What Gurus Don't Tell You: The Importance of Ownership

Internet marketing gurus drive me crazy. They're all the same: they sit there behind their webcam in their luxurious homes telling how they were once so desperate for money and now have a fortune because of their miraculous "system," which they will share with you if you pay them enough money. You know that something's got to be working for them if their finances have improved too much, so you decide to give it a try. You wheedle down the price as much as possible by clicking the red x and then "stay on this page" several times and then make the purchase. The system is yours. You get it set up, plug it in, and... nothing happens. What is it that the gurus don't tell you?

The truth is, if they told you the one thing they all have in common then they would have nothing to sell to begin with. That is because the one thing that they all rely on is their brand--their stamp of ownership on their system. They're the admins. They're the boss, the founder, the guy in charge. And that's where it all comes from.

In most cases, you can't expect to make a cent from paid affiliate programs. People want to buy something new, something that they haven't seen before. You need a site, a system of your own to sell. And don't be cheap about it either. If you really want to keep people coming to you, help them out. Give them something they need, a handbook and step-by-step instructions on how to do something. A further secret: it doesn't even need to be about making money.

When I started out, I thought that the only way I was going to get anywhere in this industry was if I chose a major niche and capitalized on it. Entrepreneurship seemed the most logical because of the many affiliate opportunities available. One thing that Wealthy Affiliate taught me was that you don't need to go crowd chasing--a steady trickle is all you need to be successful in your industry. You could go with birdwatching or knitting or medieval weaponry. Chances are, you might be even more successful simply because you don't have as much competition as you would with a major niche. How do you profit on it? There are two good ways that I've discovered. One is through affiliate systems. You'd be surprised how many affiliate programs there are about anything under the sun--simply google your keyword + affiliate and you'll likely have several good choices to choose from. Depending on where you live, Amazon Associates is also a good option for pretty much any niche. It's easy to sign up and add whatever you want to your site. The other option is to display. I haven't made any money this way, but many people do and it is worth looking into. Every time anyone clicks on an ad they see on your site, you get paid.

Later I plan to report on a few options that can help you get started, but for now hopefully you're a step closer to making it work online.

Welcome, Chitika!

Yesterday I temporarily locked viewers out of this site so that I could experiment with advertising. There was no way I would allow a repeat of my first monetization attempt, but even without Amazon Associates and Google Adsense, surely I could find something that worked!

Yesterday I tried Bidvertiser first. It says it does targeted advertising, and even though it was a disaster last time there must be a way to adjust the settings and limit the kind of ads shown! I searched through the site and double-checked all of the ad options to make sure that everything was just right, and then I applied it. It didn't last long! As soon as the first pornographic ad popped up on the side, I realized my mistake and was relieved that I had locked the site from views for that experiment. Nope, Bidvertiser won't do the job for me.

After that I started scanning the web for Adsense alternatives. Even though Bidvertiser seems to be the next biggest, there had to be something less dangerous. And I think I might have found something. I say think because I've only had it for a day and can't speak for its success. Chitika is considered one of the closest things to Adsense there is. I was incredibly relieved when I not only had to specify the nature of my site for ad sifting (which Bidvertiser already did) but also had the option to select what kinds of ads I wanted and what kind I didn't want. Text, image, or both? How flashy was I ok with? And, most importantly, what keywords did I not want in certain ads?

The results are dry. The ads don't perfectly match up to the site, though every now and then something interesting pops up. But so far, Chitika has proven itself to be reliable and honest, and I hope it will continue to be so in the future. I also hope I get more specialized ads than a list of related keywords. But hey, it's a start. Now I just need to wait and see the long-term results and effects. Hopefully they'll be positive!