Remember when Internet Marketing was easy?

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I'm just in a mood. I dropped out of internet marketing for a couple of years, then earlier this year started back into it.

When I look back at my stats from years past, conversions were great, traffic was plentiful, and everything I touched just worked.

I worked maybe 10-20 hours per month, if even that much some months. I had to stop for personal reasons, figuring I'd get back into it when I could.

Well here I am about 6 months back into it, and it's like a different world. Nothing I make ranks and ppc is changed forever with all the google rules and affiliates protecting blocks of keywords and trademarks.

I used to stop promoting things that only made a few hundred dollars per month because it was taking too much time. Now I am happy if something can just cover it's own cost.

I'm following a few blogs where people are building their online business, and the amount of effort they are putting in is mind boggling to me. Hundreds of articles, hundreds of sites, mass backlinking, comment posting, social bookmarking, etc....

I remember when doing some basic keyword research, a little spit testing, and a few dollars to get the ball rolling was all it took. Now there are all these tools that just compile massive amounts of data and/or create massive amounts of linking via web 2.0 and article spinning, profile building, link wheeling, etc... just to focus on a keyword(s) that maybe gets a few thousand searches per month.

This just seems crazy to me. The thought of going through all that just makes me wanna cry.

Someone please tell me there's a better way. Or is that just how it is now?
  • Profile picture of the author Emily Meeks
    Millions of pages are created every day. People get on the Internet for the first time, every day. What worked in 2006 is a little more challenging now, but you have to adapt.

    There are so many ways to make money through the Internet that it's mind-boggling. You have COMPLETE autonomy, yet most have no idea where to start. Find a simple business model, stick to it, then keep building. Get to the point where you can outsource - there are so many people on the Warrior Forum available RIGHT NOW to build backlinks, design your site, create your sales letter, write articles, you name it.

    With that in mind, consider the alternative. The vast majority are slaving away in 9-5 jobs they barely even like and have to go through their wallets guessing which card isn't maxed out. Not all jobs are like this, true - if you study to be a medical doctor, or therapist who makes $120 an hour, that's lots more time and school involved. Whether you become a doctor or an Internet marketer (or if you're really ambitious, you could do both), there's work involved.

    There's no easy path. If you're overwhelmed, take a break. Run a mile, watch TV, get more sleep, do all the above. Then take a deep breath, hatch a new plan, and start making some money. Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      There are some niches that are way over-blown with promotions such as IM. It is a mature market now and much more difficult to break into. But there are dozens if not thousands of much more profitable niches that are in high demand. For example, hobbies, DIY, and technology and are just a few that are especially very strong and wide open right now.
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    I don't think IM was ever easy, but a lot of happened last year which made things very complicated and difficult, especially for small publishers.

    1. The economy
    2. Google went on a rampage and gave slaps in all areas, whether SERPS, Adsense, and Adwords.
    3. There seems to be issues with the tracking or the stealing of commissions with some affiliate networks such as Clickbank and perhaps CJ.
    4. Changes in tax laws of a number of of US states meant that a lot of affiliates were dumped by their merchants.

    As a result of this, morale is certainly very low especially among old timers like myself, who suddenly found themselves bombarded left, right and centre. In this type of situation, I can certainly see that a Newbie will have some advantage as they do not have any baggage from the past. Right now, I think I am working 4 times as much for less than half my usual income. What I am doing now is to try to look at and do things from a newbie's angle again.

    Derek
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  • Profile picture of the author john2k
    You just need to find your groove again. Lots more people doing business online these days as well, so a lot more competition to deal with.
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  • Profile picture of the author lakishacopeland
    I don't remember when Internet Marketing was ever easy. However I agree with you there are a new set of rules you must follow. Google has a slap, YouTube has a slap, and now Squidoo has a slap. The internet is constantly changing and changing the way we do things.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kenster
    Yes you have to adapt and technology and short cuts happen every day. Its a constant catch up game and always involves optimizing and adjusting. Its a bit more work, but the rewards are still there.

    The most important principle always is to be a just a tad creative. If you can do this, you can succeed. Dont just be a lemming (if thats how you spell it?)
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  • Profile picture of the author scarcius121
    haha, so I guess this is the reason you can't buy a book about online marketing and expect it to be up to date.
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  • Profile picture of the author madison_avenue
    In some ways it is easier now because a lot of people now fall into the trap of quasi-black-hat-gray hat and get penalized by google. This has the effect of google periodically destroying a lot of the competition. Also building web pages is so much easier, no need to know any html. You can even have user friendly CMS platforms like Wordpress giving you massive functionality such as pinging and your own RSS feeds etc.

    Tools are now much more powerful but they were but can be misused and overused, automation is now much more powerful but that too can be misused and overused. Tools and automation, need to be used with the utmost care and circumspection. But used correctly you are able to scale much more effectively than before.

    I work on the theory that someday, sometime a human being from google will read my page, when they do, will they regard it as good quality or spam?

    I believe opportunities now are equal if not vastly more than they were before. But making the most of then requires careful analysis and some originality; Not just copying the next guy which a lot of marketers tend to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author TLTheLiberator
    As far as I'm concerned it's a lot easier now for a newbie to start earning steady money than it was just 3-4 years ago.

    - There were hardly any step by step videos to show someone exactly what to do and when to do it.

    - There are lots more methods and avenues of marketing on the net now - free & paid.

    - Hosting services have vastly improved with most of them having point n click/cut n paste pages builders.

    ( before folks had to code a page, line for line themselves or pay someone to build a page for them )

    - Niches are better defined and developed.

    - Quality online business tools and resources have exploded.

    - Folks are more inclined to part with their money online now than before.

    That's just some of it.

    TL
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