When I started in IM 6 months ago I had a lot of great ideas, at least that's what I thought! I wanted to make websites about my passions and make them the authority sites on the subjects. I set out, bought domains, wrote tons and tons of content, GOOD content, but after all the hard work I wasn't seeing any money from it. I had a great forex site with lots of good information, I tried to make it the one stop for all forex topics. I had over 100 pages of content, yet I hardly saw any traffic and what was worse, the visitors I had liked my site, they told me, but they where spending all their time reading my articles and they were not clicking my ads or signing up for my affiliate offers. It took me quite a long time to realize that you have to be a lot more focused and cynical to make money in this business. There's no use trying to compete with the big established sites as a beginner. You have to earn your dues first! Then I changed my whole approach. I took the complete opposite approach. Instead of making big sites, I made small mini sites, like 3 page small and only focused on one product. I drive traffic with Adwords and very focused SEO. Today I had my first $100 day and I'm telling you that's a great feeling! So my advice to you newbies is to stop trying to do too much and go minimal instead. Find ONE product that you can promote better than anyone else and focus all your efforts there. Then when you have a money maker can you move on!
You have no idea how valuable these words of wisdom will be to me. I am just about where you were 6 months ago and you have confirmed my concerns. Congrats on your first $100 day and thanks for posting.
So you're saying that you make profit with AdWords? And if you do, could you please share how exactly have you designed your landing page? I'm not interested in your niche, I only want to know what is the best model for this critical item as the landing page.
First of all, let me just say that I don't claim to be an expert. I am just letting you know what worked for me. How I made that first sale and then the NEXT and the NEXT. I still have days with no sales, but I feel like I finally cracked the code, we'll see if my good luck continues. Here's what worked for me: Know your product - I mean really KNOW IT - You have to be a real expert, it's not enough to just list some facts, you have to know what it does, how it does it, why it does it AND you should know the competition. Why is that product better? You should have tested the product yourself or if you can't then get that info from someone else. Know your customers - What are they looking for? Why are they looking for it? What's the buzz words for your customers? What worries do they have? What makes them lie sleepless at night? And HOW will your product solve their problem? Add VALUE - You have to bring real value or at least make it seem like you do. Offer them something that they can't find anywhere else. Once you give them value for FREE they'll trust you more. My landing pages uses the Thesis WP theme because it's easy to customize and has a lot of option. I customize it to look like a one page landing page with one column menu. I get my graphics done by a designer, DP has many that are very good value for money. I do my own writing or outsource to a PROFESSIONAL writer. I use a pro, because a pro knows the points I mentioned in the beginning. Here's a clue: They don't write for 1 cent. I am not putting up an Adsense site. I want my site to look and read professional. I want my visitors to TRUST me. Do you trust someone who doesn't care about how they present themselves? I do SEO and Adwords for low competetive keywords only and I think out of the box. I don't go chasing popular keywords. That comes from KNOWING your product and customers. Clue: Sometimes you can get good results by targeting what people DO NOT WANT. If I receive traffic from some keywords right away, that means they are obtainable. Google gives a boost to new sites. If that boost brings me visitors on a keyword, I will work on giving my sites the same boost trough SEO. I write Adword Ads that are very targeted. I make them very clear about what they are clicking on. I only want people to click if they are going to buy. I am currently testing the content network and manual placements. That's what worked for me!
Yeah, why not? I am letting people know what worked for me. I am not giving tips aimed at those who already are successful, I am sharing a process that WORKED for me and makes me money. The IM business is full of advanced 7 dvd programs that line the pockets of Guru's. What worked for me was not information overload, but keeping it simple. One step at the time. I think thats good advice. Money > No Money