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 12.2: Begging vs. Selling

"Please buy this. Please? It's a great thing to have. Super nifty. No, wait! Don't go. Please? Come back!"

That's just about what I sound like whenever I try to sell things, both online and in person. Whiney, annoying, and all-around obnoxious. No one wants to buy things from a person like that! I can't sell, and that's a problem. Pretty much every industry requires people to sell something--skills, impressions, tangible objects. Some people are fabulous at selling. They can get anyone to do anything just by saying things in the right tone of voice. How do they do that?

I've tried everything I can think of. I've tried to be bold; I've tried to be subtle; I've tried to make it as friendly and personal as I can, but nothing works. What do I do?

 Perhaps I need a new approach. I've quite proven that I am useless a salesmen myself... but there are others who can sell easily. What I need to do is find someone--or something--who can do the selling for me. I get frustrated when I see that sites that claim to be able to help with advertising only give me the tools but not the knowledge of how to use them. So far Traffic Exchange Profits has been the only company I know of that actually covers that part of the business, and it's very clever about it--it does its own selling. You'll notice that I haven't mentioned it very much on this blog, and there's a reason for it. I don't need to. Actually, the site advises against it. It's designed to be advertised only through traffic exchanges, and that makes sense. I'm selling something to people who, by definition, could use it. But it is a useful system, and if nothing else I'd recommend joining it just to see the training videos.

But that's the approach I need... a product that is literally designed to sell itself, placed in front of an audience who will actually like it. I know my sites are all awesome and that you should all join, but I just need to find a way to communicate that without getting you to tune out.

Please feel free to follow me on Twitter (@onlineincome) for more updates and tips, and by all means check out Traffic Exchange Profits or Free Internet Money. I'm going to keep saying that even if you don't respond.

Day 10.3: Traffic Exchanges: Do They Really Work?

By the end of the day now I have two direct referrals in addition to the two indirect for Clixsense. If any of you were the second, thank you! If not, you should totally join. Anyway, I was looking at where exactly my referrals were coming from. The second one I couldn't trace, but the first referral... wasn't from this blog. It shouldn't have been a surprise. My personal advertising stinks.

My first referral was from a traffic exchange. You might be familiar with them--Traffic G, Easy Hits 4 You, etc. You go from ad to ad, and for every one you look at someone looks at yours. I was a total skeptic at first. Even though I do sometimes click on ads to learn more about whatever program they stand for, I considered myself the exception. Who would really care to look into something that I posted? Seriously? And then decide to join it? But that's what happened.

Don't get me wrong, that was only one person (that I know of) who signed up, and it really was about time. I joined the top seven traffic exchange sites to check out a program called Traffic Exchange Profits. Every day lately, I've been pulling up all seven in different tabs and clicked through them nonstop for a long time. Hundreds of ads a day, and these are the best traffic exchanges out there.

So are they really worth joining in the long run? The answer is, that depends. If you don't have much time and don't want to sign up to more than one or two, I'd have to say no. You'd be better off asking friends and family instead, or posting something on Facebook. If you really want to get something out of traffic exchanges, though, it's possible. I'd recommend joining Traffic Exchange Profits first to get a list of the best ones out there and strategies for how to work them. Be committed to your work and set aside some time every day to do nothing but surf. It's not as boring as it sounds--many of the top sites offer rewards for surfing or allow you to play games or win prizes. And if you join enough, you won't have to worry about idle waiting time.

Traffic exchanges can work, but only with the right strategy, and only if you're very committed to making them work. Otherwise, I'd say not to bother. There are many ways to advertise out there, and there are bound to be some that would work perfectly for whatever you're doing!

To know more about my personal plan for earning money online (and it's working, too!) go to Freeinternetmoney.biz. To join Clixsense and start building your own money-making downline, click here. And for updates and more tips on online entrepreneurship, follow me on Twitter!

Day 9.3: The Ten Rules of Conducting Business Online

1. If it feels like a scam, it probably is.
2. No one wants to buy, but everyone wants to sell.
3. You are the most gullible person in the industry.
4. Traffic does not equal money.
5. There's no such thing as fast, easy money.
6. There is no single perfect approach to online business.
7. If you're alone, you're dead.
8. Forget rule number one. If it feels like a scam, it might still be worth investigating.
9. You'll never be done optimizing your online business. Never.
10. Free Internet Money rocks.

A short post, but true. Please follow me on Twitter for more updates and tips!

Day 9.2: Making Traffic Work for You

When it comes to any kind of business on the Internet, whether blogging, marketing, or even just posting a cute little webcomic for the fun of it, there's one thing we can all agree on: traffic is awesome. Every site need traffic to survive, and when you know you've been getting it, that's a good feeling. Trust me. But for some of us, traffic isn't enough. If your online business is primarily for entertainment and recreation, traffic might be all you need--just the satisfaction of knowing that you've brightened someone else's day or spread awareness of an important issue. But if you're trying to make a living online... you'll need more than just traffic. You'll need active traffic. People who are willing to try out what you've got. People who like what you stand for so much that they decide to stand for it themselves

This blog is now at almost a thousand views. Considering it's only been up for a little over a week and that I'm a total newbie to online marketing, that's substantial. I get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I think of someone else reading my own words or joining my Twitter feed. It's an author's dream come true! But one of the goals of this blog was to generate cash. Obviously, I knew that no matter how good of products I advertised and how well I advertised them, only a fraction of a percent would click a link, and even fewer people than that would go through with something--even if it was free and easy and awesome, like Clixsense. Almost a thousand views... and not one click. Not even out of curiosity. I'm giving this blog a full thirty days to generate so much as a cent, but my point is this: if I'm getting traffic, if I've got the whole world hanging on my words, but no one clicks, I can't make a cent off of this. Traffic without action is dead. (Well, not entirely, I really do love views and readers!)

So what can be done about it? My problem is simple. I need to find a way to make my traffic work for me. Unfortunately, I lack the tools and the knowledge to do so. As the old adage goes, you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. This is especially frustrating when I consider my own willingness to be an active member of traffic. I always want to explore and learn, and it's hard for me to understand why not everyone does.

So what's my strategy? I might not know the secret to making my traffic work for me, but there are people out there, masters of the Internet, who do. I have taken it upon myself to figure out what there secrets are and how I can replicate them! I've already got a start. Traffic Exchange Profits (I dare you to click the link!) is a program built around the idea of driving traffic to action. While it hasn't fully answered all my questions, it has a free video series explaining the concepts involved. I highly recommend them.

I don't know how to move my traffic to action, but I'm going to find out! Follow me on Twitter for more updates and tips, and to take a look at my own strategy on making money online, check out Free Internet Money and Turbo Income Charger. Cool stuff's happening!

Day 4.2: Six Ways to Improve Monetization

First a disclaimer: As I already said in my last post, I am incredibly sorry if you suffered from the horrible ads that I had on this site. I was checking my Reddit account and saw that someone had posted a comment for an earlier post, saying "how ironic." There was a screenshot then of my blog with the ads. Yes, it was ironic, and in the worst of ways. I want to discourage those sites, not help them out. I want people to stay away from them. I did not know that those would be the ads that would show up when I joined BidVertiser, and I myself was offended at the sight of them. I have removed them now. I respect you as readers, and so from now on the only ads I'll show are for sites and products that I myself support and am an active part of. Keep in mind that I'm still fairly new to this and am learning. The intrusive ad problem was a bad mistake and will probably not be my last. I am sorry, and thank-you for staying with me.

Monetization is new to me, if you can't already tell. I'm still working out the best way to do it. As I've been trying to compose a list for my own (and your) reference: How to get good ads on your site:

1. Have a reason to trust the monetization site. Look it up and research it before joining blindly, like I did.
2. Do not assume that all ads are good ads. This was another mistake on my part. The ads I had actually harmed my traffic as well as offending me. Find out what your getting before getting it!
3. Think about your audience. While many monetization sites say that they will match their ads with your content, that is not always true. That was yet another mistake I made. If you can find a way to show ads/banners only from sites that you know and genuinely think people should join, go with that instead.
4. Think about what would attract you. Are the ads you're looking at getting good enough for you to click on? Would you click on them if you saw them on another website? That should be an indicator for whether others will be interested.
5. Make it personal. If there's anything that you yourself actively support, see if there's a way you can advertise that instead of a product you don't have any experience with.
6. Sell your own stuff. If you have something to sell--say, a self-published book--sell that. That's the best way to get a profit from ads.

Basically, my theory is this: if you support it, chances are others will too. Don't walk into something as serious as monetization blindly. It could ruin you in the long run. Hopefully these tips will help you if you're interested in monetizing your own site.