 3 years.. not sure how accurate the number is, but it does put it in perspective..

                like you said.. u got 1k.. then invested in courses, then invested in solo ads, then invested in cpc..

                what if your 1k failed? what if you courses turned out bad, what if no one converted on your solo ads and cpc?

                you are a minority. kudos to you to making it big. but the fact still remains, it's not as easy as it seems.

                my 2 cents
                Yes, fortune 500 companies do fail sometimes. But did you look at how many times they succeed? It covers up their failures by SO many times! I do fail sometimes too, but I realize that I succeed MUCH MORE than failing therefore it covers up my failing by an amount uncountable.

                Hmm...strange. You're asking, "but what if that $1,000 failed?" Then you're doing something wrong. I would suggest hiring a mentor with half that money. That would be wise. Then use the rest to do what the mentor said. I've coached a dozen of students and NONE of them failed. Everybody succeeded. That just proves that this is yet another excuse.
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              • Profile picture of the author ShaneGorry
                Originally Posted by bobcarlsjr View Post

                i read somewhere, 80% of investments fail within the first 3 years.. not sure how accurate the number is, but it does put it in perspective..
                Wow! Seriously? You base your perspective on something you read somewhere that your not even sure is accurate?
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          • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
            Originally Posted by bobcarlsjr View Post

            but what if you fail?
            Failure is part of the process. Big deal. If you dont like it - get a job.

            Originally Posted by bobcarlsjr View Post

            u have to understand most ppl here are using their last savings to put it into IM
            That is ridiculous.

            Anyone spending their "last savings" towards a business "opportunity" is a joke. You may as well walk into the casino and throw what you have on black.

            Originally Posted by bobcarlsjr View Post

            it's understandable that they're skeptical, scared, etc etc..
            Yeah, and for good reason. Because of all the BS out there.

            C'mon Bob, you should know better
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            • Profile picture of the author bobcarlsjr
              Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

              Failure is part of the process. Big deal. If you dont like it - get a job.
              you can fail at your job, it's called getting fired..

              Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

              That is ridiculous.

              Anyone spending their "last savings" towards a business "opportunity" is a joke. You may as well walk into the casino and throw what you have on black.
              i agree.......... did you see my post on this subject matter specifically? it's crazy the amount of people that do that over here on WF.. INSANE!!!

              Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

              Yeah, and for good reason. Because of all the BS out there.

              C'mon Bob, you should know better
              yes sir. i concur.
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        • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
          Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

          Exactly.

          I dont know how many times Ive read over threads that read..

          "How can I learn SEO?, I want to make money..."
          "What are some good marketing strategies...?"
          "How can I build a huge list and monetize it..?"

          Then when given GOOD ADVICE, ie - "Get this course, its $497, you'll learn everything you need, and will benefit from it in the long term"

          They respond with..

          "I cant afford that..."

          I just dont get it. Those that are smart, will consider spending money on their education an INVESTMENT, rather than cost.

          Stop dibble dabbling buying $3 WSO's thinking youre going to "find the magical answer"

          Thats like putting $3 fuel in your car at a time, and thinking youre going to drive to Vegas.
          It's just like university. Would you rather pay the expenses and get your education that will benefit you in the future. Or would you rather save that money and work as a garbage man for the rest of your life?

          I completely agree that courses are the best way to go for newbies. You'll learn A LOT without having to rush from one place to another. Most courses explain the fundamentals as well as some really good techniques. I completely agree that newbies should stop roaming around the WSO section. The WSO section has some gems but is for higher class marketers with an already built and steady business looking to improve it.
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        • Profile picture of the author cashtree
          Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

          Exactly.

          I dont know how many times Ive read over threads that read..

          "How can I learn SEO?, I want to make money..."
          "What are some good marketing strategies...?"
          "How can I build a huge list and monetize it..?"

          Then when given GOOD ADVICE, ie - "Get this course, its $497, you'll learn everything you need, and will benefit from it in the long term"

          They respond with..

          "I cant afford that..."

          I just dont get it. Those that are smart, will consider spending money on their education an INVESTMENT, rather than cost.

          Stop dibble dabbling buying $3 WSO's thinking youre going to "find the magical answer"

          Thats like putting $3 fuel in your car at a time, and thinking youre going to drive to Vegas.
          Because the problem is there are countless sleaze balls out there ready to sell someone else garbage for $497 and not care. So it's hard to find the quality among all the crude. And when you're just starting out it makes it even harder because you typically don't have much money to work with.
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          • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
            Originally Posted by cashtree View Post

            Because the problem is there are countless sleaze balls out there ready to sell someone else garbage for $497 and not care. So it's hard to find the quality among all the crude. And when you're just starting out it makes it even harder because you typically don't have much money to work with.
            You're absolutely right, which is a total shame.

            Just be mindful that a LOT of us are genuine people with great products, who are willing to help, and NOT just take your money.
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    • Profile picture of the author thekaver
      Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

      So true.

      Shift the mindset from "cost" to "investment" and everything makes much more sense.
      Man! I couldnt agree more!!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author agc
    Absolutely. Time is Money is Time is Money is Time.

    If the time you spend saving a penny is more than the time you spend earning it, you should consider working a little longer to earn it, then invest it wisely.

    Wisely is the keyword to investing, however.
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  • Profile picture of the author perfectlovehere
    Wow talk about a nice return on investment! Good job and thanks for the reminder!
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  • Profile picture of the author ganges
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
      Originally Posted by ganges View Post

      Please suggest on what we should invest, which advertisement sites we should invest and give some examples of advertisement content if you can.
      I apologize but unfortunately I cannot give that information away.

      The only thing I can tell you though is that I started off with buying small solo ads and spending traffic on PPC (Google Adsense) then slowly moved up to big media buys that are $10K+ but are lucrative.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
        Ben,

        Gratz on your success but I also think its important for people to understand that you didn't just slap down 40K on a media buy.

        There were other investments along the way to ensure that 40K investment got the best ROI.

        I'm sure you did some testing to learn what converted the best along the way, yes?

        Originally Posted by Ben Gordon View Post

        I apologize but unfortunately I cannot give that information away.

        The only thing I can tell you though is that I started off with buying small solo ads and spending traffic on PPC (Google Adsense) then slowly moved up to big media buys that are $10K+ but are lucrative.
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        • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
          Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

          Ben,

          Gratz on your success but I also think its important for people to understand that you didn't just slap down 40K on a media buy.

          There were other investments along the way to ensure that 40K investment got the best ROI.

          I'm sure you did some testing to learn what converted the best along the way, yes?
          Yep, definitely. Look at my other response to another Warrior below. Obviously I went small scale first and did my tests to make sure it is most lucrative before approaching any business in that amount.

          Originally Posted by Ben Gordon View Post

          Do you honestly think that this was a random investment I "eeni meeni miini moh'd" out of the bloom? Hell no!

          As I stated previously, I too started off as a marketer like any of you. I started small then went big. At first I did some freelance work to make $1,000. Next I started investing into some courses which taught me investment pretty well. From then on, I started buying small solo ads and using PPC with Google Adsense. It was just recently that I started buying big media buys. As with anything in business, do your due diligence and find out whether it is profitable by going small scale first.
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      • Profile picture of the author zanbrok
        ive read post that say if you spend 40 and get 10 profit you should consider yourself doing well. Do you feel 1000% profit is not very difficult?

        Originally Posted by Ben Gordon View Post

        I apologize but unfortunately I cannot give that information away.

        The only thing I can tell you though is that I started off with buying small solo ads and spending traffic on PPC (Google Adsense) then slowly moved up to big media buys that are $10K+ but are lucrative.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    Folks the resonances are all about our perspectives.

    Based on our perspective we'll either succeed or fail. Can you guess who's in which group?
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  • Profile picture of the author sethczerepak
    That cost focused thinking is the kiss of death in business, kills your momentum before it even starts
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  • Profile picture of the author marketwarrior06
    Banned
    Agreed. but its not good for all kind of business. if your target is to earn 1k/2k per month then you investment should be such an amount that will not hurt your total amount.
    yes, its true that you need to invest a lot for earning a lot. and it happens in case of dig business.
    So invest according to the size and the popularity of your business.
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    • Profile picture of the author ShaneGorry
      Originally Posted by marketwarrior06 View Post

      Agreed. but its not good for all kind of business. if your target is to earn 1k/2k per month then you investment should be such an amount that will not hurt your total amount.
      yes, its true that you need to invest a lot for earning a lot. and it happens in case of dig business.
      So invest according to the size and the popularity of your business.
      Exactly don't risk more then you can afford to lose.

      As the OP said he started small too.
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      • Profile picture of the author marketwarrior06
        Banned
        Originally Posted by ShaneGorry View Post

        Exactly don't risk more then you can afford to lose.

        As the OP said he started small too.
        As i said
        thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Studio13
    Money is just one form of energy.

    Sometimes the greatest investment you can make is applying your focused attention.

    Here's a profitable concept: nothing is free. What doesn't cost you currency, may cost you time.

    And since nothing is free, there are infinite paths to profit.

    You can profit by making your system more ordered — and logistically more efficient. You can profit by failing — and gaining priceless experience. You can profit by being honest with yourself, and assessing your true value — and increasing it daily.

    If a thought doesn't serve you — lose it and you've made a profit.

    I operate from the perspective that I never lose. If I don't hit the mark, I adjust my scope and fire again. But you can never miss and never lose if judge an action on it's consequences and not your expectations.
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  • Profile picture of the author NewParadigm
    One characteristic of a good investment is that it provides a barrier to entry by your competition.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I do very light advertising, and a ton of free marketing. It's working for me this far, and i dont plan on stopping anytime soon. Glad you were able to make $500,000 though with your $40,000 investment.
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  • Profile picture of the author Austin357
    It is all about mind set and knowing that this is a real business. To start a business outside of IM does take a good amount of capital and risk. At least here, you can budget your risk to what's comfortable for each person. Test and kill it or test and scale up.
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  • Profile picture of the author mickmccrory
    Nice post. I totally agree with you Ben. So many of us get hooked on the free methods of online marketing, and most of it takes a lot of time. Paid traffic to a converting offer is probably the fastest way to make money on the internet. Thanks for sharing.
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  • Profile picture of the author YasirYar
    Good post

    I think the most essential thing is to differentiate between spending money, and spending it intelligently. I know a lot of people who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to market their businesses when they could have achieved similar results for a mere fraction of the cost.

    In this field, while some good things come for free, you cannot achieve the same things with no investment that you could with a decent budget. And yes, having no funds is absolutely no excuse... there are a lot of potential creditors out there... and the good thing about borrowing money is that you find out just how feasible your business plan is. Nobody is going to lend to you unless you have good ideas
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    • Profile picture of the author Global Warrior
      One of the VERY BEST investments you can make is in time as well and where it pays off handsomely is when you get off the "Whats in it for me"

      Spend time rehashing all your sales literature. If your marketing consists of brochures, e-mails, ads, a website with your logo plastered all over it, a list of things YOU do...... dont be surprised when no one cares and they dont respond to it.

      They dont care what you can do. They only care about what you can do for THEM!!!

      Change your mindset and think in terms of service and benefits to your customers. Put yourself in their shoes, and figure out how you can help them.

      Until you do this, no advertising budget is going to bring YOU much in terms of wealth.

      So you HAVE to find a reason to give people to respond.......... because sure as s**t they aint going to respond if the message that comes across is they are doing you a favour!!!!

      All the best

      GW
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  • Profile picture of the author sloanjim
    Yep fish where the masses can't or won't.
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  • Profile picture of the author ivanadee
    This is an interesting issue...
    Business is about risk and sometimes, we are afraid to take that risk but, if we keep "playing" small, we will keep getting small. When we start "playing" big, we may be failed but there will be a time when we win big. To minimize your risk, just "play" with your ability so, you may increase your risk as your income keep being increased. $1,000 maybe too high so, how about starting it with $50 then $100 and so on?
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  • Profile picture of the author SumikoW
    Takes money to make money. Find a system that gives you a good ROI (return on investment) and scale it up. Thats how fortunes are made.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tech19
    Great points. A lot of people are scared to spend any money on advertising because they feel they are getting ripped off. The problem is not the advertising, it's what you do with those visits when they reach your site. If you are simply direct linking to an offer, throwing up ads, and hoping to turn a profit, then yes stay away. If you have optimized a campaign however, you can turn virtually any targeted traffic source into profit. I used to be terrified of paid traffic and everyone said STAY AWAY. Now I'm mad I didn't get started before.
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    There was a bowl game in my city a few weeks ago. I could not believe my eyes when I saw a small plane pulling a banner with a Geico ad on it. I had not seen one of those in probably 15 years or more. A company that spends more on TV, radio, online, print, etc than any other insurance company resorts to a plane? That is why they have grown so much in the last 10 years or so. They test. They spend. They test. They spend. They test. They spend. They don't settle in on just one method and they know THAT PAID ADVERTISING WORKS!
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  • Profile picture of the author hmartin90
    This is a great thread. True, spend money to make money. It is all about scale. Create a plan to invest a little, and reinvest until you get to the income you want. The WF has plenty of help in how and what to invest in. The best investment is time here!
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  • Profile picture of the author kb24
    I am glad I came across this thread.. the opening post is what Im struggling with right now... Although Ive made money here and there with Free methods in the long run you have to spend money to make money.. Im looking to spend wisely though..
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  • Profile picture of the author Eric Lancheres
    Inspiring post!

    I'm just getting into purchasing advertisement and so far most of my investments have failed to provide sufficient ROI.

    (Just did a $500 banner, some Facebook PPC, etc)

    Where should I look for help? Any good posts? WSO's?
    I'd really like to improve.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
      Originally Posted by Eric Lancheres View Post

      Inspiring post!

      I'm just getting into purchasing advertisement and so far most of my investments have failed to provide sufficient ROI.

      (Just did a $500 banner, some Facebook PPC, etc)

      Where should I look for help? Any good posts? WSO's?
      I'd really like to improve.
      Don't give up just yet! Do your split-testing on keywords, banners and other utilities that effect your ROI to get the best possible results.

      I would recommend you hire a PPC/advertisement master to coach you in this game. I did this a few years ago and gained a lot of infinite value experience. I'm not sure if he's around for inexpensive rates anymore though, he's grown pretty darn successful and now charges about $2,000 per hour for consultation.
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  • Profile picture of the author mediadeveloped
    Congrats...500,000 on 40,000- seems like a pretty decent ROI.
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    I think I need to implement more solo ads than just concentrating on SEO. That is something I really need to experiment around with.
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  • Profile picture of the author Irene6333
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author affhelper
      The problem is that majority of people are broke. I used to tell newbies to
      start with paid traffic and scale but then I realized that they work with small
      budgets ($200-$300).

      They need $4-5k to make anything work (and that might be not enough)

      Just testing will cost a newbie thousands. Now they need to be able to
      last a month before getting paid from the affiliate network lol

      I have made a bunch with Adwords and media buying but I stopped telling
      people to get into paid traffic deals unless they have $5k+ to invest and
      can afford to lose it.

      We sometimes forget that these people will drop what they got to do what
      we do and failure can seriously hurt them.

      Telling a newbie who has $200 in his pocket to take risks and invest is like
      dropping someone in the middle of the ocean and telling him to swim to
      the nearest shore.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
        Originally Posted by affhelper View Post

        The problem is that majority of people are broke. I used to tell newbies to
        start with paid traffic and scale but then I realized that they work with small
        budgets ($200-$300).

        They need $4-5k to make anything work (and that might be not enough)

        Just testing will cost a newbie thousands. Now they need to be able to
        last a month before getting paid from the affiliate network lol

        I have made a bunch with Adwords and media buying but I stopped telling
        people to get into paid traffic deals unless they have $5k+ to invest and
        can afford to lose it.

        We sometimes forget that these people will drop what they got to do what
        we do and failure can seriously hurt them.

        Telling a newbie who has $200 in his pocket to take risks and invest is like
        dropping someone in the middle of the ocean and telling him to swim to
        the nearest shore.
        It totally agree. Somebody with a few hundred bucks should be begin investing into PPC -- but THERE ARE other investments they can make to increase that budget without much risk.

        First and foremost, I would personally suggest they increase their budget to about $1,000 by doing some freelance work, or working an hour late for a month at their job.

        Once they have the budget of $1,000 it's definitely possible to slowly increase it to $5,000 with investments. It may not take a month, maybe 6 months, but they'll be able to increase their investment to something realistic to start testing without wasting much time.

        As a mentor in my local region, I helped dozens of people have success on the internet. Whether it's helping somebody go full time or simply help them out with some spare cash -- they've all successfully accomplished it. If you're a good mentor/coach, you should be able to help a person grow their budget of $1,000 to a reasonable amount (without too much effort on their part).

        Obviously this is one way to look at it. But look at the other: loans. If you're confident that you're a good mentor and can help them get on their feet, they should have absolutely no reason to go to the bank and get a $5,000 loan. If they have bad credit, perhaps finding a creditor online who's willing to work with you. The loan business is so intense now that they'd probably be willing to work with you.

        What I'm saying is that money shouldn't be an issue. If they truly want to succeed online then they'll obtain the money necessary to start somehow.
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  • Profile picture of the author MattCatania
    Originally Posted by Ben Gordon View Post

    Most of you are going after 'free' advertising methods and other 'free' sources to gain traffic, credibility, etc. The problem is...that's not where the real money lays.
    I think that MYOB and countless other successful content syndicators would disagree with you there.

    There is money in both 'free' and 'paid' advertising.

    I don't like to use the word free, instead I think of it like this:

    There are two paid advertising scenarios available to every single one of us - it's what we choose to pay with that defines how we go about collecting traffic. The only two options are time and/or money.

    Nothing in this world is free.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
      Originally Posted by MattCatania View Post

      I think that MYOB and countless other successful content syndicators would disagree with you there.

      There is money in both 'free' and 'paid' advertising.

      I don't like to use the word free, instead I think of it like this:

      There are two paid advertising scenarios available to every single one of us - it's what we choose to pay with that defines how we go about collecting traffic. The only two options are time and/or money.

      Nothing in this world is free.
      What I'm saying is that people are wasting their time on traffic exchange sites and other places which a) don't give them targeted traffic and b) supplies visitors that are on your site for 5 seconds without a willing to buy anything. I'm not saying that you should pay for everything, but I'm saying don't be cheap and go after incredibly stupid things then complain about why your conversion rate is 0.001%.
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Originally Posted by Ben Gordon View Post

    ...and made me over $500,000.

    Folks, many of your are forgetting what business really is. Most of you are going after 'free' advertising methods and other 'free' sources to gain traffic, credibility, etc. The problem is...that's not where the real money lays. The real money lays in INVESTMENT. And it's lying there waiting for you to grab it.

    I'm not telling you to go off and purchase a whole bunch of expensive media ads, but rather to experiment and find profitable places to invest in. Many of you are wasting stupendous amounts of time hunting for pennies, to the point that it'll be more lucrative to work in macdonalds! So please folks, try to find a few great investment opportunities and make some money. While you're off working a few hours for $40, I'm able to earn it with a matter of a click (literally). Why? Because of lucrative investments I'm able to make, period.

    Remember, take investments into account for your business, but don't overdo it. Be smart about the investments you make and always start SMALL then invest larger amounts of capital on lucrative investments. It doesn't take hours of SEO to get traffic, a simple solo ad can bring you a large amount of profit. And again, WITH NO EFFORT. That's what you're going after right? Making money without much effort; generating automated income.
    Just curious if this is the same Ben with the Magic of Making Up ??
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  • Profile picture of the author SamuelUherek
    We always have to invest in order to get something. What is a Free traffic from Google? It's not really free. We have to spend so much time into boosting it in the search engines (time is a huge investment) or you can pay someone to do this.

    If you want to be successful, there is no other option.

    And this brings up why many new ones to IM world can't make it happen. It costs money and they can't afford it. This is why only the smartest ones will make it big.
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  • Profile picture of the author ivanadee
    Love it
    To make money online, free method will not last long.
    Simple Sample : I have ever used blogspot as my main blog to make money and .. Google delete it . OMG.
    Investment is a king so, spend time (to learn) and money efficiently and effectively
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron Desi
    I agree...I experimented with a $100 Google gift card and it drove some nice traffic to my site. From it I got 4 new clients and if one pans out, it could mean big $$ per month. That was only $100. But it worked.
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