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.

Wealthy Affiliate: The Good, The Bad, and The Unfair

First, an update: looks like blogging take #3 isn't going to happen. Ugh. Maybe I should try PPC ads again?

I was messing around the other day and came across a program called "Wealthy Affiliate." It wasn't like other affiliate programs--instead of just trying to sell the same site you just joined, WA equips people to start their own home business based on anything they like. And a starter account is free.

How could I resist? I looked around the site and joined up, and in the next couple days had watched all ten of the starter videos. They were very well done. WA is built around a strong community atmosphere, and you can work alongside other people in your same position as you get step-by-step help setting up your own Wordpress website. I was loving it... and then the free lessons ended. They had covered basic setup of the website and everything was all set to happen, but then what? There were no instructions on where to go from there, other than to sign up for a premium account to learn just how to publicize your site and how to profit from it. Basically, you're just left with an empty shell of a website with an "about me" and a "privacy policy" page, with no traffic, no domain, and no profits. Ugh... foiled again.

I'm trying to patch it up and get it set up to actually make a profit, but it's hard without everything they had implied they would provide as needed. I can scope out the WA site to find conversations, but I can't ask questions without a premium account and I can't access any new "classrooms" to learn about a topic.

Yep, I feel pretty cheated. Google Adwords won't even accept the new site because it's using a subdomain, and I'm really reluctant to go back to Bidvertiser after what happened last time.

So for now I'm going to skulk back to paid surveys and article writing and keep my eyes peeled for something that could actually help. I'll keep you posted as to my results!

Day 21: Earner's Report

Well, I'm having to go down to only one post a day now because I'm so busy. I've commenced packing for my wedding in a couple months and have joined enough sites that I could literally go from one to the next to the next and stay busy all day. That being said, I realized that today marks the 2/3 mark in my experiment, and it's time for a report!

When I started out, if you had asked me how much I'd have earned by this point, I would have said, "Probably not much. Maybe a couple sales or so." I would have been wrong on both points, but for opposite reasons. I've earned a substantial amount--so much over the past couple days that you won't believe me if I tell you, so I'll keep quiet. But I do have a steady income now, and am incredibly optimistic about my goal of $100 per week. I haven't made any sales, though. At least not unless you count referrals. The blog has done nothing for me but help me organize my thoughts and eat up a lot of time (about an hour per post).

Where has my money been coming from? PTC sites, mostly. Clixsense has hit it off so well that if my sponsor doesn't automatically upgrade me in the next few days, I'll simply upgrade myself, now that I can easily afford that. I'm currently deciding which accounts of mine I should focus on upgrading. True, it's kind of frustrating that I'm working so hard on this money just to put it back in the system, but once I reach my goal I should be able to relax and use the money for what I want.

So, what have I done right, and what have I done wrong? Here are a couple lists.

What I've done right:

• I was willing to start small, working for pennies and fractions of pennies in the hopes that they would add up eventually.
• I looked into many different forms of income. If I had decided to do this blog and nothing else, then I would be overly frustrated by now, begging over and over again for someone to buy something or click on links.
• I put everything into it. I've spent hours and hours on traffic exchanges, only to get a few clicks and referrals as a result--but that's all it takes. A click here, a signup there, and before you know it you've got a downline! But you won't get any results if you only put in a few minutes every day.
• I didn't spend. I've come across so many tempting offers that required a payment that several times I've almost given in--I did give in, in a couple $1 instances which I regret. I've stayed with the free options, and now I'm making enough money that I can actually afford to look into some of the pricier options. But a rule I've formed is that I'm not going to put my own money into this. It has to be money I've earned online that I can earn again, or else there's a chance I'll ruin everything.
• I kept a log of my efforts. Even if it hasn't earned me a penny, I'm glad I started this blog. Writing down my thoughts, successes and failures has been an immense help in deciding where I should go next.

What I've done wrong:

• I did invest a couple dollars. I weakened because of some great advertising and gave away occasional dollars in the hopes of striking gold, which didn't happen. The big reason for that is because after they make you spend one dollar, they'll ask for more. The won't just leave it there.
• I put all my eggs in one basket. Several times this month, when I thought I found THE solution, I spent all of my time and effort on it, not bothering to look for a better alternative. I cringe when I think of the many wasted hours out there, the subscriptions I've never used, the possibilities I hadn't recognized.
• I didn't bother to look for reputations. I know, I've mentioned several times in the past few weeks that reputation is important, but I didn't listen to my own advice. I often blindly joined something or signed up for something only to learn later that it was a total scam. Ouch.

One week left until I end this project, cash in hand. I'll probably keep it going, more or less, but without the dedication that I've been giving it. I'm getting married, after all--I have enough on my plate as it is. Please follow me on Twitter for updates and tips, and check out Clixsense if you want to start generating your own online income!

Day 16.1: Confessions of An Optimist

In case you haven't already gathered, I'm a serious optimist. I can't help it. No matter how many times I've been disappointed (and it's been a lot), I can't help assuming that next time, it's going to work. That's what got me started on this experiment, and that's hopefully what will drive me to be able to earn at least a $100 a week from home. My innate optimism has been a mixed blessing for me, however, and for this post I decided to write about how much optimism is too much.

First of all, if you're going to be an entrepreneur either you're already an optimist or someone's holding a gun to your head and forcing you. (I doubt that's the case.) It's necessary to be an optimist if you're going to try new things. You have to have the vision to see your endeavors prosper, and you have to see a light at the end of the tunnel if you're going to chase it.

My problem is that I get so caught up in chasing the light that I don't realize that it's actually coming from an oncoming train and not the end of the tunnel at all. I get carried away with things. I obsess over something and then if it doesn't work out, I'm devastated. While being an optimist might be a necessary attribute to an entrepreneur, it's also vital that you be a realist. You can't simply walk around with high hopes and your head in the cloud and expect that good things will show up. You have to see how they will show up and what you can do to make that happen. You have to anticipate your own weaknesses and work out a way to combat them. That's an area where I really struggle. I'm a rotten salesman, period. Something could be cool and awesome and totally free, like Clixsense, but despite my own personal enthusiasm and even the fact that I'm going to get my first paycheck tomorrow, none of you will click on that link. And if you do, I'll be totally shocked and surprised and thrilled and incredibly grateful. Now see, you (almost certainly) didn't click the link. I love it, I'm excited about it and telling you... but I'm not getting any results.

So why is it that all of my plans hinge on referrals? Ok, true, Traffic Exchange Profits does have a way of working around that, but what about everything else? Why do I keep thinking I'll make it work, when it never does? I don't know. I guess I just can't stop.

Please follow me on Twitter for more updates and--please--check out Clixsense if you want to make your own cash online!

Day 8.2: Getting Rich Online

Ok, I think my plan's ready to go live! More than that, I've actually already started putting it into action, and I'm really excited! So what is this plan?

First, let's look at things logically. The other day, I was investigating various cases of people who actually did get rich from PTC sites. I tried to find a pattern in all these stories, and I found it. There are two things (well, three things, actually) that are required to make any serious money online. Nothing else matters--having a large Twitter following, owning your own website.

What are these three things? Let's put them in a list.

1. Patience/Perseverance. All of the cases I looked at were people who have been working at this for years. They didn't start earning $500 paychecks over night. If you want this to succeed, you need to be willing to work consistently with little immediate progress.
2. Referrals. I've already written a post entirely about referrals and how they're practically impossible to get. However, I've been doing careful research lately and I think I have found the key! It will take some setup effort, but it's possible to get your message out to all the right people in a way that will draw them in. I've gone through the whole process now, and I can tell you it is very doable!
3. God's will. Please don't laugh here. I am a very strong Christian, which I really should have shared much earlier in this blog. I pray over my decisions every day, and if there's one thing I've learned it's this: God's will trumps man's logic. You could get everything right, but it'll fail if it's not in God's will. Also note that God is not a magic genie who grants all your wishes. It is a serious matter, and if this plan is not in God's will I will not succeed. I heavily urge any of you Christians out there to pray about this before going any further. Ask God if taking this path is really a wise decision and examine your motives.

All right, now that we have all of the pieces, let's put them together. Over the past couple days I have been researching how to build downlines like crazy, looking for one good option that worked that wouldn't cost me a cent. I found two, and they link together perfectly to generate solid, high traffic that will be loyal to your site. Let's take a look!

1. Step 1. Get a gmail account. If you already have one, get another one. This is a surprisingly important step, and the sooner you take care of it, the better. This is the site you'll use whenever you "subscribe" to things.
2. Step 2. Go to freeinternetmoney.biz. It's a very simple system that not only allows you to consolidate multiple trustworthy PTCs under one URL but also gives you fantastic tools to manage them and organize them. It's a very user-friendly service, and if you just follow the steps offered for setup you'll be well on your way to success. It's a brilliant site and very handy if you want to do anything at all with PTCs.
3. Step 3. Once you're done with freeinternetmoney.biz, go to turboincomecharger.com. This is how you'll get your traffic. It has tons of different venues available, such as forms, safelists, and a company that guarantees you tons of traffic and referrals (I haven't tried that part out yet, but it seems to be good). Remember: this is a tool. You need to have initiative to get it to go. This site just shows you what to do with that initiative so that you won't waste your time.

There you have it. All the tools for generated a solid online income. Of course, the plan is flexible. You don't have to do it at all the way I recommend if you don't want to. I simply tried to find the best way to simplify the referral problem for free (oh yeah, none of these sites cost money). And if you can get good referrals, you've got it made, simple as that. Just keep in mind that you won't make a fortune overnight. You have to work it, and you have to be intentional about it. But now there's no excuse! So get plugged in, make money, and enjoy!

And in case you were wondering, I'm still going to keep up with this blog, and I'm still going to look for ways to make my system even easier and simpler. I hope you enjoy the system and that it works for you as well as it is for me!

Day 7.3: Lessons Learned from An Entrepreneur

I meant to get this post up some time ago, but I've been busy seeing if I could find the best way to put my plan into action. I think I've found it now, and I'll let you in on all the juicy little secrets tomorrow. Mind: it will only work if you're determined to work at it yourself. There's no such thing as "easy money" but there is such a thing as making a fortune from home. Whichever route you take will require patience and perseverance, along with the willingness to work for practically nothing at all.

It's now been one week since I first set out on this entrepreneurial mission, and so I figured that tonight would be a good time to review my progress--successes, mistakes, and lessons learned.

Successes: There are some things that have gone way better than I had thought they would. The biggest of these is publicity. In my old blogs, I was lucky to get five or ten views a day. Seriously. And that was after telling everyone about them and posting on Facebook and everything. I've been shocked every day now to check my views and see that it's been over 100 per day almost since I started up! How did I do this? Pinging, article submissions, and key word optimizations were the best things I did that I know of. Stumbleupon continues to be a good source of traffic, and so did Reddit before I left it. Another success so far has been my regularity in writing. My initial goal was to write three posts a day, and so far I've done it! It's kept me busy, but the publicity and everything I've been learning about working online has been well worth it, and I'm far from running out of content.

Failures: There have also been areas where I've completely blown it, unfortunately, or where I've yet to have any success whatsoever. The first of these is in actually generating an income through this blog. Yes, I've been making money online at sites like Clixsense and Protypers.com, but the blog has gotten me nowhere financially. I take that to be a mistake on my part, and something I should work on. You know I'm not a salesman. I've been terrible making sales since I was a kid doing fundraisers, and it's no better now. I check every now and then to see if there's been any progress, any clicks. Nothing. It's disappointing, but I can only hope something happens in the next three weeks.

Lessons Learned: As I said earlier, I've learned that there's no such thing as "easy money." Simple money, sure, and I'll tell you about that tomorrow. But easy? Far from it. I've learned that making money online is a slow and drawn out effort that can take years before you even break even. I've learned to expect the worst from things but also to be open to new ideas. I've also learned that I'm a total rookie in many areas, that my "learning" has really just started. Another thing I learned though is that there is hope, and there is good reason to invest in online marketing, as hard as it may be to keep working for pennies. I've learned that success stories are real and do happen, and that it is possible to be one of those people making serious money online.

I'm excited about this venture, and I hope you are too. I've learned a ton in my first week, and who knows what the future will hold? Please follow me on Twitter for updates and join me on Clixsense, Swagbucks, and Protypers.com (code 611M). You might be making pennies now, but they will be dollars! I'll tell you how to make that happen tomorrow, and I'm stoked to get started on it myself.

Day 7.1: An Entrepreneur's Work Is Never Done

Hello, and welcome to day seven of my 30-day project: making money online. Today I'm going to reflect on some of the bigger lessons I've learned this past week, staring with this: an entrepreneur's work is never done. A week ago, I thought I'd write this blog, submit it to so many sites, and then leave it at that. Wash, rinse, repeat. But there's a ton more work to it than that. What is that? Well...

1. Ads/monetization. I intended to monetize this site from the start. When Google Adsense wasn't working out, I looked for alternatives. I found one that looked good, but then to my dismay I was bombarded by the worst scam sites and popups out there clamoring for space on my blog. I shut that program down, and since then have only carried ads for sites that I know and trust. However, I'm not entirely content with what I have, and I find myself continually looking for better ways to monetize my blog.
2. Optimization. If I make any money from this site, it's going to take a while. In the meantime I have to find out if there's anything I can do to optimize business. Are there any more/better sites or networks that I can submit to? Are there any keywords I've been missing? What are my most popular posts, and why are they so popular? Where is most of my traffic coming from? These are  things that I have to review every day, often several times a day. Every post I write shifts the emphasis of the site a little and also the stats.
3. Alternatives? I also have to take into account the dread possibility that this site won't work. I don't want to be spending a month of effort for nothing, and so I'm constantly looking for other ways to earn money online. This means tracing scams and earning pennies. It means running google search after google search for something that might work. It means a mass of disappointment with only an occasional perk.

I haven't had more than a few hours' stretch where I felt like I could take a good break from this project,  which can be especially stressful as I also have wedding plans going on and a life of my own to return to. Making money online's easy, if you have patience and determination. Making a living online? It's not going to happen unless you're ready to put in long hours and hard work. I'm still up for it. But then, I'm a pretty big optimist and opportunist. I definitely encourage pursuit of this line of work, if you think you can keep up with it. Just know it won't be easy.

Keep up with your research, because the Internet's constantly changing! In the meantime, if you'd like to get started slowly with just a few pennies at a time (which adds up, trust me!), why don't you join me on Clixsense, Swagbucks, or Protypers.com (code 611m)? You can also follow me on Twitter for quick tips and updates on the blog itself!