Newbie here, just a quick hello and need some advice

by 79 replies
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So hello everyone I am Sam, 20, from the UK.

I have been scanning over the WF for about a month now, and I am very impressed by the people on here, and also very inspired by the honesty of this forum

As a relative newbie to the scene I was looking for a little advice on some of the ideas that I have come up with. I have been researching very heavily about how to build websites and howto monetize them.

A bit about me and my strengths. I am skilled in guitar playing, pro audio recording, teaching, and I would say I have a bit of a "business mind" always looking for gaps and opportunities. Always keen to learn, and I have found myself researching IM and online business a lot recently, and enjoying learning the ropes

I have come to the conclusion that I should start by:

::: Building a WordPress website around my passion (guitars/amps/audio/accessories) in a good niche.

:::Making regular YouTube videos demonstrating this gear, then back linking from the videos to the specific product review page on the WordPress site. With an affiliate link at the bottom of the page for that product.

:::Create an e-book with my own lessons that are linked to another channel on YouTube where I teach guitar licks. The YouTube video description links to another WordPress site, that contains a teaser lesson and the purchase link for the e-book, which contains a detailed walk through of the lessons with tabs and notation, with a voiceover track too. The e-book will be cheap, around $5 but with very high quality content.

So basically, the YouTube videos will be without the walk through, with links to the e-book. Then I will use a different video host to upload the much more detailed embedded videos into the e-book for buyers eyes only.

These are just rough ideas, and I don't have a massive amount of money ($500 max).

What do you think?
#main internet marketing discussion forum #advice #newbie #quick
  • if you can create excellent video tutorials around learning and improving guitar playing you could create a membership site where people subscribe to get access to the material - an excellent business model
    • [1] reply
    • Yea I was thinking about doing 100 blues licks by 50 famous blues artists.

      Then another series of 100 rock licks by 50 famous rock artists etc...

      This would be great for me too, because it would make me expand further as a guitarist and boost my confidence in teaching.

      Yea I didn't think of it like that. I was in tunnel vision with the e-book. So do you think I would be better off doing a subscription style website rather than an e-book? Or both?

      I just thought I could get better coverage across different e-book sites like amazon or clickbank.
      • [2] replies
  • Sounds like a good solid plan. Make sure that your website is built around profitable keywords and also make sure that once you release your product you should aim to capture the email addresses of your customers (they may be interested in buying again or more lessons etc.).

    To build your website I myself use Site Built It so I would advise you take a look at their website before you move on to making a site with wordpress. Judging by what your niche is I think Site Build It is more suitable
    • [1] reply
    • Would you recommend something like market samurai or micro niche finder for the keyword research? Or should I do the legwork myself with Google and excel?

      OK, I will have a look into Site Build It, thanks

      I was also interested in doing some micro niche stuff and outsourcing, and then using adsense on about 30 micro niche sites. Purely for income. I want to provide quality content though, not just spammy sites trying to sell stuff.
      • [1] reply
  • Sounds like you have given this a lot of thought. I would suggest taking a look at others in this niche and seeing how they are doing. You may want to test the waters with a short, simple video or report to get a feel for the market before jumping in.

    As far as your budget goes, you can get a quality host for just a few bucks a month and a domain name for around $10 a year. There is some quality video recording software out there at a reasonable price. You should be able to get it done without breaking the bank.
    • [2] replies
    • Lee (LBD) has a point. You spoke of a knack for finding gaps and opportunities. Yet it seems like anyone who can string three chords together wants to sell guitar lessons to anyone and everyone.

      Do you have a particular genre you favor? Rock, blues, classical or whatever? That might give you a starting point. Find a gap and fill it, then worry about creating ripples in your marketplace and expanding.

      Edit: Since we both posted at the same time, I'll add this.

      I'd vote for both. But do both in each genre. In other words, for your rock licks, do a cheap lead generator ebook on playing rock guitar and use it as a sales tool for the subscription site where people learn to play like a rock star.

      Then do the same thing with blues fans.

      Heck, from there it isn't a huge jump to country western music.
      • [1] reply
    • I have yes.I have tested the water with a review video that has gotten over 25,000 views in about a year.

      I am in a bit of a pickle at the moment as I am dropping out of university for personal reasons, and generally because I hate every second of it

      The next few months is going to be pretty stressful, as I need to find work, or get an apprenticeship of some kind. Bit worried about my family thinking I am spending too much time on the computer wasting my time too. Even though it has the chance to be my life eventually.

      I am pretty damn determined to make a living from IM, and end up doing what I love full time. Life is way too short to be miserable, being a wage slave and having no freedom.

      I am not naive though. I know this is going to be damn hard work, and I have weighed up the amount of time and money I am going to have to inject into this to make it work.
      • [1] reply
  • That's a great plan, and you've obviously thought things through.

    My advice is instead of selling that high quality e-book for $5, make a much simpler one (with quality content) and give it away for free in exchange for an email subscription. This was you can start building your list, and it'll be much easier to sell them on the bigger ebook/lesson once they know you provide good stuff.

    Also check out people in that same niche to see what they're doing. I believe MartyzSongs has quite a big following on Youtube, and has his own membership site as well.

    And be sure to monetize your videos with AdSense - every little bit counts.
  • I wrote a three part guide on setting up your own domain, host and wordpress installation. You would only need about 7 quid for your domain and then about £40 for the hosting (one year).

    EDIT:

    Here we go (its using hostgator and namecheap who a lot of folk on here like):

    Part 1: Web Hosting, Domain Registration and Wordpress in 3 Easy Steps
  • 331sam331,

    Your original idea is perfect. Build a large following people first, sell second. That's the way to go especially on YouTube for what you are wanting to do. Get people to love you with your music on YouTube first, and then drive them to your money pages so they can feel like even more of a community :0
    • [1] reply
    • Yes this is my plan. I have found from testing that I have gained triple the amount of subscribers on YouTube for my guitar lessons vs my reviews. But then I get more views for my reviews of guitar gear. So in that sense I could use affiliates to sell the gear that I am reviewing, and then sell my actual lessons for much better profit.

      Thank's for the advice
      • [1] reply
  • sounds like you have a lot to consider!

    as they say "start with the end in mind" would be a strong point to remember

    there are plenty of keyword research tools but for what you need I would use the Google KW tool in Adwords. The importance of keyword research will depend on your intended business model.For instance, should you decide to go for the subscription style site (password protected, monthly fee) then you might focus on Youtube, facebook and PPC methods to drive the traffic plus using affiliates programs offering on going commissions (this is really powerful because the affiliates pay for the traffic)

    in this case you would not be trying to rank - you just want to do kw research to be sure of your market

    one you get going you will spot many opportunities to broaden your appeal so get going

    ps offer really outstanding value always

    good luck
    • [1] reply
    • Excellent, thank's for your advice!
  • You could also try promoting affiliate guitar courses while you develop your own.
  • Hi

    Yes you seem to be on the right track already and there is some good advice in this thread

    You have thought about your $5 ebook which will get people through your door or as they say in the IM business - in your sales funnel. Now when this happens you also want to be in a position to offer an upsell.

    This means you have bought my $5 ebook now do you want this.....and it is a much higher priced ticket item. In your case it could be actual 1-2-1 lessons maybe

    Also could offer a downsell which is basically the upsell with a slightly reduced price and offer

    The $5 ebook will be your entry point into your business however your upsell/downsell is where the money is made

    Now as you are just starting out all this is probably down the road a little but it would be good to consider what you could you as future planning

    Best of luck!
    • [1] reply
    • I'm glad you agree on the e-book. That will take a while to build, just because I don't know all of these guitar licks that I will be teaching. I am a fast learner though, and this venture is giving me great motivation to put my efforts back into learning and bettering myself at guitar again

      I was thinking, that while I am learning and recording these videos, I could try my hand at building a few micro niche sites, just because I have no experience in keyword research and building websites with good content.

      I saw a guy on here who was getting a fairly decent autopilot income after a few months by clever research and quality content with some investment in traffic. I would like to have at least some passive income to fuel my main venture of guitar teaching and gear reviews.
  • lots of great advice on here for you

    suggest a brainstorm session to work out what you want to do, lay out some mind maps using tools like Xmind or Freemind (really good and easy)

    remember this piece of advice though - traffic is what you get last

    build all your assets, sites, sales funnels, products and freebies first.... then drive traffic in to create the sales
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I'm glad people think it's a good idea, and have been so welcoming and helpful. I half expected people to shun me and say that's it's a silly idea that will never make any money or success :p

      Traffic last, got it! (paid traffic?)
      • [1] reply
  • I think you have a real advantage in Facebook Advertising On Here.

    Mostly because people in the niche you're targeting like to share their love for it on Facebook.

    Putting up ads on Facebook that lead to a fan page that captures their email or re-directs to your site will be a very beneficial business model in my opinion.
  • The guitar niche seems excellent. If I were you, I would create a video series instead of an ebook. You could even create physical DVDs and sell them on Amazon (as well as your site).

    I would personally always buy a video over an ebook in this niche.
    • [1] reply
    • I was thinking of doing both really. Once I had done the video series, it wouldn't take me long to put an e-book together with embedded videos and then a worded walk through for each lesson, with tabs and sheet music notation below.

      Then I could sell the e-book on Amazon/click bank and e-Bay (with hard copy and download on purchase) and have my subscription site for people driven there by the YouTube videos.

      What do you think? I just want to cover as many possible sales picthes as possible, in as many different mediums.
  • yes indeed, you would not need to spend lots of money on your PPC campaigns and as you say it will give great idea of conversions as well as growing your list - and of course it will be highly targeted traffic

    as I say though, do the traffic generation when you have content, assets and products that you can monetise - focus on building and testing all that material then get traffic
    • [1] reply
    • Awesome, I can't wait to put this into motion. So nice having a goal for once, I seem to have spent a lot of my life just drifting from one thing to another, not really knowing what I wanted to achieve.

      I will make sure everything I have to offer is in place when the links go live to my landing page.

      I will gradually build up the videos and a following on YouTube and then when the time is right, I will place the links in the description and monitor the traffic. Hopefully I will get a good list going and start to get some trusting customers for my lessons

      This time next year I am going to be in a completely different mindset, and if all goes well and I follow the steps kindly laid out in this thread, I should be on my way to getting a bit of income going (touch wood)
  • An ebook could be a good way to begin, just make sure you deliver loads of value with it... ideally you want to create a following (and an email list).

    I would then look to product a higher-ticket back-end to the course, which could come in the form of a video course/members area/personal coaching etc.. This is the kind of business model I am currently pursuing.

    The blog idea is a good start, I've recently got mine up and running and it's a great way to build an online presence (assuming it's updated regularly and provides good value to your target market).
    • [1] reply
    • Yea it will be very under priced for the amount of effort I put in. But I have to prove myself first and build up some testimonials. When I have the trust of people, I can up the price a bit more to what it's really worth.

      I currently have a blog with blogger, but I want full control so I am moving to WordPress. From what I gather, they have better plugins and features.

      I plan to make a small backlog of videos to act as a buffer, just in case something in the real world comes up that could make me miss a blog update. So perhaps 5 videos ahead of schedule all the time in order to avoid disappointed subscribers.

      Thank's for the input, and good luck with your ventures!
      • [1] reply
  • Do more song covers. Keep playing man. Good luck !
    • [1] reply
    • Oh I will for sure

      Thank's
      • [1] reply
  • I actually like the plan, just stick it our and work your ass off. You should see results.
    • [1] reply
    • Thank's, don't worry, I am going to hit this like a crazy man :p
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
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    • Gotta agree. Always go for .com first, then .net and .org.
    • Thank you

      I'm glad I have gotten such a positive response to this business model. I am getting very exited about my online ventures. I think this is the most interested I have been in something for a long time. I just can't learn enough at the moment, kind of addicting. I mean, I am sat here typing and researching my idea while the sun is out! (rare to have sunny days in England!!)

      Thank's for the support
    • Another question. I am very interested in the idea that this guy has here:

      http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...-keywords.html

      Do you think I could do that as a side project? While I am learning the guitar lessons and practicing how to teach them, I need something else to mess about with online. If I can earn at least a little bit from adsense I would be happy.

      I also wan't to prove to my family and friends that I can make something of myself online. Otherwise they will just see me as a lazy guy who goes on his commputer too much!! :p

      So basically, guitar tuition website = long term goal

      Making some money online = short(ish) and long term goal
  • Learning to play guitar is always going to be a big enough market to go at so you go for it my friend!

    You can show you are a competent teacher by uploading your videos to YouTube.

    I have seen one guy who did a guitar solo on YouTube get hundreds of thousands of hits.

    Good Luck my friend and all the best with your campaigns!
    • [1] reply
    • That's the way I see it. Although I feel a little intimidated by the competition. It just makes me want to step it up a notch and try to be the best though. There is always room in competitive areas of the web for people willing to try hard and invest time and money. Just as there is in real life offline pursuits.

      I have just created a new YouTube channel dedicated entirely to guitar lessons, and have bought a domain matching that username.

      I also have another channel that does reviews of guitar products and gear.

      Then the final channel is for my own personal performances of songs. That channel has nearly a million views!

      Thank you You too!
  • Sounds like a good plan Sam! I agree with Adriana, go with a .com for sure
    • [1] reply
    • Thank's

      I will now, think I might buy a 3 year or maybe even 10 year domain.
  • Hi i am a female newbie here too and would like to know more on list building, anybody has any success and would like to share?
    • [1] reply
    • I have researched list building on this forum. Go to the search function and type "list building" and you will get lots of threads with answers from people who have asked that question many times.

      Good luck!
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  • Lots of possibilities with a subscriber site like live lessons by webinar, get members to record their practice sessions and post them as video for you to comment and advise on, guest teachers who specialise in something different, well known/famous guest teachers and all manner of ways to keep them hooked in

    once you have income from the membership you can pay for traffic (PPC/solo ads) and get affiliates to promote the site which is win - win because you get free traffic and new members and they get recurring commissions every month because you keep paying them all the time their referrals remain members. This way the membership grows faster so you can then invest in more content, more freebies, guest teachers and so on

    I am actually planning something similar in Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Yoga and Kung Fu
    • [1] reply
    • Awesome, thank's for the ideas!

      That's what I plan to do, once I start seeing some income I will just funnel it back into the site and build it up before I take anything for a wage.
  • Create ebooks, reports, videos that you can submit to multiple *types* of document sharing sites like slideshare.com (power point), podcasts, free ebook directories in addition to blogs. Make sure that you're url is in the http://www format to create backlinks plus generate traffic to your site. Welcome and good luck.
    • [1] reply
    • Do you think ebooks are good to go into? I am not talking specifically guitar stuff, just other subjects that interest me and I can talk about a lot on.

      Thank's!
  • Hi! Sam,
    Enough is enough. Free advises will definitely get you into total confusion. Analysis Paralysis is the consequence.
    Please for heaven's sake write down whatever you have understood from this thread. Just relax!
    Just take up a basic course on IM like Affilorama which is free to join to know what you should do first and what next.

    I appreciate your enthusiasm.
    Best of luck
  • I am beyond impressed with your plan... Technically I am as green as can be and can offer nothing other than praise for a good head on your shoulders.

    Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life. Best of luck to you!
    • [1] reply
    • Thank you, I am so happy with the positive responses I have had from professional marketers. Really makes me motivated to get stuck in.

      Very true, I didn't come into this world with the intention of bending over and becoming a wage slave, slugging away at a job I hate for 40 hours a week just to scrape by.

      It's all or nothing as far as I am concerned. Every free moment I get is going to be dedicated to this from now on!
  • You have a pretty solid plan for a newbie. I would also incorporate some social marketing. I would build a Facebook fan page around guitar playing and also use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website and fan page.

    You want to connect all your networks together to maximize the traffic that you have. Have your Facebook fan page connecting to your website, to Pinterest, and incorporate your Youtube videos in your fan page. You can also connect your Facebook account on Pinterest and pin Youtube videos on Pinterest.

    You don't have to do everything all at once though. I would focus on your original plan first and do that until you see some success. You don't want to overwhelm yourself by trying to do too much. Then when you start seeing some success you can expand by integrating your social networks.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks, I have thought about it a lot.

      That is a similar tactic to what my main "competitor" is doing. Making weekly videos that they upload to a Facebook fan page. They have a distinctive logo and intro music theme.

      Will look into pinterest thank's.

      Yea I am already stressed with "real life" decisions at the moment as it is. This is going to be a long term goal for me and I don't want it to become stressful for me. I am really enjoying it at the moment and I don't want to ruin it for myself by burning out and become disheartened with it all.
  • you become my inspiration, I have some Idea from your words....
    off course with my own interest..............

    THANKS
    • [1] reply
    • Awesome, i'm glad I could be a source of inspiration for you!

      Good luck!
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    • But very competitive?

      I was thinking of doing a WordPress blog, tracking my progress and earnings reports for each month with advice. Do you think that would be a good idea to bring traffic?
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    • OK thank's, I will.

      I think I am suffering from shiny object syndrome at the moment. I can just see so many ways to earn money.

      Sticking to one and have sheer focus is going to be my biggest challenge!

      Thank's for the input!
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