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Holy s*** this is a lot harder than I thought!

by Bkelly301
16 replies
I decided to finally give up on my idea that I've spent 1.5 years working on, which was a blog. I decided to instead "whip up" an affiliate review site...

Well, holy s***...I had no clue how little I actually knew about creating websites. Even though I did make 1 site already, I'm not having much luck making an actual website (that doesn't look like a blog).

I decided to purchase Thesis as my theme since that's what I used on my last website, but damn I'm still struggling to get something up and running. I've actually spent a total of about 20 hours just tryin to get my home page to look okay. After that, I then need to design each page of my site...

Then after all that is done, I have to start actually adding in the content which is the product reviews.

Wow, and I thought it was just gonna be a quick "whip up"...Holy crap was I wrong!

I've debated just hiring someone to make the site for me, but that would be a waste of my Thesis purchase. Plus, I figure that it's probably good to learn how I make a site...I'm sure I'll be making more.

Okay end of my rant...back to taking action!
#harder #holy #lot #thought
  • Profile picture of the author Mack
    I admire your enthusiasm, and I hate to burst your bubble, but affiliate review sites aren't a very viable business model if you are looking for a long term income stream.

    You may make a bunch of sales but the effort vs how much you actually make just isn't worth it. Plus, these aren't even your products you are promoting.

    My advice?

    Find something you know a lot about that people in a niche are in need of. Then create a product (guide/report/ebook) on this and offer it for free in exchange for email addresses on a landing page.

    From here you can either send them through your sales funnel (front-end/downsell/upsell) or just direct them to your free report for now and send them offers through your autoresponder.

    The latter is usually a good start for beginners, but eventually you'll want to have products to sell in your funnel.

    Hope this helped! If you have any questions don't be afraid to shoot me a PM.
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    • Profile picture of the author joshril
      Originally Posted by AffMack View Post

      I admire your enthusiasm, and I hate to burst your bubble, but affiliate review sites aren't a very viable business model if you are looking for a long term income stream.

      You may make a bunch of sales but the effort vs how much you actually make just isn't worth it. Plus, these aren't even your products you are promoting.

      My advice?

      Find something you know a lot about that people in a niche are in need of. Then create a product (guide/report/ebook) on this and offer it for free in exchange for email addresses on a landing page.

      From here you can either send them through your sales funnel (front-end/downsell/upsell) or just direct them to your free report for now and send them offers through your autoresponder.

      The latter is usually a good start for beginners, but eventually you'll want to have products to sell in your funnel.

      Hope this helped! If you have any questions don't be afraid to shoot me a PM.
      This is excellent advice...

      Your time and effort will be much better spent building your list by providing value and then ultimately providing solutions to those people of your own.

      Quite frankly, you can even start building your funnel slow and even use affiliate products until you have created your own products.

      Thanks,


      Josh
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnTheJock
      [QUOTE=AffMack;8818853]I admire your enthusiasm, and I hate to burst your bubble, but affiliate review sites aren't a very viable business model if you are looking for a long term income stream.

      Have to disagree with you Affmack.

      5 years now and counting with good steady income.

      Results depend on the niche you're in and the products you promote
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    I've actually spent a total of about 20 hours just tryin to get my home page to look okay. After that, I then need to design each page of my site...
    You must be doing something wrong... :p
    The whole idea of using a CMS (content management system) like WordPress, which you are using, is to have 'templates' that display your content in a pre-designed layout, so nobody has to design anything on individual pages. Unless they don't understand the idea of using a CMS :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author Cruella D
    wordpress is easy to set up it doesnt take 20hrs work!
    Im with AffMack that review sites aren't a very viable business model AND Find something you know a lot about that people in a niche are in need of.
    Create an blog and ebook aboout it.
    we are here to help let me know if you need it
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Get the first one done, and then click this:

      Let me google that for you

      The rest will go up in seconds with some minor adjustments.
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      "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"

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  • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
    I'm sure Thesis is great and all. And probably boasts quite a bit of point-and-click flexibility. But the reality is that most fine adjustments take a working knowledge of CSS/HTML and potentially a basic grasp of PHP. Sooner or later, with Wordpress, you're bound to need this, and having it opens up the door to virtually limitless design possibilities.

    If you don't or haven't the endurance to learn, a better bet is to forgo Wordpress altogether either in favour of another web-based CMS whose themes or configuration procedures are more amenable to you, or even a desktop editor.

    Blogging platforms and their templates tend to be built around uniformity. That's just how blogs are. When you start hinting at wanting page-level control, a regular desktop WYSIWYG editor is probably most apt. For real simplicity and something that's designed with marketers in mind at a reasonable price, XSitePro (here) is pretty good; Dreamweaver, meanwhile, would be one to avoid.
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  • Profile picture of the author XYZcontent
    From experience I can tell you that it gets easier with every new website that you create
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    Visit us at XYZcontent.com
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  • Profile picture of the author brutecky
    Just hire someone on Elance to do the site for you. It will cost you a lot less than what 20+ hours of your life is worth.
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    • Profile picture of the author dadadada
      Why is affiliate review site is worse than your own product?
      From the money standpoint, if you make $20 affiliate commission, and you sell your own product for $20 - what's the difference?

      Not trying to be combative, just want to hear more details. What's your reasoning?


      BTW, I hate clickbank products, but that's what I have to work with for now.
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  • Profile picture of the author cypherslock
    All I'll say is, if affiliate income is what you want (adsense, or cpa too) then check out Bring the Fresh. Covers everything in detail, without overwhelming you, and makes the tech stuff easy to get through. And also gets into advanced topics whenever you're ready. I'm one very happy customer of Kelly's!
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  • Profile picture of the author garyt
    Nothing wrong with promoting affiliate products for a living. Creating your own product may seem good but if you don't have the expertise or authority, then it is easier said than done for most of us. There are pros and cons of course, but in the end, to each his own.
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  • Profile picture of the author lovboa
    Banned
    For non-designers wanting to create a simple blog or an easy site, cheaper themes are a better purchase.

    If you're buying off of Theme Forest, themes $40 or under are better than one that's $55. The more expensive ones are loaded with useless features, and countless shortcodes for just about everything.

    The cheaper ones have less features, thus more simpler set up.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    I've been failing since I was a kid.

    I'll fail until the day I die.

    Maybe I'll win a few games between now and then?

    Even if, I'll still keep fighting.

    Life is fighting.



    Go get em.

    PS: Don't outsource anything unless you know exactly what you want.

    Stay cool
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  • Profile picture of the author JRJWrites
    Originally Posted by Bkelly301 View Post

    Okay end of my rant...back to taking action!
    Back to action!

    All the best...it sure is a lot harder than anyone believes.

    Regards,
    JR John
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