16 replies
It's been a while since I have posted on here, been mainly on the SEO Forums lately since the Google changes

I have worked my ass off the last four and a half years. Iv had sites that failed and had a few that made some good money then sold them. My latest website and (only one) at the moment just hit the $117,960.21 in sales mark, seeing that number it amazes me how far I have come.

I remember the early days where if I made any sort of money even if it was a single dollar I would be happy. Now I am at a point where $200-$300 days are getting boring, that $500 plus a day is now my mark. I often see posts on here "what's the fastest way to make money online". The truth is I don't feel it's possible for a rookie to make anything without going through the failures I did and learning that way.

Sure there are programs that can help walk you though difficult steps, but there is no success without failures in my opinion, and honestly failing keeps things interesting in this business. Sorry for the ramble I just wanted to post an update of where I am at and hopefully in the next year or so that 100k in sales will be at 500k plus.
#success #trail
  • Profile picture of the author Ettienne
    Very true what you're saying, and congrats man!
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  • Profile picture of the author jeffonmission
    Being willing to make those failures is key - this is the BEST news I've ever learned.

    I wish more teachers told their students "Hey kid, guess what? You're going to FAIL! But here's the upside, you're going to fail AGAIN. And then after that, you'll probably fail again. But if you keep on going and learn from those failures, you're going to SUCCEED and more than most people who have ever walked this earth"
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    • Profile picture of the author Nics
      Originally Posted by jeffonmission View Post

      Being willing to make those failures is key - this is the BEST news I've ever learned.

      I wish more teachers told their students "Hey kid, guess what? You're going to FAIL! But here's the upside, you're going to fail AGAIN. And then after that, you'll probably fail again. But if you keep on going and learn from those failures, you're going to SUCCEED and more than most people who have ever walked this earth"
      I second this. "Fail your way forward". You will get where you want to go as long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other.
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  • Profile picture of the author JeffHylands
    It was washed in our brains to never fail all though childhood. Funny thinking about anytime I got an A my parents expected it and if I got anything less than a C I got my ass chewed out. The real world is way different or as the saying goes "The A students work for the C students".
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  • Profile picture of the author ceenote100
    Yeah. You learn best by trail and error. Thanks for sharing your story.
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  • Profile picture of the author JeffHylands
    No problem thanks for checking it out, I am by no means "a success" in my view I have way more ahead of me but just want people wanting the quick buck to realize that it may take years of hard to see anything life changing, im still working towards that myself and consider myself pretty good with ecommerce and marketing these days.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sushiman1111
    $200-$300/day is success no matter how you slice it. Congratulations!

    I'm at about 10-20% of that at the moment, so I'm curious - what would you say have been your biggest AHA moments/most effective steps?
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    • Profile picture of the author JeffHylands
      Originally Posted by Alex Nordach View Post

      $200-$300/day is success no matter how you slice it. Congratulations!

      I'm at about 10-20% of that at the moment, so I'm curious - what would you say have been your biggest AHA moments/most effective steps?
      Thank you so much, and thank you everyone for reading the post and supplying your feedback

      That is a great question. I would have to say my best aha moments are:

      1. It's easy signing up for suppliers to drop ship for you/starting an official business (this step scares many away)

      2. Learning (correct keyword research) is probably the most important thing I ever mastered. In the beginning I was targeting words that hard terrible search numbers which totally wasted my money and time.

      3. Taking time to make sure every product page is as good as it can be. Too many marketers just copy and paste descriptions. Don't do that! Write great descriptions addressing any concerns or questions you think your customer will have. Even put a F.A.Q Tab on your product pages.

      4. Conversion is everything! Before I hated testing for conversion and never really even cared to look at the stats. If you want to be the best you need to live by the stats! Look at your analytics weekly, see how people are finding you, and conversion rates of your visitors. Are they staying on your site or bouncing? This is very important to become familiar with.

      5. Sold first website taught be value . I sold my first Ecommerce website that was in the solar industry (honestly it was losing me money it seemed but did over 50k in revenue with only 2,000 or so visitors a month). I then sold that website for $7,000 and started flipping small blog websites for $500 or so a piece shortly after that. I then purchased my current store (which had terrible design and conversion) and updated everything. I know from my selling experience that I can sell the site for around $15,000 but that won't change my life so still building it up.

      6. Hire Fast Fire Faster. I have spent a lot of money on crappy workers, and have found a handful of good ones. Make sure to only hire the best, it'll save you time and money in the long run.

      Im sure there is more I can name but I would say those are the biggest ones to live by at the moment
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  • Profile picture of the author TMercT
    Congratulations! You are officially on your way to financial freedom!
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  • Profile picture of the author rozee
    No failure is a failure in fact every failure is the door to success its up to you how you manage to open this door...
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  • Failure is only useful if you stop to give it analysis, painful as that may be...but then only you can climb the steps of success. If you can handle failure then no one can stop you from reaching the top of success. Thanks for sharing your experience and congrats for achieving a really very remarkable point in life.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tayman
      You may want to make an effort to fire yourself. Many times, WE are the choking point in the growth of our business.

      Leverage the time of others and use software automation where applicable.
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      • Profile picture of the author JeffHylands
        Originally Posted by Tayman View Post

        You may want to make an effort to fire yourself. Many times, WE are the choking point in the growth of our business.

        Leverage the time of others and use software automation where applicable.
        That's very true. I have been working towards that and have a few pieces in place to take a lot off my plate. With my current project I have been more hands on because of the investment it took to purchase the site and with all the changes in Google I feel most comfortable having most of the control till things settle down (if they ever do lol).

        But yea I would love to have this thing start running on auto pilot and then reinvest my money into another store and so on. Thank you for you feedback
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    • Profile picture of the author JeffHylands
      Originally Posted by Alex Nordach View Post

      Thanks Jeff! A lot of good lessons in there. I know that in my own case I need to start split-testing/paying more attention to conversions in particular.
      No problem thanks for keeping the conversation going

      Something else I forgot to mention especially with ecommerce stores is test for bugs in checkout and on the product pages. Too many store fronts all have glitches in their programming, also check your site in different browsers! Can't tell you how many times I found bugs that were killing my conversions.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marcus Rockey
    It's been a while since I have posted on here, been mainly on the SEO Forums lately since the Google changes

    I have worked my ass off the last four and a half years. Iv had sites that failed and had a few that made some good money then sold them. My latest website and (only one) at the moment just hit the $117,960.21 in sales mark, seeing that number it amazes me how far I have come.

    I remember the early days where if I made any sort of money even if it was a single dollar I would be happy. Now I am at a point where $200-$300 days are getting boring, that $500 plus a day is now my mark. I often see posts on here "what's the fastest way to make money online". The truth is I don't feel it's possible for a rookie to make anything without going through the failures I did and learning that way.

    Sure there are programs that can help walk you though difficult steps, but there is no success without failures in my opinion, and honestly failing keeps things interesting in this business. Sorry for the ramble I just wanted to post an update of where I am at and hopefully in the next year or so that 100k in sales will be at 500k plus.

    This is one of the most enjoyable posts I have read on WF recently.

    First up congratulations for generating a significant income online. You point that there is a way to make money online that is realistic and achievable.

    Sure there are programs that can help walk you though difficult steps, but there is no success without failures in my opinion, and honestly failing keeps things interesting in this business. Sorry for the ramble I just wanted to post an update of where I am at and hopefully in the next year or so that 100k in sales will be at 500k plus.
    Failing online was a pivotal part of my journey in IM too. I went from one failure to another with little to no success whatsoever. I began making money after six months and once that first big wave of income arrived it became easier and easier to create more profit.

    This has been how my life has gone in general too. I failed with two offline businesses before building one that was really successful. I got caught up in some bad habits at different times too. These also served me well in the long run.

    Ultimately I've had the "gift of suffering." It never felt like a gift at the time but I wouldn't change it for anything.

    Thanks and congratulations.

    Marcus Rockey
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