After 7 years of trying, I'm close to waving the white flag...

I thought I would come here to the DP community for some motivation, and hopefully, some inspiration. I'm not here for sympathy, rather guidance.

I want to start by admitting something that is really hard to come to terms with, after such a long relationship, sweat, and tears:

I can't seem to find a winning formula for making real money online.

Believe it or not, the above statement is pretty hard to admit. Since the year 2000, I've tried my hand at several approaches to making money online. I've done it all, year after year. But according to all of the success stories I read, I must be in the minority - because I sure as hell can't find the winning formula.

I started with ebay, moved on to affiliate marketing, started hundreds of websites, numerous PPC campaigns, other kinds of projects that don't even have a name, and god knows what else. Out of all that, I've had limited success, at best. I cringe at the amount of money I've lost if it was totaled up...

Out of all of these methods, years of literally losing sleep trying to think of the next great idea, I can't seem to find success. My family and friends have supported me part of the way, but now-a-days when I launch something or have a seemingly good idea, I just get a sort of "yeah right" smile - AND IT KILLS ME INSIDE! These people started off supporting me - as I've always said that working the 9-5 job is a huge waste of time (obviously until you make enough online to support yourself), but seriously, I'm at a crossroads here.

Here's the real kicker - I'm not an idiot! I'm armed with more drive and ambition than almost anyone I know - and yet I STILL can't capture success.
But one can only keep this sort of drive up for so long...I'm growing tired and weary of searching for that magical way to succeed.

Boy, how I want it so, so bad. I truly wish that some of you knew how bad I wanted to taste even a day of success. I'm sure some of you know how I feel (at least I hope so!). I surely can't be the only one chasing what most people call a "dream".

I've read DP forums for quite some time, only recently registering and contributing to the community. I swear, I think I've read it all. So many great ideas - but that is where the problem lies. Even with my very limited success, I wouldn't call myself a "noob" to the IM world. I know what's going on out there, and I know people are "making it", but why the hell can't I!!!

Again, I don't want to be stuck making someone else money for the rest of my life, and I want nothing more than to succeed, and gain the support of the ones that make a difference in my life. I want them to know that all of these years buried online weren't a waste of time. More than anything, I want to succeed for me.

I'm seeking advice, mentoring, inspiration, motivation, or whatever kind of related info you can pass my way. I know I'm worth it - but at this point I can't help to think that I would be classified as wasted talent.

Thanks for listening, and sorry for the lengthy post, but I just had to get this off my chest.

 

What have you tried? and how far did you take it? of those... what was most successful? did you make a business plan? curious....

Lhlalyam

 

This is a sad post man. I guess you tried too many instead of working on a single project until it manages to see the light. 7 years can mean a lot for a website. There are websites that sell for 200k because of the age and PR. Stick with it. Just curious as well....what's the limit you reached ($/day)...what's success for you?

 

Lhlalyam - I've tried what seems like everything. Too long of a list to write down. I've taken some far, some not so far - just depended on project.

manilodisan - you're right, had I stuck with some of my early projects, I might not have written the post above. Sadly, I didn't. My only true success that I really thought I was doing well at was when you could send PPC campaigns from Adwords directly to CB merchant pages without a $10 minimum click. The good ol' days!

I guess what I need is something I can really dial in on. I need to laser focus in on something that works. I guess that's what I'm seeking. What works, and isn't saturated to the maximum already?

People say, "find a niche that isn't crowded". Yeah, right! If I could do that, like I said before, I wouldn't have written the above post. I hate to sound jaded, but that's kind of how I feel right now. The struggle continues....

 

My guess is that everyone tries to succeed in the blogging business/manner. That's damn hard man with 200k blogs showing up every day. Tweak a service that you're sure a niche will find helpful and try to convert it if you're bad on writing (because writing I recommend at first but valuable content and what's more important - write content that never dies). Don't rush things man, PATIENCE - 2 years is the time that decides a website...that's 2 years - not on every case but most of them that don't benefit from good advertising or campaigns...don't get upset and dissapointed if the 1st won't bring anything. Stay motivated and don't start 10 projects, don't risk it with crazy ideas unless you have at least one steady income to support your brainstorming....

My opinion...

 

manilodisan - thanks for your insight. Writing is definitely one of my strong points, and I've blogged for quite a while now. Blogging brings in a decent amount of income, but I usually use it for other ideas/projects.

Again, I'm looking for something that I can put another couple years into, something I can laser focus in on, but half the battle is finding that 'one thing' to dedicate your time to.

 

Donk know if this will help Shamus, but I have been making a living online for over 5 years, with about 25m in gross sales so far, my point is it can happen, most of the people I know are making full time livings online as well.

It all boils down to, what are you offering, to whom, and is it worth it to them?

We can start from the beginning, with a list of what youve tried, the results youve gotten and lets (the forum) see what we can do to help.

If I had a gun to my head and needed to make the rent with the internet, here is what i would do:

I would go to clickbank and look through the catalog of items to promote, and find a topic that is "middle of the road" in both click count, AND click value (as can be easily found out with some free or paid keyword tools)
AND that has at least 3 books associated with that topic.

if its something you know about, so much the better...

I would get an autoresponder service, and write a few articles on the topic to be delivered over a month or so.

I would write and host a page that offers a free pdf on the topic (which youve written) and asks for the users for name, email, and their biggest challenge with the topic

when the user completes and submits the form, send them (via a rotator) to one of the 3 clickbank offers.

I would get some traffic (broad statement, personally I would buy it, ppc likely, but to each his own) its not even too important to make money (yet) read on...

so, your about to learn 2 important things, wht the market is BUYING (the different sites will have different sales letters, and offers)

AND

what they need (from the surveys)

after you get enough surveys to really learn the market (I would hold out for 1000, but 100 may be enough) you see if these needs are being met by the current offerings (trust me, they arent) and you write 10,000 to 20,000 words on the topic, angled toward whats missing in the market as learned from the surveys and do one of 2 things, one is the "hail mary" and one is a little more traditional.

try recording the content and putting it on cd audio and releasing it as a cd set, now get with the 3 clickbank merchants themselves and get one or more of them to include it as an upsell for their "thank you page", if they say yes, your in business, write a sales letter and your seriously good to go.

if you get a no from the cb merchants, its still ok, you have a better (more customer centric) book then they do, write a letter and post on the cb marketplace, pay 75% to affiliates and youve got an autopilot business.

there are a lot of other ways to do it, but thats what I have for the moment that would create something that will make money for a long time to come.

I know, I know a LOT of mass assumptions, and generalizations, but its a place to start, dont give up my friend, its so much more in the mind then anything else

Hope this helps

 

I have a friend that kept his idea alive and in 1.5 years, adding 8 desktop wallpapers/day to his wallpaper (obvious) site, makes now 100$ - 150$ / day and that's not a very good result but acceptable based on his "hard" mechanical work. I'm sure that was your "death"...you didn't kept the flame burning.

 

todayican - excellent ideas. I'm more than willing to put the research into something that looks promising. I actually may have something that could work along those lines. Do people still buy cd's though? Very interesting.

manilodisan - great success story, and once again you're probably right. I should have kept the flame burning on multiple projects, but never did. I'm ready to start fresh - just need some ideas

 

People buy information that they consider valuable....on cd, dvd, paper or mmc, etc...

 

Pick a subject or area in your life you're already good at.

In my case it's programming and systems admin. While I may not be making gobs of money, I am turning a profit and helping people at the same time. Can't ask for more than that.

 

Haha, with a post like that, you should be a writer or motivational speaker. Get into content writing .

 

Hey, don't throw in the towel just yet. It is possible to succeed online. Find an area where you can be passionate in and stay focused. Set a realistic goal and map out with many mini milestones. Each time you cross a milestone, celebrate that victory and move on. Soon you will hit your target. If you really want to learn something that works, pick up my free report and apply the 7-day success blueprint I have compiled diligently, and you should see some positive results.

 

Shamus,

I felt a bit compelled to respond to you...because you sound a lot like me. I don't know your age, but I am willing to bet you're around my same age.

You have some time on me, I started in this internet craziness about 4 years ago. Like you I have invested A LOT into making something work on the internet, time, money, effort, thought...etc. I too could rattle off a list of things I've tried to no major avail. And one thing now I can see that I didnt do, was stick with it. I THOUGHT I wasnt, but I was really caught up in the whole 'make money fast on the net' game that I abandoned a lot of ideas, and projects after I had failed once or twice at it, or...get this one. Got a little success. I was impatient and quick to sell off a site that was remotely popular.

Though day in and day out I stuck with the internet game. I loved it! I have spent who knows how much money one scripts, hiring people, getting scammed...etc but still I would come back to it.

What turned everything around for me? Was one basic word of advice that I thought I was following from the beginning, or thought I could fake. Interest in the topic. I have NO interest in a lot of things that I was told would make me money. Once I sat down, and figured out (well it didnt take much thinking) what I was extremely interested in...it was easy. I LOVE gathering new information on this topic, I LOVE sharing information on it...I just love pretty much all that has to do with it. I didnt care when my site was lucky to have 5 people coming to it a day, I continued to update it because I wanted to know more about it.
It eventually spread around, and is pretty popular, making some good money.

Long post, take from it what you will.

 

Hello !

Firstly I would like to know your age please (PM me )! Normally , working for 7 years on websites and projects is a great advantage as you know a lot of things and you have the ability and skills (im sure) to start something new. The problem is , what project can you start !? Normally , everybody in the world is good at something , someone might be at designing , someone at programming , another one at content writing so you have to decide on which area you fill you are mostly skilled! Let us say writing is your greatest skill!
(I assume you don't have funds to start a project so you will have to earn some money then spend them on a project or you could also buy a website)

Start writing different articles for others , about different topics. Make sure you satisfy your customers ! Continue this for 6 months and you will have accumulated like 2k$ (trust me , if you dont gamble , you will have them )

So now , you have a good reputation + 2k to invest

You could start an Article Writing Service (Interesting Idea) where you could hire 5-6 writers and you could make some decent money only by writing

Just my 2 cents ...

Olgi

 

consider starting a business instead of a website. think beyond the web. forget blogs, affiliates, etc. Find a serviced based busines in the offline world that you like and use your internet skills to promote the site hence getting clients and making money. hopefully your business will grow and you will have something of value in the long run.

 

sounds like you got google slapped. not the end of the world. noone pays $10 a click except lawyers and plastic surgeons.

 

I don't know if you really need a regular income from the internet. Is there something you enjoy doing like webdesign or graphic design?

I love doing graphic design. I'm struggling to successfully market my business. But the other day I typed 'logo needed' into Google, and I found websites like this. People are paying good money for banners and logos.

Maybe you might want to try design? If you are not a design, you could teach yourself by learning from other peoples designs. Who knows, you might win a competition! And when you do, PM the person and offer to design more things for them. That's what I am aiming to do.

If you want, you could open a business, get your own domain name. I don't know how much you know about Photoshop, but you could offer photo re-touching services. They don't have to be too complex, maybe adjusting contrast or blending photos.

Tell people about what competitions you have entered, make it look very important to your work.

Good luck! Like I said, never give up. Be careful, and wise with your money. If you want to try out a 'Get rich quick' scheme, make sure that there is a money back garentee.

 

Shamus, I believe the reason behind some of my success is being here on DP daily. You look you could be a good writer, start out with doing some services in the B/S/T section. Sooner or later you will grow in DP, and you will find other ways alone the way to make money online. Here in DP, if you have a big post count you can sell your signature for alot of money. I have been in the online business for one year, and all I did was spend alot of time in DP. 7 years is a long time, but still I believe it's never too late.

 

Join the Warrior Forum - its the best place to start your money making adventures and there is a section called the "WSO" section, use that wisely, use it as a leverage and soon you will have a product, a story and buyers who will be "dying" to buy your product.

Hope all works well for you.