Just wondering how with all the distractions, learning, admin jobs etc.etc.etc...emails,SEO,linkbuilding etc.etc.etc. how do you manage to stay focused on what will earn you more money?? This question has been bothering me for some time. want to increase the amount of time spent on work that will pay off but seem to waste such a lot of time with all the tasks that go to make up internet marketing and sales etc... Any ideas or views on this? What should we be spending time on? What should we avoid? Anybody else struggling with this?
ok, uo should just keep doing what your dong now. and keep reading what comes infron of your eyes. im blogging now for almost 2 years (part time) i made around $40 in 2 years. you probably think that im cray to continue this insane job. But i'm not, Why? because i keep learning everyday. i see my traffic raise very slowly and am allready a little satisfied with what i accomplished. so my advice keep doing what you think is most fun and neccesery.
This is when you need to re-invest your earnings (however small) into your business. Outsource or hire help to take over the small tasks that take up to much time. For example, link building is one area you can hire people to take over. Set a monthly budget and find someone in the DP marketplace. That's just on example of how you can start managing your time better which will allow you to focus on the areas of your business that are more important to you. If you don't have a monthly budget, then you need to dig your heels in and be prepared to work hard and to also get creative with your marketing efforts (think outside the box) to drive that traffic in.
Making sure your site(s) looks nice, and then FOCUS on advertising and word of mouth. Everything noobs with dead sites do: Blogging, signatures, starting threads in the free sections of forums, online classifieds, article marketing in "article dumpers," search engines, submitting to social networks.... You can, of course, see SOME money, but isn't it the idea to make more than 2 cents a day??? You are a business person now. Think like one!
ok, uo should just keep doing what your dong now. and keep reading what comes infron of your eyes. im blogging now for almost 2 years (part time) i made around $40 in 2 years. you probably think that im cray to continue this insane job. But i'm not, Why? because i keep learning everyday. i see my traffic raise very slowly and am allready a little satisfied with what i accomplished. so my advice keep doing what you think is most fun and neccesery.
^ spammer alert. I try to build on what I already have. I guess I was one of the few lucky ones who had a successful site pretty early on. I built on my success. I'm not rich or anything and certainly not trying to pretend to do so. But i'm pretty happy with my income right now. I'd recommend you keep testing things out. Some things just don't work and you have to analyze what is and isn't working for you. For example, PPC isn't for everyone, but a lot of people are successful with it. If it is costing you time or money and you aren't seeing results, stop it, and try something else. Or, revise your methods. Here is just an example, when I first got into web hosting (which I still don't make hardly anything on), I realized I was spending too much time posting in forums that weren't producing results. There were only a couple that was bringing me targetted traffic and new clients. So therefore, I stopped spending time and effort on those, and went and tried other methods instead. Eventually, I increased my traffic some by doing this, without really increasing the time I was spending on the website.
You have to set realistic goals for yourself and focus on perhaps 2 - 3 projects at a time. I've seen it countless times, x project only made x amount of money and they dump it. If you focus on a hundred different things you'll pretty much fail over an over. I always keep 2 projects going that make money always working on them, but I give myself a realistic goal, x amount by x date or else I scrap or re-evaluate. Most people don't set goals and stick to them it's almost that simple. Website A ( needs to make monthly income by x date) then that day comes along and they are still doing the same thing over an over. Now that I have a good income monthly I give myself longer time periods for projects before I dump them early on when I had next to no income I had to shorten that time line because I was against the clock so to speak. That's my thoughts and what has worked for me over the long haul.
You sound like someone who has learned the ropes without spending thousands of dollars and hours trying to find the answers. You should consider writing an ebook or manual on your methods. I would buy it.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, unfortunately I have spent thousands getting to where I am and I doubt I'll ever write an ebook.
the number one thing you should be focusing on is how to market how to gain the attention of your audience and learn to do the research before jumping in to the advertising and marketing world. you need to know why people will buy your product or service and then how to get in front of them. read allot and do allot of research before getting it ready.
Definitely a different viewpoint. Can you give some ideas for 'advertising' that don't involve what you listed as what people with 'dead sites' do? I am very curious to hear the answer. Edit: The only thing that really leaves is PPC. So, are you saying that using PPC removes the need to do any of the other stuff you listed? If, so, that's nice to know. I am about to start my first PPC campaign.
If you want to Make Money Online, focus on the following: PPC Advertising; best way to make money if done right EPN (eBay Partner Network); Easy way to make money if done right Monetize a Blog; works but takes time I've done all three and my favorites are #1 and #2. The are a ton of resource on the Internet on how to do each one. You just have to Google it. Just my opinion.
They don't do anything other than those methods, and the ones that are read here 10,000 times a day. DeniG, it doesn't have to be just about pay-per-click advertising. It can be impressions or paying a certain amount a month. Hell some do a bartering system. For example: The advertiser may help the webmaster with some design work in exchange for free ad space. And it doesn't have to be just about advertising on search engines, like Google. Too many people think of Google when pay per click is mentioned. Many, many webmasters do this when selling advertising space in their sites. I don't mess with Google. It's too much competition, along with too high of rates. I just contact a slew of webmasters to pitch a proposal for advertising on their sites. I use compete.com to, ROUGHLY see how much traffic they have. If it is enough, I'll contact them. But the bottom line is if you want more than the miniscule traffic, you are going to have to spend the money by advertising, buying traffic. The more sites you advertise in, the more money you will make. Afterall, how do you think the big sites out there got to be so big? It certainly wasn't from noobie methods, like signatures, blogging in others' blogs, submitting to social networks....
There's nothing wrong with reading through the forums and blogs and websites that share gems of information. Take your time in the beginning and do that. Often the problem is that people are in such a hurry to make money that they don't lay the proper foundation for success. When you are reading through the blogs and forums, etc. have a note pad handy and take copious notes. Many just waste time reading but never take notes. As you do this, the pieces will begin to come together from a theoretical standpoint and you can start organizing the information into a useful method that will work for you. While in this planning stage, remember it's important to play to your strengths, so don't think you have to do things exactly the way someone else did. If you listen to it, your brain will tell you where to go. Keep in mind that the goal is to drive traffic. The better you are at driving traffic, the better you will do in any kind of internet marketing you do. This is a business fundamental for B&M and E-biz both. Split test your ads, keywords and your landing pages. Experiment and see what works. Always adjust, and when you find something that's working well, put more focus on that. Even if you tend to be a creative type person, you have to be willing to be analytical as you test things, and you see what does and doesn't work. And finally, if you do all of this, your success will only be proportionate to the amount of time and effort you put into this. If this is a 2-3 hours per day thing for you, it's going to take a very long time to ramp up and make real money. When you're first starting out, you should be regularly putting in 10-12 hours each day if you really want things to bust wide open. Make time to do something fun with your family (or friends if you're single) at least once during the week, and observe a day of rest regardless of your religious affiliation. It will allow you to keep perspective. I hope this helps you. Good luck.
I don't know if you were saying that to me, or everyone who gave advice--if it was the former however, you're welcome.
Part of the reason, I discovered for myself, why I didn't move forward forever was never being real clear on what my objective was for an internet business. Basically, why did I want to do it in the first place? Read Tim Ferriss' 4 Hour Work Week for a better idea. Don't think in terms of a million dollars or the big pay day, but think cashflow daily.
As a marketer you should focus on marketing your product and making money. Outsource all tasks, even the smallest one. I don't do anything except copy writing, and taking care of certain tasks involved in the marketing of my products. Rest is handled by my in house staff and various freelancers.
You should work on creating a marketing technique with some viral effects. I believe you have a lot of friends who would do a little for you if you just asked, so try to use that for your advantage as well.