I've been seeing a lot of advertisements for different courses and stuff about how to make money on the internet. but I think a lot of it just looks like scams. anyone here have some pointers on how a beginner would start or where to look for honest information?

Hmmm...You're right, there is an awfule lot of hype when it comes to this kind of stuff. Several members here are experienced webmasters, maybe they can offer some advice. Right now, I'm too tired to even try and wrap my brain around this subject.

Their is not much advice i can give you unless i know what interests you or what would you like to learn more about.

Will,

Do you have any website addresses with information we can look at?

Thanks.

I've been seeing a lot of advertisements for different courses and stuff about how to make money on the internet. but I think a lot of it just looks like scams. anyone here have some pointers on how a beginner would start or where to look for honest information?

Quite honestly, I have made money and I am making money as we speak. You have to search for a solid company that has been around for a while.


Peace,
CP

To the OP:

Don't worry. We've all been in your boat.

It's quite surreal to start with. Somehow you get interested in doing internet marketing. You go online and attempt to find some products to help you accomplish your goals. As a beginner, all one wants is a step by step guide. But they never seem to be available! And when you ask for advice on forums, all you tend to get is big, general advice without *specifics*.

There are two keys to your success:

1. Hunt around on reputable forums (such as the Warrior forum) and look for recommended courses and ebooks from the regulars. Use the search function to get candid reviews of products.

2. Once you have zeroed in on a specific method, DO NOT let your head get turned by all the other methods out there. COMMIT to master the route you have chosen, and COMMIT to nailing it harder and better each and every day. Don't look backwards, don't look sideways, don't lose yourself in stuff that doesn't concern your route. Once you've mastered it and once you have money coming in, THEN look at a second avenue.

There are plenty of good products out there, but be wary of those which will require EXTRA investment after purchasing. Neil Shearing's Web Auto Income Secrets is a great course, but there is a lot of required investment after buying the course, and then lots of committed hard work. The course I recommend is the one in my signature - it's great, but will require study and honest effort. Also, anything by Ewen Chia is usually pretty good. Like I say, do some research - there's lots of stuff out there. Just find something and MAKE A START! :)

Here's the thing about buying a "learn how to make money" system. The seller of the system isn't using it to make money, they are making money selling the system to people like you. Stop and think about that for a moment.

gm

So so true.

Hi there,
I actually felt the same way you did about making money on the internet. I encourage you to research deeply the different sites. I have started with an honest company...it was even on the news if you would like to see it. Get in touch with me and I can help you out with building wealth and also learning in the process.

Thanks,
Rachel

Welcome to the forum Rachel!

What is the name of the company you're with? How can you help some one create wealth (what business)?

gm

Hi Coach Morse,
I hope you had a great weekend. I work with a quickly growing program that focuses on success and wealth building. They offer the most valuable principles for all areas of life from the most credible leaders. The program is designed to give to others the knowledge that you receive from the leaders. You are then given payments in return for sharing these principles to others. The whole program is designed to help people achieve their dreams. There is a website you can visit from FOX News in Texas speaking about it, and you can also visit my site if you could tell me your e-mail so I could sent these to you. I have been so impressed in my learning so far about life principles and wealth. They really do offer an incredible program. Let me know if you would like to hear more about it!

Make it a great one!
Rachel

Hey Rachel, welcome :)

I'd like to hear more about it, swing me some info at nomoreratrace@gmail.com
I'm in no way promising i'll get into it, but i'd love to have a look.

Cheers!

Tim

Hi Coach Morse,
I hope you had a great weekend. I work with a quickly growing program that focuses on success and wealth building. They offer the most valuable principles for all areas of life from the most credible leaders. The program is designed to give to others the knowledge that you receive from the leaders. You are then given payments in return for sharing these principles to others. The whole program is designed to help people achieve their dreams. There is a website you can visit from FOX News in Texas speaking about it, and you can also visit my site if you could tell me your e-mail so I could sent these to you. I have been so impressed in my learning so far about life principles and wealth. They really do offer an incredible program. Let me know if you would like to hear more about it!

Make it a great one!
Rachel

I'm not currently looking for a different way to make money. I think it's great that you are excited about your new venture, and I'm interested to learn more about who you are. Maybe your being a member of this forum will help you achieve your financials goals.

Your description of what you do sounds like an mlm business. Is that what it is? Why don't you put a link to your website in your signature so we can all take a look, and tell you what we think.

Regardless of whether or not you pick up any new customers here, I hope you stick around and participate in the discussions.

Have a great day!
gm

Thank you for that comment! I'm sure that I will receive some very valuable information from the members present. It's no problem if you're seeking a different way of making money. We're all different and know what is best for us!

yep... it's network marketing. Rachel I'm sorry you got suckered into it. I know exactly how it feels because I was suckered into network marketing 3 different times (I'm kind of a slow learner).

The financial rewards are so enticing. These types of companies are counting on the fact that at any given time there are millions of people struggling to get by and willing to do anything for a chance to change their station in life. This particular one, Success University, is looking to sign up people who will pay $600 per year for the priviledge of becoming a salesman for the company. Oh,... they're good!

The sad reality is that a few people at the top of Success University will make a ton of money, while the majority of those involved will get peanuts. What's worse is that when these folks (like you and me) do get out, they'll spend a considerable amount of time feeling like a failure... like a loser. The increased self-improvement training will actuall magnify the feelings of worthlessness, because according to the gurus, if we believe we can't fail, so when we fail it must mean we don't believe in ourselves enough and therefore, we must have some sort of fatal flaw.

There are many ways to achieve success, to provide for a family, to "build wealth", and to live a more fulfilling and rewarding life. Network marketing is one of the worst and most unlikely ways.

gm

There are lots of ways on the internet to make money. One thing I advise you to do is NOT go to any sites like scam.com...the people on there try a product or business opportunity for a total of a day - dont make any money, then claim its a scam...it's kind of pathetic and makes you feel like a lower person just from visiting the site lol

I got caught up going to scam.com everytime I read about a new business opp., then finally realized that according to them, there are NO legitimate opportunities...I realized that it was THEM, not the opportunity

Like mentioned before, you need to pick one opportunity and stick with it. I've finally done that recently and have been reaping benefits from it tremendously

My sig. is at the bottom if you'd like to check out the company i'm involved with.

So Reeveso is this your company or something you have bought into? If the latter, have you paid your $3895? If yes, have you got the promised $3000 per sale? Have you had any sales yet?
Yes, i realise that:
"Like a seeing eye dog... skepticism can
only serve you when it’s on a short leash."
But the leash got longer when i saw the buy in cost ;)

I hope you are enjoying success with it.
:)

it's something I bought into

To be honest, I paid the money in the beginning and didn't really do much with it. (I know, it was stupid)...however, I just got back into doing it and got my qualifying sale within about 2 weeks

That means my next sale i'll make either $1000 or $3000, depending on what level the person signs up at....theres also a $50 level, but if you do that your first 5 sales go to your sponsor

I'm new to internet marketing so it might take me a little longer than most people..but i've been learning extensively the past few days....my sponsor averages about $12,000 per month now, and his sponsor has made over $200,000 in the past 3 months

All in all, I DIDNT treat it like a business, but have since shifted my priorities and am only working on advertising PAS (well, and also writing a childrens book but pretty much just in spare time)....i'm learning some pretty good ways to market for cheap on the internet

Also, the adpaks you get now are 10x better than they were when I first signed up. If you think this is a wish-wash company....they are going to be aired on CNN and the discover channel in a few months!! (they're also on sirius radio right now..just started that like 2 weeks ago)

Well i truly hope it delivers what it promised for you. I know what it's like to be in something like that and not have it work. I've been playing around with net stuff for about a year, and i've come to two conclusions:
the phrases "get rich quick!" and "realistic" don't go together
and
there's no such thing as a free lunch, and no short cut to any worthwhile success.

I hope, for your sake, that PAS works, and that it doesnt end up wasting your time and money. Keep us posted :)
:cool:

Yea I hear what your saying completely

I'm sure it will work out, as i've already seen proof of a few people's income from PAS since i've joined..it's just a matter of me actually promoting it and treating it like a business

Its just a numbers game thats all, like anything else...with this the numbers will probably tend to be slightly lower though, since most people hesitate putting up that kind of money

However, for the ones that give it a shot - they'll be rewarded handsomely! :)

I'm really fighting the urge to cut loose here. I decided that instead of lambasting every poster, who has an incredible opportunity, with my unsolicited opinion, I will just extend to anyone, who wants to know what I think about the feasibility or legitimacy of a business, the invitation to PM me. :hopeless:

anyone here have some pointers on how a beginner would start or where to look for honest information?

-Many people start off by creating small informational websites to promote other peoples' products. I reccommend using clickbank.com for affiliate programs. You can promote the products there and earn a good commission.


Other Advice

If you want to make money on the internet, you should first do some heavy researching to discover the best way for YOU to make money.

Don't buy anything right away! A lot of the stuff that is contained in ebooks that claim to show you the right way to make money, is usually available for free somewhere online. You just have to do a little digging.

I totally agree with humdinger. You must commit!!!! It's so easy to get sidetracked because you are exploring something risky outside of your comfort zone. It's a form of procrastination.

Please don't waste your money on random programs. There are many people on the web making money with only the minimal investment of a website domain name.

anyone here have some pointers on how a beginner would start or where to look for honest information?

-Many people start off by creating small informational websites to promote other peoples' products. I reccommend using clickbank.com for affiliate programs. You can promote the products there and earn a good commission.


Other Advice

If you want to make money on the internet, you should first do some heavy researching to discover the best way for YOU to make money.

Don't buy anything right away! A lot of the stuff that is contained in ebooks that claim to show you the right way to make money, is usually available for free somewhere online. You just have to do a little digging.

I totally agree with humdinger. You must commit!!!! It's so easy to get sidetracked because you are exploring something risky outside of your comfort zone. It's a form of procrastination.

Please don't waste your money on random programs. There are many people on the web making money with only the minimal investment of a website domain name.

Sound advice Master!!! :thumb:

Off the top of my head, these are the top 2 ways you can make money online.

1. Affiliate
2. Advertising

1. Affiliate - I'm kind of wary on this. There's usually a stigma when people offer affiliate links because there's a conflict of interest. I think trust needs to be built first before you can leverage affiliates.

2. Advertising - if you get traffic to your site, monetize it with google adsense, chikitia mini malls, etc.

Bottom line, you can't make money online the next day. Must establish yourself first and then you can start making money.

You can also make money with

1. Resell/Reprints Rights - you keep 100% of the profits unlike an affiliate where you only get a commision on the sale of the product. You usually get a order-pulling sales letter and graphics with these products and you can set up your own affiliate program. You will need your own website and clickbank or paypal to take orders.

2 . Private Label Resell Rights - You can put your name on the product, edit/modify it or change the content. You usually get a order-pulling sales letter and graphics with these products. You can set up affiliate program or setup resell/reprints rights or break the product up into smaller reports to use as freebies or bonuses. You have 100% control. You will need your own website and clickbank or paypal to take orders.


Hope this helps,
KAT

I could not help chiming in here.
Reading these questions reminded me of of my struggle and money I wasted to find the ways to make money.
I wish I could have understood the simlicity then.
All that you need to make money on the net is
1 A product ( Yours or Affiliate)
2 A website that will act as your shop
3 Traffic
Now a days this can be done without spending a penny. Yes! All of them.
This is a plan that I would suggest to the beginners who do not wish to invest
1. Choose an area/ field you have an interest in. It could be anything from repairing a bike to web designing.
2 Go to Blogger.com and open an account with them.Choose a blog name themed around the topic you will be writing upon. You get a website which names like yoursite.blogspot.com. You have a website address and it is absolutely free.
3. Open a google adsense account. With slight trial you will be able to put in adsense code your blog. This will be your first source of revenues in coming days.
4. Start writing on the topic. Make at least one post per day. When you exhaust do a google search and find more to write. You can also find reprintable articles to post on your blog.
5. Everytime you write go to pingoat.com and ping your blog. This will let the search engines know about the post you make.
6. Sign up the affiliate programs of the products related to the topics you write about. Put the links on your blog. This will bring second stream of revenue.
7. Promote your blog like crazy. Write articles and submit them to the directories along with resource box. Use signatures in the forum to advertise yourself.
8. Never get intimidated by the lack of knowledgeabout any thing. Instaed learn and execute. Increase your knowledge. That would be helpful in expanding your business tomorrow.
9. Do not expect quick results. Work and it will come. Do not faal prey to so called secretsof the gurus. Every thing that yu need to learn is already available.
10. As yu start making money think of expanding your business. get a domain name as that looks more professional. Get a reasonable hosting and keep promoting and reinvesting your profits in your business. Get more products. make your own products. Do anything but do it well

Hard work is the key. Never forget that

Sorry for the spelling errors. I was half asleep.

I could not help chiming in here.
Reading these questions reminded me of of my struggle and money I wasted to find the ways to make money.
I wish I could have understood the simlicity then.
All that you need to make money on the net is
1 A product ( Yours or Affiliate)
2 A website that will act as your shop
3 Traffic
Now a days this can be done without spending a penny. Yes! All of them.
This is a plan that I would suggest to the beginners who do not wish to invest
1. Choose an area/ field you have an interest in. It could be anything from repairing a bike to web designing.
2 Go to Blogger.com and open an account with them.Choose a blog name themed around the topic you will be writing upon. You get a website which names like yoursite.blogspot.com. You have a website address and it is absolutely free.
3. Open a google adsense account. With slight trial you will be able to put in adsense code your blog. This will be your first source of revenues in coming days.
4. Start writing on the topic. Make at least one post per day. When you exhaust do a google search and find more to write. You can also find reprintable articles to post on your blog.
5. Everytime you write go to pingoat.com and ping your blog. This will let the search engines know about the post you make.
6. Sign up the affiliate programs of the products related to the topics you write about. Put the links on your blog. This will bring second stream of revenue.
7. Promote your blog like crazy. Write articles and submit them to the directories along with resource box. Use signatures in the forum to advertise yourself.
8. Never get intimidated by the lack of knowledgeabout any thing. Instaed learn and execute. Increase your knowledge. That would be helpful in expanding your business tomorrow.
9. Do not expect quick results. Work and it will come. Do not faal prey to so called secretsof the gurus. Every thing that yu need to learn is already available.
10. As yu start making money think of expanding your business. get a domain name as that looks more professional. Get a reasonable hosting and keep promoting and reinvesting your profits in your business. Get more products. make your own products. Do anything but do it well

Hard work is the key. Never forget that

Really good info Arun!!! :thumb:

Internet incomes do take a while to research and find the best one, but with anything consistancy and dedication usually are the two factors that create success in business.

I went to bed last night at 11:00, I awoke at 6:00 this morning (to walk my dog, Ha,ha) sat down at the computer, checked my PPC stats, and I made over $150 last night, WHILE I WAS SLEEPING.

The internet is the greatest money making tool...It has changed free enterprise as we know it. But you need to have a plan and you need to work smart.

Totally agree with Arun that hard work IS the key. But, if you can combine hard work with internet marketing techniques like search engine/PPC optimisation, one-way or reciprocal links exchanges, RSS feed, social networks etc, the exponential effect is much larger and accelerated.

Learn to leverage on what free information that such forums provide, or if you want to have a more faster/structured way or learning, forking out an small initial investment in a good internet/affiliate marketing course may not be a bad thing at all. Reputable courses comes with a 30 day money back guarantee so, if you don't feel that you are getting value for money, you can always ask for a refund.

For any online business to succeed the lesson can be summarised in three steps
1. Drive traffic to your site. ( Articles, PPC, Forums, Banners, SEO, Ezines etc.)
2. Turn more of your visitors into customers.
3. Get repeated and high priced sales from your customers.

If this cycle is followed diligently very soon your business will bring millions for you. And please! The soon does not mean weeks or months. It takes time. Figures say on average the time is 6-7 years.

The people who fail are the one who leave it too soon or do not work with consistency.

Otherwise internet has provided never before available power in hands of a common person.

For any online business to succeed the lesson can be summarised in three steps
1. Drive traffic to your site. ( Articles, PPC, Forums, Banners, SEO, Ezines etc.)
2. Turn more of your visitors into customers.
3. Get repeated and high priced sales from your customers.

If this cycle is followed diligently very soon your business will bring millions for you. And please! The soon does not mean weeks or months. It takes time. Figures say on average the time is 6-7 years.

The people who fail are the one who leave it too soon or do not work with consistency.

Otherwise internet has provided never before available power in hands of a common person.


I wholeheartedly agree with your post. Unfortunatelt there are people who let their "skepticism" get in the way of ever taking massive action.

Also, I do believe that with the right resources and the right plan, you can start making sales very quickly...it doesn't always take 6 to 7 years...:)

I wholeheartedly agree with your post. Unfortunatelt there are people who let their "skepticism" get in the way of ever taking massive action.

Also, I do believe that with the right resources and the right plan, you can start making sales very quickly...it doesn't always take 6 to 7 years...:)

Highschoolrichkid,
I did not elaborate think. I never meant that it take 6-7 years to make you sales and profit. But it does take time to reach your business at a level where it can bring millions constantly.

My first sales were made in the first month of the product launch. I do understand what you mentioned about succeeding early.

I started my blog about 2 weeks ago and haven't seen any sales yet :(....and i've only made like $3.50 from google adsense lol

However, i'm still in the process of a tremendous learning curve as before a month or so ago I knew absolutely nothing about internet marketing - and I finally just started writing articles last night

I started my blog about 2 weeks ago and haven't seen any sales yet :(....and i've only made like $3.50 from google adsense lol

However, i'm still in the process of a tremendous learning curve as before a month or so ago I knew absolutely nothing about internet marketing - and I finally just started writing articles last night


Is this a new blog you started, because the blog in your signature has articles you wrote back in May. :confused:

reeveso, to earn anything from the internet.. it boils down to traffic... you are already doing well, earning $3.50 in 2 wks... the next thing you need to do is to strategize how you want to increase the amount :biglaugh:

Yea I wrote one in May but didnt really "start" it until a little while ago...oh and i'm still at $3.59 lol but i've been focusing my attention on other things

Writing that blog I wasnt really focusing on certain keywords or anything like that, I was just writing..which is prob the reason I wasnt getting anything

For blogging ... there are also a couple of other traffic/link building strategies which I have just picked up... like listing with social networks... trackbacks... RSS feeds submission etc... technorati tagging... which is effective and not too dependent on keywords...

Being Keyword focused is good but being too concerned can be an overkill... I believe in a combination of both, some articles with keywords that will help bring in organic traffic from the search engines and some solid good sticky content that will make the visitors stay in the long haul...

For blogging ... there are also a couple of other traffic/link building strategies which I have just picked up... like listing with social networks... trackbacks... RSS feeds submission etc... technorati tagging... which is effective and not too dependent on keywords...

Being Keyword focused is good but being too concerned can be an overkill... I believe in a combination of both, some articles with keywords that will help bring in organic traffic from the search engines and some solid good sticky content that will make the visitors stay in the long haul...


Great advice Ellesse!
gm

For blogging ... there are also a couple of other traffic/link building strategies which I have just picked up... like listing with social networks... trackbacks... RSS feeds submission etc... technorati tagging... which is effective and not too dependent on keywords...

Being Keyword focused is good but being too concerned can be an overkill... I believe in a combination of both, some articles with keywords that will help bring in organic traffic from the search engines and some solid good sticky content that will make the visitors stay in the long haul...

Wow! That sounds like cool stuff! Any chance you could give us some introductory lessons in simple to understand language?

Thanks coach, randy for the compliments. :tiphat:

Randy, since I am a beginner myself.. I might not be the best person to share these techniques which have been widely used by successful bloggers ;)

but problogger.net do provide some good tips... so check it out when you have the time!

Thanks Elleswe, will do! :tiphat:

There are plenty of ways to make a decent living online. But just like the real world, it boils down to two categories. Hook up with a franchise or do it on your own.

Now, personally, I've never seen the allure of a franchise or similar setup, because you are basically still working for someone.

When you decide to work for yourself, you have the the freedom to make yourself rich. There are no rules. "Google", "Apple", "eBay", "criagslist" all started as someone's idea. These are the heavy hitters, but for each one, there is a dozen more 'little guys' making a decent living with an original idea.

Now working for yourself doesn't mean you can't rely on other businesses to grow yours. The difference is you don't pay a startup fee or a continual percentage of revenue. The most simple is to "sell your old stuff on ebay", that could make you some cash. I taught my parents how to use ebay, and not only did they clean out their garage, they financed their vacation. But the real money on ebay is either:

1) selling stuff for people and charging a fee
2) reselling goods at a profit

#1 is easy if you have neighbors that want to get rid of junk but don't understand ebay. Make a flyer and distribute to 75-100 houses. See what the response is like. Charge 5% or 10%. Eventually, you'll hit the jackpot when someone wants help selling their used car, and your 5% turns into a couple hundred bucks.
#2 is harder (but more fruitful), as you have to find a source of products. You could strike up a deal with a local "mom and pop store" that might get wholesales prices on something, or even better if they make a widget and want to grow their business. Dozens of small business are not yet online. You could help them and you'd both win! (on a side note, I remember reading an article that mentioned ebay was the first company to make XX number of millionaires from non-employees. impressive!)

Of course, the other rage now is simply talking about what you know. Start a blog or a newsletter that talks about stuff you know. Offer it free to customers, but charge for advertising. A large number of communities have newspapers that come to your house at no charge, but are actually profitable businesses. Or when distribute electronically you minimize costs! Of course the most important thing here is you MUST maintain regular content. That means you can't publish a great article in July and then take August off. You have to keep a regular schedule.

You can go one step further with the concept of talking about what you know, and the website Cork'd (http://www.corkd.com/) is a great example of that. Two guys + a love of wine + a lack of organization for their wine collections = Blamo, they solved their own problem and the problem of others. Judging from the ads and sponsors of the site (and a little inside knowledge), they have complimented their full time salary quite well.

I find the journey from $0 to something fascinating. And while the majority of these "online entrepreneurs" don't discuss specific financial details, they do tend to discuss the journey. Here are some great write ups from people that have done it: (I know those are specific to "tech", but browse them for the message)

Jon Gruber @ daringfireball (http://daringfireball.net/2006/04/initiative)
Rogue Amoeba Software Developers (http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/posts/Article/history-2006-09-13-10-00)
$2,739 a day (http://www.calacanis.com/2005/07/19/1m-a-year-in-google-adsense-or-why-2-739-is-my-favorite/)
Blog Pro (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/08/19/when-is-it-time-to-go-pro-as-a-blogger/)

And since this place is crawling with smart peeps :tiphat: I expect everyone is sitting on at least one good idea. I've heard from way too many people that they didn't "run with their big idea" because they felt there was no market out there. The truth is, There’s Big Money in Small Markets (http://www.wilschroter.com/blog/2006/06/theres_big_mone.html). And you don't have to be a jack of all trades, partner with someone that compliments your skill set.

People say this is crazy or its too risky to start a business online. What I find crazy is working 9-5 for someone else. When you leave at the end of the day, you stop generating money. But if you build a good system, you should be getting paid while you sleep, while you play with your kids, or while you surf the SuccessVibe Forum! :thumb:


Best Regards,

Any chance you could give us some introductory lessons in simple to understand language?

Before you even touch those method, I'd suggest anyone thinking about an online business (yes, even blogging) start working on a detailed marketing plan. I talk to peeps trying to generate cash by blogging, and they don't plan ahead! Seriously, no MBA needed. :yup: Just answer some basic questions and do some easy math (don't forget to write down your plan!)

What is it you are distributing? For blogs, this is usually information.
What generates revenue? This isn't always the same thing you are distributing. For blogs, think advertising, subscriptions, premium content, book sales, tshirt sales, etc
What makes you better / different than the competition? (you have researched the competition, right?) ;)
Who are your "end users"?
How will they find you?
How will you keep them?

Then, you should compute some important metrics:

estimated cost per customer
(your marketing expenditures ÷ number of new customers)
So, if in 1 month I plan to spend $150 on flyers, print ads, and online ads to promote by blog and I expect 300 new customers (or viewers), I have a cost per customer of $0.50.

estimated cost per product
(the cost to create your product or service)
So, for blogging, it's the cost of your time to create content (which you should compute at your desired hourly rate) say 2 hours @ $10 = $20.

Now I know I have invested $20 + $0.50 per viewer ($170). So, to break even, I need to generate $0.56 for each person that comes to my site. But you'll find that a small percentage of viewers will generate revenue for you. if I were utilizing AdWords, a 4-5% CTR (click thru rate, or percentage of viewers than actually click on your ad) would be a good number to shoot for at first. Then I'd need a CPC (cost per click) of $11. Yikes! Since Google controls the CPC, and trust me, it's not $11, I need to either 1) plan for additional revenue streams, 2) reduce my cost per customer or 3) generate more traffic.

Now, if I also sell premium content. Let's say a self created PDF ebook selling for $5 with a one time cost to create of $20. Assuming a slightly higher rate of sales, say 9-12% for the ebook (you either get this number from experience or analyzing similar businesses). That's between 27 and 36 sales of the ebook or $135-$180. Subtract your cost of $20 and this is much better. Add this to AdWords and start building some traffic, and you aren't far from profitability!

What's the point of doing this? Now I have a tangible number to aim for, that I know will provide me with income. I know what I need to do to survive (monetarily) but I can also challenge myself and say "i can sell 50 ebooks instead of just 36".

I've always said, "you can't improve upon something you aren't measuring."


Best Regards!

Duder,
Those are two great posts! Sound advice for anyone looking to make money on the internet! :thumb:

Duder,
Those are two great posts! Sound advice for anyone looking to make money on the internet! :thumb:

I agree! Nice work Duder!!! :thumb:

My husband has been making a great living on the Internet since 2001.
We have multiple sources of income from the Internet.
Sometimes it just takes some creativity and "thinking outside of the box".
The Internet is a great medium for marketing and of course the world is abundant and there is more than enough money in the world for each and every one of us to be a millionaire and more. The Internet is just another tool that the Universe has given us.

I started my blog about 2 weeks ago and haven't seen any sales yet :(....and i've only made like $3.50 from google adsense lol

However, i'm still in the process of a tremendous learning curve as before a month or so ago I knew absolutely nothing about internet marketing - and I finally just started writing articles last night

I never work for money, I work to learn. More importantly I work as if I am not getting paid - The money comes as a bonus. Keep it up!!!

I never work for money, I work to learn. More importantly I work as if I am not getting paid - The money comes as a bonus. Keep it up!!!

Kat, you've got a GREAT attitude! I LOVE it!!!! :thumb:

Randy, thankyou for the compliment. KAT

Hi all,

A good wealth of information are located in these posts to date - a great read all. :thumb:

To take a higher level view on some of the specific techniques discussed, my approach is based on the common basis of a traditional successful business. That is to service a need & focus on providing a good service/product to the customer. Without this foundation, I suspect all the techniques in the world will be efficient - but maybe not effective in creating and sustaining a profit.

As I am a newbie to the online business though, I will be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or feedback to this.

Coach, Rich Kid and many of you others appear to be well experienced at this topic so I look forward to checking in on this threads progression.

!! LOVE THIS PLACE !!:)

Cheers,
Andrew

Hi there,

I didn't get any feedback on this on my last post & I am seeking experienced advice on the subject, so better luck this time... Coach, Rich-Kid; anybody who has a internet based revenue or asset???

To take a higher level view on some of the specific techniques discussed, my approach is based on the common basis of a traditional successful business. That is to service a need & focus on providing a good service/product to the customer. - Me

Cheers,
Andrew

Hi there,

I didn't get any feedback on this on my last post & I am seeking experienced advice on the subject, so better luck this time... Coach, Rich-Kid; anybody who has a internet based revenue or asset???



Cheers,
Andrew

Hey Andrew,

I'm not a pro at making money on the internet. I'm learning about internet marketing, SEO and other strategies to enhance online sales, but don't have the experience to help others in these areas.

In my opinion it's important to focus on providing a service or product that is needed by and beneficial to customers.... Needed AND Beneficial. There are many products for sale on the internet today that people need, but few actually deliver a benefit to the customer. For example, many folks NEED to learn how to earn more money, and they are repeatedly suckered into buying products, ie. ebooks and money making systems, that simply don't deliver. It's the modern day version of snake oil.

As you seek advice on this subject you will be advised to pursue one or more of these get rich quick schemes, and then sell the same scheme to others. You'll be presented with all the logical arguments, and, in the end, you might decide to go this way. My personal feeling is that people who sell these products are going for the one time sale, trying to amass a fortune in a short time, but when they sell a product that can't deliver what it claims, they are unable to sustain sales in the long run, and can't build a lasting business.

Just a little food for thought from the FWIWD.
gm

What about starting our own biz? It' s better bcos if you sell for anyone, the profit goes mainly to him not you. Why not set up a site?, offer info products for free and run affiliate and reffreral programs. Or participate in advert programs like google Adsense. It will bring cool, legitimate and gradual cash.

You can check some interesting e-biz articles here
http://e-bizinfo.blogspot.com

All the best!

Hi Coach & Saheed,

Thanks for your responses to my callout guys. I'm grateful this thread is taking this progression. I welcome as much discussion on this as anybody wishes to contribute...

Sorry 'bout the long email below. In short: Coach & Saheed rock & a little insight into my online business approach.

GM: As we are both on the development path for an effective & succesfull online business, I hope to share these learning experiences together. I envy you for already having a product & a market presence!:cool: You're full of sound, grounded & worthy advice & I respect that heaps.
I plan to have my first website launched by the close of this year & will be able to discuss the detail at that point...
By the way, speaking about a cool feature for SEO, I found out that you can check your sites backlinks (which increase Search Engine rankings & shows your exposure) through Google by using the command 'link:{website_URL}'.

Saheed: What about starting our own biz? We're on the same page with this one mate. My website mentioned above will be free stuff with a plan for expansion depending on results of the trial operation. You don't have to tell a self appointed 'entrepreneur' to start his own business - that's all I think about & am geared up for.:thumb: I'm just taking small steps for now as I have a family living on my earned income. I play it safe with my personal capital, but I am stacking on the IP of knowledge though, which I am banking on paying off in the near future...;)

I look forward to hearing more feedback on "Making money on the Internet" and all the other related subjects.

Cheers,
Andrew

Andrew,

Just wanted to recommend www.small-business-forum.com as a resource. There are a lot of SEO and web-design experts dispensing free advice on that forum. Lots of members and honest discussions taking place every day.:tiphat:

Hi Andrew,

I can't figure out how I've totally missed this thread, but I am never short on Internet Marketing advice LOL, so here I am (better late than never).

The only thing I haven't been able to figure out by backtracking the threads is what exactly you are pursuing and what type of help you are seeking. My apologies for perhaps making your do double work, but can you give me an overview of what type of business, what niche, what types of Internet Marketing you are interested in, where you currently are with all of it and if you currently have a site or not. Any other info you care to share and I'll keep you busy until Christmas!

Have Fun & Fortune!
Stephanie

There are so so many advice paid and un paid for
to start up and internet biz

Some come up with advices luring us in buying packages
making nothing but profits
after buying ...now what

we get disappointed after a while when things do not come when
as expected..now do we fizzle off or continue working in circles

Who has got the answers.. so I went to seminars
take up a couple of packages

I came across one.. very technical .. dedicated
constantly putting you in the right mindset.

I evaluated him.. Stephen Pierce..
he tells you it is all hard work, you need to burn up the desire
to get going, put in all sorts of ways to drive cheap qualified traffice
lots and lots of interviews with successful gurus to imprint in you
if they start from nothing so can you

he just released this OPTIMIZE IT...wow.. it is worth a BOM
not the ebook .. the bonus he has added to it..
worth thousand and it is only $19.99

The newbies should have it.. its like a Bible starting from A-Z
visit this : www.elearningcode.com
it will save you tons of headache and heartache..

believe me ..internet marketing is not as easy as they projected..
I did spend quick a fair bit of money and I am still searching

ok maybe not a lot of money, but a fairly simple thing to do and legit. If you go to mypoints.com, and sign up, they send you emails, (almost everyday) which you "view" or click and receive points. If you get a certain number of points, you can redeem prizes with your points. So far, I've gotten a 50 dollar gift card to Circuit City which was awesome and I'm almost close enough to get another one. I should probably add that it took a couple years to get enough points, but hey, it's 50 dollars for clicking my mouse a couple times a day. Easy...there's also inbox dollars in which I've gotten some money.

Stay away from running forum sites...no money, lots of headaches. :D

Hi Tom,

Stay away from running forum sites...no money, lots of headaches :D

Just curious as to how much of your toungue was in your cheek?

If you have a large number of users discussing topics you are marketing for, how well does the search engine promotion work? I.e. How much exposure is created via posts & threads?

Is it possible to structure a forum/website in such a manner that you can effectively utilise SEO techniques to market your products?

Please don't blacklist me, but to tell the honest truth, I haven't clicked through the marketing links at the top of the vibe pages. :o I promise to someday though & encourage others to do the same. Click through's can be the reason why we can continue to use these great places.

Cheers,
Andrew

I've been clicking on the Google ads quite frequently. I think I read here that Tom's income from this site is by way of advertising, and as he charges us nothing for its use and bears the cost himself (I presume), I think the least we can do is go visit some of the advertisers and clickthrough to at least one or two internal pages.

My way of saying, Thanks, Tom.

For example, many folks NEED to learn how to earn more money, and they are repeatedly suckered into buying products, ie. ebooks and money making systems, that simply don't deliver. It's the modern day version of snake oil.

And then there are those of us who actually DO what we profess and have to endure skepticism from others that the bad apples have rightfully elicited. This too is as old as "snake oil" itself, but I'll answer my own embedded question and say...

You overcome it, one person at a time. And it is for this reason alone that viable, long term online businesses that will survive the test of time, are those who don't make an overnight killing, but ones who instill confidence in their customers/list/network, etc. by staying true to themselves and helping others. A slow and steady building process will add credibility and appreciative followers of whatever product or service you offer.

This always wins out in the end!
Have Fun & Fortune!
Stephanie

Here's the thing about buying a "learn how to make money" system. The seller of the system isn't using it to make money, they are making money selling the system to people like you. Stop and think about that for a moment.

gm

find a GROUP where everyone is learning and people are asking and answering questions. Never pay someone for this information unless it's a college class you get credit for.

SS

Never pay someone for this information unless it's a college class you get credit for.

I disagree, on several levels:

I've made more money on the Internet by selectively purchasing educational materials from people I've researched and respect than ALL the college credits I bought combined. I know you were being facetious, but there are two schools of thought on this:

1. Everything out there is free for the learning and taking, so why put money in someone else's pocket to learn what you can on your own for free.

2. Don't reinvent the wheel -- work smarter not harder; if someone is credible (important qualification, there) and is legitimately making a living and is selling something that will allow you to do the same -- buy it! Don't stand on principle that you can learn it all yourself.... otherwise, you'll be spinning your wheels and standing on the sidelines while others pass you by on their way to the bank!

Have Fun & Fortune!
Stephanie

I've has some success with real estate here in Vancouver because of one reason.

I committed myself (no, not to an asylum!). I committed myself, completely and wholly, to being 'The Realtor'. I didn't care that there were 8000 realtors in Vancouver in the late 90's (15,000 now). I didn't care that I was new and didn't know anything. I didn't care what people thought about my website, www.thinktom.com and the rude and ignorant comments I got about how it would never work, I was bound to fail, it was cheesy, the market sucks, too many realtors...blah..blah..blah.

I only cared about one thing. I was tired of living my life the way I was living it. Period. My parents did not bust their butts for 25 years to raise an idiot, which I was. A nice guy, yes, but an idiot. I decided that I was made for better things on this earth than the stupid decisions that I had made up until that point, including nearly committing suicide in 1996. I also decided that I was going to turn the word 'no' into the word 'next'. Every time I heard the word 'no', I went 'next'.

That's all. No courses, no crap, not much investment...just tons and tons of reading and a complete and utter belief in myself as a decent human being. I believe that that can help make you more successful than many educational courses or 'get rich quick' stuff.

I should also mention that my family, my wife, one daughter and a son on the way Jan. 11, are the only thing that really matters to me in this world. The rest is replaceable and material possessions are grossly overrated...yes...even real estate. I know quite a few wealthy, miserable people.

Hope it helps.:tiphat:

Next.

Here's the thing about buying a "learn how to make money" system. The seller of the system isn't using it to make money, they are making money selling the system to people like you. Stop and think about that for a moment.

gm

How very true! I have been looking for the last year - how to make money from home. I buy the magazines, look at all the websites.. The majority of them make money off people like us... try to get you to start a website to also sucker people into putting up a website. Monkey see, monkey do. No thanks! It is like a form of MLM but internet based... most of them are scams. It is hard to separate the good from the bad. But like most - IF THEY SOUND TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE = THEY ARE! I know I keep looking at them all too... I will let you know if I find any really good ones.

How very true! I have been looking for the last year - how to make money from home. I buy the magazines, look at all the websites.. The majority of them make money off people like us... try to get you to start a website to also sucker people into putting up a website. Monkey see, monkey do. No thanks! It is like a form of MLM but internet based... most of them are scams. It is hard to separate the good from the bad. But like most - IF THEY SOUND TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE = THEY ARE! I know I keep looking at them all too... I will let you know if I find any really good ones.

Have to admit that is nearly always the way I think about these things too.

Maybe there are some genuine schemes out there, but my filter for over-promises is high after falling for the promises of horse racing tipsters in my mis-spent youth LOL!!!

I should also mention that my family, my wife, one daughter and a son on the way Jan. 11, are by far my greatest accomplishments. The rest is replaceable and material possessions are grossly overrated.

Congratulations Tom! You've got a terrrific outlook!!! :thumb:

Hey thinktom I have been wonder about real estate after reading Cashflow Quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki ( excellent book by the way) do you just buy and sell real estate or do you own some. And how hard did you find it to learn the market and survive in a market like vancouver.
Because If I started I would be in a similar market Calgary.

If you could provide some insight that would be great. thank
ND

Your question is massive infinitefreedom but I'll do my best. When I decided to become a realtor I decided that I would accept nothing but success because my life was going nowhere. So, at that point, it wouldn't have mattered if I was selling coat hangers, I was not going to accept anything less than total success.

I own real estate, have bought and sold, and work as an active realtor. I don't care about competition, other companies, hot markets, slow markets...whatever, I just know, in my heart, I will thrive in any situation because that's the decision I have made.

Learning curve? Huge. Regrets? None. Life lessons? Incredible. The best realtors I know would succeed in absolutely anything they do because they have learned to say 'next' emotionally and continue forward no matter what.

Hope it helps.

Hi Tom,



Just curious as to how much of your toungue was in your cheek?

If you have a large number of users discussing topics you are marketing for, how well does the search engine promotion work? I.e. How much exposure is created via posts & threads?

Is it possible to structure a forum/website in such a manner that you can effectively utilise SEO techniques to market your products?

Please don't blacklist me, but to tell the honest truth, I haven't clicked through the marketing links at the top of the vibe pages. :o I promise to someday though & encourage others to do the same. Click through's can be the reason why we can continue to use these great places.

Cheers,
Andrew


hmmm, I never answered you Aussie. :o

Not really being tongue in cheek. For the most part, forums are not good money makers unless they are huge. Doesn't mean that it can't be done, but I'm speaking in general. If it is based around your products or service, perhaps it's a different story, but in terms of ad revenue, I think you need a very big, very active forum to make any real money. Again, I'm sure there are exceptions...

Please don't blacklist me, but to tell the honest truth, I haven't clicked through the marketing links at the top of the vibe pages. :o I promise to someday though & encourage others to do the same. Click through's can be the reason why we can continue to use these great places.


Don't forget that we can support Tom through a quick Pay Pal donation! Sipmly use the DONATE button at the top of the page.

find a GROUP where everyone is learning and people are asking and answering questions. Never pay someone for this information unless it's a college class you get credit for.

SS

Carefull also if found a free program being offered, eventually you need to spend money or alot of time to get things going. Alot of these free programs entice others by saying that you can earn a huge income by joining their free program. I honestly don't believe one exists......

find a GROUP where everyone is learning and people are asking and answering questions. Never pay someone for this information unless it's a college class you get credit for.

SS

Depending on the circumstances, I only half agree with this. I've paid a few bucks for information that I probably wouldn't be able to find just talking to people in a normal group.

I agree that for the most part, whatever kind of information some1 is about to pay for they can probably get for free on the internet, but there are alot of cases when it isn't true

Plus I'd pay 15-20 bucks anyday to have all the information in 1 place..it just makes it alot easier :)

You can probably find anything you want on the internet for free - excellent, factual, accurate and very worthwhile.

The trouble is, you can also find an awful lot of garbage on the internet - for free, too, but if you don't know the subject, how will you know the good stuff from the bad stuff?

You have to pay someone who is an expert - or at least knowledgable - about the subject to be confident that what you found for free isn't actually worth precisely what you paid for it!

You can probably find anything you want on the internet for free - excellent, factual, accurate and very worthwhile.

The trouble is, you can also find an awful lot of garbage on the internet - for free, too, but if you don't know the subject, how will you know the good stuff from the bad stuff?

You have to pay someone who is an expert - or at least knowledgable - about the subject to be confident that what you found for free isn't actually worth precisely what you paid for it!

Very good point...any moron can go on the internet and make up a pile of crap as a prank and get people to believe them if they're a good enough BS'er

General rule of thumb:

If the author of the "system" really earns $30,000 a month from it, then he doesn't need to waste his time selling it to you :)

I would be really wary of paying for any "book" that's supposed to make you rich.

General rule of thumb:

If the author of the "system" really earns $30,000 a month from it, then he doesn't need to waste his time selling it to you :)

I would be really wary of paying for any "book" that's supposed to make you rich.

Haha, if that were true there wouldn't be any books anywhere!

Are you saying you would only buy a book from someone who has had no success with the program they're teaching - therefore has no idea what they're talking about?

I usually make this rule the other way around..the more money they've made the quicker i'll buy it. People ALWAYS want more money no matter how rich they are. It's called multiple streams of income.

Haha, if that were true there wouldn't be any books anywhere!
.. Are you saying you would only buy a book from someone who has had no success with the program they're teaching - therefore has no idea what they're talking about?
.. I usually make this rule the other way around..the more money they've made the quicker i'll buy it. People ALWAYS want more money no matter how rich they are. It's called multiple streams of income.Smart thinking! Not everyone is so jealous of their success that they won't share it with others. Mind you, it is possible that the writer of 'Get rich' books doesn't know what they are talking about, but I'm inclined to feel they have been weeded out by the book publisher.

I think every success book on the market has the author's truth in it. It remains for the reader to find out if he can apply it to his own situation.

Note the big websites and study, by googling your brains out:

1. How they got to be big.
2. How they make their money off that.

Other than that
3. Start noticing what kinds of things grab people, to get a sense of the trends.
4. Check out what people are buying gobs of on e-bay.
5. Learn what makes a business work in any case - on line or off. (I always refer people to Doug Halls' Jump Start your Business Brain as a good primer.)
5. Ask Tom how he's making the big bucks off this site! (That's the one I'm buying the popcorn for!)

You could always sell snowballs from your front yard for $200 a pop on ebay...

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070108/NEWS01/70108005/1002

You could always sell snowballs from your front yard for $200 a pop on ebay...

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070108/NEWS01/70108005/1002

They've gone up. I remember when I was a kid at school, someone sold a snowball (from the playground) to another kid at school for about 25p (or maybe it was 50p) - i.e. about $0.50 to $1 - but this was 30+ years ago.

Go figure :hmm:

Do you think that kid selling the snowball was Chuck? :D

Paul

You could always sell snowballs from your front yard for $200 a pop on ebay...

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070108/NEWS01/70108005/1002

:biglaugh:

did somebody actually buy those?...if they have money to waste on snowballs they should just give it to me!

There's a few guys from Colorado in my investment group..I should tell them to sell their snowballs too! :cookoo:

Ask Tom how he's making the big bucks off this site!



:biglaugh:

:rofl:



He's barely making little bucks from it. Luckily, I hear he has other sources of income. ;)

Those are paid links at the very top of the page, but they are fairly cheap, and I only get half of it. The adsense is laughable. To give you an idea, I just sold a site that was consistently getting a 5.0%+ CTR, month in and month out...Last month the CTR for this site was 0.20%.

With some sites, sometimes you have to either think long term strategy or ROI. I'm good as far as the latter goes, as I could probably sell this site within the next two weeks and make many times what I put into it, dollar-wise. Time-wise, perhaps not so, but c'est la vie.

As to long term strategy, I don't have one, because I'm already focused on too many other ventures. In fact, the smart thing would be to get it narrowed down to just one or two things. SV is not high up on the list. Not that I don't care about it, or try to make it a nice place, but I don't have the drive to make it a real business, a) because my heart is in other things, and b) I'm not interested in hyping a bunch of products here. If I found something I really liked and believed in, that I thought would go over well here, then I might be inclined to push it. But I'll tell you, I think the right person could turn this into a real money maker, and maybe through ways that the users barely notice.

Succeeding in business can be summed up by following the back-to-basics approach. As an example, take a peek as last year’s Super Bowl Champions report to training camp to prepare for achieving their goal of repeating as champions of the NFL. After suiting up and walking out to the practice field, they are greeted by one of their coaches, “Gentleman, this is a football”.

Think about it, if the Super Bowl Champions of the National Football League "Go Back to Basics" to continue their success, going back to basics WILL work for you as well!

That being said, when you go back to basics and define “what” your financial success WILL be, have developed a plan to achieve whatever it is you desire, and most importantly, “feel" your success in your gut, finding the way (the right business) WILL be revealed and your success will become an afterthought.

Getting caught up in the hype of any program, believing you can become a gazillionaire overnight is just that - hype.

Once your 1) overall success in life is defined, 2) you have taken the time to set supportive goals, 3) have developed an action-oriented plan, 4) are taking action on the 10-most important activities that MUST be accomlished every day - it is then time to find THE program that can take you there!

Barry Rice
http://www.outofthefog.com

Succeeding in business can be summed up by following the back-to-basics approach. As an example, take a peek as last year’s Super Bowl Champions report to training camp to prepare for achieving their goal of repeating as champions of the NFL. After suiting up and walking out to the practice field, they are greeted by one of their coaches, “Gentleman, this is a football”.

Think about it, if the Super Bowl Champions of the National Football League "Go Back to Basics" to continue their success, going back to basics WILL work for you as well!

That being said, when you go back to basics and define “what” your financial success WILL be, have developed a plan to achieve whatever it is you desire, and most importantly, “feel" your success in your gut, finding the way (the right business) WILL be revealed and your success will become an afterthought.

Getting caught up in the hype of any program, believing you can become a gazillionaire overnight is just that - hype.

Once your 1) overall success in life is defined, 2) you have taken the time to set supportive goals, 3) have developed an action-oriented plan, 4) are taking action on the 10-most important activities that MUST be accomlished every day - it is then time to find THE program that can take you there!

Barry Rice
http://www.outofthefog.com

nice post Barry..one that every1 starting any kind of business should print out and look at each day in my opinion

I've found that the more success I have in my overall "living" experience, the greater my business success, thus, the more money I make.

Overall success is not something we can win at, a place we arrive at, our bank balance, an expensive home, or the job we hold. True success (in and out of business) and independence, the kind that does not fade away the moment we achieve it, is a continuous journey, complete with potholes and smoothed patways. It must be part of our on-going walk through our total living experience.

If our walk is to be full of happiness and self-contentment, it must investigate many interests, experience many emotions, fill many needs, and achieve many pre-set, realistic and planned goals. Our achieving in life, and hence, in business, is through having success-supportive goals and taking action - not wishing.