Newbie Trying to Figure Out Where To Go

Ask yourself, what your strength in Internet Marketing. If there was only one thing you could do, what would it be? Start working on that. Tweak it till it works. I am sure you would taste success, as I did.

Since you don't like to write that much, perhaps you should start a blog promoting physical products from Amazon or something like that. Amazon has been around a long time, and there's a built-in trust factor. I shop there all the time. It's also really easy to do research. Just make sure you promote higher-ticket items and even do some cross promoting.

If you are promoting video games, for instance, you should also promote game systems on which said game can be played in order to boost your commissions. I've also noticed that people tend to look up product reviews for games based on the system they have. I hope this helps.

Joey

Hi Jay, I know you said you don't like writing, but have you considered starting a blog on finances? You did say you are a finance student right? So why not start blogging about little ways students can manage (and grow) their finances then occasionally review some related products and throw in your affiliate links. Also after you've built a following you could work with a ghostwriter to create an eBook around your blog niche and sell that as well. You could talk about ways students can earn some extra cash etc... You're not going to run out of subjects to talk about.

Also, start your list again, from the get go. Mail at least once a week so you're in touch with them. Give some finance related tips etc

I must warn you that this will take some time. Well, if you utilize this forum well and use all the free traffic methods and make the most of social media, it shouldn't take too long and the results will be huge. If you want to chat, PM me. I'm no guru but you can bounce ideas off of me.

I have one major piece of advice Jay...

I know everyone says it over and over, but that's because its true, you have to build a list... I struggled for a long time with list building, and it really sucked to pay the 19$ a month while not seeing any return from it, but I'm really glad I stuck it out... Now that I have just a decent sized email list I can see how great it is because that's where most of my sales come from...

No matter niche, I'd make that a top priority...

Good luck Brother,

Vinny

After spending a year on the WF and 20 months in IM altogether, I've finally come to the opinion that true IM isn't for everyone.

Maybe you're not meant to sit in front of your computer all day, every day, trying to tweak a site or build a list, or find the next big Amazon product to promote. That's not a bad thing -- not everyone is meant for this that kind of work.

Have you checked out the Offline Forum here? I have actually found a lot of strategies in there that I can implement for little- to no money at all and make some good money back in return. Check out these two threads that I think may help you, especially since you're at a college in Florida (hopefully not UF or FSU...blech!):

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...-do-today.html
http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ing-ideas.html (Martin Buckley is a freakin' genius in my book, and he gives you his ideas for free -- each one could be a WSO in itself!)

You could conceivable take any of the ideas in the 2nd thread I linked and make money today with it. Martin links you to 10 of his posts, and I think every one of them is great for anyone, but especially for a guy in your situation.

-- j

Hi mate, you said that you made some sales using clickbank in gaming niche. By doing that simple thing you know you are already ahead of at least 35 % (underrated) of warriors here because many warriors here never make even a single $ in their IM career.

Since you have already sold some clickbank stuff. its a proof that you know how to do it, and you can replicate it, I know you said you have tried and failed but have you considered getting a mentor on how to make money from clickbank, I know some mentors teaching this method of making money online.

Once you find a coach that is willing to help you just stick to his advice and you will soar.

Sign up at Fiverr. Find out what you're good at. Start offering gigs there to raise some capital. Take that money you make off fiverr, and reinvest it into building an authority website

One more thing mate, If you are struggling to pay $19/month for autoresponder go for listwire it is a totally free autoresponder and is as good as paid ones.

Hope it helps

Hello
Warrior fellow it depends on your test. Many newbie is trying different things from the beginning. They are not concentrating or fixed to any niche. Try out first one thing as per your test, experience. If you fail then look for another.

That's a tough spot to be in. You could always offer a service here on WarriorForum. You could write articles or design graphics maybe. The offer them in the Warior for Hire section

For list building / autoresponder, iContact is free for up to 100 contacts.

Whatever you do, *do* something. Reading and listening is good, but doing is better. As another warrior said above, focus on something you are good at to start with. If you don't like writing, consider doing videos instead or MP3s - people love podcasts to listen to during commutes.

Good luck!

My "Road to Damascus" moment happened when I realised that I don't need to buy every product out there to make money.

Just find one method you KNOW works. You said you had success in the gaming niche right? Well the easiest way to make money online is to write about your passion. Writing 300-500 word articles should be a breeze.

My advice is go back to basics and revisit the gaming niche. Master it then move on...

I concur with most thats said here in particular the one that said that by making some money already, you are ahead of the majority of people looking to earn an income online. The process you need to follow is what youve already done, just trial some new methods and measure your results, take the best couple and put some extra effort in making those work.

I dont know much about the online gaming community, not really my thing, but i should imagine if it was something i was doing my ideas would be as follows:

Set up an online gaming review blog
Sign up and set up an amazon associates account
Write a review about each new game that comes out and put you amazon link in just a couple of times within that review alerting your reader that they can go an buy it now.
If you actually own the game try and put a video review together of the game in action and your thoughts about that game.
If you dont own the game, do a simple slide show style presentation video about the positives and small number of negatives about that game, theres normally plenty of other reviews you can find online though its certainly more believable (and proper i might add) if you genuinely have it yourself and put your true feelings forward.
Add a section on your review site for gaming consoles, equipment, controllers, gaming tv's, and whatever else you can think of with amazon links in it to purchase.
Set up a basic newsletter to run where customers can sign up to receive your updates and special offers. Put these in to aweber etc and mail as necessary - new games to buy, new consoles released - all through amazon
Set up social media group fan pages or groups and put extracts of the reviews up with a direct link back to your site
If your blog supports it, set up the social sharing widget to allow users to post links to your blogs to their facebook pages.

Im really hoping youll find some use from what ive written here, but honestly, stick at it and youll get there. Just remember to try to provide as much value as you can to your subscribers and viewers and they will reward you. just ask yourself, how bad do you want to make it work....and then just get on with it.

Best of luck!

I wish you luck! Project Downline may be a place for you to start! We area team, I build power legs at no cost.

Reading your post and responses lights up a couple of flares.

1) Why do you want to break into IM? What is the main motivation? Make a little extra, make a fast killing, make a living from it? Is there a real motivation or is it just a hope of escape from your current life/situation/etc?
2) Why would you write articles? I get the feeling this method has not been thought through. Purpose? Where would the articles go? IM is a financial death trap without pinpoint targeting and structured execution. Very few marketers make a living with articles. We have a couple here on WF but they are very, very organized in what they do... and they like writing.
3) As a finance student you should be aware that every investment is a risk.. and that a part of every profit you make should be saved. Re-investing every gain is gambling.
4) You seem to hope for a dashing start. Won't happen. Speed of growth and haste do not combine well. Small steps, inch by inch is the way it starts. In time, the steps may become bigger, foot by foot, yard by yard, miles at every step. Some marketers may seem to be sprinting towards the money, but they also do it step by step.. it is just their legs that have grown longer through experience.

My advice is:
1) don't put any more of your money into IM. There are many ways to make some cash for free. Raise cash from nothing (save 20%, invest 80%). If you can do this then you will probably make it in IM one day. If you can't do this, then IM is not for you.
2) nothing will work without motivation. Motivation is easier to fire up with goals. Think about what, when and above all why... before you consider / test how to do it.

IM CAN be very confusing and overwhelming. Believe me, I know! Been there, done that.

Clarity is a HUGE part of IM success. I hope this post brings some clarity. It's so simple when you know it -- and darn difficult when you don't! I owe my mentors a world of thanks for bringing this clarity.

IM is actually pretty simple: you can sell only one of two things:

1. Products
2. Services

That's it!

And selling products or services online happens in the same basic way for everyone, no matter what they're selling:

Traffic > Opt-in page > Autoresponder series (or e-zine) > Sales page

That's it! It's just that simple. (We IMers tend to overcomplicate things.)

But no matter what your niche is, or whether you're selling a product or a service, do you know what your business model is?

A business model is the framework or skeleton of your business. Essentially there are three types of online business models:

1. Membership-based model

A membership-based business model allows you to build a community of people (your members) who are as passionate about your subject as you are. Your membership fees can be monthly or annual, but either way, you're building recurring, passive income.

There are a lot of resources and information out there to help you build a membership-based business if you're interested in doing this.

2. Product-based model

Selling products allows you to maximize your time and effort by selling items over and over again. This can be hard goods or it can be information products. Information marketing is it's own business model under the product-based model. Information marketing allows you to take your brain to the bank by creating a product ONCE based on what you know and selling it over and over again.

Affiliate marketing falls under both models. You can choose to market either products or services as an affiliate.

3. Service-based model

Selling services can be great for 1) generating quick cash (as in the case of article writing or video producing) and 2) establishing your expertise and getting testimonials.

However, in the long run, your goal should be to offer services at a PREMIUM. The biggest advantage of IM is LEVERAGE. You're able to leverage your time, money and expertise exponentially online. We all have just 24 hours each day. Time to get ruthless about what you expect for those hours you spend in IM each day. Expect more of yourself and more from your business friends, clients, partners, etc.

What results are you getting for those hours you spend online each day? Ultimately, your services should be at the bottom of your funnel and cost the most since they involve your time and personal attention. (We all have a limited amount of time each day.)

The fun (and confusion) comes in with all of the endless mix-and-match possibilities of the above models. If you're just starting or still struggling to make money, keep it simple:

Pick just ONE!

1. Pick ONE niche. (Something you're interested in and know something about.)

2. Pick ONE target market for your product or service. (Who will buy what you're offering? The more specific you are, the more you narrow it down, the more successful you'll be.)

3. Pick ONE business model.

Now that you're clear about what business you're in, FOCUS! (And stop buying any info not related to your niche and target market, period!)

F -- Follow
O -- One
C -- Course
U -- Until
S -- Successful

And remember: build a list, Build a List, BUILD A LIST!

In IM, it's easy to put the cart before the horse. Take a deep breath, step back and consider what type of business you're REALLY want. Don't worry about getting traffic or buying that expensive traffic product until you know 1) what your business model is, 2) what niche you're in and 3) WHO your target market is!

Successful business people will tell you that MARKETING is more than half the effort that's needed for success anyway. So pick a niche, target market and business model. Then spend most of your time and effort marketing it.

If you DON'T have a solid plan or system, THAT'S when it's hard. A good system will shave YEARS (and save you big $$$) off of your learning curve

That's why I recommend investing in at least one good, comprehensive IM course (or mentor who will give you such a system) instead of jumping from one $37 e-book to the next. A lot of people here complain about not being able to make any money. But neither are they willing to invest in their business. (Buying a random bunch of $37 e-books doesn't count.)

The best thing I ever did was invest in a comprehensive IM course aimed at REAL business owners, not just other IM wannabes. Yes it was $1500. (It's no longer available.) But it was truly some of the best A-Z IM info I ever bought. Everything else I've learned (from the $37 e-books) since has simply been plugged into this system.

Get a solid plan or system and then work the plan!

Hope this helps!

Michelle

I think the best way to get started is to open a brokering service. Whether it's with writing, SEO, site building, design, backlinks, you name it... there are a ton of people on fiverr who do a TON of different things, and you could find a valuable service, and resell it on another marketing forum for a higher price and take the cut of what's left. It's how I got started when I just needed some extra money to pay bills and begin funding other projects. The journey is worth it! Keep on keepin' on, you got this.

Best of success to you, friend.

Luke

Just Take action and stuck one thing

Dude, you're a finance student right? Have you considered opening an online course for finance stuffs? You can start at udemy.com to open your own class - free or paid ones. Enjoy.

One of the free traffic methods: Video Marketing

Forex trading

I think too many people go at Internet Marketing backward. They think try to make money and then find something you like and are good at. In real life, if there is such a thing, and the internet you should find something you like and are ggod at and then try to make money doing it.

The push button money making things do not work. Find something you love to do and do very well and perfect it, learn it and become an expert at it. Then you can really help others to get to where they want to go. If you are offering true value and expert advice or a great service or software people will buy your stuff. If you are just looking to make money ask yourself, "would I buy stuff from me?" Give people something that truely helps them do things easier, make more money or progress in their business and they will keep coming back for more.

My advice is do not put the cart in front of the horse. Experts are always sought after and everyone wants to make money. Strive to be an expert and offer value.

Jay, do you have a mentor? Someone you can follow in there footsteps to see how they became successful and then you can start branching off to other things. I know that's how I started, it may not work for everyone but that's a suggestion.

I had the problem last time. Information overload, keep spending on IM products, especially WSOs and got no where. Until I met my mentor and was told that this is a very common problems all IM newbies will face.

We have to just to stick to what we love and what we do best and do not try to be jack of all trades.

Be the expert in your own battle field.

Forget IM, business and the internet for a second and look at yourself in the mirror (trust me on this).

Now. Look hard. Who ARE you? How do you want to be remembered? What do you want your life to look like? How can you truly HELP people? Answer these questions and you'll start getting closer to the solution you're looking for.

Ask not: "How can I get back to making more money?" but rather:

"How can I help as many people as much as possible as quickly as possible?" (the money will follow, TRUST me - see my sig for proof)

Sounds like to me that you need to focus on building a business, not focusing on a tactic here or a tactic there.

You need a marketing, sales, and copywriting education.

You need a list of prospects and customers.

You need a backend that you create or enough affiliate offers to promote on the backend.

You need to be focused on getting people what they want.

You need persistence, but patience.

You just joined WF this year so I'm assuming you've been marketing for less than a year.

Honestly you can't expect to become a marketing master overnight.

You've got to keep pushing, keep learning, and focusing on building a real business.

Screw gimmicks and "ways to make money."

You need skills that will stand the test of time that will work no matter what current ways to make money there are.

Of course nobody wants to hear that, but that's reality.

Don't use 7search again. Stick with Adwords or Microsoft Adcenter.

Appreciate the advice guys, but a lot seems to be a bit off topic. Responses telling me to stop thinking about making money online isn't really what I was asking or looking for. If I wasn't looking to make money online, I wouldn't be posting on the forums here about it.

And yeah, definitely won't be using 7 Search again. Tons of junk traffic/clicks it looks like.

same here, i hope i did to but i figured it out...get it?

Hi Jay
There are some great ideas here about how you can started, some have even shown you what to do and how to drive traffic to your blog and yet there still seems to be something stopping you. This is not a criticism just an observation. Let me a ask you the question of what is stopping you from taking some action on some of these ideas?
If you need a mentor I would recommend Dean Holland just because I like him and his programme is a cheap good way to start.
Make sure what you do you enjoy otherwise you will give up and won't take action on it every day.
To raise money sell some of your stuff on eBay or get a part time job until you can get yourself up and running on the Internet.
Ask yourself what you really want to do and don't say I don't know because you do you just have to get your brain to think harder.
Hope this helps and good luck
Nicky

Great ideas above, not only for thread writer but also for us .
Thanks to all who contributed in anyway.
The bottom line is to evaluate your strength and start doing work related to that.
Dont waste time in areas where you have no interest or less interest.

Building a list: try it by using free squeeze page (like 90secondsqueezepage or other) and a free or trail autoresponder. Start with promoting through social media, traffic exchanges, free bolgs etc. The key is always traffic. This way you can learn about driving traffic to a url. It costs time and work to reach it.
Also offering financial advice or fincial plan on fiverr may earn you a little to invest in IM.

Hey Jay !

Like you and others online and in this forum, I have made some income with my business online as well as offline. There is so many theories about internet marketing and Gurus selling their "magic bullets", its no wonder that people get stuck from time to time, I know I have.
Anyway I have come to find out that it is a major factor to learn all the concepts of marketing.
Bottom line is to not only market, but to deliver the goods......If you want a free way(to start) advertising on the net, while getting some valuble training - give me a shout.

I understand your frustration, I've done the whole 7search email submits thing at one point as well. The key is to have a business system that is proven to work, and someone who will help you get there.

The general idea is to build an email list, build a relationship with your email list and then have something to sell to your list. A front end freebie, or an offer that costs, and then build out your sales process with up-sells.

If that sounds to complex, here is a guy who will build you websites that pull in $$$ --> link (no affiliation).

Take from the past what you learned and your success. Work on your mindset and join mastermind / coching where you get interactive help...

End of the day all the methods have to achieve only one thing, make you the sale and convince another human being to buy what you or your affiliate go to offer ..

So focus on learning the fundamentals --> mindset and copywriting (which is nothing but marketing) , you can make money doing services while you work on these basics then you can pick and choose any area and dominate .... good luck

There is no such thing as quick money..if you are serius about this, and want an income for a long time...you need to study and learn what you do not already know, if you cannot afford a mentor...get any info you can..as the hidden secrets ( the good staff) may not be so hidden elsewhere.....Important: there are a lot of free products or bonusses going around in the lists of internet marketers. Take advantage of them..put your knowledge and the bonusses together to create your own product or service, and then start selling it ( you will need just a few dollars like 30-50 to buy some traffic) and there you go. At the beginning if you see that the only money you got from sales is the money you paid for traffic, you are doing great..because you will have the leads, that means future sales in your own list at no cost....and repeat this process again and again and again, and your list will grow, before you even realize it....and you can combine then affiliate products too and sell them to your own list...Since you have no money to invest to a good coaching, or to a huge traffic, to see emmediate results, you have to give it at least a month to see money left to your pocket...until then you have to invest and reinvest the few dollars you will be gaining, so you have good results the next months, and so on...but you have to do your homework, and there is a lot of work involved, so be prepared....

All I can say is good job. You are in the area and fighting. Now you just need to have a specialty and fatality..

Stick with what you are doing. You just need to fall back on how much you are gambling. You are trying to make money I understand but you have to test and tweek first so start small and grow it over time.

If you try to go big fast you will lose you ass off. Start smaller and spread it around try and be more creative with your keywords and do some experiments to see how the results are. Once you find somethings that is working put more into that and start researching more.

You will need to have a lot of smaller earning winners to add up to a good pot. One campaign is not going to make you as much unless you are spending a lot! So take your profit and spread it. Scale it....

Being a finance student could actually get you a lot of good clients for writing articles. Not many article writers would dare write many in-depth articles in this niche, and because of that, you could charge a premium.