What would be your #1 tip for someone starting from scratch?

63 replies
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to introduce myself as this is my first post. I have a background as a journalist and editor in both online and print.

I launched my own content based website last month and am now looking at how to build up my visitor numbers and monetise the site. I've signed up to Affiliate Window and Amazon Affiliate and have been reading up about SEO strategies.

I have lots of experience in creating quality article content and I have a big portfolio of articles to draw from. But there just seems so much for me learn on the SEO, marketing and ecommerce side!

My website is about fitness - a huge passion of mine. I'd really love to make an income from the site at the same time as helping people get fitter and healthier.

Clearly there are a lot of talented internet marketers in this forum, so it seems like a good place for me to learn from the best. If any of you could spare a mintue to share a bit of advice for a newbie just starting out I'd really appreciate it.

If you had one golden tip for someone in my position, what would it be?
#content #editor #owner #scratch #starting #tip #website
  • Profile picture of the author traderfx
    What does your fitness market want more then anything?

    Once you answer that everything else will become clear.


    -Mike.
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    • Profile picture of the author Julia B
      Originally Posted by traderfx View Post

      What does your fitness market want more then anything?

      Once you answer that everything else will become clear.


      -Mike.
      Thanks Mike :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author Robert Michael
      my #1 tip? STICK TO ONE THING.

      The biggest mistake you can make when starting out is bouncing from one idea to the next, without ever giving 1 of them enough time to start producing results.

      Theres a lil saying on here. Not sure where it originated tho.. lol

      FOCUS!

      Follow
      One
      Course
      Until
      Successful

      And its true Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanmilligan
    Banned
    Build a list.

    Get to terms with social media, it's probably going to be the next big thing- at least in my eyes it's going to be.
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    • Profile picture of the author Julia B
      Originally Posted by ryanmilligan View Post

      Build a list.

      Get to terms with social media, it's probably going to be the next big thing- at least in my eyes it's going to be.
      Well that's good to hear, I have 11K followers on Twitter, so hoping to put that good to good use. I need to get it right so I don't look like I've suddenly become just a salesperson for my site though.

      When you say build a list - do you mean an email list?

      Thanks Ryan.
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      • Profile picture of the author ryanmilligan
        Banned
        Originally Posted by fitnessweb View Post

        Well that's good to hear, I have 11K followers on Twitter, so hoping to put that good to good use. I need to get it right so I don't look like I've suddenly become just a salesperson for my site though.

        When you say build a list - do you mean an email list?

        Thanks Ryan.
        Yes an email list.

        You will need an autoresponder as well. If I was you I would go with Aweber, they are second to none.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeWike
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Julia B
      Thanks Jill
      Done!
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  • Profile picture of the author paul nicholls
    firstly fitness web a good move is to change your WF profile name to your real name that way you will be branding your real name in IM rather than just a made up profile name

    a great way to start making an income is to start by creating a few affiliate sites for either adsense, amazon, clickbank or cpa

    basically anything which involves getting your site ranked so you generate free traffic

    this is a great way to start because you will learn a lot of core skills which will serve you well as you progress with your IM career

    once you have some good results under belt and some experience you can then create some products and start building a list of prospects and customers

    you dont want to run before you can walk (this is what most people do in IM)

    learn the basics, lay your foundations and learn some core skills and then progress from there

    but i will say dont just keep building affiliate sites and review sites if you start getting good at them. Once you start getting some good results and your able to provide lots of value then create a product, build a sales funnel and a list

    this is exactly how i started 4 years ago and ive learned some vital skills which i would now be lost without

    hope this helps

    paul
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  • Profile picture of the author ErikNilsson
    1)Place fresh content in the site.
    2)Do the normal Seo things which Google likes
    3)Try to get subcribers by building a list.
    4)Integrate social Media
    5)Get some Good backlinks from the same niche sites..
    6)update your site with new articles weekly.

    I hope this may be helpful for you....
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Originally Posted by fitnessweb View Post


      If you had one golden tip for someone in my position, what would it be?
      Link your site in your signature file here so you can get more help and ideas.
      Signature

      "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"

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  • Profile picture of the author Julia B
    Thank you Erik and Mike, much appreciated.

    Paul - I tried to change my username, but it doesn't seem to be possible, so I've added it to my signature. Starting some affiliate sites sounds interesting, but I'm a little nervous because I've come across so many awful ones. Do you have any examples you could share of where it's been done well? Thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author paul nicholls
      it looks like you have sorted it :-)

      its very important to have your real name because its all free branding unless of course someone is too shy or you want to keep your identity a secret

      good stuff

      paul

      Originally Posted by Julia B View Post

      Thank you Erik and Mike, much appreciated.

      Paul - I tried to change my username, but it doesn't seem to be possible, so I've added it to my signature. Starting some affiliate sites sounds interesting, but I'm a little nervous because I've come across so many awful ones. Do you have any examples you could share of where it's been done well? Thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author paul nicholls
      Originally Posted by Julia B View Post

      Starting some affiliate sites sounds interesting, but I'm a little nervous because I've come across so many awful ones. Do you have any examples you could share of where it's been done well? Thanks.

      of course im not going to share any of the sites which i have right now for obvious reasons how ever i did flip an amazon site 2 months ago which i built in august and only promoted for a few months before selling

      the site was about 4 months old when i sold it

      i sold it for $1200

      it was ranking for lots of buyers keywords and all content reviews are quality along with plenty of normal content posts too. Ive checked and the rankings still seem to be solid even though the new owner hasnt really added much more new content

      here is the site if you want to check it out

      www. BuyKitchenAppliances.net

      hope this helps

      paul
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  • Profile picture of the author AnnaSEO
    Add more content and do build backlinks.And then monetize the traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
      Don't jump around from one "shiny object" to another. Set up a plan of action and stick to it. Miracles don't happen overnight and the best websites mature slowly. Too many marketers fail just because they don't stick to a plan. Consistency is the winner - always..

      Good luck.
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      • Profile picture of the author jenki1
        Hi,

        If there is any one that you are following on the internet who you know is a good marketer, see if they will give you some guidance, or see if they have a mentoring course. Most of the bigger marketers have got one, and there is some very good ones who are not so called "Guru's" also.

        Do your homework on them first as they are not all as good as they say they are. I know every one needs to make a living but some are really helpful and some are just after you money.....NO. never!

        We all need to spend money to build our business, but do it wisely.

        All the best.
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  • Profile picture of the author Qamar
    If I were you, I would learn how to create my own info products that I can sell all year long and make nice income our of it. I will probably write high quality e-books on any hot niches and sell them with resale rights. And with product creation skills, I can also earn nice income selling WSOs right here in the WF.


    Qamar
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  • Profile picture of the author Lori Kelly
    /\ /\ What Annie said. Lots of good advice here.

    Set goals, both short term and long term.

    On your twitter account, you're right, you don't want to start talking like a sales person. Maybe you can try tweeting your excitement about a great new life you are starting. Good luck Julia!
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  • Profile picture of the author Julia B
    Thanks everyone, I really appreciate you all taking the time to reply.

    Seems like my portfolio of articles could be a good asset. Any tips on putting those to best use?

    I've been reading about software that does "article spinning" to make lots of different versions of articles and then syndicates them out across the web in return for backlinks. But the people plugging this software make some pretty big claims, which to me kind of begs the question, 'if it's that easy, why isn't everyone doing it?'...Or am I being overly cynical?
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  • Profile picture of the author Tangela
    Define your goals and stick to it. Don't be distracted by every new method that shows up. Learn seo and social media marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author morninjoi
    Your site will make you no money except their is a regular flow of traffic. Try to generate some attention for your website.
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author Julia B
    Thanks morninjoi. It is currently getting just under 1000 unique visitors per week, which I'm happy with as it's only been live for a month and I've done virtually no SEO or IM other than the occaisional plug on twitter and facebook. Obviously looking to increase that though, which is one of the reasons I'm here.
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    • Profile picture of the author StunningWarrior
      Originally Posted by fitnessweb View Post

      Thanks morninjoi. It is currently getting just under 1000 unique visitors per week, which I'm happy with as it's only been live for a month and I've done virtually no SEO or IM other than the occaisional plug on twitter and facebook. Obviously looking to increase that though, which is one of the reasons I'm here.
      I'd be VERY happy with a thousand uniques per week after one month. Well done.

      Although not quite your area, take a look at stevepavlina.com and see what can be achieved where the focus is on content. Then google his name and see how much money he makes. Sweet dreams.
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  • Profile picture of the author digichik
    You have been given some excellent advice in response to your post. Take time and write down each suggestion.

    Do you have the skills to follow through on what has been suggested?

    There are certain skills you are going to need in order to make money online, no matter what area of internet marketing you decide to focus on. Learn these fundamental skills and you will be able to build a successful online business. Keep reading and searching this forum. Most of the information you will need to be successful is given in various threads on this forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author tristatemedia
    build a list.....you do not want to be at the mercy of mother dictator google. definitely get a coach.......but becareful alot of coach scammers on this forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author marcelomusza
    My best advice to you is the following:

    Educate yourself!

    If you are a total newcomer, you will find that there are a lot of things to be learned. I would start studying one thing at a time, understand them correctly, and pass to the next thing.

    It's best to start something where you already know its mechanics, other than implementing it with lot of errors, and waste time in the process.
    Something important to have in mind, don't study many things at the same time... just take your time, be patient and study key things that will allow you to grow systematically. In time you will have a good base and that will be the time to start something with a solid foundations.

    Hope it helps.
    Regards!
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  • Profile picture of the author erob
    You have gotten a lot of feed back, so here is little seo tip I picked up do a url submit to google, yahoo, and bing.Just google the url submit for each of these search engines. And your site will be put on a list to be crawled.
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  • Profile picture of the author Julia B
    I'm so touched that so many of you took the time to share your wisdom, thank you so much! Really glad I discovered this forum, I've spent most of today reading various threads and feel my knowledge has come on leaps and bounds already!

    The advice to focus on one thing sounds very sensible. Well, my thing is fitness and sharing my knowledge and passion for this subject through writing is what I've been doing for years, so I think article marketing is a good way for me to go.

    I just submitted my first couple of articles to ezinearticles so I'll watch with interest over the next week or so to see if it makes a difference.

    Thanks again, looking forward to the day when I can help others out like you've guys have helped me on this forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author xypoon
    Be consistent in what you do. Don't get disappointed when something is not happening for a while, don't get overexcited when something happens.
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    • Profile picture of the author tsx
      I agree with what everybody says about focus. It is so easy to get distracted in the internet. However, I have a twist to add: Do not decide on one path until you have explored a few! There are many different paths to follow, and each of us has unique talents and experiences that make us better suited for some of the paths. Make sure to explore a few different ones before you decide. I am sure you will find a path that fits you perfectly and you will love following!
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  • Profile picture of the author suehenrytalks
    I, too, am new and have read these posts with avid interest. It sounds like the techie skills of knowing how to SEO and backlink your site are critical skills that a person should learn. I'm assuming from Julia's posts that she's an expert in the fitness arena, not the techie side of things. Any recommendations for we non-technies on how to actually learn and correctly implement SEO and backlinks?

    Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Eduard Stinga
    I'd say you should get a coach - it's well worth the money and you reduce to time it takes to get somewhere on your own
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  • Profile picture of the author Exel
    Simple answer would be - Build A List.

    Pick a niche and create your list building engine, then start getting subscribers.

    You said you had 11k Twitter followers, you can start with converting them to subscribers.

    Best of luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bjarne Viken
    Hi Julia

    I had a look at your site, and I was unclear what you were doing, and what your strategy was? I get the impression that you have a passion for fitness, but are you creating a forum, selling equipment, or offering personal training/gym workouts?

    One of the major challenges you might notice early is having the opportunity to find and hire the best people to work with you. You limitations might be funds or simply contacts. A way around that could be to simply look at the resources you have mentioned in your first post. How could they be used? As a journalist you probably know a lot about publicity, and the articles that you have could be invaluable for someone running a PR agency putting out press-releases.

    I will IM the details of a PR guy I know that would probably enjoy a JV with those articles.

    Kind Regards
    Bjarne
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    Bjarne Viken
    Conversion Strategist

    Skype: bjarne.viken | bjarne@scaleup.com.au | LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/bjarneviken | http://www.scaleup.com.au | Free consultation: http://calendly.com/bjarne-viken

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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Clark
    Stay away from the WSO Section. You'll only get distracted from your main goal and spend money on products you won't end up using.
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    • Profile picture of the author Julia B
      Thanks again to everyone for taking time to post tips and advice, what a generous bunch you Warriors are!

      Originally Posted by suehenrytalks View Post

      I, too, am new and have read these posts with avid interest. It sounds like the techie skills of knowing how to SEO and backlink your site are critical skills that a person should learn. I'm assuming from Julia's posts that she's an expert in the fitness arena, not the techie side of things. Any recommendations for we non-technies on how to actually learn and correctly implement SEO and backlinks?

      Thanks!
      Hi Sue, just wanted to say good luck from newbie to another! I spent most of yesterday trawling this forum and found so much great practical advice that my head was spinning by bedtime! Seems like pretty much everything you need to know on the tech side is here so I definitely recommend having a good search around.


      Originally Posted by StunningWarrior View Post

      I'd be VERY happy with a thousand uniques per week after one month. Well done.

      Although not quite your area, take a look at stevepavlina.com and see what can be achieved where the focus is on content. Then google his name and see how much money he makes. Sweet dreams.
      Thanks SW, I've actually come across that site before. Very interesting!


      Originally Posted by Bjarne Viken View Post

      Hi Julia

      I had a look at your site, and I was unclear what you were doing, and what your strategy was? I get the impression that you have a passion for fitness, but are you creating a forum, selling equipment, or offering personal training/gym workouts?

      One of the major challenges you might notice early is having the opportunity to find and hire the best people to work with you. You limitations might be funds or simply contacts. A way around that could be to simply look at the resources you have mentioned in your first post. How could they be used? As a journalist you probably know a lot about publicity, and the articles that you have could be invaluable for someone running a PR agency putting out press-releases.

      I will IM the details of a PR guy I know that would probably enjoy a JV with those articles.

      Kind Regards
      Bjarne
      Thanks Bjarne. I think you're right, I probably do need to be a bit more focussed. At the moment the site exists to provide info (articles, podcast, etc.) and support (forum, comments) to people (mainly beginners) interested in getting fit. My plan has been to get the visitor numbers up by offering all this and then look at monetising it with a shop/affiliate links and possibly advertising. But it is proving a lot to maintain/update around my full time job as a freelance journalist! I've been a journo for 15 years so, yes, I'm very familiar with how the whole PR thing works (at least from the POV of an editor). A JV with a PR could be a possibility at some point, but it might better for me to work with someone UK based. Really appreciate you sharing your thoughts.


      Originally Posted by AC21DJ View Post

      Very, Very simple.


      Patience
      Always has been the virtue I've struggled the most with! Will do my best, thanks for the reminder.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fatmir
    My tip would be to build a list.

    You can make a living off of it. Of course, if it's in a reasonable size and if it's responsive enough.

    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author Rally Writer
      Just to share.

      I started out IM by myself until someone in the Forum asked me to find a mentor and follow his guidance. He recommend me a few experts and I had to pick one which can guide me overall on the IM process. I continue and stay with him for 6 months (I paid monthly of course) until I am confident enough to be on my own.

      The world of IM is huge and anything that people suggest/recommends in this forum will work.

      Find which works for you.

      Hope this helps

      Shahril

      ....
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  • Profile picture of the author ankushkohli
    Julie - I've visited your site nice look & design. All the best for your project!

    I would say, this would be your marketing plan:
    1 - Put fresh content regularly
    2 - SEO
    3 - Newsletter & Email Marketing
    4 - Social Media Marketing
    5 - Can earn good money with adsense
    6 - Have patience & keep follow this plan.

    Hope this help!

    Bye the way, i'm also going to put my fitness based website live in 1st week on April.
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  • I must say your site has good content; the articles are both interesting and informative. The only tip I’d give you is this: be proactive as a marketer. Right now when I read an article on your site at the end there is a link to a different site, so basically you are just sending your traffic to some other site.


    Every article on your site should link to a relevant product review. You already have a product reviews on your site, so you need to be proactive pitching those reviews to your visitors.


    I think you have nailed the content part of your website, your website has good content, but you are really struggling with the monetizing part. I suggest you read "How to Write a Good Advertisement" by Victor Schwab and learn the basics of advertising/copywriting.


    Remember one golden rule: every article on your site should be written for a reason. You want your prospect to take some action after reading the article and it can be anything from reading a review to signing up for a newsletter.

    All the best.
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    Isnt it funny how alot of people are saying build a list. Hmmmm see a pattern developing people. **winks**
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    • Profile picture of the author Julia B
      Thanks again everyone, really appreicate you all sharing your wisdom. The way forward is becoming a lot clearer to me now. I don't think I've ever learned so much useful info in such a short space of time in my life!


      Originally Posted by ankushkohli View Post

      Julie - I've visited your site nice look & design. All the best for your project!

      I would say, this would be your marketing plan:
      1 - Put fresh content regularly
      2 - SEO
      3 - Newsletter & Email Marketing
      4 - Social Media Marketing
      5 - Can earn good money with adsense
      6 - Have patience & keep follow this plan.

      Hope this help!

      Bye the way, i'm also going to put my fitness based website live in 1st week on April.
      Thanks ankushkohli, really appreciate you taking the time to look at my site. Sounds like a very sensible plan. I haven't looked into adsense much yet and have heard mixed reports about how much money it can bring in. I'll certainly investigate further now you have recommended it though.


      Originally Posted by Christopher Abraham View Post

      I must say your site has good content; the articles are both interesting and informative. The only tip I’d give you is this: be proactive as a marketer. Right now when I read an article on your site at the end there is a link to a different site, so basically you are just sending your traffic to some other site.


      Every article on your site should link to a relevant product review. You already have a product reviews on your site, so you need to be proactive pitching those reviews to your visitors.


      I think you have nailed the content part of your website, your website has good content, but you are really struggling with the monetizing part. I suggest you read "How to Write a Good Advertisement" by Victor Schwab and learn the basics of advertising/copywriting.


      Remember one golden rule: every article on your site should be written for a reason. You want your prospect to take some action after reading the article and it can be anything from reading a review to signing up for a newsletter.

      All the best.
      Hi Christopher, thanks very much for visiting my site and having a look around, it's great hear that you were impressed by the content. Many of the articles are from my portfolio, so weren't written with this project in mind. Now I've learned a bit about internet marketing I plan to go through the site and add affiliate product links, etc. And, yes, definitely a good idea for me to keep an aim in mind when writing any future content.


      Originally Posted by celente View Post

      Isnt it funny how alot of people are saying build a list. Hmmmm see a pattern developing people. **winks**
      Thanks celente - yes, definitely noticing a theme emerging!
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      • Originally Posted by Julia B View Post


        Hi Christopher, thanks very much for visiting my site and having a look around, it's great hear that you were impressed by the content. Many of the articles are from my portfolio, so weren't written with this project in mind. Now I've learned a bit about internet marketing I plan to go through the site and add affiliate product links, etc. And, yes, definitely a good idea for me to keep an aim in mind when writing any future content.
        Your writing skills coupled with sound internet marketing knowledge will make you a lot money. If you stay patient and work consistently it is only a matter of time before you taste success.

        http://trainerjosh.com is a site that is pretty well monetized; every article promotes a relevant product. You can also browse other sites in your niche and signup for their newsletters to get an idea of how others are using lists to make money in your niche.

        Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author datingworld
    lots of unique content and seo them
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  • Profile picture of the author weheartcontent
    Make a video of you working out and post it on youtube. Guys love to watch good looking curls doing crunches. Even more when they are doing some heavy squats or deadlifts. Jokes

    But yes as Christoper mentioned, writing skills and IM knowledge willl take you very far.
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    • Profile picture of the author Julia B
      Originally Posted by paul nicholls View Post

      of course im not going to share any of the sites which i have right now for obvious reasons how ever i did flip an amazon site 2 months ago which i built in august and only promoted for a few months before selling

      the site was about 4 months old when i sold it

      i sold it for $1200

      it was ranking for lots of buyers keywords and all content reviews are quality along with plenty of normal content posts too. Ive checked and the rankings still seem to be solid even though the new owner hasnt really added much more new content

      here is the site if you want to check it out


      hope this helps

      paul
      Thanks Paul. Very interesting to have a look at that. I don't mean to be rude by any means, it's clearly a very successful site, but do people really buy stuff through sites like that? It's just that I never have and would very quickly just navigate off the page. I guess the answer is obvious though, if you're making money, lots of people must be! I noticed it links to itself a lot, is that a keyword optimisation thing? Really appreciate the reply and you sharing the link.


      Originally Posted by Christopher Abraham View Post

      Your writing skills coupled with sound internet marketing knowledge will make you a lot money. If you stay patient and work consistently it is only a matter of time before you taste success.

      trainerjosh. com is a site that is pretty well monetized; every article promotes a relevant product. You can also browse other sites in your niche and signup for their newsletters to get an idea of how others are using lists to make money in your niche.

      Cheers
      Hi Christopher - that's great to hear, thanks! Thanks for the link too, very intersting. He has done it really nicely hasn't he? The only thing I would say is that, to me, that big newsletter/ebook promo on the right kind of cheapens the look of the site and gives a poor first impression. I think if he'd made that a little more understated it would give the site more of a look of integrity and quality. But, hey, I've yet to make a penny from my site, so who am I to criticise!


      Originally Posted by weheartcontent View Post

      Make a video of you working out and post it on youtube. Guys love to watch good looking curls doing crunches. Even more when they are doing some heavy squats or deadlifts. Jokes

      But yes as Christoper mentioned, writing skills and IM knowledge willl take you very far.
      Er, thanks weheartcontent, I think I'll stick to the latter!
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  • Profile picture of the author Kange
    id definitely make the most of the number of followers you have on twitter. Show your personality on twitter and interact with them whilst promoting your website. Social media like facebook, twitter and Pinterest are free and great for attracting traffic.
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    NDE Admin
    Kange
    Love all things marketing along with travel, photography and food :)

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  • Profile picture of the author paul nicholls
    a lot of good earning sites dont always look that great, a lot of the time simple works

    it links to other pages, thats internal linking, very important for SEO

    paul
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  • Profile picture of the author MarvyDery
    1.Quality Content
    2. SEO
    3. Build a list
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  • Profile picture of the author Julia B
    Originally Posted by drunkenmonkey View Post

    I'll give you 2 tips.

    First one: Fitness Niche +SEO = Totally Forget SEO Flat out.

    Second one: "Listen" (so to speak) to what marketers actually DO...NOT what they "say" they do...what they say they do and what they actually DO are complete different.

    Actions speak louder than words..much LOUDER.

    You can pay me later.
    Thanks drunkenmonkey. Why do you say to forget SEO? Just because the market is so crowded? I'm very intrigued by point two, it'd be great if you'd care to expand on that a little and share some specifics. Really appreciate the tips - sending you a karma cheque over the ether now
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  • Profile picture of the author Henry White
    You've already got a significant leg up on merely "starting from scratch," Julia! The only thing that I would change is your opt-in. the "register" "login" links next to the search box at the uppermost, extreme right sort of gets overlooked.by most visitors, don't you think? Otherwise, it's commendable for a simple, clean look, easy navigation, and well-written content.

    My suggestion is that your next step should be to join the War Room. That's like getting access for the next 20 years to grad school for a one-time US$37. Unquestionably the best investment I've made in IM!

    Eventually, I think with your background you'll move up to creating your own products, but being an affiliate, Amazon, adsense, and all the low-hanging fruit is a terrific training ground - if you keep focused on "what's in it for me" from your audience's perspective. Give them what they want, what they will buy; and you find that by listening to what they're saying, observing what they're doing that isn't in their best interest.

    I'm confident you'll do fine, Julia.
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    • Profile picture of the author Julia B
      Originally Posted by Henry White View Post

      You've already got a significant leg up on merely "starting from scratch," Julia! The only thing that I would change is your opt-in. the "register" "login" links next to the search box at the uppermost, extreme right sort of gets overlooked.by most visitors, don't you think? Otherwise, it's commendable for a simple, clean look, easy navigation, and well-written content.

      My suggestion is that your next step should be to join the War Room. That's like getting access for the next 20 years to grad school for a one-time US$37. Unquestionably the best investment I've made in IM!

      Eventually, I think with your background you'll move up to creating your own products, but being an affiliate, Amazon, adsense, and all the low-hanging fruit is a terrific training ground - if you keep focused on "what's in it for me" from your audience's perspective. Give them what they want, what they will buy; and you find that by listening to what they're saying, observing what they're doing that isn't in their best interest.

      I'm confident you'll do fine, Julia.
      Thanks for the encouragment Henry. It's a bit lonely striking out alone, so that's really nice to hear. Yes, I definitely need to get the registration link moved. The next time I get the developer on it I'm going to ask him to do that. One of the things I've learned from this forum is how valuable building a list is (although I think I'll just use it to promote site content rather than selling products).

      The War Room sounds like a very good investment. For now, I'm learning more than I have time to put into practice just by reading the boards, but that will certainly be my next step when I'm ready to go into things in more depth.

      I've just started fiddling with a affiliates and amazon and have begun adding bits and bobs across the site to test it out. My plan is to eventually add a shop of my own (hoping to get some drop-ship deals, but may invest in some stock too), but while that's in the pipeline I'm going to test the water with an Amazon shop.

      I started setting that up before work this morning and just off to hopefully get it on the site now.

      Thanks again!
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      • Profile picture of the author StunningWarrior
        Originally Posted by Julia B View Post

        One of the things I've learned from this forum is how valuable building a list is (although I think I'll just use it to promote site content rather than selling products).
        Whatever you do with your list, stick to the knitting. If you decide not to sell products you will educate your list members to not expect sales messages from you. If you then try to sell to your list you'll get a huge number of unsubscribes because they don't expect to be sold to. If you are going to try and sell to your list, do so from the beginning.

        An example of a format that always offers content but also sells is Brian Tracy's emails. You can go to briantracy.com and signup to see what they are like. Maybe it is just me but I find these emails a very good blend of content and sales and a good template to copy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin_Hutto
    My #1 tip would be learn how to turn paid marketing into customers at a profit. If you can do that, you will have lots of options.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan Joseph
    Hi Julia,

    First, congrats! The hardest step is the first step.
    Now that you've got your site up, there are a few things I can suggest to help you get noticed and generating growth in your business:

    1) Get 5 solid keywords to build back-links to your site.

    This will give your site a backbone. It's organic way to rank in major search engines (SEO) and to get quality back-links.

    2) Create 5 different articles.

    Be sure to have one of your chosen five keywords be in the article title and then the exact keyword 2-3 times naturally within the article body itself. Google, and other search engines like this, as it's organic and unique content.

    3) Submit your article to popular article directories for free.

    Such as the following top ".com" article directories: Ezine, ArticlesBase, Buzzle, SearchWarp, ArticleAlley, GoArticles, ArticleSet, WebProNews, Amazines, ArticleDashboard, Isnare, AmericanChronicle, IdeaMarketers, Squidoo, Hubpages, Ehow, Technorati, Scribd... and of course many more. There is also the newly Google co-owned directory: annotum.org

    4) Have someone do it for you.

    You can have someone one fiverr.com submit your articles to the above article directories, and thousands more for you. You can also have someone look up your top 5 keywords (which are crucial) to help your business growth and momentum.

    5) Be extraordinary.

    You are a unique human being, so be just that. Don't be 'plain vanilla' or try to "fit in". Offer your unique spin on things, which I'm sure is wonderful. Be sure to take advantage of the wonderful social media sites that we have at our fingertips, such as: Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google Plus+, Digg, LiveJournal, Ning, Reddit, Meetup, Orkut, MyLife, Del.icio.us, Mister-wong.de, Blogcatalog, Metacafe, and of course Facebook.

    Lastly, be sure to create strong relationships within your space. Reach out to the vendor's within your niche and offer to provide their readers something unique that could compliment their business.

    Take action, and I'm sure you'll do great!
    Signature

    Jon

    "Success comes when people act together; failure tends to happen alone." -- Deepak Chopra

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  • Profile picture of the author Andy Hart
    hey,

    Your website loaded a little slow for me, so you may want to look at optimizing it for page load speeds as its a signal Google uses for ranking purposes.

    Also a comment above suggested that the fact that you were linking to another website
    for no financial gain needs to be fixed, WRONG!

    Build your site for your visitors and not just for the search engines, if you see fit to link to a page on another relevant site that you feel will benefit your readers, then link to it.

    Of course you need to add in links for which are part of a financial gain strategy, but don't stop linking out to other good quality sites because there's nothing in it financially for you, if its high quality relevant content that's of interest to your audience then link to it.

    Google also looks to see who you are linking to, so it helps your SEO as it is natural, also its a way of building relationships with other webmasters

    Andy
    Signature

    I'm On Google + ------------- and of course Also On Twitter

    "The only thing thats keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself about why you can't have it"- Tony Robbins

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  • Profile picture of the author Mkcoy
    Banned
    Absolutely, never ever give up!
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  • Profile picture of the author Usmile
    Welcome!! you are on the right track. Warrior forum is absolutely a great place where you can find tips especially in Internet Marketing. In your case, since you can able to write good content I suggest you to set up a blog and make it a place to market yourself.
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    • Profile picture of the author Julia B
      Originally Posted by StunningWarrior View Post

      Whatever you do with your list, stick to the knitting.
      Thanks StunningWarrior, sounds very sensible. I'll check out BT's newsletter too. I found this Kiss that Frog book very useful when I was just starting out as a freelancer.


      Originally Posted by Kevin_Hutto View Post

      My #1 tip would be learn how to turn paid marketing into customers at a profit. If you can do that, you will have lots of options.
      Thanks Kevin, I think I have quite a bit to learn about that, but I am reading up.


      Originally Posted by Jonathan Joseph View Post

      Hi Julia,

      First, congrats! The hardest step is the first step.
      Thanks Jonathan, great advice and I really appreciate the encouragement. On the point of hiring someone, the question springs to mind: If they're good at that, then why would they be working for me and not building their own business? I'd be interested in your thoughts on that.


      Originally Posted by Andy Hart View Post

      hey,

      Your website loaded a little slow for me, so you may want to look at optimizing it for page load speeds as its a signal Google uses for ranking purposes.

      Also a comment above suggested that the fact that you were linking to another website...

      Andy
      Thanks Andy, that's all really useful to know. Really appreciate you taking a look at my site. I'm not too up on the technical side, but I'll have a word with the guy who built it for me and see what he says. :-)


      Originally Posted by Usmile View Post

      Welcome!! you are on the right track. Warrior forum is absolutely a great place where you can find tips especially in Internet Marketing. In your case, since you can able to write good content I suggest you to set up a blog and make it a place to market yourself.
      Thanks Usmile
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