I have searched the forums for years

My advice would be to try and find someone that you trust to follow their methods for teaching so you can learn the basics, whether it be Adsense, CPA or SEO.

Look at IM Report Card to find trustworthy people...my favorite is Chris Farrell.

Others will have suggestions for you too!

Good luck!

The first thing you want to think , wait, the first thing you need to do is choose your niche and get familiarized with building a list. Pretty much anyone on this forum that is experienced is going to tell you the same thing. There IS some momey to be made with what you are thinking of doing but it takes longer and you may start getting frustrated dealing with Googles constant changes. Do what you feel comfortable with and what you enjoy. I am just telling you how to get the best start.

My advice to you is to remember that doing affiliate marketing is not a business model. Find something that you're good at and enjoy doing and build a business around that. Are you good at building WP sites? Start finding customers who are in need of a website. Once you have some customers then find a way to scale up your business.

If you're still uncertain on what sort of business to start then continue focusing on affiliate marketing until you figure out what you want to do.

I make decent income from affiliate marketing products, but if I relied on that income to keep me afloat I would have been dead in the water several times.

My best advice is to:

1. Get your own website. Grab a domain name that has internet business or work at home in it. (This also applies to other niches)

2. That website should have one thing and that is to capture names and emails of people so that you can follow up with them.

3. Have your own autoresponder account and follow up with your subscribers. Send them articles that you or others have written. Also include different products that you can find on clickbank in the make money online niche.

4. Learn, even from buying books and ebooks online, how to effectively promote your website to targeted individuals. You want to learn everything you can about HOW TO PROMOTE ONLINE.

There is one book that I read and is very good when it comes to showing you how to market online. That book is called How I Made My First Million Online And How You Can Too By Ewen Chia. You can get it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble's website.

5. Never give up and always learn from your mistakes and setbacks.

Hope this helps.

I registered on IM report card and looked at the Chris Farrel membership site. Is that something that you would advise to a newbie? Thanks for all the responses too!

Well, look, when you say you are "in retail" currently, what exactly do you mean? Are you a cashier at a McDonalds? Do you sell anything directly to customers? What experiences in retail do you have?

Point: If your "in retail" experience means you have some real sales experience, instead of getting into unfamiliar turf right away, why not get into Offline Marketing? Use your experience to start making bank with something close to home.

Without a Doubt

BUILD A LIST!

Find somthing that interests you.....

Then start building your list.

My suggestion...... start a service of some kind that your GREAT at and that is reasonably priced, something you enjoy or can automate as much as possible, and that is in DEMAND, and you will do well.

Your not going to be able to sit and not work, but you will have good income.

You'll never go full time on AdSense.

That's right, never give up your full time job until you are earning more than enough from your IM ventures. While you have tried a wso that apparently did not work for you, analyze your previous actions, at what particular part have you fallen short of. Have you given a thought on how you would like to start? What are your strengths? Hobbies? Or passion perhaps?

Focus on one thing at a time. Sounds like creating informational sites and monetizing them with Adsense (if you get approved) is a good way for you to start. It's simple and you can do it in your spare time.

Learn to do keyword research so that you can include some buyer keywords naturally into your content. Gradually, with time and effort, you'll grow that income.

People I follow in the IM world are Jason Fladlien and Maria Gudelis. They are very good at what they do and very helpful.

Clarity is a HUGE part of IM success. 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.

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.

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

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 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

Learn how to get traffic to your site other than paid advertising. Don't overlook free marketing. Cause once the advertising funds are depleted... how will you get traffic to your site?