I'm a broke single parent who has been trying to make money online for a long time, but with little to no capital to invest. Actually, I've invested money I don't have and am worse off than before. I've been reading a little about the bum marketing method, which basically involves submitting targeted articles to big article sites, using targeted keywords in the title. I'm a good writer, and I like to do it, but I don't have the time or money to keep doing the "trial and error" method, especially since every trial has resulted in error so far. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.
Depending on if you are looking for a short term or long term solution, you might should consider looking into the Buy, Sell and Trade section here on DP within the Content Creation. There is always a market for writers and I think if you enjoy writing then it might be your best bet. I've used that method and it generated about $12.00 per hour for me. It certainly isn't going to get you rich anytime soon and requires quite a bit of work, but its a good way to establish a marketing budget or pay a few bills that you currently don't have money for. PM me if you want more details or have any questions.
Freelance writing is a good market to get into on the internet because you're competing against non-native speakers and those that think anyone can write a half decent article. Offer your services on here or join some of the many freelancer sites. After about four or five projects you should be able to start charging a little more and it can become very worthwhile indeed.
Bum Marketing does ok. I do alot of article submissions, but I pay $2 per article to use iSnare. Saves me alot of time and every article I've written gets good results usually. Do what the others said above, become a freelance writer. It won't make you a huge amount of money, but even 1-2 articles/week can net you $20-$30. Add a manual submission service to it, where you manually submit to 20 major article sites and you can probably get $50/week out of this. Easy to do and doesn't require an enormous amount of time.
I do intend to offer my services here, but I have to be a member in good standing for 14 days first. I'm willing to do this because I'm looking for a good, long-term income, but I also need some really quick money for Christmas.
Hi Newcreation, I have a few resources I'd like to give you for free. No affiliate links, no hidden strings.. just free. If you're interested, just pop me a pm. I have been making money online for some time by using my writing skills, so I'd like to help you if I can. I have three kids, so I know what it is like having those big beautiful eyes looking at you for everything they need. So if I may be of assistance, please don't hesitate to let me know.
I've tried to get into freelance writing before, but not online--in the magazine market. Just researching markets was extremely time-consuming, and it took so long to hear anything back, and there was so much competition, I finally gave up. I guess my next question is, how do you find a good niche market? I don't know that I really have any specialized knowledge about anything in particular, which people would be willing to pay for. I am pretty good at research, though. Here's what I do have knowledge about: Christianity and the Bible home schooling avoiding common scams and rip-offs knowing if you're getting a good deal on your mortgage (and avoiding being ripped off by mortgage companies, finding good mortgages, etc.) money saving strategies I will say that I have tried to market many Christian articles and even sites without success. I'm either doing it wrong or it's not that great a market. The hard part is finding something that people would pay for, where the market isn't already saturated.
I would write as much as you can...submit some articles to article directories and some on your own sites/blogs. Post content dauly and you will see a good increase in traffic...
You shouldn't be concerned if a particular market, like books, e-books is already saturated. People buy multiple books on the same subject allllllllllll the time. And look at all the best sellers coming out, time after time after time. I'm a writer for singles on dating and sex, and you want to talk about a saturated market! Whew! But I don't care, because I know most of what is out there now is pure crap that doesn't work. In addition, over half of the book readers buy at least 6 books in their lifetime. ... No matter what the subject is. And how 'bout them message boards? Aren't they saturated? Look at DigitalPoint. The owner does very well. As for niche markets. I don't know, but my feelings are that it is overrated, and, for the most part, a waste of time. It's like having a chinchilla farm. At one time (maybe it still is, I don't know) it was a niche market, but how many really wanted or still wants a chinchilla? I'm not saying to ignore it completely. Keep ypur eyes and ears open, but don't put all your energy into it. Instead just go for popualr items, saturated or not, and be good at it.
newcreation - if you have any kind of technical knowledge of the ability to learn quickly I could send you some work to help get your started. But it's a very specialized field and would require a fair bit of research into engineering, which I'm not sure if you are interested in.
I really don't have any technical knowledge, but I am a good researcher and a fast learner. My only concern is whether or not I'll be able to grasp the subject matter. If you could pm me the details, I'll let you know if it's something I'd be able to do.
For more information about Bum Marketing, please visit to www.bummarketingmethod.com. If you are a good writer, you can offer your article writing service at this forum.