Dear New Marketers: This never works, so stop it already...

Hey BJ,

some great points raised there. And I for one am guilty of the main theme of your post. I wondered how useful it might be at the time, but my 'guru' said it was the way to go, so off I went. I don't think it did me any harm, and the 'guru' was a top guy as it turned out, but I question the usefulness of a personal blog as you say.

Cheers,
Paul

Thanks for reminding all the new people who are new to IM.

I have seen to many people sacrifice their credibility in pursuit of some quick bucks.

Bottom line is, if someone wants to build a long term business in IM, always check your credibility and guard it really, really well.

Hey, some good points but don't give up in your online quest for wealth and affluence

I really started my own forum about Internet Marketing and really i'm struggling cause the competition is very very high .

Hey, some good points but don't give up in your online quest for wealth and affluence

That's one of those cringe-worthy mistakes we all kind of have to make I think. We think that "ours will be different" and that we'll be the ones to show newbies the light in a fun interesting way (while never selling anything of course ).

It makes me wish for time traveling abilities so I can go back, slap myself and say "no stupid. Oh and btw, here come the Google updates! Get ready to watch the show."

Hi BeauJustin,

Great advice listed and many thanks for that.

Maybe you gave up too easily, or maybe it wasn't specific enough. Either way, its cool to have for personal records once you succeed.

I have to disagree with you on all counts. The personal blog is a great way to keep track of your activities. You for example had no focus and thus zero success with your blog. I know others who genuinely reviewed products they used and made money from clickbank.

That being said a personal blog is great to receive feedback and build up a portfolio. Especially important for those building websites or writing for a living.

The signatures are nothing new, but why do you care what others have? It's Internet marketing for a reason, if you purchase a make 6k$ in your first day product from some new guy, you're the only one to blame.

Don't discredit IM practices based on one trial and learn how to apply them correctly before you bash on them..
Vlad

The sad truth to blogging is that an overwhelming majority of bloggers are broke and even some of the most successful blog owners will tell you that there is a stark difference between their traffic stats and their revenue stats.

While the number of comments or Facebook likes or Tweets are all good, they don't add to your bottom line unless you are actively building a list and more importantly have a robust follow up sequence.

No-one should be promoting any person or product they don't know of since the WF sig facility doesn't allow for affiliate links and promotion of affiliation in general (in WSO's) has been ruled out recently too.

I know where you are coming from I too did the same mistake 3 years back. I thought I will share the knowledge I gained from wso and other clickbank stuff and share it for free on my blog.

Sadly I ended up posting just one 200 words post and never to see that blog again because I jumped to the next shiny thing already. I was suffering from the famous Newbie syndrome and I paid the price for it by wasting 2 years of my precious time.

Anyway, as of now things are moving in the right direction and I plan to start an IM blog after an year or so.

Yes...go "do" before you try to "teach". You just might find that you would rather "do" than "teach" anyway. And if you have success in "doing" and still have the desire to "teach", then by all means go for it.

What I have always been curious about is people selling "How to make $10K a day, fast!" type of stuff. Why bother if you are REALLY making 10 grand a day? Id be on vacation!

So True! I'm guilty of the same thing although I have to say that I did learn a lot and had fun learning.
My advice to anyone just starting out - if you want a blog of your own, create one on something that you are knowledgeable and passionate about. Even if it never makes any money for you, at least you would be doing something that you enjoy.
After a few years of work, work and more work with little to no ROI, I am now doing something altogether different that I really love AND I'm making money (and I have a blog for pleasure).

Thanks for the advice. Will tread carefully.

It's nothing more than a learning process. I too was victim of listening to every would be marketer that claimed to have the direct hotline to internet marketing wealth. As it turned out. I did ok. As for blogging? I usually use blogs just to promote products or archive my stuff.

I disagree on some points

I started a blog documenting my journey and it kicks butt. I started initially as a newbie, sharing my failures, my small successes and everything I learned along the way. I told people if I didn't know a thing about whatever topic we were discussing that day, but I also shared with them how I was learning.

I love(d) the fact that I logged in daily and share(d) my story. It kept me on track to some degree, it represented a journal of my journey. Even if it was JUST for me, it'd be nice to see how it went.

It helped me build a loyal readership. Because they see my story unfold there - everything I love, everything I hate...they trust me and convert really high when I DO have good products to recommend.

I do agree with you on that - never promote crap, it ruins your reputation.

Also on the IM niche we disagree. I say if you're learning it, help others discover what products are worthy of their money and what isn't. It's not as competitive as people think.

It's all about branding yourself and building a reputation as a QUALITY sharer. If you don't have credibility, then it won't matter WHAT niche you choose.

The title of the thread might just need a tweak. Never say never.

Tiff

I just had this conversation with my IM coach. Should I start a perz blog about Internet Marketing. Fear keeps me away from it. And commitment. My deal is that I'm afraid I won't keep up with posts and comments. Plus, I'm not sure I'm a great example. So many on this thread have pure wisdom to share.Now that I think about it, maybe a blog about my failures isn't such a bad idea. Hmm.

Earlier today I posted on a thread in the offline marketers section of WF. The topic is about being able to build raving fans by "just being you". John Durham shared his tips for "Power Posting" in an effort to help people generate helpful posts. If you want to do a better job of building a great reputation and finding a niche where people love your stuff... download Bill's free report at this link: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...post-alot.html

That's fine too - but there are many people who can write well, so I would hate to see some of those get their blogs stifled by this advice. Besides, my blog isn't any type of "pro" writing. It's just conversation - slang, curse words, and all.

Indeed, the IM niche is not a good one for newbies, unless you learn unusually fast!

It is possible that a very specific sub-niche of IM might be good, even for a newbie, if you are willing to rapidly learn what there is to know about that topic, IN PRACTICE, then help others with genuine knowledge and practical help. If you want to try that, pick a niche that people are asking about, and which is realistic for you to learn and test quickly.

Or pick a completely different niche, that you already have experience and practical success in, because it will come accross how much you believe in yourself, when you do your marketing material and/or content, copying someone else who knows what they are talking about will just make you feel like a fake, and that will be picked up by your audience, even if you copy the identical words from a real expert.

Chris

Amusing post - I read a post not too long ago on a very famous IM entrepreneurs blog (who has a very high credibility rating) that said the best way to get people clamouring towards your blog and ultimately your product is to start a controversial post in a popular forum and see the reaction of the 'sheep' - Me included here by the way

All of the most successful entrepreneurs have made numerous mistakes 'and' fallen foul of the law in many cases, but todays news is tomorrows chip-paper and that's the fact of the matter. In this 'socially networked world' we have at present people expect to read about you - warts'n'all - even BA are now profiling their passengers using FaceBook so I personally think that a 'newbie' and even an 'oldie' should start a blog or blogs to chart their journey. As long as it's ethical and moral, that it doesn't intentionally try to scam anyone it's a positive move.

A lot of people reading this thread subscribe to a very popular lady blogger who apparently breaks the rules according to this post, but she has probably one of the most loyal readership 'anywhere' on the internet today.

(she might even be contributing to this thread )

I doubt there's anyone who in IM who hasn't been the victim of a dubious product promotion that they at first fell in love with so much so that they promoted it themselves in good faith only to get burned further down the line. Does it scar for life? NO! We just take note, apologise and move on - that's life with all of it's ups and downs, positives and negatives.

Celebrities show us the finest examples of how a bad reputation can get you notoriety and a whole lot of money. 'The Rich Jerk' was a character dreamed up to shock and apall us, he went on to generate a fortune but the chap behind it turned out to be an OK sort of bloke who has gone 'mainstream' and continues to make an even bigger fortune now. I doubt there's many here who don't recognise that little example.

It's all good - positive - negative - in between - as long as the ethics are intentionally good all avenues are open to everyone - it's called LIFE!

Cheers - Pete

Well, I am so at the newbie stage that I haven't even gotten near starting a blog. This world of IM is really confusing for me, but I can speak from the perspective of over 30 years in the brick ans mortar world.

When I started my career, the most help was always from those who were willing to share their personal stories of mistakes and successes on their way up the ladder. Analogy to a blog? It was then up to me to learn or not learn. I was always impressed by those willing to share.

As my own career developed, I tried to do the same for other "newbies." There is absolutely nothing wrong with being honest about your mistakes as you learn. I am certainly hoping I learn from my mistakes as I start this new journey, and I also hope that I find some to help me along the way based on their experiences.

The thing is that Blogging is like Twitter: people like to follow authorities, not random anonymous dudes who have little insight to share.

Starting a blog in a niche you have little experience about is a certain failure. Who is going to follow you?!?!

I think I'll stick to it and keep my blog. I am getting a small following and subscribers on my list through it. Oh yea... I started my blog less than 30 days ago and already have over 1000 hits and a steady 50 visits a day. So despite what some of you might think... it works if you do it right.

There is another option here.

You don't have to start a blog at the onset of your journey, BUT you can start a personal journal of everything you are doing along the way.

THEN...once you achieve a fair level of success, you can go through and use that journal (in edited form) as the source of a blog, forum, or product.

Just a thought.

All the best,
Michael

There are advantages to writing a personal blog initially before tackling your niche blogs. It helps you get used to the platform. You can also use your personal blog to test out new plugins and such.

Back in 2008, I started my first internet marketing blog, when I was just playing with PayPerClick websites, paying 1 cent for 1 click. I've included everything on that blog, and now it is a powerful PR3 who sells for thousands of dollars each and every month.

I've no comments on it, just a few, and it seem to receive no participation, but visits and sales are going up like crazy and that's what counts above all, right?

So you must continue your job, and never be tired to continue writing. Time will pay yourself.

See you soon,
Alessandro Zamboni

I will add a few caveats to my original post, as I loath blanket statements, especially when Im ake them.

Newbies shouldn't start an IM blog UNLESS:

A.) You really, really, really, really love the IM niche. Otherwise don't.

and,

B.) You really, really love blogging.

One of the great surprises with Google's Penguin update is that, enjoyable, quality blogs have made a big comeback on page 1-5 over the SEO backlink junkies.

So there, some new marketers can absolutely clean up in the IM niche, but you have to really love it, and you'll have to have a level of extra-tenacity that the rest of us simply aren't in possession of.

Enjoy.

The longer you are in this business you realize that there is no Secret. It's just having the ability to endure pain and the sense to know when to shift gears- which is itself almost a conflicting nonsensical statement. Nevermind. LOL

I have to agree with JaRyCu. alot of people cant stick with it becos the primary reason for their blogs are for making money.. if you arent making money, it is not easy to follow thru.. Hence, u need to have passion in it

Another thing, i think recording down your journey is a good way to keep track of what you are doing. you may not want to blog it but i guess it is still useful in keeping records of what you did.

my 2 cents~ cheers!

In my opinion creating an IM blog is one of the best things you can do because you actually own it and its something which you can build over a period of time

you cant look at it as a quick money earner

its a long term asset which will gain momentum over time

even if you are a newbie you dont` have to create a new blog post every 2 days. A new blog post once every 2 weeks would be fine to start with and then just document all of your results

the reason why having an IM blog is so powerful is because it brands you as marketer and a real person and with so many scammers and rip off mechants around these days finding someone to trust is one of the biggest problems newbies face when learning how to do all this IM stuff

so having a personal blog builds you a lot more credibility and trust and not to mention pre conditions all of the subscribers which join your list from your blog too

lastly, if you really don`t want to create a personal blog then don`t if it would bore you but just remember that they are great assets to build and they are a perfect platform to build a good responsive list from too

paul

Seriously I don't get why people blog about their "experiences".

You know what I blog about?

Celebrity gossip

Sports junk

Politics

Controversial topics

Etc ...

You know why? because that's what people are passionate about and enjoy reading, no one care how your "journey " is going or what you had for lunch or how you failed because you aren't special.

Just remember to drop you ad in the middle of the article.

I hope new marketers take head to this warning. They also don't realize that the veterans are much much more likely to NOT do a JV deal with anyone who looks so amateurish regarding blogs or random product promotions. Trust me... you are more transparent than you think!

Never go into saturated niche, you will die pretty fast. Its better to go in micro niche and work from there.

i think way to many people here are getting the wrong end of the stick about blogging and why you create a personal blog

for starters you don`t just create a blog just so you can tell everyone else what you had for breakfast and that you had just stumped your toe on the way to the bathroom

your blog should be used for branding yourself and creating plenty of value for your market place

if all you ever talk about is yourself of course no one is going to keep coming back and reading your content

and more importantly never think that your blog is just there to push and promote products like some people use them for. I often come across blogs like this where every single page of the blog is reviewing a product (pure garbage) so i go and never ever go back to that site again

on the other hand if you make your content engaging and quality then your going to attract and build a follow ship of loyal readers

i understand that creating a personal IM blog is not for everyone and thats cool but i think it`s bad advice by telling newbies not to create one because they don`t work

couldnt be further than the truth

paul

To IM or not to IM? To blog or not to blog?

In my humble opinion blogging is best left to those with something really valuable to say and some miles on the clock. Sure - you can create blogs for traffic and search engines but I've found that treating people like people and creating content for THEM is the best way to go about things.

Having pulled in a not-too-shabby $6m (yes million) since starting out over 10 years ago i am proud to say that I hardly ever blog, dont do SEO, dont do social bookmarking, ignore amazon, merely flirted with pinterest and have a list of 1001 things that i dont need to do in order to make money.

Find what you love, do what you enjoy, stick to what you're best at, help people and never give up. It's not snappy but it worked for me! :-)

BeauJustin, you really do tell it like it is. Did you ever post anything like what you wrote for this thread on your blog? If not you should because this is some powerful stuff. People are looking for different so that's what you have to give them-not boring.

If me i believe if you want to start a blog, it should be something you have an interest about because you would get tired and stop.