Super-Newbie needs advice

by teej8
23 replies
Hi everyone,

I am in the process of starting my internet business. I was hoping to get some feedback on my basic plan, and I'd greatly appreciate any other bits of wisdom you have to offer.

My plan is to start a blog in a niche that I have some authority in (health/fitness). I have begun writing an ebook to give away to begin building a list. Of course, the ebook will contain some affiliate links, but I don't want to overload it.

I've also been writing on hubpages. I've published a few hubs on my niche topic and I've received some good feedback. In time, I plan on applying for an adsense account through hubpages.

I know this is not the most original approach, and I am not looking to make 1000's overnight. My immediate goal is to learn by doing.

I have a few questions:

* What is the most effective way to drive traffic to the blog/ebook? My plan is to do lot of posting on forums. But is there a more effective way to jump start my traffic?

* Does Twitter have a place here? If so, what is the best way to get enough followers? I've heard of people buying twitter followers - is this effective?

* I plan on using Hostgator for hosting. They have a business plan for about 10/month. However, I've been taking a hard look at sitebuildit. I have never built a website or blog and my technical skills are almost nonexistent.

* One of the products I am considering promoting is a clickbank ebook. It is a book that I've purchased and it is top-notch. I would have no reservations about encourging people to buy it, but my concern is that the author/publisher doesn't pay for leads. If someone goes to the sales page and subscribes to his list, and doesn't buy the book right away, do I still get paid?

Thats all for now. Thank you in advance for your help!
#advice #supernewbie
  • Profile picture of the author butters
    I suggest you sign up and do this course... The Challenge - It's free and will teach you exactly how to make your first dollar online.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Hooper-Kelly
    Hi teej8,

    Yes, the health niche is a good one, because it's an evergreen one. And, the fact that you have some knowledge and authority is excellent (although choosing an evergreen niche is # 1 priority).

    Becoming an active and useful member of health forums is probably the best way for you to start. Forums are full of targetted prospects and, as you have some knowledge of the subject, you can quickly become the 'go to guy (or gal)'.

    Twitter is good to build a strong following. But this is best done organically, rather than buying followers.

    I highly recommend HostGater for hosting. I've used them since about 2004 and they've never let me down.

    One point: I would not support putting affiliate links in the freebie you're going to give away to build your list.

    In fact, you want to follow up with seven or eight emails with good solid information, before you send a promo of any sort. This builds a solid relationship with your prospects, so they will look forward to hearing from you.

    You did well to purchase the book you plan to promote. I always recommend that. That will enable you to review it with great authority. And - either now, or when you get more advanced - can I suggest you make a video tour? I'm active in the alternative health niche and I get excellent results from this strategy.

    Your competitors won't bother to do that (or even buy the product). And most will be content to scrape a few snippets off the vendor's sales page. So that puts you well ahead.

    Good luck - looks like you are well on the way to success!

    Warmest regards,

    Paul
    Signature
    If you want to stack the copywriting deck in your favor with tricks and hacks producing winners like: "$20K in three days" "650 sold" "30% conversion", then you might like to know I'm retiring and will spill the beans to two people. More info here.
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    • Profile picture of the author teej8
      Thanks, Paul! I wasn't sure when to begin promoting products. I actually like the idea of having no links in the ebook.
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    • Profile picture of the author FredJones
      Paul, you said something that made me pick up my "ears". The video walkthrough... I do it all the time for my physical products, but somehow had never thought of it for digital ones. It's easy to do, and I should do it.

      Thanks. Answers like yours makes Warrior Forum so special.

      Originally Posted by Paul Hooper-Kelly View Post

      Hi teej8,
      ...
      ...
      ...
      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author John Rogers
    You've found a product that you want to promote, and that's where you should start. A lot of would be bloggers start blogs with no real monetization plan. I don't use Clickbank myself, but I believe cookies are good for 60 days.

    If I were in your situation I would focus solely on promoting that one product. It will give you focus. Your giveaway ebook should complement that product, your autoresponder series should promote that product, and your blog posts should address problems that the product solves.

    You can expand to other products later, but by focusing on promoting that one product you will learn what works and what doesn't, and then you can apply that knowledge when you expand your scope.
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  • Profile picture of the author aceshigh888
    10 bucks a month is way too much for hosting. I wouldn't pay a dime for hosting
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    EXERCISE: Take a deep breath, hold for 10 seconds, release. ..... There see you feel better now???
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  • Profile picture of the author tjaysen70
    yeah you can search through this forum to get a lot of good ideas on how to drive traffic. Going the SEO route will take time, so if you have a budget look into ppc to drive traffic asap. Track everything and look at what is converting. Then simply scale it up.
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  • Profile picture of the author teej8
    Thanks for the feedback! Butters - I just signed up for "the challenge!"
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    • Profile picture of the author butters
      Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

      Thanks for the feedback! Butters - I just signed up for "the challenge!"
      A very worthwhile investment in your time + I and many others started out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author aceshigh888
    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    Hi everyone,

    I am in the process of starting my internet business. I was hoping to get some feedback on my basic plan, and I'd greatly appreciate any other bits of wisdom you have to offer.

    My plan is to start a blog in a niche that I have some authority in (health/fitness). I have begun writing an ebook to give away to begin building a list. Of course, the ebook will contain some affiliate links, but I don't want to overload it.

    I've also been writing on hubpages. I've published a few hubs on my niche topic and I've received some good feedback. In time, I plan on applying for an adsense account through hubpages.

    I know this is not the most original approach, and I am not looking to make 1000's overnight. My immediate goal is to learn by doing.

    I have a few questions:

    * What is the most effective way to drive traffic to the blog/ebook? My plan is to do lot of posting on forums. But is there a more effective way to jump start my traffic?

    * Does Twitter have a place here? If so, what is the best way to get enough followers? I've heard of people buying twitter followers - is this effective?

    * I plan on using Hostgator for hosting. They have a business plan for about 10/month. However, I've been taking a hard look at sitebuildit. I have never built and website or blog and my technical skills are almost nonexistent.

    * One of the products I am considering promoting is a clickbank ebook. It is a book that I've purchased and it is top-notch (I purhcased it myself!) I would have no reservations about encourging people to buy it, but my concern is that the author/publisher doesn't pay for leads. If someone goes to the sales page and subscribes to his list, and doesn't buy the book right away, do I still get paid?

    Thats all for now. Thank you in advance for your help!
    I think if you wanna stand any chance what so ever you just have to reengineer their product. Do what they actually do, not what they tell you to go and do in the course. Courses are mostly all lies. They make their money selling the courses. Not from teaching you what to do in the course. All they teach in every course is how the user should just there affiliate program. It's stupid.
    Signature
    EXERCISE: Take a deep breath, hold for 10 seconds, release. ..... There see you feel better now???
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  • Profile picture of the author hapete126
    Looks like you're on the right track here. Lot of newbies tend to have this get-rich-quick mentally rather they want to admit it or not.

    As for the traffic, article marketing is definitely a solid way. I would suggest not just on Hubpages, but to spin the same article and putting it up on Squidoo.com and building a lens. Find few other authority site article directory and make sure you blog regularly. If you just do these, you should see a nice gradual increase in traffic and thus, sales.
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    • Profile picture of the author teej8
      Originally Posted by hapete126 View Post

      Looks like you're on the right track here. Lot of newbies tend to have this get-rich-quick mentally rather they want to admit it or not.

      As for the traffic, article marketing is definitely a solid way. I would suggest not just on Hubpages, but to spin the same article and putting it up on Squidoo.com and building a lens. Find few other authority site article directory and make sure you blog regularly. If you just do these, you should see a nice gradual increase in traffic and thus, sales.
      Thanks! Eventually, I do plan on spinning my articles on Squidoo, but I think I'm going to wait until I get adsense approval. I heard that they are pretty agressive in detecting duplicate content. The hubs were written by me and are 100% original, but I think I'll play it safe and hold off on Squidoo until after they approve my adsense account.

      Thanks to everyone for taking the time to give me solid advice, I plan on putting it to good use!
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  • Profile picture of the author thedanbrown
    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    Hi everyone,

    I am in the process of starting my internet business. I was hoping to get some feedback on my basic plan, and I'd greatly appreciate any other bits of wisdom you have to offer.

    My plan is to start a blog in a niche that I have some authority in (health/fitness). I have begun writing an ebook to give away to begin building a list. Of course, the ebook will contain some affiliate links, but I don't want to overload it.

    I've also been writing on hubpages. I've published a few hubs on my niche topic and I've received some good feedback. In time, I plan on applying for an adsense account through hubpages.

    I know this is not the most original approach, and I am not looking to make 1000's overnight. My immediate goal is to learn by doing.

    I have a few questions:

    * What is the most effective way to drive traffic to the blog/ebook? My plan is to do lot of posting on forums. But is there a more effective way to jump start my traffic?

    * Does Twitter have a place here? If so, what is the best way to get enough followers? I've heard of people buying twitter followers - is this effective?

    * I plan on using Hostgator for hosting. They have a business plan for about 10/month. However, I've been taking a hard look at sitebuildit. I have never built a website or blog and my technical skills are almost nonexistent.

    * One of the products I am considering promoting is a clickbank ebook. It is a book that I've purchased and it is top-notch. I would have no reservations about encourging people to buy it, but my concern is that the author/publisher doesn't pay for leads. If someone goes to the sales page and subscribes to his list, and doesn't buy the book right away, do I still get paid?

    Thats all for now. Thank you in advance for your help!
    Hey man, add me on Skype I'd be happy to chat about what you need to get started with this plan. It's a little more complicated than just giving away a free ebook and then trying to sell a clickbank product, although that's a solid strategy it's a bit simplified.

    My Skype ID is 'sem3737' so let me know if you want some advice and I'd be happy to help you to get started with your blog, lead capture funnel, and follow up sequence.

    Cheers,

    Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author MKCookins
    Traffic wise it is best to pick 2 methods you think you would enjoy doing. Then spend your time on these methods until you start to see results. After that you try another method.

    Keep testing different methods until you see 2-3 ways that drive a lot of traffic to your site and focus all your energy into these methods. It is better to have multiple sources of traffic coming to your site, then relying on 1 method.

    Also I have found squeeze pages pretty effective when it comes to building list. You can have a combination of both squeeze page and your blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Hooper-Kelly
      Hi Fred,

      Originally posted by Fred Jones

      Paul, you said something that made me pick up my "ears". The video walkthrough... I do it all the time for my physical products, but somehow had never thought of it for digital ones. It's easy to do, and I should do it.

      Thanks. Answers like yours makes Warrior Forum so special.
      Glad to be of service!

      Paul
      Signature
      If you want to stack the copywriting deck in your favor with tricks and hacks producing winners like: "$20K in three days" "650 sold" "30% conversion", then you might like to know I'm retiring and will spill the beans to two people. More info here.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7660846].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author teej8
        Originally Posted by Paul Hooper-Kelly View Post

        Hi Fred,

        Glad to be of service!

        Paul
        Paul, I'm going to check out your website right now!

        Thank you so much for your advice!
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  • Profile picture of the author bgx
    Make the website or blog, make a short video about your ebook even with windows movie maker, make an account on youtube, put at your account your website or blog, upload the video (watch on youtube videos about how to have many views) mention in the video more on the website put the link in the description.
    You don't need to buy twitter followers, check this there are websites where people who follow back if you follow them are listed. I also recommend facebook and google+ (if you already have a facebook account ask your friends to like your website page).
    For hosting I highly recommend weebly because it has free forever hosting, you can make a great drag and drop website and use html other things,they have webinar to attend to see how to use it where you can ask questions, if you buy a domain name from them using the promo code they will give you some 3 days after you register you will have to pay only about $30 for 1 year with privacy included. Check it by click here and than register you will have a free month of pro account that will let you add a favicon, edit footer and other cool features.(If you'll try it please publish your website so I can get one free month too.Thank you).
    Put a backlink to your website on the ebook, mention it was made by you, include copyright even if you give it for free, because if it's good it might be posted by others on forums or other places like piratebay where other people can download it or use it as their own, it's good to have a backlink to your website, this way you will have more visitors.
    Make a new email address and use it only for website host, don't share it with friends, family, don't use it to register to other websites.
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  • Profile picture of the author itchydog
    Creating youtube videos is a great way to get traffic, especially if you find a "thirsty" audience that wants information but isn't getting it.

    Squidoo also works well.

    If you buy followers, they will not be actual twitter users. It works as a one-time thing to get the ball rolling and to impress visitors to your twitter page. Then to continue growing, you interact with other twitter users and continually produce interesting tweets.

    Forum posting works as you can build a reputation of being helpful and knowledgeable.

    What is effective for someone is an absolute failure for someone else. Go with what you find works and enjoy doing.
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    • Profile picture of the author teej8
      [If you buy followers, they will not be actual twitter users. It works as a one-time thing to get the ball rolling and to impress visitors to your twitter page. Then to continue growing, you interact with other twitter users and continually produce interesting tweets]

      You are right, I was considering buying some followers for appearances. Not a huge amount, just enough to get the ball rolling. Of all the social media, Twitter intrigues me the most. I've also seen people on fiverr offering to tweet to their followers. I'm looking into this as well.

      Thank you, and everyone else, for the sound advice, and for the encouragement. WF is the best!
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  • Profile picture of the author trafficmasters
    You know sometimes its best to find a traffic source, then build a campaign around it.

    The niche you have picked is pretty competitive but dont let me put you off, this is the internet after all and there are millions of people to potentially sell to

    You could maybe try getting your e-book on google playstore or something similar, linking back to your website?

    Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    One of the products I am considering promoting is a clickbank ebook. It is a book that I've purchased and it is top-notch. I would have no reservations about encourging people to buy it, but my concern is that the author/publisher doesn't pay for leads. If someone goes to the sales page and subscribes to his list, and doesn't buy the book right away, do I still get paid?

    Thats all for now. Thank you in advance for your help!

    If they just get on his list and not purchase, he's got a lead and you've got nothing. I wouldn't promote a Clickbank product that had an opt in page rather than a sales page for buying the product. Sounds like a big waste of time to me promoting someone else's product and helping them build their list for free.
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  • Profile picture of the author djleon1
    When you develop your website have your hubs link to it especially if they are already getting traffic. Hostgator is just fine and you can find plenty of free guides on setting it up but using fantastico to install wordpress inside your cpanel on hostgator is fine. I would not have my site solely focus on promoting just the cb product but have it be more focused on what you know about the fitness health niche.

    This way you can build your list, promote other products and develop your own brand.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    My plan is to start a blog in a niche that I have some authority in (health/fitness).
    Good approach. I assume you are knowledgeable in this area/subject?

    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    I have begun writing an ebook to give away
    Publish content on your own site - and sell the ebook.

    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    I've also been writing on hubpages.
    Waste of time.

    Publish content on your own site.

    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    What is the most effective way to drive traffic to the blog
    A full on content assault. Start publishing content to your own site (consistently) and build a list.

    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    My plan is to do lot of posting on forums. Does Twitter have a place here?
    Use these external properties to drive traffic to your site. Only continue to do so, if it works.

    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    I've heard of people buying twitter followers - is this effective?
    Don't buy traffic or fake followers or any of that crap. Do it properly.

    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    I plan on using Hostgator for hosting. They have a business plan for about 10/month. However, I've been taking a hard look at sitebuildit. I have never built a website or blog and my technical skills are almost nonexistent.
    Pay someone to set you up a Wordpress blog. This is all you need. Infact, you could probably do it yourself. If not, hire someone. Would probably cost you $50

    Originally Posted by teej8 View Post

    * One of the products I am considering promoting is a clickbank ebook. It is a book that I've purchased and it is top-notch. I would have no reservations about encourging people to buy it, but my concern is that the author/publisher doesn't pay for leads. If someone goes to the sales page and subscribes to his list, and doesn't buy the book right away, do I still get paid?
    Worry about getting your own stuff sorted out first.

    Build your site, get your ebook on there for sale, and start publishing useful content.
    Signature

    BS free SEO services, training and advice - SEO Point

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