Can Anyone Really Make a Living with IM

Yes it is 100% possible. Just start putting things into action now. The longer you wait the more doubts you will have.

I have to ask... if you had / have a "web design, SEO, internet marketing company" that had a budget no less. and landed jobs... Where did the budget go?

If I were to start the same business tomorrow, my start up budget would be $20.00 +/ -( business cards ). In the matter of weeks, more like days I would have clients, and cash flow. I say that because I have done that. over the past 18+, years I have always been in this business, but 6 times I have moved locations. Granted I have kept my non local accounts, but start with a new local market each time. I hit the streets with my start up investment ( stack of cards ) and close deals. Its not so hard.

So you are looking at focusing your efforts for your own benefit? not a bad strategy, one in which I do as well. As a point of interest you might consider using the newly created properties as clients to your web design, SEO, internet marketing company. that way you can add company portfolio.

You are thinking of affiliate marketing. Not a bad choice really. not as saturated as you might think either. I built a amazon site just yesterday and have gotten sales from it already. if you know what you are doing, it can be an easy consistent pay day. Build enough of them, and you can quite your day job.

Given the fact that you know how to build sites, and know how to SEO and know how to IM ( or at least that's the services you tried to sell to clients ) you should have no issues.

The probable reality in all of this is you may know how to put a site together but the other skills are a bit lacking and you are looking for an excuse for yourself to stay in your day job. You are expecting someone to say that you are right, there is no room in IM to make money.

The actual reality is that the percentage of internet sales are ever increasing. That there is something like 15 to 20% of all retail monies spent on the internet. Its not a fluke, its not a scam, its a reality that YES you can make money online. The methods and the systems that you use to do this is what separates failure from success.

Once you understand what works, you replicate over and over. Once there is a system in place regardless of the Niche, the Product, or the Service you can duplicate success. The hard part in all of this? finding the system that works for you.

Don't worry about the product right now. Look at the process to selling. Read everything you can. join peoples newsletters ( to see their process ) Really look at retail commerce websites. what are they doing? What are the common denominators between the 2.

Then you just need to buck up. pick a product, get a domain and some hosting and make it happen. you stated you have $1500.00 left. $500.00 for domain and hosting, and a theme if you feel you need to have a "Premium" one. that leaves you with 200 $5.00 ad campaigns on facebook.

Hope that Helps!

I'm going to digress with the others here based on what your title says.

Not anyone can make a living online. That's just what most MMO products will make you believe.

Making a consistent living online take a crap load of dedication and trial and error. It would make most of the population insane trying to innovate and evolve as much as an online business requires.

But you're still kicking lol so it appears you have the persistence to make something happen.

I say learn copywriting and experiment with list building. Build a kick ass sales funnel and try out different markets to see what feels best in terms of long term commitment.

I know a few budget oriented courses that might be able to help you. You're still going to have to put the work in, but it's a start. PM me if you want some links.

Thanks for all of the advice, guys. I have been studying online marketing for about 10 years. I tried a couple of things here and there, but when I saw the opportunity with offline marketing, I dove in. I have a great website and good fulfillment, but the marketing part is where I think I fell down. I did spent quite a lot on marketing the company. I don't feel defeated yet, but I am getting close.

Your words of encouragement have helped me a lot. Everyone says that you can use contract sales people to sell your services. That has never worked for me and I seriously doubt that will work for very many. Since I can't quit my day job, I can't attend client meetings nor make sales calls. It's also very time consuming managing each job...especially web design projects. This is why I began looking at online marketing again.

In regards to affiliate marketing, I always get stuck trying to pick the niche. I know this is probably a common problem. I always wind up telling myself that this niche and that niche is saturated. I guess I just need to try a few things.

Thanks again for all of the advice. You have no idea how great it is to hear that many of you are successful in this business.

If anyone else has any further advice, please don't hesitate to jump in.

That is very true. I really do have a passion for what I had originally set out to do. The sales function is what is failing. I place a paid ad on craigslist for a sales rep and usually get a couple of decent replies mixed in with the the junk. I contact the good ones and will usually get at least one that will want to join my company. They fill out the required paperwork, I set up their email address, give them a sample of my marketing materials and then they stop talking to me. I have a feeling that some might be intimidated by the technical end of this business. I try to stress that most business owners are not interested in the nuts and bolts of how our services work. They are only interested in how our services are going to bring in more customers. I always tell the sales reps that I can help them with the technical end, if they need it. But for some reason, they always jump ship. This seems to be my issue with my current business.

Thanks for the response. I'm not really a newbie at this. I have a good full-time job, but would really like to, one day, transition into my own business, rather than relying on others for my future.

but how can you be trianed?
Get a Mentor,study his method and dedicated your self to it until you see a tangible result
we have many ways to make good money in internet
Get dedciated to one way ,research it and start implementing it,don't forget to PRAY,you sure will succeed
thanks

Thanks for the advice. I have never tried PPC but have heard that you can lose your shirt if you don't know what you are doing.

As others have stated, it is indeed possible, but you need to do your research and know what area you want to focus on.

Two things I would zero in on:

1. Find someone who is already successful in the business area you want to be in and be mentored/coached by them.

2. Make sure you have a list of people you can market to, and keep building a relationship with. You can make money with the click of a mouse this way, once you do it right.

Yani.

Yes, its possible to live off of affiliate marketing. Many people in sales jobs do exactly that: they make a commission selling other people's products. With affiliate marketing, you are taking that model online.

The only thing that you must be careful of is what affiliate program you join. You could start your own but that is a lot of work and you really should have experience marketing someone else's program first.

There are thousands of programs though so you should focus on one that will fit your personality and needs. It took me a long time of fumbling around, jumping from program to program, and a lot of time and money to find out what I needed from an online business that fits my personality.

I am happy to say that I found one. But if I was to give you tips so that you could possibly avoid having to take a painful road like I did, then I would say:

1. You need to join a program with a high converting sales funnel

2. You need to position yourself in that program to make the most amount of commissions

3. You need to promote high-ticket and/or recurring commission products

4. You need to drive traffic to that program's sales funnel and they should have some training on how to do this.

I previously promoted programs that did not have those 4 things above and I always ended up jumping to something else until I figured out what I needed from an affiliate program. This might be different for you but that's where Id start.

Its easy to get suckered into all the promises of big money, etc, but if you don't find what works for you, you will end up with shiny object syndrome. The trick is to find something you would do without getting paid for it because you wont for awhile in the beginning, so make sure you enjoy whatever you get into.

That being said, you can sell anything online. The product really doesn't matter all that much if you are building your personal brand, have a good system in place behind you, and I'd highly recommend a personal blog to help build your brand and an email list of your personal "tribe".

That's where you will put all your heart and soul into your brand with your likes and dislikes, etc...and people that are just like you, or interested in the same things you are, will follow you and buy your products!

If you are going to get into the affiliate marketing game, people don't really care about your system or your products. What they are really buying is YOU. They want to know that you are a real person. They want to be inspired. They want to know that you can relate to their problems, and they don't want to be BS'd.

If you tell it like it is, people will follow you, and then they will want to know why you joined the program(s) you did, bought the products you bought, and they might want to do it themselves with you or on your recommendations. That's when they start buying whatever you're selling.

Hope this helps!

It sounds like we started our businesses at around the same time, doing the same thing. I just couldn't seem to keep the momentum going. My business is basically dead right now due not having a sales force. I work a lot of hours at my day job, so I'm sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. That is why my thought process shifted to online marketing, where I would not need anyone out there selling. I wish you the best in your SEO business.

Of course, the owner of this forum is obviously making a Sweet living online