Can you make money online if you can't sell?

46 replies
Okay, I am very new to all this and have no marketing skills.

Six months ago I setup a blog about how I lost 35 lbs to reach my goal weight.

I bought domain name and hosting and started writing a few blog posts. Just wanted to get a hang of what blogging is all abt after all. I generated content for my blog and also slapped in a opt-in form.

Now, I have nothing to sell. I am not good at selling. I have a very tiny list. As per Google Analytics I am getting around 100-150 visitors per day.

I also know that just list building is not enough. You have to build relationship, trust, rapport with your subscribers before they will want to buy from you. I have read that money is in the list.

With this background, do I have any hopes of being successfull as internet marketer.

I can work hard to create more content and drive more traffic. But I dont know if I can sell...
#make #money #online #sell
  • Profile picture of the author cashcarnivore
    Join the Amazon Associates program and in each of your blog posts, link to a relevant product. Amazon will do the selling for you and you can make some change.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mr Lim
    First, role yourself as a visitor who visits your own blog, what's their need, their most needs, etc.
    Then go to clickbank or other product sites, search for a product that suits your visitors favor. Is just that simple, and yeah list building is not a simple task afterall.
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  • Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

    Okay, I am very new to all this and have no marketing skills.

    Six months ago I setup a blog about how I lost 35 lbs to reach my goal weight.

    I bought domain name and hosting and started writing a few blog posts. Just wanted to get a hang of what blogging is all abt after all. I generated content for my blog and also slapped in a opt-in form.

    Now, I have nothing to sell. I am not good at selling. I have a very tiny list. As per Google Analytics I am getting around 100-150 visitors per day.

    I also know that just list building is not enough. You have to build relationship, trust, rapport with your subscribers before they will want to buy from you. I have read that money is in the list.

    With this background, do I have any hopes of being successfull as internet marketer.

    I can work hard to create more content and drive more traffic. But I dont know if I can sell...
    Hi Santr,

    you shouldnt have to ask if you have any hopes of being successful -- because everyone whos successful now was once in your situation.

    The way i like to tackle the "after sign-up" sequence is by listing the problems and pain-points of my market
    and than writing/filming a solution based one that 1 pain-point that is common to that market.
    (you can find these pain-points either in forums or clickbank sales letters)

    The autoresponder sequence i commonly use is: 3 pieces of content and 1 day of rest before every promotion.

    Oh... and EVERY email must be geared towards selling the wonderful 5th email that will promote the product.

    Since you are gathering leads from a blog, they are prospects of greater quality since they showed interest in your content (and not some free product), so starting with a sequence ike that should build some qualitative trust.

    As for the products to promote, you can simply go to clickbank and find a few "weight loss" products.
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  • Profile picture of the author Apra Barua
    If you become an affiliate marketer then you can promote a lot of products from Clickbank.com to your subscribers. You do not need to have your own products, you can just sell other people's product for a commission.

    While promoting the products to your subscribers, it is not your job to sell to them. You just need to guide them on how the product solves their problem. The job of selling is for the merchant and the sales copy of the product. Your job is to send traffic to the sales page of the product.
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    • Profile picture of the author morrispark
      Originally Posted by Apra Barua View Post

      If you become an affiliate marketer then you can promote a lot of products from Clickbank.com to your subscribers. You do not need to have your own products, you can just sell other people's product for a commission.

      While promoting the products to your subscribers, it is not your job to sell to them. You just need to guide them on how the product solves their problem. The job of selling is for the merchant and the sales copy of the product. Your job is to send traffic to the sales page of the product.
      My first try as a marketer was with clickbank until I go the hang of how internet marketing works.
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      msmorrispark
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    • Profile picture of the author Santr123
      Originally Posted by Apra Barua View Post

      If you become an affiliate marketer then you can promote a lot of products from Clickbank.com to your subscribers. You do not need to have your own products, you can just sell other people's product for a commission.

      While promoting the products to your subscribers, it is not your job to sell to them. You just need to guide them on how the product solves their problem. The job of selling is for the merchant and the sales copy of the product. Your job is to send traffic to the sales page of the product.
      <<If you become an affiliate marketer then you can promote a lot of products from Clickbank.com to your subscribers>>

      I have no subscribers, but I am trying to build a list
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      • Profile picture of the author saucesspc
        Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

        <<If you become an affiliate marketer then you can promote a lot of products from Clickbank.com to your subscribers>>

        I have no subscribers, but I am trying to build a list
        Clickbank sucks man.. with Empower Network out now who wants to do clickbank .lol
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary Ning Lo
    If you're not good at selling.. Why don't you just learn how to?

    There's tons of free material online on how to become a better salesman.

    Also check the copywriting section of this forum.

    Cheers,

    Gary
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Try this on for size...

      If you aren't good at sales or marketing (and no one starts out good at either), can you be good at making referrals?

      Have you ever told your frineds about a great experience at a restaurant, club, movie, etc.? Have you recommended a mechanic or store or other provider? How about a great pair of sunglasses, shoes, a tasty snack?

      If you have done any of those, you can be successful. Your list members are your friends, and the recommendations and referrals you make earn you commissions from the people who DO know how to sell. What they lack is your connection to your readers and list members.

      Be very discriminating in what you refer or recommend, and everybody wins.
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  • Profile picture of the author Santr123
    Thanks all for your quick reply. I have checked out clickbank. I can write product reviews about some clickbank products which I like. And put them as stikies in my blog...I could do that along with generating regular blog posts.
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  • Profile picture of the author cyberdenizen
    If you have established trust and credibility among the members of your list, I don't think you will have any trouble at all. Sure, you have to pique their interest in the product, but this is not difficult to do. You simply tell people about the product's benefits and what it has done for you or others. It's best to promote a product that you've actually used and benefited from, but if you haven't actually used the product, you can also tell people what users say about it. (Be sure to be honest.) You simply need to persuade people to "find out more about the product." The product sales page will close the sale for you.

    Edit: I think you will do even better if you can show people how the product that you're promoting can solve a particular problem. Also, if you have proof that the product works (pictures or whatever), even better!
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  • Profile picture of the author Monja
    hi :-)
    congratulations, i think you are already on the road to success :-)
    you dont need to sell actively, you can 'soft-sell' to people in a honest way.
    i know its a long way but if you already have a good amount of visitors i believe it's just a small step. i'm happy to help, just send me a quick pm
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    • Profile picture of the author JasonAaron1
      Have you considered doing a podcast or writing your experience down and making a book out of it that you can provide on Amazon? People respond to real stories, and there are a lot of people that you could help just by telling them what you did to achieve your results.
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      • Profile picture of the author Santr123
        I have written a blog post about my personal success story (My personal Fat Loss success story | Fat2FitSteps.com)
        but thats about it. Did not know I could write a whole BOOK about it

        I tried to tell all the steps in my blog itself.
        I know money is in ebooks and maybe I should start writing one.

        I just want to make my first $100 in my first year of bloggin before I can prove to myself that it is really worth the time and effort.

        I am having fun creating content and web designing, but I want to see some money too. The only monetization I have done is adsense which is not doing very well

        I dont know if I can build a list and start sending my subscribers tons to emails promoting products. I just dont think I am there yet...
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  • Profile picture of the author sscottie
    If you know a lot about the niche/topic, you really don't have to know a whole lot about selling.

    Your passion will come through in your marketing.

    Your visitors/prospects will be able to see the value in what you are providing.

    I personally tend to go after niches where I have a personal experience in that niche.

    For example: If my sister-in-law had eczema at one point, and I found a cream that worked for her ...I'd turn that into an info product.

    It's as simple as that.

    Take your knowledge and your experience and package it up into a product that you can sell.

    People will see the value ...because ultimately people just want THE solution.

    -S
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Join Google Adsense and just continue to drive more and more traffic to your site. I understand you don't want to sell anything - and just make money. Alot of people feel this way. Your goal should be to drive a TON of traffic to your site, collect opt-ins, and whenever you write a new blog post, let your list know about it, and test your Adsense code in different areas of your blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author b.super13
    If I were you I'd create a PDF guide that details how you lost those 35 lbs... You can give away a portion of the PDF in exchange for people signing up. Then you can sell the full version in email follow ups.
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    • Profile picture of the author iwowwe4you
      Every one can sell, however you are right, you need to know how.
      You have 2 ways here. Spend years learning from your own mistakes or find a good mentor who will teach you through every step. I had to take it through the first way as I did not know any one who could teach me when I started and I was not able to afford to by any training materials, but I think I did not even knew they exist. However these days you can learn a lot by simply researching stuff on internet. Also if you want more advanced level of learning, there are so many good mentors to chose from.
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      Happy to share 18 years experience in MLM/IM. Not doing any other work for over 7 years now. Accredited as a coach by 3 companies I worked with after completing a course of education and passing exams. HND in Business, Economics, Accounting, Market Research, Market Development, Management.
      Love to Learn - Love to Teach!

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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Schuman
    How about promoting CPA offers and just focus on marketing. Go to Offer Vault to learn more about cost per action affiliate marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author kdevarney
    I found that click banks products work best if you have a list. You can build a list fairly quickly just by using solo ads or ad swaps. Just pick one niche and build build build your list. use get response or any other responder to sell to your list once you have them in
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Ballone
    Banned
    Can I make money online with niche sites in the long term?
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  • Profile picture of the author Stripe
    Too much to answer quickly, but I would work up a good, healthy meal plan and give it away as an opt-in incentive.

    Once you get that list going, I would send a weekly "weight loss tip", "healthy recipe", or "exercise tip". Then, on occasion, I would find a quality product to market to my list. My ratio would be about 5 or greater to 1. Five or more helpful emails to one product solicitation.

    Make sure you always under promise and over deliver on your slaes and you will have an easier time keeping your hard-earned reputation.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    Everyone is ignorant in the beginning. You only have to study internet marketing to learn how to sell products online.

    You should look for forums and blogs about your topic and find out what people are buying in your niche. Then, you should promote the same products at your blog.

    You should also create an email list by giving away a free ebook.

    Write a free ebook about your experiences to collect email addresses without giving too much information, but giving at least two substantial lessons, so that you may appear as an expert in your field.

    Don’t create an ebook with the intention to sell it to your visitors before learning how to sell affiliate products online. You must understand how everything works before trying to create your own product.


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  • Profile picture of the author alvinchua91
    For some reason, when I click on your blog posts, I see nothing except for Adsense??? What's happening
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    • Profile picture of the author joma12
      Originally Posted by alvinchua91 View Post

      For some reason, when I click on your blog posts, I see nothing except for Adsense??? What's happening
      I tested the site it is very quick in loading here and all the blog post worked fine
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      • Profile picture of the author joma12
        In my opinion there are to many Adsense ads and no content on the home page

        Be careful with this as Google don't like these kind of sites they give clear TOS on what is allowed and what is not.

        You get 100 to 150 visiytors to this site ? Then you are making money with Adsense for sure.

        You don't need to sell anything only put a link in your blog posts and say something like :
        try this program it worked for me click here (affiliate link to a product salespage)
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        • Profile picture of the author Santr123
          Originally Posted by joma12 View Post

          In my opinion there are to many Adsense ads and no content on the home page

          Be careful with this as Google don't like these kind of sites they give clear TOS on what is allowed and what is not.

          You get 100 to 150 visiytors to this site ? Then you are making money with Adsense for sure.

          You don't need to sell anything only put a link in your blog posts and say something like :
          try this program it worked for me click here (affiliate link to a product salespage)
          Thanks. Content not showing up is a recent issue. I am getting nervous about it as my traffic is soaring. I tried deactivating the plugins and reactivating them. Still the problem does not always go away. I have started making some decent money from google adsense. But my content is sometimes not showing.
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    • Profile picture of the author Santr123
      Originally Posted by alvinchua91 View Post

      For some reason, when I click on your blog posts, I see nothing except for Adsense??? What's happening
      http://www.warriorforum.com/website-...howing-up.html

      This is being discussed in other post . Still not sure what is causing this. THanks for reporting. I am trying to fix this issue
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  • Profile picture of the author seotools
    you can earn without selling by putting google adsense ads on your website and driving more traffic. Other good option is join odesk or elance and start bidding
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  • Profile picture of the author parmarjeet
    With good number of traffic anything is possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author christiangrey
    Banned
    There are actually options out there if you can't sell. If you have any skills you can offer at freelancing sites then you can apply for jobs there or list services on Fiverr. Kindle writing is another options, lots of books sell amazingly well with little to no marketing around it!
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  • Profile picture of the author Khondoker
    Learn how to pre-sell your visitors. Learn how to set up sales funnel. Test what goes well for you!
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  • Profile picture of the author mark healy
    what i would do is create an event out of your blog.Your goal is to lose 35 pounds, explain your pain, your daily journey, what you are learning everyday and how you feel. People love soap operas and will follow you.

    Entice people to comment on your blog.The feedback generates social proof which in turn brings more followers and also send an email to your list to come to your blog. I did this recently and someone left a comment very powerful, so it works.People want to be a a part of your life and be part of you on the journey.

    Over time as people like and trust you, they will buy your products and when you launch other products and services you will make money.

    Hope that helps

    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author Ian Armstrong
    Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

    Okay, I am very new to all this and have no marketing skills.

    Six months ago I setup a blog about how I lost 35 lbs to reach my goal weight.

    I bought domain name and hosting and started writing a few blog posts. Just wanted to get a hang of what blogging is all abt after all. I generated content for my blog and also slapped in a opt-in form.

    Now, I have nothing to sell. I am not good at selling. I have a very tiny list. As per Google Analytics I am getting around 100-150 visitors per day.

    I also know that just list building is not enough. You have to build relationship, trust, rapport with your subscribers before they will want to buy from you. I have read that money is in the list.

    With this background, do I have any hopes of being successfull as internet marketer.

    I can work hard to create more content and drive more traffic. But I dont know if I can sell...
    You say you have nothing to sell but you have the knowledge and content(blog posts) of how you lost 35lbs.

    Make a product detailing exactly how you did it.

    Make a Free report and build a list by giving it to other folk who would be interested in losing the same kind of weight in that time then sell to that list of people the product you made which shows them how to do it.
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  • Profile picture of the author GReason
    Hi Santr, there will always be hope for those who continue to fight. If you are already having a 100-150 visitors per day, that is already awesome! Don't just focus on adsense, put some affiliate offer in your blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sheila Ross
      With 100-150 visitors daily, adsense will not help much for sure. If the traffic is targeted, you can sign up for some affiliate products from clickbank to get better results.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andrew Grant
        Hi Santr

        All I can say is well done for coming this far. So many people drop out of the race long before they get to 150 a day.

        I know because I tried and dropped out before now and have only just decided to get back in the game.

        My best advice would be to learn how to create some simple videos to help drive traffic.

        Good luck with it all

        Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author PinkVelvet
    Yeah, you can earn money.

    Why not offer them something free first? This usually get the fish to bite.

    Or you can do a webinar on how to loose weight. Usually when potential clients see you in person, they'll be more willing to give their money away on products you sell.
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  • Profile picture of the author dancemaster
    If you do lead generating system and rewards programs like Addwallet and Pureleverage,you dont have to talk to anybody just watch 7 ads for 20 seconds a day and that`s it.no phone calls no talking or begging.if you want more info give me your email
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  • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
    Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

    Now, I have nothing to sell. I am not good at selling. I have a very tiny list. As per Google Analytics I am getting around 100-150 visitors per day.
    If you implement Google Adsense or a similar network, you can make some profit without having to sell anything.

    Your visitors will not enjoy having ads displayed prominently in their face, but if that is okay with you, then Adsense is easy to use and monetize with.

    At 100 visitors per day, you could make a minimum of $100 a month in earnings with well-placed Adsense ads.

    Alternatively, you could just recommend some healthy products via Amazon affiliate links.

    Or do both.
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  • Profile picture of the author dbrwn
    You don't have to be a hard core sales person. All you need to do is to simply tell people about the benefits that they'll receive from the product, even if the product is an affiliate one.

    The point is; is tht you're trying to meet people's needs and sell a product so that you can make some cash. Selling really isn't all that hard to do once you get the hang of it.
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  • Profile picture of the author MoreTricks
    Go to click bank and select some weight loss products which has high commission rates and promote it in your blog in a professional way!!
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  • Profile picture of the author jmharris48
    My best advice that I could give you would become an affiliate marketer for clickbank. Clickbank has thousands of products and they have many products to sell in your niche "weight loss." All you have to do is promote these products and clickbank takes care of the rest... Much, much easier my friend!

    And you have to keep a professionals mindset to succeed on the internet! Don't question yourself, just keep positive and tell your self that you will succeed and that you can achieve anything you want and you will succeed!

    Best wishes!
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  • Profile picture of the author World Marketing
    Sounds like you have a good start...It is nice that you started blogging and relieved organic traffic naturally....So many people can't even do that online today!
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    I make $5,000+ a month online [CLICK HERE] to see how you can do the same starting today!

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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    And there's always Ebay... you dont need any technical sales knowledge to make lots of money there.
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