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Overwhelmed and confused Newbie

by RichWest
18 replies
As a newbie I don't know what I don't know. I so badly want to become successful online but at this point I am overwhelmed with to much info. from to many so called experts. I have tried to figure out who and what I should put all my attention on, but I keep on getting email after email with what seems to be great info. It's so dam frustating. I have spent the past 2 weeks emptying out my inbox trying to organize what I should later go through only to have over 600 in that foleder. And, I continue to get more and more each and every hr. that seem to have good info. My head is spinning.
I am a laid off construction worker living in the North East-I figure Im facing at the very least 2 years out of work. I decided this would be a good thing. It would force me to go after a dream I've had for quite some time-Having a very successful home business. I am also a single dad of a beautiful little girl (Sam). My unemployment check doesn't even come close to covering the bills. Paul is not getting enough and Peter is banging at the door-well calling every few min.
Today I see Chris Freville is offering a program which seems to be exactly what someone like me needs. A corse that will take me by the hand and teach me how to reach my dream, success online. 2 problems. #1 is this really the program that will bring my success. In the past month alone there has been at leat 5 other MEGA GRAND OPENINGS that say "This is the program to take you to you dreams" I don't know! #2 Chris I don't have $499.00 If I did rob Peter again and not pay the rent, is this truley "The program" or is it Butterfly Marketing? or is it those other 5 or 10 that have opend this past month, or the next 5 or 10 opening next week, next month?
I say to all you Gurus I/we are confused and we are broke.
I know some of you are thinking, hey quit your whinning pick something learn, do your best, and move forward. I would agree. I just want you to know-All this information is crazy confusing and overwhelming. I can't take my last few bucks and make a mistake, buy the wrong product. I want this I really do. No one will work harder than me, and I have the time to put into it. I just need to pick the right thing and with all this info comming at me every day I don't know what to do.
If there is someone out there who is like me, an average guy, not a collage grad, has not spent the last 10 or 20 years in an office but with his hands who has looked and found what I am looking for, has had success (is not trying to sell me something) and wants to truley share a successful experiance with me, please let me know.
Again I know my situation is not unique. I am sure others have the same thoughts and feeling. I hope many will benifit from your responces.
#confused #newbie #overwhelmed
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Take a deep breath, stop checking your email so much and start doing something constructive with your time.

    Since you're just learning start with blogging and affiliate marketing but stay clear of the internet Marketing, make money online niches. Pick a niche you are interested in and can write about with some enthusiasm and get to work.

    Learn as you go...

    1. You need a blog so get one. If you don;t know how then search this forum for setting one up or go to YouTube and search for how to do it. There will be videos that show you how to do everything.

    2. Now that your blog is setup go look for affiliate programs you may be interested in promoting. Again, look for videos that show you how to do this.

    3. Write your tail off everyday...

    That's a good start, then you can learn about how to get traffic, etc...

    Mike Hill

    PS. Get a new email address!
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  • Profile picture of the author kevinw1
    Try working through something free, like the 30 day challenge:
    Thirty Day Challenge
    which will teach you a lot of the basics and get you to a point where you can make some informed decisions about the direction to take, without sucking cash you don't have.

    Almost no-one starts making money online right away. Yes, it does sometimes happen, but most people take months or years to get to the point of a fulltime income, if they ever get there at all. If you can find a part time "real job" or take on small handyman jobs to top up the income while you're ramping up online, you'll have a lot more peace of mind than running up the credit cards for groceries (been there, done that, never again).

    Best of luck

    Kevin
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    • Profile picture of the author peter gibson
      Originally Posted by kevinw1 View Post

      Try working through something free, like the 30 day challenge:
      Thirty Day Challenge
      which will teach you a lot of the basics and get you to a point where you can make some informed decisions about the direction to take, without sucking cash you don't have.

      Almost no-one starts making money online right away. Yes, it does sometimes happen, but most people take months or years to get to the point of a fulltime income, if they ever get there at all. If you can find a part time "real job" or take on small handyman jobs to top up the income while you're ramping up online, you'll have a lot more peace of mind than running up the credit cards for groceries (been there, done that, never again).

      Best of luck

      Kevin
      OP needs to listen carefully to this post. Thirty Day Challenge is definitely a great IM fundamentals course that you don't have to shell out for. There is also a community of "challengers" available that won't mind steering you in the right direction as well as learning as you learn.

      I cannot say it strongly enough, but I'll try. Don't purchase any systems at this point. Just get in a free program like Thirty Day Challenge, grind away and stick around here - read tons. There are some clowns that show up here from time to time, but mercifully they almost always end up banned. The heavy hitters on WF are top notch and their FREE advice is worth more than you would pay grabbing most of the courses out there.

      Making money online is NOT a pipe dream, but it is also NOT a quick fix. It takes a ton of work and a ton of patience. If you're one of the lucky ones you may catch hold of a great niche fast and not have to pay so many dues, but otherwise my best advice is to not buy any hype from anyone that claims they can make you rich. Only you can get rich here on the old interwebz, and getting rich involves the same kind of hustle that you would have to accomplish in the brick and mortar world.
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  • Profile picture of the author GB2008
    Take a deep breath, stop checking your email so much and start doing something constructive with your time.
    lol - that just says it all! Even when you've been doing this for a while, it's SO easy to get sucked into "busy work" - here's a system I use - you might find it helpful, but whatever you do, you need to start managing your time around specific actions each day. Organising your email is not an action that will make you money - otherwise none of us would be building businesses, we'd just be sorting emails!
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucky500
    Hey Raw, feel your pain my friend.

    I've been in the same situation, overwhelmed with the amount of information.

    Not to sound like a broken record, but start taking some action and do less reading. There is alot of good stuff out there, is not easy to sort it out.

    But for beginners like us, making money overnight won't be easy. google make money online for beginners and the guy that is ranking up top has alot of good information

    other than that.
    do not give up, work hard you will see the benefits, there's no short cuts and you will spend alot of hours developing your bizz. When you are a single parent with very limited income it will be very challenging, which is my case.

    start a blog
    find a good niche
    write good content (or outsource)
    get backlinks (connectcontent.com) great place to start 12/month
    find like minded people for support

    another way to make a quick buck (and if you are a good writer) is to have a gig as a ghost writer, you see a lot offers here on WF, and there is a good demand for it.

    I am on your neck of the woods, if you like drop me an email at luciano101 at msn .com
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  • Profile picture of the author montero
    Copy success. Get a mentor.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    Look for jobs online, like Kevinw1 told you to. You'll learn a lot while making money and you won't be a newbie pretty soon. If I would begin online again, this is what I would do!

    Here are a few good work-at-home sites. They teach you also how to blog and how to keep your own business, but take your time: learn very well how things work on the internet before trying to promote affiliate products you don't know if you'll be able to sell, and before creating your own products and having your own store online:

    work-from-home-source.com

    workathomedesk.com

    theworkfromhomeresource.com

    workathomecareers.com

    workathomecooperative.com

    workathomemafia.com


    All the best!
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  • Profile picture of the author WinAtStickyBids
    You are not alone! I made a post today about how overwhelming it is to start in the online arena. I feel like I am in the middle of a tornado. I get so much thrown at me, and sorting it out is next to impossible.

    I am trying to go through so much information that I can't focus on anything. I really think that is why most people just throw up their hands and quit. Maybe the guru's are behind keeping us newbie's crazy(less competition)..LOL

    I have made some money with PPC but...trust me...I spent more than I've made. I have fell for this program and that program. My advice. Take a deep breath and learn from some of the people in here. That has helped me alot. Just watch out for the sharks

    Hope it helps to know that you are not the only one out here floating in the raft.
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    • Profile picture of the author RichWest
      Hey Guys,
      Thanks so much for your advice and support. I'll post again update my progress.
      Honestly, Thank You
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  • Profile picture of the author Ashley Wright
    Like Mike said stop emptying out your inbox, start to imply action, even if it is as little as offering a program you have or articles etc, start small and build up! Rome wasn't built in a day remember!
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  • Profile picture of the author SteelDanno
    Raw ... we all hear you man. The thing you need to remember is the people sending you the offers are for the most part, amazing copy writers and it seems like you are getting offered the magic bullet, that one thing that will save you financially ... three times a day!

    Also, internet marketing is a broad field; there are so many was to make cash. When I first got started I soaked everything up for a good three months. I learned about PPC, CPA, SEO/SEM, eBooks, membership sites, article marketing, affiliate marketing, list building, eBay/Amazon stores ... the whole shebang.

    In the end I chose to pursue a path that suits my lifestyle and willingness to work. I wanted a model that wasn't so hands on and didn't have to monitor every single day, so that ruled out CPA (which you really need to be hands on about). PPC is the middle ground. You still need to check on it from time to time. The others I mentioned seemed a better fit so I opted to be an info marketer, building niche sites with niche content selling niche info products. These types of sites you can build and grow at your leisure as available time and money dictates.

    Keep on learning and pick wat suits you and be patient. Understand that you've made a great move just by being here and that over time ... you'll acumulate a sweet set of skills that for the most part, you can dovetail into whatever projects you roll out.

    Think of it as a game of inches. Look to have your first $30 month. Then $30 week. Then $30 day. Then $30 an hour and so on. You'll need the patience of a saint as you learn and grow and the endurance of a marathon runner to take the pain of running this race to your success.

    One thing is almost a certainy ... if you put the time in, you will be just fine. There are billions of dollars floating around out there and all any of us needs is a minute percentage of that to be sitting pretty.

    Cheers.
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    • Profile picture of the author milkyway
      First of all, I'm pretty much a newbie to internet marketing myself, please keep that in mind when reading my post, and feel free to ignore anything that's not useful to you...

      In addition to the great advice you already got in this thread so far, two other things came to my mind. First, you might want to read through Alice Seba's page (google for internetmarketingsweetie). She is giving solid internet marketing advice (some of it free) with a focus on work at home moms. No offense intended, guys: I know almost everybody in this forum gives great advice, too, but let's face it: if you have to care for a kid all by yourself, your daily time structure is somewhat different from those of people who can work a 14-hour day... And raw, I know you're not a mom, technically speaking -- but I guess the daily problems are similar...

      The second thing that came to my mind was an idea Kunle was sharing in another thread (sorry, I can't post links yet). The thread is called "How to Make $1,000 - $10,000 PROFIT A Month OFFLINE".

      Based on Kunle's post, I'd suggest the following (in addition to all the great advice you got from others) as a starting point to make some money soon and gain experience:

      1. Talk to "average" people you know (family, friends, former co-workers, other parents,...) and ask them what sort of information is relevant to them (relevant enought to pay a few bucks if they get it delievered).
      2. Search for that sort of information on the internet (almost everything is available for free somewhere). Make sure you respect copyrights etc. If you get information from completely free sources like Wikipedia, combine it to meaningful documents. If you get documents that you are allowed to modify, make sure everything looks neat, has the same format (e.g. html, pdf or rtf documents with the same font type, font size, header etc.).
      3. Put everything into meaningful folders.
      4. Add a master document where you explain which sort of information can be found on this CD.
      5. Make sure to produce a professionally looking cover (print them or write them by hand, but it needs to be neat, readable and contain all the relevant information including your contact data in case someone wants to buy more things from you). Try to sell these CDs like Kunle suggests in his thread.
      For content, almost everything would work as long as people are interested enough. Everything related to making money in these times, maybe sports stuff, education,...

      If this works for you (and people are buying these CDs), you could pimp up the material. Depending on what your content ist, produce short videos, mp3s, graphics, or whatever is suitable. Maybe even produce a DVD, if there is a market. Sell these CDs/DVDs at a higher price. (I'm no expert at producing such materials, but there should be free tools available for these steps. And I'm sure there are enough people around here who would be willing to give you some advice if necessary).

      Mind you: It's not a home business, but a combination of online and offline work. But I think for the beginning it might actually work very well for you! It's not going to make you rich, but it could make enough to cover some of the bills, and at the same time you would get a lot of experience with online research, different tools, different media etc, with almost zero cost involved on your part. This experience will come in very handy in your online activities.

      I don't think I can receive PMs so far (this is my first post), but if you have any trouble with the research part of this, post it in the forum. I'd be happy to help you if necessary, and I'm pretty sure others will do so, too.

      And the most important part: Don't forget to hug you little girl several times a day!

      All the best to you, and keep us updated,

      milkyway
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  • Profile picture of the author elliec
    Hey Raw, I'm so with you. It is so easy to blow your entire day just by checking your emails and twittering. I have started doing email checks and twitter in the morning and in the evening. Twitter is getting abused anyway, so I only put useful links or info of interest in my updates. Email is a bit harder if you are waiting for something but I think it best to just leave it alone until your IM workday is finished.

    For me the focus is the hardest. Suggest you pick the product that is affordable and gets good reviews here, add a big splash of free stuff that is related to your key learning product(also available here on WF) and focus on that. (I am finding Commission Blueprint really good and affordable at $97, although there is an investment in adwords), read Clayton Makepeace Total Package for great tips on copywriting, watch some of the free videos on the Traffic Geyser blog and FOCUS!!

    Now if I can practice what I preach....snore...

    The 30 day challenge looks really interesting and I am up for something with no cost. I've spent enough!

    Good luck to all of us!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Izethas
    Yes thats so common for pretty much all the IM newbies. But the key is pick one area you want improve on and start taking action towards that goal. Don't give up or jump on another opportunity till you finished with your first project. You will grow by doing not by reading. Surround yourself with like minded people. This forum is a great place, but if you can make it to an offline IM event its even better, because it will impact you in a profound way, at least thats how it was for me.

    Kind Regards,
    Izet
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  • Profile picture of the author ToddK
    Wow! There is a ton of great posts in this one thread....and here I thought I was one of the few experiencing system overload!

    I have been on the Warrior forum for awhile reading daily but this is my first actual post.....I guess I was just a little nervous about dropping in....but now that I see others in the same boat I feel a little more comfortable chiming in.

    Raw, not much more I can add other than hang in there. As others have mentioned just continue to read and learn. One thing I started diving into is PLR and MRR material. I am fairly good with Photoshop and have created several eBooks. I am not lighting the world on fire financially but I am slowly starting to see the end of the tunnel.....granted it is just a little spec of light....a small pin head....but every day I learn more and every day I get closer.

    One word of advice which I recently did, unsubscribe from anything and everything. Then after reading and studying and deciding which direction you want to go in you can start subscribing to various newsletters and forumns within that Niche.

    Even if you just ignore these email you still have to wade through them to see which are good and which are junk.....and as you have found out.....that is way too time consuming.

    Good Luck and hang in there!
    Todd
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  • Profile picture of the author IMChick
    Advice that I learned the hard way--

    1. Don't buy 'stuff'. Chances are, the offers hitting your inbox are things you don't need. If you are looking for one specific thing for a certain purpose (like a wp plugin that does X for example), then look only for that thing, locate the best one and buy it. Stay away from the courses.

    2. Opt-out of those 600 emails or abandon that email address. Only stay on lists of people providing content that you can use. This includes newsletters and information, but it also includes a select few that you can use for swipe files later on.

    3. Spend measured amounts of time on the WF (and your inbox), and when that timer rings, you're done--close the browser window and move on.

    4. Pick one activity on your business plan (oooh, don't have one of those?! That's your first assignment. Now go develop one.) Do only that one thing until you master it. Then do it some more and 'own' it. For examole, putting up the blog, writing, posting, linking affiliate offers or adsense, etc. Do this for at least 2 or 3 months and nothing else. Once you master this, move on or expand.

    Lather, rinse and repeat.
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