If Your Life Depended On Investing $10,000?

12 years ago

I would say that the first mistake you are making is paying someone else to do the hard work for you - think about it - those guys you are paying are doing the same trick for hundreds of other people so there's no way you are getting some unique opportunity or website.

If I were you I would save that 10k you have in the bank and invest in the following:

- web hosting
- domain name

Off the top of my head, you will have spent around $100 - this is the investment you should be making.

then all you need is time.

I started IM 2 years ago and spent around $100 in my 1st month and then started working hard and creating projects.

I won't tell you how much I earn now from IM but needless to say that $100 dollars was the best investment i ever made.

Thanks
2 replies

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7733931].message }}

Horny Devil

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by maxcl

I would say that the first mistake you are making is paying someone else to do the hard work for you - think about it - those guys you are paying are doing the same trick for hundreds of other people so there's no way you are getting some unique opportunity or website.

If I were you I would save that 10k you have in the bank and invest in the following:

- web hosting
- domain name

Off the top of my head, you will have spent around $100 - this is the investment you should be making.

then all you need is time.

I started IM 2 years ago and spent around $100 in my 1st month and then started working hard and creating projects.

I won't tell you how much I earn now from IM but needless to say that $100 dollars was the best investment i ever made.

What a load of rubbish, and incredibly bad advice to the many newbies who view this thread.

Whilst simply buying web hosting and a domain will work for the chosen few, it is only those with some business nous, an exemplary idea, or a product in demand, that will make it successful. Buying web hosting and a domain is NOT a fast track to success no matter what way you look at it, how hard you work, or how much time you give it. Look at the thousands of posts we see on WF every week from those who have a website and are desperate for advice on how to monetise it or make it work.

The web is littered with the shells of millions of defunct web sites from those who thought it was a gimme to make money overnight simply by having a presence online.

So the OP has had some bad luck in his choice of mentor. Well shit happens, and even with due diligence there's absolutely no guarantee of success when you try to follow and implement someone else's business ideas and advice. But there are also countless decent folk out there. Decent, knowledgeable folk who have made a major contribution to IM and as such are well positioned to help others who could benefit greatly from them. Many people don't have either the time, knowledge, experience, willpower, or skills to make a success online, and this is where a mentor is invaluable, whether paid for or not.

So your experience is just that; one person's experience. To believe that everyone else can do it just because you have is very naive . . . and bad advice.

[ 3 ] Thanks
2 replies

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734001].message }}

Dinospider

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Horny Devil

What a load of rubbish, and incredibly bad advice to the many newbies who view this thread.

Whilst simply buying web hosting and a domain will work for the chosen few, it is only those with some business nous, an exemplary idea, or a product in demand, that will make it successful. Buying web hosting and a domain is NOT a fast track to success no matter what way you look at it, how hard you work, or how much time you give it.

The web is littered with the shells of millions of defunct web sites from those who thought it was a gimme to make money overnight, simply by having a presence online.

So the OP has had some bad luck in his choice of mentor. Well shit happens, and even with due diligence there's absolutely no guarantee of success when you try to follow and implement someone else's business ideas and advice. But there are also countless decent folk out there. Decent, knowledgeable folk who have made a major contribution to IM and as such are well positioned to help others who could benefit greatly from them. Many people don't have either the time, knowledge, experience, willpower, or skills to make a success online, and this is where a decent mentor is invaluable.

So your experience is just that; one person's experience. To believe that everyone else can do it just because you have is very naive . . . and bad advice.

Excellent reply, spot on.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734008].message }}

maxcl

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Horny Devil

What a load of rubbish, and incredibly bad advice to the many newbies who view this thread.

I hear what you are saying, but this is my advice for what worked for me.

I could have constructed a better response in truth.

The OP asked for advice - so I gave him my opinion.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734026].message }}

aceshigh888

12 years ago

PLEASE LISTEN....

Don't spend ANY OF THAT MONEY! Not one dime! At least if it was me I wouldn't do that, espcially if I only had 20k to work with.

You can go on Flippa and find the odd site, but most of those are big scams just the same. They make BIG CLAIMS but the real world number are fake, and it's so easy to fake stats now a days.

The better approach is like this. Either start doing affiliate marketing which costs you nothing, which is likly the best approach if you're just starting. That involves going to Clickbank.com getting an affiliate account set up and finding high gravity products in there "marketplace" to promote.

Generally each merchant on there has an affiliate training page that shows affilaites what to do to promote there offer.

But if you feel like you need to start a site then you should do what you love which is music. Start some kind of music website in whatever niche of music you're into.

here are your costs:
Domain name rented for 1 year: 10 bucks (use something like: namecheap, avoid godaddy as they steal domain searches)

Or just start for free using Tumblr, wordpress.com, or blogger by setting up a blog there. Then later if and when it takes off you could migrate it to your own domain.

Godaddy is a good hosting provider though. Or there's free hosting available if you search around (that's if you get your own domain name). so tha's like about 50 bucks a year.

You can build a site fast and easy with no experience using wordpress. Probably your best route.

So all you should spend is at most 60 bucks. 10 for the domain name and 1 yrs's hosting. Everything else you do for free by asking questions in here, and by doing google searches and research.

Like find some sites you like using. (simple sites I mean) Find out what they do to make money. And copy there business model. That's often the best apporach.

But please trust me when I say "save your money dude"!!!! You've already learned the hard way by almost losing what would have been almost 20 percent of your savings. You got out with the skin of your teeth!

AND YOU STILL WANT TO GAMBLE? are you nuts?? No way trust me I've been doing this stuff forever, I know exactly what I'm talking about. Save your money. Don't spend 1 dime of it on anything! You need a buffer zone to keep you afloat in life in cash the SHTF. That's your 20k.

Even by posting that on here you'll probably get a bunch of "offers", don't do ANY OF THEM! Just find free ways to get started. Again: affiliate marketing. It's free to start. That's how newbie's start dude!

If you do get so brave as to do your own site then you do it using "shoe string tactics" you must become a shoe string expert. Otherwise you'll blow threw your money in no time flat. I know so many people who've done that. It's scary. Don't do it. This is a risky business. 1 out of 100 success at best. That's why affiliate marketing improves your odds as the "merchant" has done the ground work for you.

If you venture off doing your own site I honestly wouldn't spend a dime. Just do Tumblr, Wordpress.com, or Blogger. Then you get a sales pitch going on there, you link it to your paypal account and you see if you can start making money. Eventually if it starts to make money you upgrade and get your own domain name and start to migrate what you've done on the blog to your own domain to impove the branding.

You'll save yourself 10k by doing that, and you can test to see if you can get something actually working first before spending 1 dime. Be careful my friend. You could blow that 20k in no time flat if you're not careful. At best spend the 60 bucks to buy a domain name for 1 yr plus 1 yr hosting. But don't blow your hard earned money, it's too risky and too easy to do when trying to start a new biz online. You got to "shoestring it". If you need some services done use fiverr.com it's 5 bucks a pop to get some stuff done. And stuff like that. Google shoestring internet biz or something like that. Goodl uck!

.....oh crap.... did I just write all this on someone who's just trying to get a free seo link duhh

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

EXERCISE: Take a deep breath, hold for 10 seconds, release. ..... There see you feel better now???

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734080].message }}

Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by aceshigh888

Or just start for free using Tumblr, wordpress.com, or blogger by setting up a blog there. Then later if and when it takes off you could migrate it to your own domain.

There speaks someone who's clearly never read Wordpress.com's terms of service, has no idea what is and isn't allowed there, and apparently has also not looked at any of the threads in this forum in which so many Warriors explain why starting off at Blogger is such a huge mistake.

Google Suspended My Innocuous Blogger Blog
Squidoo/Blogger as primary website
Blogger and deleted blogs?
Blogger blog removed
Wow Blogger Deemed All My Hard Work Spam
Is blogger blogs worthy?
have blogspot energy?
is Wordpress really a better choice than Blogger in my case?

Originally Posted by aceshigh888

Godaddy is a good hosting provider though.

For very good reasons, the general consensus in the Warrior Forum and in many other places where marketers chat, as you can see for yourself from any of hundreds of threads here in which this is discussed, is that Go Daddy is one of the world's worst hosting providers.

Aceshigh, when you have such little idea of what you're talking about, it honestly doesn't help anyone if you try to "advise" them.

I know some of these things are "opinion", and yours - if you insist - is entitled to be radically different from that of anyone who knows what they're talking about, but telling people they should start a marketing blog at wordpress.com is just plain wrong. It would be deleted the second a staff members notices it. Please don't try to advise people by just repeating what you've seen other people saying - it's honestly not helpful to do that. That's exactly how all these silly "urban myths" get perpetuated.

[ 5 ] Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734575].message }}

loutop 12 years ago

Hi
I was interested in what you had to say about go-daddy and wordpress. I have only mainly used godaddy, because I'm used to it, so would like to know why you think it's not good. (I don't want to recommend it in that case.) And why isn't starting a marketing blog good with wp, that's how most people start isn't it ?
Look forward to your reply
Louise
- Thanks
Signature

Louise Topping
http://louisetopping.com/blog
Set up a fully automated,monetized blog quickly with "Finding Financial Freedom"
http://prospects-success.com/instant-page-new-1-2
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7799498].message }}

Dinospider

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by maxcl

I would say that the first mistake you are making is paying someone else to do the hard work for you - think about it - those guys you are paying are doing the same trick for hundreds of other people so there's no way you are getting some unique opportunity or website.

That's not entirely true, there are services that do provide a good quality service. Some people don't like to do the nitty gritty work, or simply don't have the time or knowledge to build a good quality website.

We provide a good quality authority service, to get people on the way to building a quality site.

What you do have to watch out for though, is the guaranteed make money website services, just take a moment and think...

Can you guarantee that a visitor to any website can make a click on adsense or mkae a purchase on amazon? No, not without paying for traffic, that is paid to click advertisements.

Them sort of services are the ones to stay away from.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734007].message }}

shane_k

12 years ago

Ok first mistake you made is mentioning that you have $10,000 that you want to invest. Doing that on a public forum especially when you are new is just not smart.

(You wouldn't flash money around in public would you? Well what you done by mentioning that you have X amount to invest is like the digital version of that.)

Now you will probably end up getting a bunch of private messages from a variety of people offering to "help you out" and that they have "the answer"

So step one is to stop holding up a big, huge flag that says, "Hey, scammers I am over here! I have money to spend!"

Step two is to seriously look at how long with that money you have saved up last you? If you take all your bills and add them up (for example my fixed expenses are $889.70 a month, and my variable expenses bring that total up to about $1,337/month)

Do you know how much you need to live off of? Take that amount and divide it by the money you have saved and that will tell you how long your money will last.

Now...

I have two products that I would recommend that you check out. Both of them together won't cost you more than $100.

The first one is "Promo Dashboard" by Marlon Sanders
Basically what Marlon has done is to create a product that explains how to research your target market, find out what they are looking for and how to create those products, or promote other peoples products and drive those people onto your list.
It is step by step and very simple program. But it has helped me out tremendously.
I think he sells it for about $70

The other one is a WSO right on this forum called "Outsourcing Blitzkrieg"

I don't remember the author, but what this guy did is to take all the outsourcers he has used in the past and created a list out of them.

So these are outsourcers that have proven to be trustworthy, not like the scammers that you mentioned in your post.

This ebook cost me about $18

So those two products combined together, one teaching you the basics of the business, and the other giving you a list of reputable outsourcers that you can pay to do the work for you is a phenominal combination.

You could look into getting a coach also, but dude, don't go around telling people that you have X amount to invest.

Instead, figure out what you want, and then ask questions to get your answers.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7733998].message }}

GeorgiaB

12 years ago

Use some money to make a product and a great sales funnel (if you don't want to make hard work yourself) I advise you to outsource only what you can't do yourself. Then use the main budget to drive a lot of traffic to your squeeze page and sales funnel.

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734366].message }}

dotdash

12 years ago

Originally Posted by getmoneyzone

Use some money to make a product and a great sales funnel (if you don't want to make hard work yourself) I advise you to outsource only what you can't do yourself. Then use the main budget to drive a lot of traffic to your squeeze page and sales funnel.

I second this

Get what you need to build a good funnel (autoresponder/membership script/WP theme/split testing plug ins), get some good training on how to do the process end to end (ask around for proven and effective WSO's or mentorships).

You can outsource the funnel build even, people out there specialise in setting up DAP/optimizepress/other solutions for not too much. Outsource some good design.

If you want outsource some product/content creation (or do it yourself)

Invest in paid traffic (solos/PPC/PPV/facebook ads etc)

Watch and track your numbers (traffic/conversions/EPCs etc)

Can do all this with $10k and have a nice starting budget for traffic

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734598].message }}

therealaxis

12 years ago

Thanks for everyone's reply's so far!

I do realize it is not the best idea to post on a forum that I have 10k to invest but I have been lurking around here for long enough to realize everything people pm you is not always what it seems.With that being said there are a lot of legit folks around here as well and I value thier knowledgeable opinion.

I have had this same $20k for roughly 2 years and I just hate to think that instead of it just sitting in the bank for two years it could have doubled had I made a smart investment.What sparked that thought was after purchasing Brooks Brothers shirts from the Goodwill for $4 and selling them on eBay for $20-$30 I realized every dollar I had just sitting could have been doubled easily.My goodwill method can only be scaled up as much as one person can handle and I am now at that point.

I did get tired of paying eBay fees and figured it would be good idea to make my own site and try to drive sales to that so a few weeks ago I built TheEdenHallAcademy | Vintage Fashion On A Modest Budget .It still has a lot of work to go but the basics are there and I was able to do that entirely myself so costs were 0.I am not sure if it would be a smart idea to try to rank for keywords like High End Fashion,Vintage Fashion,etc........

Music is actually were most of my savings have come from.I produce for a record label called Strange Music as well as running my soundclick site SoundClick artist: Real Talk Beatz - page with MP3 music downloads that has been actively on the first page of the soundclick charts for years.We have been driving sales by creating a mailing list and adding every old and new buyer as well as using social media to try and grow the list, currently it has around 3 k targeted members on the list.

I am not very knowledgeable about backlinks,SEO,etc so doing CPC has never really been my thing.I have invested in some wholesale products on BHW with some success and sort of gravitate towards those type of methods when investing.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7734846].message }}

fluffythewondercat 12 years ago

OP, you are talking to a bunch of people who have little-to-no idea what it's like to be a merchant selling physical goods.

Most people here are trying to make money from their own affiliate sites or selling info products to people on their mailing lists. (And many of them make income claims that are...ahem...hard to believe.)

You have had some success on eBay and you've reached the first hurdle most people get to, which is that buying at garage sales/thrift stores can be profitable but it is not scalable.

Because you know the eBay ropes specifically and the ecommerce ropes generally, you are probably better off building on that rather than trying to bootstrap yourself into building a blog or affiliate sites or whatnot. That can take months of learning.

eBay is all about traffic. You will never get the kind of traffic to your own site that you can get on eBay by selling the right things. You're a musician; you can either carry products other musicians buy or you can cater to the novices and hobbyists. Oh yeah, don't spend any money on buying lists of wholesale outlets. To find manufacturers and distributors just takes a little research.

fLufF
--
- [ 5 ] Thanks
Signature

Fiverr is looking for freelance writers for its blog. Details here.
Love microjobs? Work when you want and get paid in cash the same day!
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7735450].message }}

Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by 8atty

3a. getting people to sign up = hard

Not that hard: you just need ...

(a) prominently to incentivize the opt-in on your site's landing page with a suitable "free report", which offers something of value to the targeted traffic and not easily available anywhere else, and which serves the purposes described in this post, and ...

(b) to appreciate that however you do it, there'll be many visitors who won't/don't choose to opt in, and that it's about "getting your percentage" of them, and accepting that.

Originally Posted by 8atty

3b. how to make someone enter name and email address on your site?

You don't need their names, just their email addresses. It would be a mistake to use their names anyway. That screams "marketer" at recipients and many people don't like it. Also, you'll typically get 12-15% more opting in, if you ask for an email address only. (More here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982 ).

Originally Posted by 8atty

4. How to build up a reputation on the internet to get people to trust you..

You don't need a reputation "on the internet" to get people to trust you. You just need to establish credibility and trust with your own readers/visitors/subscribers, through your interactions with them.

Originally Posted by 8atty

looking at 6 months plus to get started?

Maybe. It took me 4-5 months. But when I started, I didn't know most of what you know now. (On the other hand, I had plenty of time available, and worked 20-25 hours per work, to start).

By the way ...

Originally Posted by 8atty

i should build a website to write about the product' but to NOT have the link to the product on this page, or anywhere.

I don't quite agree with that part. There's nothing wrong with having a link to the product on your site (albeit maybe not on the landing page). For a start, it enables you in your email series to link to it. You might make some sales of the product to people who click a link on your website (but expect them to be people who've got to that page/link by clicking a link you've sent them in an email, rather than people who are non-opted-in visitors to your site: you'll make very few ClickBank product sales that way, clearly).

Originally Posted by 8atty

How would you approach this area of making money online, knowing what you do now, step by step.

Hmmm, you're not asking much.

:p

My steps are all here (but you may need the matching shoes to take them): http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5721774

Now I'm thinking about products suitable for a "batty" affiliate: looks like the celebrated "pipistrelle niche" awaits you? ^V^

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7792757].message }}

MktCoach

12 years ago

There's nothing wrong with telling people how much money you intend to work with. It would be a mistake, however, to part with it without sufficient forethought!

In other words, WHATEVER you do, don't do it blindly.

So, you can spend as much as you need to, outsource as much as makes sense - all that. But under all circumstances you must FIRST KNOW what you're doing and WHY you should spend X or outsource any tasks.

With this in mind, first learn what business model appeals to you most, basing on all the research you can do. Once you know that, ask yourself what is the best way to prepare to execute that business model. How much can you do - and how much someone else SHOULD do (if you're not expert in that area).

So, for example, most people will want to cut corners on copywriting an design. If you're strong in that area, do it yourself. If you're not that great - outsource that. And so on.

Even before you outsource, put all your numbers down on paper (erm - in a spreadsheet) and see what they add up to. ALSO put down the projected TIME per task.

.................................................. ..........WHO......day1......day2.......dayX.....e tc....$outlay
main site design.....................................Outs... .....start.......................end.............. .$100
content research....................................Me.... ......start......end.............................. ..$0
content creation...................
landing page 1 design........
landing page 2 design.......
followup email writing......
autoresponder setup.............
tracker setup.............
... and so on and on

Make sure you have EACH STEP, no matter how small, plotted in your budget and make REALISTIC time and money plans.

Now that you have your PREP budget down, do a TRAFFIC COSTS budget

.................................................. ..........WHO......day1......day2.......dayX.....e tc....$outlay
traffic acquisition, SEO
traffic acquisition, article marketing
traffic acquisition, video marketing
traffic acquisition, .... etc
traffic acquisition, paid source 1, cpv
traffic acquisition, paid source 2, cpm
traffic acquisition, paid source 3, cpc
traffic acquisition, paid source 4, solos
traffic acquisition..... etc

And then do a CASHFLOW PROJECTION

Traffic source X.... expected conversion: 1% ... volume: 1000 views.... = 10 conversions
Traffic source Y.... expected conversion: 0.1%... etc

And then multiply that by your per-product earnings. And then - see how that works with your cost budget!

In all expenses, assume HIGHER costs - double. In all incomes, assume LOWER gains - half.

Then, after you run your test - which you must do at a MINIMUM sensible spending level - correct your projections and run another test.

Once you start getting consistent and predictable results - start scaling up. If you were clever, you would only have used a small portion of your $10k to prepare and test - so that now you have room to inject some extra funds into a PROVEN business model.

Hope this super-fast recap makes sense

Thanks

Signature

Here's a unique 100% FREE book about the best online business models. No strings attached. Enjoy!
Looking for an online business system that works? Time you checked out the IM Competitive Edge.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7792772].message }}

PerformanceMan

12 years ago

You have an eCommerce store and $10,000. Might I suggest what is known as 'advertising' to attract more targeted traffic to your offer? In general that is the fastest way to increase sales.

Thanks

Signature

Free Special Report on Mindset - Level Up with Positive Thinking

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7792805].message }}

Lucian Lada

12 years ago

Originally Posted by 8atty

2. building a website around that product with high quality articles = OK

Originally Posted by 8atty

3a. getting people to sign up = hard
3b. how to make someone enter name and email address on your site? = Hard

4. How to build up a reputation on the internet to get people to trust you.. = Very hard. and looking at 6 months plus to get started?

If you're confident you can do point 2, then point 3 and 4, especially 4, will come naturally, because a prerequisite of gaining reputation is proving to others that you know your stuff, and articles are a means to that end.

So I don't think you have a problem, if you say you can write good articles. Of course, you have to syndicate them, but you're off to a good start if you believe you can deliver great articles.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Professional autoresponder email writer.
I also write premium quality articles, e-books, etc.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7793015].message }}

Lucian Lada

12 years ago

Originally Posted by 8atty

but it seems easy to outsource this area, relatively cheaply to get the desired results.

It's not easy, and it's definitely not cheap. I hear a great article starts at $50 and can go as high as $200 (or even more, in some cases), depending on the writer's reputation and expertise.

The type of articles you can get for 5-10 dollars a pop are probably doing you more harm than good. So if you don't have the money but have the writing skills, you should probably start gathering that expertise yourself.

(And to be honest, I'm a little surprised Alexa didn't comment on this statement, as I believe she has a pathological repulsion towards 10 bucks article writers who claim to be able to churn out "incredible" articles. Are you losing your touch, dear Alexa?

Just sayin'...)

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Professional autoresponder email writer.
I also write premium quality articles, e-books, etc.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7793226].message }}

Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Lucian Lada

(And to be honest, I'm a little surprised Alexa didn't comment on this statement, as I believe she has a pathological repulsion towards 10 bucks article writers who claim to be able to churn out "incredible" articles. Are you losing your touch, dear Alexa?

Just sayin'...)

Well picked up - I didn't notice it; thanks, Lucian.

I agree with your comments, of course. People who imagine that it's easy to buy the articles for article marketing relatively cheaply are quite often the same ones who end up announcing "Article marketing doesn't work any more", because it's more comfortable for them to have something external to blame rather than saying "Article marketing didn't work for me because I bought cheap, substandard articles which nobody else wanted to share with their already-targeted readers/visitors/subscribers".

:p

[ 1 ] Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7797313].message }}

Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by 8atty

there do not seem to be too many products that you can write a article about, then offer a free report?

Well, "free reports" (like articles!) are about the niche, not about a product.

Originally Posted by 8atty

Example: Amazon Affilate guide.

Not a very safe niche. Many of your potential customers are already CB affiliates and will buy through their own links, not through yours: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post2161932

Originally Posted by 8atty

Q: How can you offer a free report on amazon affiliates?

For that product (which you'll change your mind about anyway?), you'd write the free report on affiliate marketing, probably? But giving advice on affiliate marketing is a hopeless niche for someone new to affiliate marketing, himself, anyway.

Originally Posted by 8atty

I have seen the types of shoes you wear form your photos, I think I will have to go bare-foot in this case.

Here you make a good point, undeniably ...

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7793127].message }}

Adie

12 years ago

I will never invest in an online business that I don't have enough experience to run. For that amount, I would buy 10 high speed sewing machines and start sewing rags and supply it to big manufacturing companies... Clear profit... If you ask me about online investment then I can say I would never invest more than $500. I invest time online and not money - time to learn things....

$10K is big enough for me so if given a chance, I would hire some ghost writers to write at least 10 Young Adult novels and hire someone who is expert in kindle to market these ebooks. Who knows, you might be one of Kindle's millionaire next to Amanda Hocking

.. Just kidding but that is possible..

I would never suggest any investment on affiliate and marketing unless you have enough experience....

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Moderator's Note: You're only allowed to put your own products or sites in your signature.

Signature edited.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7793352].message }}

salegurus

12 years ago

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

Most people here are trying to make money from their own affiliate sites or selling info products to people on their mailing lists. (And many of them make income claims that are...ahem...hard to believe.)
fLufF
--

Are you saying that it's not true that a third of the people here are Millionaires and that most are not actually making 5 Figures per month? Well that's an eye opener :rolleyes:

Thanks

Signature

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

― George Carlin

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7793426].message }}

Stuart Walker

12 years ago

Don't spend the 10k for the sake of spending it. Use it wisely if required to further your fashion business but not to blindly buy things that sound good on paper but have little proof that they work.

You don't need their names, just their email addresses. It would be a mistake to use their names anyway. That screams "marketer" at recipients and many people don't like it.

I disagree that it's a mistake to use their names. Using names is personal and I find that most people DO enter their real name. When a big company like Amazon send me an email they use my name, I like to think they've tested what works best on a much larger scale than I can.

Thanks

Signature

ATTENTION WARRIOR: INCREDIBLE NEW POST AT NICHEHACKS.COM

>>> WORLD CUP SPECIAL: GURU FC VS RISING STARS UNITED + MATT CUTTS NAKED AND DANCING THE SAMBA [PHOTOS INCLUDED] <<<

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7793604].message }}

Silas Hart

12 years ago

I pretty much started just like you and $10k was my goal that pretty much launched me to the next level. Like you, I bought things I could resell from places like Goodwill, Salvation Army, Storage Auctions, Estate Auctions, Garage Sales, and even the newspaper. After doing it for about 2 years while I was in college (part time), I found out that if I invested $500, made $800 ($300 profit), and if I just paid myself my business would not actually grow so I worked towards a goal of if I had X amount, then I could make between $3000 and $4000 a month which would pay my bills and pay off my college loans. After a couple months of tracking my ROI, I found out that if I had $10,000 invested in inventory, that I could reasonably make the money I was looking for.

I got my degree, hated my job (I was a Nurse), saved up $10,000 before I quit. I knew I wanted to make $120,000 a year, so I reinvested several times which really really sucked. I lost money a couple times too on big ticket items... and to know you are unemployed, have $30,000 in your bank account, and you still eat Ramen Noodles 4 nights a week is one concept most people will never understand. I plateaued, couldn't just find profitable items anymore because I had essentially bought everything I could make a buck on. I branched out into buying goods from China, lost money by buying goods to resell on Alibaba like most people until I found another huge source of products in China... so I stuck with that, learned the ins and outs. Hired some help along the way, and the rest is history.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7796000].message }}

Enfusia

12 years ago

You should be able to save nearly all of that cash and maybe put it in a bank in Mongolia at 14% right now. Before ANYONE laughs at investing in Mongolia do your research. No, I'm not Mongolian.

Here's what I would do.
Find 3-4 niches I would like to enter and build lists!

To build lists use:
Content syndication
You Tube videos
Forum signatures
Etc...

Don't sell anything right off the bat. Use every tool to build your list.
Total cost 1st month maybe $21 to $30 depending on a couple of factors.

Patrick

Thanks
2 replies

Signature

Free eBook =>
The Secret To Success In Any Business
Yes, Any Business!

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7796052].message }}

Daniel Elss

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Enfusia

You should be able to save nearly all of that cash and maybe put it in a bank in Mongolia at 14% right now. Before ANYONE laughs at investing in Mongolia do your research. No, I'm not Mongolian.

Here's what I would do.
Find 3-4 niches I would like to enter and build lists!

To build lists use:
Content syndication
You Tube videos
Forum signatures
Etc...

Don't sell anything right off the bat. Use every tool to build your list.
Total cost 1st month maybe $21 to $30 depending on a couple of factors.

Patrick

I second this and wished I would have listened from the beginning instead
of playing foolish money games.

Thanks

Signature

HIGH CONVERTING FUNNEL DONE FOR YOU FOR THE PRICE OF A STINKEN PIZZA

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7796138].message }}

TryBPO

12 years ago

Hey OP!

Originally Posted by therealaxis

I have lost almost all hope for any online investments opportunity's to be legit. Does anyone actually do real work and run a professional business on here?

Not many. I believe most here are new, hopeful, struggling, hobbyists, etc. Saying you're looking to invest 10K is liable to bring the money-hungry out of the woodwork and I'm sure you'll get some (hungry/desperate) PM's.

Originally Posted by therealaxis

What type of monthly return should I realistically be expecting per month off of a 10 k initial investment.Any good ideas on investments that are safe but will generate me a nice monthly return?

So you're looking for a safe investment that will deliver an excellent return. Aren't we all, my man...aren't we all!!

Online or offline, it's always a balance between risk/reward when it comes to investments. I prefer to invest in myself, my team, my business, etc. as I tend to be able to better control my destiny that way.

I'd look around at your current network. Who is having the success you'd like to have? How can you piggyback on their success and provide them a ton of value (and make them a ton of money)? I'm happy to pay people that have skills to help me grow my business.

If you don't have anyone like that in your network, you should find them. Businesses aren't run in a vacuum...you're going to need people.

Here's an example:

I know a guy that helped a peer of ours run a very successful product launch to the tune of a multiple 6-figure payday in the matter of a couple of months. I reached out to him to help us as well. He gets to piggyback on our business, work his butt off, and share in the rewards that come out of it. He's carved out this niche for himself. It's not a business, exactly, more of a consultant service (affiliate manager + sales copy)...but it's highly profitable and a great platform for him to launch his own business.

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

OP, you are talking to a bunch of people who have little-to-no idea what it's like to be a merchant selling physical goods.

Most people here are trying to make money from their own affiliate sites or selling info products to people on their mailing lists. (And many of them make income claims that are...ahem...hard to believe.)

You have had some success on eBay and you've reached the first hurdle most people get to, which is that buying at garage sales/thrift stores can be profitable but it is not scalable.

Because you know the eBay ropes specifically and the ecommerce ropes generally, you are probably better off building on that rather than trying to bootstrap yourself into building a blog or affiliate sites or whatnot. That can take months of learning.

eBay is all about traffic. You will never get the kind of traffic to your own site that you can get on eBay by selling the right things. You're a musician; you can either carry products other musicians buy or you can cater to the novices and hobbyists. Oh yeah, don't spend any money on buying lists of wholesale outlets. To find manufacturers and distributors just takes a little research.

fLufF
--

I agree with fLufF here...if you've had success with eBay try to reach out to others that are more successful than you and see what you can do to help THEM at a much higher level. Do it for free! You'll get to learn their skills/business while providing them a ton of value and building a great relationship with them.

Originally Posted by Enfusia

You should be able to save nearly all of that cash and maybe put it in a bank in Mongolia at 14% right now. Before ANYONE laughs at investing in Mongolia do your research. No, I'm not Mongolian.

Patrick

Funny you mention Mongolia, Patrick. I was reading something a few months ago about how hot Mongolia is in terms of investment. I had the chance to speak to a friend about it that was actually at an investment summit/round-table with some government officials there and they're actively searching for outside investors and offering some great opportunities, I believe. This is WAY outside of my scope, but worth looking into if it's your thing!

Thanks

Signature

Website Brokers - We can help you sell businesses making $500 to $50K per month.

Free Website Valuation - How much is your website really worth? Find out here, free.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7796456].message }}

ezekielseo

12 years ago

To be honest if it depended on 10k, i would actually invest in stocks and get myself a broker.

At the end of the year i spend 30% of my income on investing.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

The completely transparent guide to ranking in the search engines after all those horrid updates

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7796042].message }}

theory expert

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by ezekielseo

To be honest if it depended on 10k, i would actually invest in stocks and get myself a broker.

At the end of the year i spend 30% of my income on investing.

I'd like to see you pull this off in real life :confused:

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7796067].message }}

Brian Tayler

12 years ago

Originally Posted by therealaxis

I am currently purchasing high end clothing from thrift stores and reselling on eBay and my new site TheEdenHallAcademy | Vintage Fashion On A Modest Budget and have been having success but it is hard for.me to scale that up.I also sell music on soundclick generating 1 k a month roughly and about 200 new mailing list members a month.I am also open to all ideas that may play off these two current ways I generate income.

Well since you joined in 2011, have 2 posts and started this thread back on the 13th... I'm not sure if you are really reading suggestions or responding to input.

However on your site "Eden Hall" there are barely any products... not much to keep a potential customer around... or enough products to have a potential customer add extras (in other words... add impulse buys). Second... your header image needs compressed. It takes forever to load with little reward. This is the case on your sub-pages too. They just need optimized better. More SEO efforts. Also on your image galleries it looks like you're using fancybox (which is fine) but you need to also add the javascript library for mousewheel so people can navigate through multiple pictures easier. Always keep users UX in mind.

Best of luck.

Thanks,
Brian

Thanks

Signature

.-=-.

From Start to Finish. Learn How to Make Money in 30 Days!

.-=-.

X81MBTp

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7796106].message }}

MatthewWoodward

12 years ago

I would spend $100 on a domain, hosting and email subscription service.

Then spend the rest on a holiday

Thanks

Signature

â–ºâ–ºâ–º FREE! How To Build (Steal) An Intelligent SEO Strategy In Minutes...

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7797613].message }}

dannygnenerate

12 years ago

First and Farmost Hold On To Your Money!

I can give you some simple steps.

Foundation is first and far most the most critical aspect when thinking about becoming financially free from marketing. So let's start not with what to invest in which is the inner core but the outer core which is what's your goals:

1.The first thing you need to do is calculate what your monthly expenses are, this is including what you spend monthly on average for luxury (items you don't really need).

2. You then need to find what we call a "Secure Number" above your "Monthly Expenses" that you feel comfortable with. This means the amount of money that you'd like to have after your expenses are paid for to make you feel financially free. For example:

My expenses come out to $8,300 per month and I spend about $3,000 average on luxury. So I choose to make my "Secure Number" $6,000.00 per month. This means I need to make at least $8,300 + $3,000 + $6,000 = $17,300.00 per month. (everyone has a slightly different parameter when it comes to there numbers but this is the formula).

3. Then you formulate an action plan and ask yourself how can I achieve my secure number (which is the extra $6,000 per month). What can I offer? What skill set do I have?

What VALUE can I give back to people and is it worth the price of their admission? (most important). What and who is my market? What age range

4. You'll then evaluate how you'd like to receive your money. One time payments, or residual payments? This is a big factor to think about when it comes to pricing whatever you're going to do.

5. Am I going to be know for selling things or am I going to brand Myself? Branding yourself or your business leads to more credibility, especially in a world where the competition can be steep in almost every genre.

6. Do you want to get a piece of this financial pie or are you our to get a whole pie? Pie Marketing is where you'll find out if you're wanting to pick a niche and trying to find a spot to where money is slowly but surely coming to you in the space of all your competition; or you want to really stand out and get big chunks of the pie in which naturally more strategic marketing is required.

$10,000 is a reasonable amount of money to start with and it seems like you already are doing good for yourself in the sense of having a business mind. So kudos for taking even another step in pushing your life forward.

On another note from a business perspective your website has a very little bit of content to keep your potential customer around.

At least keep my criteria in your mind and remember there are no promises to anything; even if you opened a McDonald's there are no guarantees that you'll be as successful as those before you or even at all. So a person has to ask themselves "am I really ready to work hard and passionate about what I'm going to do, thinking positive even though I don't know what the outcome will be"?

When you say yes to this and what you invest in isn't just for the money, meaning you have a bigger cause, then invest. All you can do is be confident in you and upscale what you do see working and slowly let go of what's not working.

You'll make it no doubt, I've made it and you seem to have a good head on your shoulders so good luck and remember this thing I tell people and companies who I visit with:

Feel for it first, plan and be very passionate and it'll almost be impossible to fail. WORK HARD!

Thank you for reading this.

Daniel Brown - PAL

[ 1 ] Thanks

Signature

"How To Get Clients Begging To Pay For Your Services... And Close More Deals FAST!" Get Clients Now

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7797749].message }}

Stuart Walker

12 years ago

Go to a casino and put it all on number 22 black at the roulette table.

Thanks

Signature

ATTENTION WARRIOR: INCREDIBLE NEW POST AT NICHEHACKS.COM

>>> WORLD CUP SPECIAL: GURU FC VS RISING STARS UNITED + MATT CUTTS NAKED AND DANCING THE SAMBA [PHOTOS INCLUDED] <<<

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7797781].message }}

jgant

12 years ago

If you're making $1K per month selling music and building a list, why not scale that? You're already earning more than most people trying to earn a living online.

I can understand scaling your ebay gig is tough, but the music thing sounds like it could be scaled (need to know more).

200 subs a month without spending money is great. Perhaps you could start a blog/site that continues building the music business, including attracting more subs? Also, start promoting to your list (there's tons of info on WF about email marketing).

Thanks

Signature

How I hit $10,000+ per month very fast w/ 1 niche blog - Click Here to learn more (no opt-in).

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7798595].message }}

theory expert

Banned 12 years ago

I also sell music on soundclick generating 1 k a month roughly and about 200 new mailing list members a month.

Oh, all you really need is to find out what your list would be willing to pay for and convert that traffic. I dont know your audience so it would be irresponsible for me to tell you to create a blog, or, create a product because your customers may not be into reading, or, ebooks. They might even be cheap. I am not even sure what you sold them in the first place, 1 song, a beat what? what was the price? 99cents? $1? $2?

What complimentary products go with what you are already selling? It seems you have gold mind if you can convert what you already are doing. Depending on what they bought in the first place depends on how you will sell them moving forward, They may be accustomed to 99cent buys. Depends on your market really. If you come back I might be willing to help you.

Thanks
1 reply