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.

Day 18.1: Marketing 101

I'm afraid I've been out with my family for most of today, so I have very little new to write. However, I've recently been talking with some pros at marketing about how they do it. As I've said before, I'm not a salesman. As a matter of fact, I'm very shy and socially awkward by nature. I need pointers on how to get others excited about things and motivated, even for times when I'm not trying to sell anything at all. So what did the experts have to say?

• Downplay the actual selling. I've made huge mistakes in this asking people to please join this or subscribe to that. However, there are tools designed that do a much better job at selling than I ever could. All I need to do is get them in contact with that tool, and I'm all set. Leave buying and selling out of it, and you'll be much ore successful.
• Be enthusiastic. Duh! Obviously you need to be enthusiastic! But you also need to be genuine in your enthusiasm. Why do you use a product yourself? Play out how well it's worked for you and how much you're loving it, and others will become curious.
• Be yourself. Your friends and family will know if you're copying and pasting from a pre-made script of any sort, and they're much more likely to take an interest in something if they know you're genuine.
• Sell to potential buyers. Don't waste your time selling something digital to your aunt who doesn't even have Facebook. Look for people who already have a history for that kind of thing and who would likely be interested.

Well, those are my starter points. In upcoming days I'll try to put those words into action myself, and then I'll give a report on how well those tips work. But they're words from the experts, and they make a lot of sense.

To get more tips and updates, please follow my Twitter feed. To make your own online income, check out Clixsense, and to join me on the best new up-and-coming social network, please e-mail me about Rippln and I'll send you an invite! Watch the video below for details.

Day 8.3: Is Online Marketing for You?

This has been an exciting day for me, because today I was finally able to put my money-making plan into action! Please see my last post for information about that. But my work on that, and on this whole project, is far from over. Today I spent hours figuring out how to optimize my new system, visiting and joining site after site so that I could learn more about what's out there. Things are clicking into place brilliantly, but there are a few things I thought I should make note of in this blog, primarily that my system will not work for everyone.

It's simple, it's logical, and it works. Guaranteed generated income. But it's also time-consuming and repetitive work. You can't passively just sign up for Clixsense and expect others to sign up under you. You have to promote your link. You have to be active in getting others to notice. And while my system provides all the necessary venues to do that, it will still take a good chunk of time out of your day. There's no such thing as easy money, and even in a system this simple you have to earn every penny. But don't get depressed--there are plenty of good things about online marketing too!

If you're thinking about getting involved, but not entirely sure, here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Am I willing to follow leads? As a marketer, you'll be interacting a lot with other marketers, exchanging services and providing traffic. You'll have to join a lot of sites and stay active to keep your accounts open. If you want only a one-stop-shop, online marketing probably isn't for you.
2. Am I willing to start small? Remember, you probably won't make anything at first. You'll be working long hours while seeing few results, all to invest in a hopeful future. It's an investment.
3. Will I stick with this through thick and thin? Remember, patience is the key! There will be days when you want to quit. It's going to look bleak and hopeless, and you'll feel like you're losing a lot of time for nothing.

Any form of online marketing is serious work, but with patience and determination it can really pay off.

My new system focuses on optimizing the process to generate maximum referrals in the shortest time possible, and as I continue to work on it, things will hopefully keep getting faster and easier.

Do you think you have what it takes? It's surprisingly simple and automated, so don't be afraid to poke around and see what works for you. Check out Free Internet Money and Turbo Income Charger for all the information you need to start generating an income! In the meantime, please follow my Twitter feed for updates and tips and hints for making and saving money online.

Day 8.1: Knowing Your Market

First the good news: the brilliant plan I've been working on is just about ready to go, and for sure I'll tell you guys in the next post or two how you can actually make serious money on the internet. Again, it's not "easy money," and if you go for it you can expect to be pretty busy, at least for a while until things pick up. But it is simple--foolproof, even, if I can just get the last few kinks ironed out (and there aren't many).

And now onto my topic for this post: knowing your market. One thing that pretty much any book on writing tells you is to know the readers, to have the audience in mind as you write. What age group is the story for? What do they care about, and what draws them in? It's good advice in the writing world and at least as good in the business world.

Yesterday, as I was researching ways to put my plan into action, I came across a very interesting e-book, The Fastest Way to Build A Large MLM Downline by Tracy Biller
. It wasn't on exactly what I was looking for, but it was related to MLM (multi-level-marketing) and sales. What it said was that personal referrals are nothing. I know from experience that you can talk until you're blue to friends and family, and even if they do sign up for something there's no way they'll be active. They just want you to shut up. It's a waste of their time--and it's a waste of yours. Another tip that the book said was not to waste your time recruiting rookies. That was new to me. What's wrong with recruiting rookies? I consider myself a rookie. Why shouldn't a wise marketer recruit me?

The truth is that if you don't know what you're getting into, and you don't walk into something with a plan in mind, blindly expecting money to flow into your bank account, you're going to fail. You're going to fail big. And when most people set out to make money online, they immediately see that it isn't as glamorous as all the ads paint it to be, and they give up. That's the problem with rookies.

So now you have a problem. If you try to market your service to friends and family, they'll do the minimum just to get you to shut up. If you market the same service to the general public, they might sign up, but they'll soon get discouraged and give up before their presence makes any difference. So what can you do? You need to be able to find a target audience. Look through forums and chat-rooms to find people who are seriously looking for a solution and willing to work it out. Look for people who want your business as badly as you want theirs. Those are the people who will make a difference. Those are the people you want on your side. Know your market. You want veterans, not rookies!

For more detailed information, here's the link to the e-book that told me all this: http://www.documentspratiques.com/downloads/FastMLM.pdf. It's a pretty short read, and I think definitely worth the read, whatever your online business is.

Please check back later to hear about my brilliant idea: a shockingly simple way to make actual money online. And right now I'm ironing it out to make sure it's also as easy as possible without any guesswork or frustration involved.

In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter for the latest updates and tips on how to work and save online. You can also join me on Clixsense, Protypers (code 611M) and Swagbucks for easy ways to earn pennies! And for your information, I've already earned over a dollar on Protypers for only a couple days' work, and they pay you after you reach three dollars. Not bad for an online gig!