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What this noob has learned from WF in 3 days

by misswahm
25 replies
Ok, so I'm guessing most of you have never read a thread in which I've posted because I have not posted much yet, so just to give you a little background...I'm a WAHM. I sell rare plants & nursery supplies on Ebay & Amazon & have done so for 3 years with 100% positive FB. We (my family & I) just moved 700 miles south & we have erected an 800 sq ft greenhouse on the 20 acre farm that we are now living on. Plants are recovering; I'm also nursing a 4 month old & have two other small children to care for...so things are a bit dead in the water & at the same time I've been wanting to spread things out a little more now that Ebay & Amazon are second nature to me. I've always believed that I should not do just ONE thing which is why when I started my business 3 years ago I chose BOTH Ebay & Amazon & signed up for other accounts, Bonanzle, Google checkout etc. just in case anyone were to try to bring my deck of cards tumbling down, they would only cause a slight hiccup before I'd be back in the game.
So, here I am today. Looking for ways to diversify. Before finding (I should say REALLY noticing, because it has come up in searches) the WF a few days ago I had already started the process. I had picked 10 PTC sites & after 1 week chose the 4 best to build downlines on. It's been 3-4 weeks since then & now the referrals I started out with are paying for more referrals (via renting, buying & advertising) & I really don't need to click but the minimums each day now to keep growing my downlines (I chose PTCs because it is something I can do when my head is tired & while I'm nursing my 4 month old, unlike with other things.) I also joined 2 affiliate sites, shareasale & clickbank & have started promoting about 15 different products via 5 different domains, 1 is a dedicated domain for one "high gravity" product via Clickbank. I'm using Squidoo, Gather, Hub Pages, Twitter, Redgage, SocialOomph, Swagbucks & may add adf.ly. Some of those things may sound silly to some of you, but there are things I need to do during the day anyway like searches (Swagbucks) & shortening links for Twitter (adf.ly) so why not monetize as much as I can for multiple small streams of income while I am trying to get the hang of the bigger streams...

What I've learned from WF (& Wikipedia/Internet) so far: I've seen lots of the same words & terms thrown around multiple times & in multiple places. List Building. Product Creation. Niche. SEO. Google. Panda. TOS. Affiliate. Content. Ranking. Traffic. I think the first thing that I've learned - right off of the bat is that things are constantly in motion. Once you have the hang of Google rankings it changes. Once you have the hang of what you can get away with marketing on Hub Pages, Squidoo & that ilk, they change....etc So the first thing I've learned is that I would probably be hesitate to buy an online marketing product/how to, unless I really knew who that person was & they assured me it was information they had not shared/seen shared online for free & that the information was current. I would also not even make an attempt to sell something of that sort myself. I've also learned that I probably should create my own product by "finding" my niche. Well, I don't have to look hard because sell certain rare plants that are just becoming a craze now & that people are complaining that there aren't any how-to books to read. These plants are still being discovered, new species every day in the forests & on the riverbanks of Thailand, the Phillipines, Austrailia...etc. Check! So that is probably a direction I need to go in. I have also learned that I should be careful if I ever hire help to help me with site rankings due to the fact that Google is now punishing certain clients (read it on Wiki) associated with these so-called gurus. Is this true? I want to learn more about SEO anyway. I need to become a list builder? Ok, my head is going to explode. But I'm excited! And I'm really happy I found all of you! I can't do as much as others can while I'm home with my children. But I CAN take this time to learn as much as possible because I KNOW it's all about leverage when you have nothing to start with, so when my children all eventually head off to school I will use that leverage to take my business to the next level & I will be glad I have the knowledge to do so then. Thanks! Is there anything I'm missing?
#days #learned #noob
  • Profile picture of the author TheArticlePros
    Good Gosh Woman!! That's a helluvalotta learning going on in 3 days' time! To answer your very last question, the only thing I can see that you're missing is more paragraphs to break up your thought-flow that you have going on. :p

    You're definitely on the right track. You still have so much more to discover, though, that I'd suggest reading for a few more days. Shell out the $40 or whatever it costs to join the War Room and you can get a lot of stuff for free that non-WR members have to pay for. (WSOs, ebooks, reports, advice, all kinds of stuff!)

    You're off to an excellent start, though. Just...more paragraphs.

    -- j
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  • Profile picture of the author abuhanifa
    @ OP , you should join War room , i am also planning to join it , hope to see you there .
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    • Profile picture of the author misswahm
      Sorry, my 2 year old wanted a popsicle so I was typing really, really fast! I plan to join the war room very soon - I'll see you there, then!
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  • Profile picture of the author Christian Little
    You spent 3 days reading warrior forum and you didn't learn how to avoid big walls of text?
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    • Profile picture of the author misswahm
      Originally Posted by Christian Little View Post

      You spent 3 days reading warrior forum and you didn't learn how to avoid big walls of text?
      Not really, I wasn't searching for that subject & it didn't come up.
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      • Profile picture of the author Christian Little
        Originally Posted by misswahm View Post

        Not really, I wasn't searching for that subject & it didn't come up.
        Can I suggest that be your next area of study?

        Big walls of text like you posted are an eyesore and hard to read. Break it up into smaller paragraphs.

        Not trying to sound like a jerk or anything, but as soon as I saw your posting I groaned just from the huge wall.
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        • Profile picture of the author misswahm
          Originally Posted by Christian Little View Post

          Can I suggest that be your next area of study?

          Big walls of text like you posted are an eyesore and hard to read. Break it up into smaller paragraphs.

          Not trying to sound like a jerk or anything, but as soon as I saw your posting I groaned just from the huge wall.

          I will try harder. Most of the time when I am writing an email or doing anything online my kids are jumping on my hands (I kid you not) and I try to type things out as quickly as possible because they have made pages reload, and I've lost complete emails & postings in the past before hitting send. Really tough right now. Will do my best.
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          • Profile picture of the author Christian Little
            Originally Posted by misswahm View Post

            I will try harder. Most of the time when I am writing an email or doing anything online my kids are jumping on my hands (I kid you not) and I try to type things out as quickly as possible because they have made pages reload, and I've lost complete emails & postings in the past before hitting send. Really tough right now. Will do my best.
            I have 2 daughters (7 and 2), I know the feeling
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            • Profile picture of the author misswahm
              Originally Posted by Christian Little View Post

              I have 2 daughters (7 and 2), I know the feeling
              Glad to know I'm not alone Will have to check you blog to see you you cope
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              • Profile picture of the author misswahm
                Originally Posted by Marianne Gonne View Post

                Hi there, and welcome!

                You bring something very important to the online party: an area of genuine, specialised knowledge. In a buying niche! And people want and need more info about it!

                Buy your own domain. Get good hosting. Build a list from the get-go. And then start filling your site with your expert knowledge. Take photos. Upload videos. Create your own products. Get advertisers.

                You're on to a winner!
                Thanks, Marianne! Sounds like "Product Launch" opens up another whole can of worms but I'll get there!
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            • Profile picture of the author turtlechief
              Now, I know there are SEO gurus out there who will say it is the way to go but I fundamentally disagree with this. This was brought home to me when I stumbled across a (believable) statistic that said you needed 8,000 raw, un-targetted visitors to a website to get one sign-up - now that is just crazy! Couple that with the fact that I was reading about businesses being destroyed overnight by Google moving the goalposts - well you get the picture.

              Why would I build a business over months and years that Google could literally demolish over-night. Makes no sense to me.
              Some people try to use SEO like a kind of black magic to try to fool Google into thinking that their sites or products don't suck. Then they charge big $ to internet marketers because they actually were able to fool the search engines for a brief moment in time. Often those are the very same sites that get penalized when Google updates their code (although I do know some innocent bystanders who got Google-Slapped also).

              Concentrate on making products and websites that are great, and the rest will take care of itself. Remember, Google is nothing but software algorithms, and in the real world we have to sell our products and services to People, not Robots.

              that being said, SEO basics are not that difficult to grasp:

              using URLs that are meaningful and readable in your blog:
              example:
              greenthumbcity.com/do-it-yourself-plant-cloner/
              is way more SEO friendly than
              greenthumbcity.com/?page_id=56
              it is also useful to have your keywords from the article in the URL.

              Take those basics and just run with it. Viral or word of mouth marketing only comes from people really liking what you offered, not from trying to outsmart Google.

              I hope this helps. It sounds like you've got a good background and attitude to be very successful. I wish you the best of luck
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              • Profile picture of the author misswahm
                Originally Posted by turtlechief View Post

                Some people try to use SEO like a kind of black magic to try to fool Google into thinking that their sites or products don't suck. Then they charge big $ to internet marketers because they actually were able to fool the search engines for a brief moment in time. Often those are the very same sites that get penalized when Google updates their code (although I do know some innocent bystanders who got Google-Slapped also).

                Concentrate on making products and websites that are great, and the rest will take care of itself. Remember, Google is nothing but software algorithms, and in the real world we have to sell our products and services to People, not Robots.

                that being said, SEO basics are not that difficult to grasp:

                using URLs that are meaningful and readable in your blog:
                example:
                greenthumbcity.com/do-it-yourself-plant-cloner/
                is way more SEO friendly than
                greenthumbcity.com/?page_id=56
                it is also useful to have your keywords from the article in the URL.

                Take those basics and just run with it. Viral or word of mouth marketing only comes from people really liking what you offered, not from trying to outsmart Google.

                I hope this helps. It sounds like you've got a good background and attitude to be very successful. I wish you the best of luck

                I couldn't agree more...I think if the content is sincere, so will the hits be. I have run some very sincere sites in the past, before I discovered the world of affiliate marketing or learned about search engine optimization & we often came up on the first page for key search terms...just wish I'd had some ads for readers to click on back then. One was for a popular literary magazine that I'd co-founded with another writer (I no longer write - no time) we had re-published a short story by a famous author, had an op-ed piece by another friend/famous author & were featured on a few radio shows. My co-founder also ran/runs an annual writers festival where many, many notable literary figures have been featured...so yeah, wish I had known what to do back then. Ah, well!

                Thank you for the simple diagram. You should sell that in a program So, I checked out your blog, of course. I like it! Re: Urban Gardening. Google urban gardening using leaf gutters & see what you find. I have some friends who, short on space, have used that method & I always thought it was very chic. When I saw the post on things bolting I had to leave because I have some bad memories of my basil, lettuce & broccoli bolting in the past Boo hoo!
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                • Profile picture of the author Rymico
                  Just a suggestion on the problem with the kids helping to type. Write your post in word, set it up, spell check and all of that stuff. Then, when you have it where you like it, copy and paste to the WF. That way, there is no rush to beat the kids to the enter button.
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  • Profile picture of the author Challendge
    agreed about splitting up your massive block of words into a big paragraph so that it's easier to follow.

    One thing that I want to point out is that not buying a product because it might be outdated in a few months is like saying "I will never buy anything ever again".
    Buy a laptop today and 100 "better" ones will come out in the next month. This logic applies to every product or service because the world is constantly evolving and that's always the case in business.

    Buying a product about SEO today will always be useful because a lot of the information will stay consistent. It's not like every SEO product out there is now useless after the Google Panda and Penguin updates! You just have to evolve and adapt while using what you've already learned from the product(s) that you purchased.

    I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours and I have faith that you will find a way to make money online in your niche!
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    • Profile picture of the author misswahm
      Originally Posted by Challendge View Post

      One thing that I want to point out is that not buying a product because it might be outdated in a few months is like saying "I will never buy anything ever again".
      Buy a laptop today and 100 "better" ones will come out in the next month. This logic applies to every product or service because the world is constantly evolving and that's always the case in business.

      Buying a product about SEO today will always be useful because a lot of the information will stay consistent. It's not like every SEO product out there is now useless after the Google Panda and Penguin updates! You just have to evolve and adapt while using what you've already learned from the product(s) that you purchased.
      Thanks! I think what scares me, from what I've read so far, regarding the Google SEO thing is that they (correct me if I'm wrong) do complete 180 turnarounds & they actually penalize you for doing things one day that would actually help you the day before. Forgive me, I'm really new to all of this...so if there is a way to automate the process while still having meaningful content on a site...but the thought of having to go back & change everything on all your sites just seems really daunting to me.

      That paragraph (patting myself on the back) reminds me...I forgot the word automate! That is another word that has made an impression. I started with SocialOomph for Twitter...definitely need to learn where to go from there. So much to do, so little time

      Back on SEO: Wikipedia did mention something about Google sending reps to conferences to talk about "approved" ways to help site rankings so I would definitely be willing to spend money to be a part of that audience. I think right now I'm just feeling very overwhelmed & don't know where to turn so I'm hoping to learn more & learn who to trust as I go along...
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      • Profile picture of the author Les Blythe
        Looks like you are going full steam ahead, big paragraphs and all!
        Just wanted to give you a little insight from my side when I first started. For the first 6 months I got totally hooked into SEO, built websites, wrote articles, tried to get subscribers to opt-in via my website - all to little or no avail.

        Now, I know there are SEO gurus out there who will say it is the way to go but I fundamentally disagree with this. This was brought home to me when I stumbled across a (believable) statistic that said you needed 8,000 raw, un-targetted visitors to a website to get one sign-up - now that is just crazy! Couple that with the fact that I was reading about businesses being destroyed overnight by Google moving the goalposts - well you get the picture.

        Why would I build a business over months and years that Google could literally demolish over-night. Makes no sense to me.

        List building (non-Google) is key - no doubt about that in my view. Also consider getting a mentor, this will save you time and heart-ache.

        You have so much energy (obviously) - they key is to channel it in the right direction. Good Luck!

        Cheers
        Les
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        • Profile picture of the author misswahm
          Originally Posted by Les Blythe View Post

          Looks like you are going full steam ahead, big paragraphs and all!
          Just wanted to give you a little insight from my side when I first started. For the first 6 months I got totally hooked into SEO, built websites, wrote articles, tried to get subscribers to opt-in via my website - all to little or no avail.

          Now, I know there are SEO gurus out there who will say it is the way to go but I fundamentally disagree with this. This was brought home to me when I stumbled across a (believable) statistic that said you needed 8,000 raw, un-targetted visitors to a website to get one sign-up - now that is just crazy! Couple that with the fact that I was reading about businesses being destroyed overnight by Google moving the goalposts - well you get the picture.

          Why would I build a business over months and years that Google could literally demolish over-night. Makes no sense to me.

          List building (non-Google) is key - no doubt about that in my view. Also consider getting a mentor, this will save you time and heart-ache.

          You have so much energy (obviously) - they key is to channel it in the right direction. Good Luck!

          Cheers
          Les
          Thanks for the affirmations, Les! I've seen a bunch of people here & in other places (who seem to know what they are talking about) say that list building is now best way to go...so I think I'll follow! I've also built some targeted "lists" for each of my affiliate niche sites that I'm building content on through Twitter & I've had some good results so far & no complaints. I'm promoting products I would use/buy, so it helps. Ok, so for me I guess my two top areas of study for now are listing building & future product launch by way of an ebook (possibly through Clickbank) on the rare plants I collect & sell. Wow, this is getting exciting! I love learning new things...can't wait to learn more. A mentor sounds like a great idea! Is that something that people pay for these days? Sorry, newbie question!
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  • Profile picture of the author LornaFox
    You're doing an excellent job learning with 3 little ones. You found what I consider the best place to learn.....the WF.
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  • Profile picture of the author jaiganeshv
    I find is very difficult to read the post because of the formatting but i really appreciate the time taken to put the learnings so as to help other newbies out there.

    Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author rajat2k2k
    Misswharm,
    I don't mind (and probably some others) the big blocks of text if the post in interesting and if you can capture readers interest from the very first line...which you did
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  • Profile picture of the author sarlat
    I quite liked the formatting ;-) You keep on typing.
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  • Profile picture of the author jivens
    Banned
    You're off to a great start! It's obvious that you're willing to put the time and effort into making your business successful! A big word of advice that I can give you is to ignore the hype. If you're writing a blog post, write for the visitors and not for the search engines. Any website you make needs to be visitor friendly. I don't care what anybody tells you. I even make my adsense sites beautiful and visitor friendly. Only when I realized this did I start to see results!
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    • Profile picture of the author misswahm
      Thanks, everyone! I'm happy to know I'm on the right track I downloaded Paul's guide to the forum last night & I had a chance to read the how-to in terms of using his gadget but I can't seem to get the FreeMind software to open up this morning...hoping to get if figured out because it sounds very cool & this forum is huge...I really want to get the most out of being here & need help staying focused - lots of distractions! I also downloaded his 112 pg free ebook. It's a start! I'll probably print that up & read it as time allows today...
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  • Profile picture of the author JennaSmith
    Misswahm -
    I am a noob after 6 years so you should feel like SuperWoman! Although I have been struggling with a very bad case of Lyme disease at the same time so I am unable to work full time or even consistently through the day - however, I started in Boston years ago and sold a business to get out of the rat race and moved to Maine. My success on the internet thus far is based on the Lyme niche for obvious reasons but I hope to one day have a Rose website (Antiques, rare, English with instructions on how to grow roses in hard to grow places...) I am glad to see that you are making it (on a much bigger scale than I plan to start) but I will be cheering for you! Stay on track.

    I think one of the hardest things especially ate Warrior Forum is that the majority are very knowledgeable and generous with their advice, and then there is another group of vultures that just want to use the loyal and large membership to sell the next " bright shiny object" I an very vulnerable to that and get frustrated with so many "Must Have" items on sale every day - these launches that make certain people very wealthy.

    Be careful. One gadget turns into 20 before you know it!

    You will succeed if you stay at it!

    Best wishes -
    Jenna
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      my two top areas of study for now are listing building & future product launch by way of an ebook (possibly through Clickbank) on the rare plants I collect & sell
      Excellent plan - building on what you know. Consider putting an ebook on Clickbank AND on Amazon (for Kindle). You have a market - so you just need to develop it.

      I don't agree that you need a mentor - if you are doing all you say, you've got the idea of IM already. People on this forum will help anyone who is helping herself as you are - you have a whole gang of mentors here. All you have to do is participate enough to recognize who is worth listening to

      One suggestion - learn to write in shorter paragraphs! Easier for us to read:p

      If you don't already have one, look for one of the "child proof keyboard" tools. Then you can walk away without worry of "rewriting".

      One I found is Toddler keys and it's free - but there are others, too.

      What you seem to have done is learn a basic "secret" of IM - your success is determined by how many ways buyers can find you. The more "buy" or "join" buttons you have online, the faster your business will grow.

      Kay
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