New member, a web developer, needing advice

by dustyb

Posted: 11 years ago 7 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hi all,

I've been browsing WF for many weeks now, on and off, but I now feel it's time to make my plan and get to work.

I'm a web developer, and have been building sites for companies for 12+ years. I have been working freelance for about a year, but I'm coming to the conclusion that there are more profitable ways to make money online rather than building sites for others, in a market full of competition, in an industry where the costs of building websites are decreasing all the time.

My freelancing is on a full time basis and I need to make enough to support a family of 5 and a mortgage, so I'm serious about putting in the work. I figure I'm in a good position at the moment: I have the skills to build sites quickly, I know WordPress like the back of my hand, I run my own web server for client sites, and I have a reasonably good knowledge of SEO, PPC and copywriting.

As many people have advised in other threads, I'm going to make a plan and stick to one channel, and refine it until I turn a profit. My problem is, I don't know which channel to plough my efforts into:

Affiliate marketing - create content to build an audience/list, in order to sell to. Possibly create my own content in a given niche to sell through e.g. clickbank
Drop shipping - find a good, under served product/niche, with a supplier to handle fulfilment, then build an ecomm site to drive sales
Local lead generation - sites to capture leads for local businesses, using CPC/organic to outperform the suppliers themselves, then sell them the leads
Longtail content - possibly use freely available data to auto-generate content, and rely on quantity of visitors in the longtail, monetise through adsense/affiliates

The quantity of info and advice on here is overwhelming, and there are some great 'all-in-one' threads, but some of those posts may be a little old now, and I know the landscape can change quite quickly, particularly with Google's algo changes etc.

My question for you kind helpful folk is this - which of the above channels is likely to be most profitable. I'd particularly like to hear advice from people who have tried more than one for a sustained period of time e.g. I tried X, Y and Z, but X made no money, Y is too competitive, but now I'm killing it with Z.

Thanks in advance, and I hope I may be able to return the advice where I can now I'm a fully-fledged WF member

#advice #approach #channel #developer #member #methods #needing #plan #tactics #web

helisell 11 years ago

My suggestion would be none of the above.

If you know wordpress like the back of your hand then I would suggest you think about creating your own product around that.

I would put together an info video and give it away here. Collect some email addresses than start to survey your subscribers about what they really want in a wordpress tutorial style product. There are people doing this but, if you get close communication going with people and tailor your product around what 'they' tell you they want...you will be doing what almost nobody else does and you'll end up with a super desirable product.

This may seem like a longer term way of making money but it actually tends to produce income much more quickly.

You can PM me if you want a quick chat for some guidance.

I've made my living this way (in a different niche) for the last 7 years.

Good luck
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- nerdy88 11 years ago
  
  Hello
  
  It seems like you have a lot of options going for you. But I wish i had your skill to build websites in the flash of an eye and then I would probably try all the above in a given time frame. The beauty of online marketing is that its an easy set up that you can walk away from after all things are in order and you still make money while you sleep, that is the appeal that is giving internet marketing this strong get-rich-quick buzz!!!!!
  I have tried a couple of the methods you stated. I think that drop-shipping can be a good venture if you have the resources to meet the need of the clients. You will have to work hard at what you want to do.
  I do affiliate marketing. It is harder than I initially imagined but the results you get are really up to you. You have to find the best one that works for you and concentrate on that. The problem with most marketers is that they are still thinking like consumers and neglecting the one thing that makes money online that is PUBLISHING. I know a lot of publishing secrets and that is the way to get your content out there for whatever way you choose to make money.
  When you publish and market you will find clients ready to pounce on the wants and needs that you sell them.
  SO find the desire you hope to satisfy and bombs away!!!!! Make what you have appealing. I choose affiliate marketing!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:
  
  Thanks
  
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  nerdy88 11 years ago
  
  yeaah! work hard at it
  
  Thanks
  
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  dustyb 11 years ago
  
  Hi all - does anyone else have any advice on the best approach to start with?
  
  Also, off-topic, but how do you thank people for their posts? Where you see the 'The Following User Says Thank You...' - I'm not seeing any button/icon for this - do you have to have posted a minimum number of times to be able to thank people?
  
  Thanks
  
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