Making Money Online with Daily Work

Continuing from yesterday I wanted to talk more about how the site, 'Make Money Online' was able to dominate that very same keyword phrase. If you felt the urge to examine Alan's site in detail you might have noticed one interesting feature - virtually daily posts centered around his core keyword phrases. What's even more amazing is that he used completely free methods to reach his goal! Astonishing!

Let's do some simple math on what he might be making right now from that site. Twelve medium ad spaces for $120 a month = $1440, two large banners for $300 a month, and text link for $180 a month = $1920 / month just in advertising alone. Using those numbers alone you can see that day to day focus can really pay off in a high performing niche. Plus, it shows that you don't have to have an expensive, fancy site to do this.

Passions to Profits - New Free Ebook

Just wanted to let you know I just finished up my new free ebook called:

Passions to Profits: Using Your Own Interests and Skills to Make Money Online

This ebook is focused primarily at newbies who are looking for ways to generate ideas to make money online. I think most people struggle with this issue of where to start.
What was most interesting about writing this ebook was the free tools I was able to use to create it completely from scratch - including the writing, layout, pdf generation, e-cover image, 3d ebook generation and image editing. Yes, all free!!!
I would guess this book took me about 10 hours to write, 3 hours to edit, and about 2 hours to package. It shows that you can do this pretty easily now.
If you're interested in what I used - just download the ebook and look for the Bonus Chapter. It has links to all of the tools.
Enjoy! You can get it here: Passions to Profits

The Online Money Making Secret You Shouldn't Know - Part 2

So, continuing from yesterday (if you haven't read Part 1 you can find it here) I mentioned that having a site devoted to a keyword phrase that has extremely high monthly search volume can be a great way to start your online marketing strategy. If you can grab only a slight percentage of that volume you can see some quick income - maybe not the millions you read about all the time, but, at least a great beginning.

Where should you start? The first thing you should look at are the top 500 search terms on the internet. You can usually find these on various sites devoted to keyword research - in fact, Google, AOL and Yahoo typically show the search volumes by month. If you haven't done this before be ready for a boat-load of entertainment keywords - most of the top 500 are going to be actors/actresses, bands, shows, songs, etc. Be ready - it becomes somewhat humorous to see what people search for out in cyberspace.

Here are some sites you can start with:

1. The Lycos 50 - a great place to start that has lists going back at least 5 years.

2. Hot Searches on AOL - gives top terms by category

3. Google Trends - is a list of the top 100 by date - this would be a great way to search trending hot topics over time.

4. Yahoo Buzz - in addition to lists has some very interesting articles on popular topics.

Next, if you really want to discover the deeper monthly search volumes for your list you can get a free trial account at Keyword Discovery. They have the monthly stats you need to see just how big your search phrase really is. Of course you can always use the standard Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool which also shows monthly volumes. This site is down quite often so you may have to try it a few times before seeing a page or results.

Once you've found the very popular keyword phrase you want to promote then you should create a Blogger blog with that phrase being the key term in the posts. Place your Adsense ads strategically in the top and top left panels of the blog for maximum exposure. Remember, the Adsense TOS states only a max of three ad placements per page.

What should you post? There's plenty of free content out there to find - free articles, videos, blog links, even news articles (be aware you may not duplicate a news article in your blog - you must fully rewrite the content in your own words.) Be sure to keep the content flowing - don't be afraid to list you own opinions, top ten lists, interesting facts, etc.

Finally, do everything in your power to promote the page daily - that means having a link backs to your site through:

1. Blog search engines / Directories
2. Forums devoted to your topic - have your link in the post signature
3. Articles - if you can think of an article, write it and post it to as many free article directories as possible
4. Press releases - think of a spin on your blog and announce it - see my post The Power of Press Releases5. Link exchanges
6. Blogroll exchanges

If you don't know how to create backlinks using these methods then I strongly suggest that you buy both Holly Mann's Honest Riches and Ewen Chia's Newbie Cash Machine. Those two guides have all the steps and techniques you need to do - which is a bargain at $37 and $27 respectively. That's only $64 total with practically all the knowledge you need to become successful online marketers.

Plus, don't forget to be productive every day - ten minutes a day will do the trick. Read my post on being productive.

Good luck! I hope this helps you make money online. Check out Part 3 of this article here!

The Online Money Making Secret You Shouldn't Know - Part 1

When I scan internet marketing forums from time to time I always see a post from someone new to online work lamenting that they have created a fantastic new site with some early promotion but have yet to see a single penny of Adsense or affiliate revenue. I see the cries like "I've spent all of this time learning, building and promoting but I'm not making any money online! Help!"

Those of us who have suffered the bruises and bumps of trial and error over the years know that striking gold online takes education, patience, hard work and above all - time. (Yes, there are those who do luck into a good strategy - but that is the minority). Beginners expectations are very high and excitement gets tempered quickly when traffic counts are minimal.

I'm going to reveal a secret on how to make money online that I hope you, the reader, takes to heart. The best way for a beginner to get some simple revenue flowing is to create an Adsense site tied to an extremely high volume keyword phrase. Let me rephrase that another way - create a site or blog that focuses on one of the most popular keyword phrases found on the internet today.

I know this seems contrary to what most marketers are telling you but I know that this secret works - it's simple, easy and will start your revenue stream. The reason marketers don't focus on this technique is because you're competing with potentially tens of millions of other sites - how on earth can you be even remotely visible in a competitive space like that?

The answer is because there is so much monthly search volume for those keyword phrases. By creating a site devoted to one of these phrases and then promoting it as much as you possibly can, you will start to see a percentage of hits from that extreme volume even if it is a tiny amount. If you look at monthly volumes of phrases such as 'ipod', 'song lyrics' or 'funny videos' you'll see an incredible amount of traffic with 3.6M, 2.2M, and 1.0M monthly hits respectively. Compare this to 'internet marketing' which gets .6M per month or 'make money online' with a mere .15M per month.

You can start to see the method here - a small percentage of a high volume adds up! I have a site devoted to an entertainment keyphrase that I barely maintain and is currently netting me $3 / day in Adsense revenue. For about 10 hours of total effort I'm making about $1000 / year. What a great way to get yourself funded without much effort.

Where should you start? More on this tomorrow - follow this link to Part 2.

Ewen Chia's Newbie Cash Machine - A Review

(Even though I reviewed these some years back - they are still great resources in 2011) I’ve got to tell you right off that Ewen Chia constantly surprises me with his Affiliate Marketing material. Just on whim I was doing some Clickbank research and discovered that his ebook, Newbie List Machine (used to be Newbie Cash Machine) was soaring to the top of all Clickbank ebooks with a very high gravity rating.
If you don’t know who Ewen Chia is just remember that he is synonymous with affiliate marketing and ways to make money online. Sometimes called the world’s #1 affiliate marketer Ewen has trounced the competition with amazing results with online business rollouts of $100,000 to $1.5M within days - even hours! You may disagree with me but in my opinion he’s easily one of the top 10 internet marketers in the world today. An amazing speaker, lecturer and teacher Ewen has expanded his current subscriber base is to over 300,000 worldwide!

Being a fan of Ewen’s from day one (I love his Secret Affiliate Weapon 2 - a massive bargin at $17!) I’ve found that his techniques have helped me tremendously over the last few years. In fact, he usually provides so much insanely useful information that I typically forget some of the tips he’s given me. When I go back and re-read his past ebooks I’m always surprised that I forgot a lot of the information which I could have easily benefited from.

And yet he’s done it again! Another ebook so full of information that you’ll need a notepad to keep track of all the important steps. But that’s just the beginning - where Ewen has added the most significant value is by creating a step by step framework for brand new or intermediate marketers to get online and build profits fast.

I want to digress a bit and talk to you about what a framework is and why it is important. I am a systems/software architect by trade and have worked with many Fortune 100 systems, vendors and packages in the past. When any large company or vendor wants to create something that is less expensive and easy to implement they typically create a framework.

Frameworks are tested pre-packaged, pre-built components that let you get the job done much faster that just a list of information. Ewen’s framework on how to make money online is something that has already worked in the marketplace. A tried and true affiliate guide that is more than just information.

I spent the last 2 days reading though his ebook in detail. Here’s what you get:

- What an Online Business is and Your Value to the Marketplace
- The Easiest Way to Start Your Online Business
- What Affiliate Marketing is All About
- The Actual Newbie List Machine Step by Step System - A Proven Internet Success Formula which includes:

Market Ideas, Keyword Research, Competition Research, High Converting Affiliate Programs, Setting Up Your Affiliate Links, Email Lists, Email Copy, Landing Pages, Review Copy, Traffic Generators and More!

That’s just a very high level view of what’s in this 141 page guide (that’s right - 141 pages)!! What I love about Ewen’s technique is that he shows you detailed examples of the sites, layouts, ad copy, landing page copy, affiliate setup and pay per click with actual text and screen captures. You’re not left in the dark trying to navigate new sites without a step by step visual guide - that is huge!

You’re probably thinking right now ‘who should buy this guide’? This guide is primarily focused on the brand new internet marketer or an intermediate marketer who hasn’t found a focus yet. Nevertheless, I must say that as an advanced marketer I found that the sections devoted to the ad and email copy as well as some of the landing page techniques were very useful to me and well worth the money.
What didn't I like about this book? Well, I think the first 2 chapters will be a repeat for even beginner marketers. It seems like we get these same intros in every online marketing guide. But, if it is your first then it won't be a problem. Also, many will be familiar with the online tools that he uses so that those specific tutorials won't be very valuable. But, those are pretty small nits considering the amount of content.

There is no doubt that this ebook is vastly underpriced at $27 for the massive amount of information you receive. If you are having any doubts about your ability to make money online I would strongly suggest that you pick up copy of the Newbie List Machine and follow it to the letter!

Holly Mann's Honest Riches - A Review

Back in the fall of 2005 I was browsing the Warrior Forum and started to see quite a bit of buzz regarding The Rich Jerk (site is gone now 2011 - however, Honest Riches has been updated for 2011 and is better than ever). Many people were asking questions about who he was and his odd, unorthodox approach to marketing online. Using a negative connotations to drive sales, The Rich Jerk was attempting to lure sales by goading the potential buyer. As much as I would like to say I wasn’t interested I still felt the need to pick up a copy just out of curiosity.

However, before I bought his copy I happened to see a reference to a new ebook called No Thank You Rich Jerk by Holly Mann (now called Honest Riches). I took a quick look at her site and saw that she was offering some of the same material as The Rich Jerk but at 1/4 of the price. After reading through her sales pitch I decided to pick up a copy. I have to tell that when you have been working with Internet Marketing products and services for some time it was truly refreshing to find someone new who had a great product at a very reasonable price.

I read through her entire ebook in one sitting and found it to be completely and refreshingly honest, informative and very straight forward. I knew immediately it was a winner and that I had to contact Holly directly and find out a bit more about her background.

Holly Mann’s story is very interesting - just take a look at part of my interview with her:

"I am a single mom and my 4 1/2 month old son and I were cooped up in tiny room I rented out of my brother and his wife's home....I had lived in Thailand when I was 16 as an exchange student with the Rotary Club and I loved it there; the people, food and culture. I decided to sell all of our belongings and move there. I knew I could afford to live on $700 a month there while I got the Internet Businesses started. I didn't need to put my son in daycare - so I could take care of him and still break into Internet Marketing. It was a freeing feeling, but also very scary.

The last item I sold prior to leaving was my laptop which I worked on. It was a Sony Vaio I bought while I was working overseas in Iraq (and was actually saving a little money) and I sold it on ebay in order to have enough to buy our airline tickets. After flying for nearly 24 hours, we arrived in Chiangmai, Thailand. I found a small studio apartment and had serious troubles getting an internet connection. I also couldn't afford a computer.

So, I went to a computer parts store and bought all of the parts needed to put a computer together. I didn't know what I was doing, but the guys there put it together included in the total price. Most of the parts were used and so they were much cheaper. The total cost for the contraption was a little over $250 dollars U.S. The computer screen alone weighed at least 30 pounds and looked like something from the 1960s. The actual base and hard drive made a really loud buzzing noise all the time....I'll never forget how seemingly impossible it felt to publish a website with Microsoft Frontpage on a 24KBPS connection speed!

I thought about giving up on it as it took hours and hours to publish one simple website update. But I didn't give up, and within four months I was making 12K per month and FINALLY got DSL Internet!...I didn't follow anyone's formula. If something I did worked well, I continued with it and built on it. I have tried out many different methods to find the ones which are most successful and quickest to implement. My search engine optimization techniques, along with keyword research have made me the most money.

I've learned patience - and not to jump into creating a site without conducting full research to know exactly what the market is searching for, how many times are they typing that phrase in the search engines per day, how many competing sites, similar phrases, etc. Some people think certain phrases will get them traffic but without doing the proper research, you can set yourself up for failure."
After following her work for some time now I can truly say that Holly is part of the class of 2006 for successful Internet Marketers. When I compare where she was in January of 2006 to today (June 2007) I see a completely independent and successful online marketer who has not only made it big but still has a great product.

Holly changed her book’s title to Honest Riches which is currently in its new edition newly updated for 2010-2011. She has taken some the very best information available for making money online, packaged it, and marketed directly against the latest Internet Marketing Gurus material and created a masterful winner!

In fact, I personally credit Holly with boosting my own online work to become consistently profitable. I decided to create an Honest Riches blog to specifically prove her techniques work. Using the Honest Riches techniques my blog went from absolutely no traffic to top search terms in Google within 4 months.

Frankly, I believe it is the single best guide to getting started as an online marketer out there today. I’ve purchased many of these guides and Holly’s is still the best. Her story is truly amazing and shows how focus and perseverance have paid off.

Here's a highlight of what you get: How to get your line business started, Search engine optimization techniques (which she tells you how she got her site this high placement and how you can do the same), ways to make money online through Affiliate programs with no Web site and no start-up money, Content management solutions, Free Web sites that you can easily setup with no experience, free advertising that you never knew existed, and much, much more.

I’m still in contact with Holly from time to time today and very pleased to see just how far she has come. She has truly achieved her dreams and is now back in Thailand helping orphans using the profits she’s earning online. I assure you that if you are a new or intermediate online marketer then Holly Mann’s Honest Riches guide is worth every penny.

An Exclusive Interview with Ryan Orrell - Internet Millions!

Update 2011 - Looks like Ryan Orrell has made his millions and is off doing some new things online with his money.  We wish him well!  I'll keep the interview here for reference but remove the links to his site. If you are interested in a guide much like his I would suggest getting Holly Mann's Honest Riches which has been updated for 2011 and continues to be a great guide.

-------------------------------

Ryan, from your Internet Millions ebook and reviews I get the sense that you have worked very hard to get where you are today. Can you tell me a bit about your background?
Believe it or not I used to be a police officer in the city of Hot Springs where I live. I was making about $15,000 a year and just wanted a better life for myself and a family one day. I still love law enforcment andstill have kept touch with many old friends, though.

How did you happen to get into the Affiliate Marketing industry? What were the deciding factors?

I had a stint selling health and life insurance after being a policeman and it was feast or famine and eventually the famine part took over. I saw a commercial on TV one night in 1998 on a website offering life insurance quotes and thought..."I can do that"...although I didn't even have a computer or had no idea how to check email. I went the next day and got a computer from the Gateway store and just started learning and teaching myself through books I bought at local bookstores, ebooks, and stumbled on affiliate marketing during my research. I decided to do it because I didn't have a choice - I was flat broke and struggling.

What do you attribute your online income growth to?

Determination...let's face it. Anyone can build what I built. Anyone. The thing that separates most super affiliates from regular affiliates is determination and "the grind". When I say that I mean their willingness to continue on and not give up...battle through the problems and tough, confusing times....not quitting.

Have you been following anyone's formula or path?
No...not really. Everything I've picked up is from a million different places along the way. You'll hear me say a lot that internet marketing to me is a "way of thinking". Eventually when you learn a lot it starts coming to you naturally...like a job you eventually get good at yet knew nothing when you started?

What has been the general response to your book so far?
Great! Several incredible reviews - I care about the success of the people who purchase my book and I think that comes through in my words. Quite a few people who have reviewed my book have commented on that. Plus, I'm getting a ton of compliments on how it's already helping people.

What would you do differently if you were starting today?

WOW!! I'm not one to really play monday morning quarterback griping about how I'd do this or that different...whether it works or blows up in my face. I'm just blessed God has given me the determination and good fortune to be successful doing what I love to do.

Who are your favorite mentors and/or online marketers that you follow closely?
Don't have that many...guess I've made more of a list of liars whose sh.t books I've bought over the years have ripped me off and I've bought a lot....I may have to say I did enjoy reading the success and some reports of the late Corey Rudl but that's about it. I do have many friends however that I really admire for what they've accomplished.

What is your advice to newbie's out there looking to get started?

Don't quit or give up and you can do it. Here's the deal....my number one pet peeve is someone wanting you to do everything for them. I get those emails everyday...I go by the old adage...if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day but teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime...that's so true with my book...there are so many incredible techniques that I could use if I'd never heard of internet marketing and do $20,000 or better a month inside of three months or so....this stuff works. I know it works because I've done it personally. Just don't give up and keep moving forward and eventually you should make it to the great land of oz. ;-)

If there was one marketing secret you can share with everyone what would that be?
Honestly, I've put what I know in the book. No more secrets really here.

What are your plans now that you have released Internet Millions?

Focus on the sale of the ebook and support my followers and help them the best I can....that in itself is a full time job and I'm happy to do it. I want to help people realize they can achieve thier dreams just like I did and I'll do it one affiliate at a time if I have to. Determination and Dedication is the original formula I followed and it payed off and I'm gonna stick to it.

- Ryan Orrell

Optimizing Your Blog for Profits

At some point I'm going to turn this into a full article but for now I'm going to give some quick pointers on how to optimize your blog to drive traffic and hopefully earn some extra Adsense and affiliate income.

One huge benefit of using blogging as a means to create your site vs. trying to build your own is the ability to monetize your content immediately and not have to worry about page layout, graphics, hosting, domain names, and content management. This is a massive time saver when using the free bloggers such as Blogger or Wordpress hosting. The downside is that you cannot fully control the fine tuning of your site for specific optimizations. Nevertheless, you must let go of this desire and focus on your content - which is a very good thing.

So, let's start with the key topics you need to consider when optimizing a blog:
1. The Blogging Service
2. Layout
3. Links
4. Keywords
5. Traffic
6. Site Tricks

1. The Blogging Service - this is a very important choice because some of the free blogging services do not allow you to place context ad such as AdSense on the free blogging service (they allow it if you host your own blog). Because of this I strongly recommend using Blogger as your free service since it is easy to use and is ad friendly.

2. Layout - since you are using a free service you must get over the desire to control your site. Let go! Most free blogging sites allow you to tweak the layout somewhat. There are some tricks you can use to easily keep your site a blog but at the same time add sections as if you were on your own site. For example, keep one blog entry for all of your favorite external links and descriptions. This is where you can continue your link sharing with other sites and continually add new ones. Now, add a specific link to this article on the sidebar so that there is a direct reference when the article gets archived. That way any readers will always find the links article and not have to search or stumble upon it. (Note, you can use this same technique for additional pages that refer to specific topics so that you have a directory of topics on your sidebars).

3. Links - besides the links I noted in #2 you should always use plenty of linking from every article you publish. The internet values links and the more you use from your blog entries the better. Other sites pay attention to who's linking to them and when they see a referral in their logs your appreciation level increases. Also, add your favorite affiliate and topic links to your sidebars. Here's how you would do it in Blogger - place the link in the 'sidebar-title' section:
[!-- End #profile --]

[MainOrArchivePage]
[h2 class="sidebar-title"]Links [h2][/h2]
[ul]
[li][a href="http://www.agilemarketer.com/"]Home Page[/a][/li]
[li][a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com"]StumbleUpon[/a][/li]
[/ul]
[/MainOrArchivePage]"

4. Keywords - I cannot stress the importance of this - I'm not going to go into detail on keyword identification other than to say that each blog entry should focus on a SEO keyword phrase or name - especially the title. Be sure to use your titles carefully and use the same keywords in your entry. This will mark the blog entry to the keyword topic (remember, each blog entry is a separate web page that can be indexed).

5. Traffic - don't forget to promote your blog to drive traffic! Use all the means possible to do this - forums, articles, reprint rights, etc. There's enough free material out there to do this!

6. Site Tricks - one simple technique is to place hard coded links to your favorite blog entries / articles in the bottom of the Blog template. That way it will show up on every page. For example, in Blogger you can do this:


[div class="clear"]


[div id="footer"]
[p][!-- Place any article or site map link here. --][a href="mylink"]My site link[/a][/p]
[/div]
[/div] [!-- end #wrap --]

You can even make this your site map!!

The Very First Thing You Should Do

I've met a fair number of people who like to do some part time work, consult, build sites on the side, and also try to become new internet marketers. Recently I heard a cry from a couple of people asking what they should do when first trying to break into the online marketing business.

Here is the problem at hand for many of the newbie marketers out there - panic, impatience, and impulsiveness. If you are in this business to try and make the quick buck because you are panicked and out of money, or, you find yourself drifting between products, methods, affiliates, and the next big wave then you are on the wrong track. I'm going to be blunt here but you must stop what you're doing and think this through.

As you probably know only about 5% of those in this business are really making significant money to be completely independent. And of those, only a handful are multi-millionaires. The problem most keep running into is what I call 'the big sell'. That is, the hype associated with this industry. Much like anyone I was struggling with the same question 4 years ago when I started.

Now, I know you are excited and anxious to get started and have very high hopes. But, if you move too fast and don't sit back an evaluate what you really want you can waste a lot of time and money. I know I did! Thankfully, with a significant amount of time and effort I was able to make back what I've put it and earn some more. With that in mind stop and ask yourself this question: Am I going to market to marketers or market products and services? What I mean by this is - are you going to create new marketing strategies and/or be a marketing affiliate, or, are you going to create and/or sell a product?? Make sure you answer this first.

Then, as I noted yesterday: Are you going to get into an online business that you enjoy? This is important!! I suggest getting away from your computer and taking a walk - try to imagine what it would be like if your online business was a success. What would you really want to be doing that drives you?

Take a look at Digital Photography Review. Here is a guy who loves photography and has turned his passion into one of the best digital camera review sites on the internet and makes a living doing it. Yes, the site is now huge and has a massive amount of content. But, he started somewhere.

Also take a very close look at Holly Mann's site: Honest Riches Pay close attention on how she's taken all of the best online marketing strategies and put them into practice. If you've learned most of the basics and you've studied her sites you'll see that she has jumpstarted her business in record time!

And the last thing I must note is that you are starting a business - remember that. If you haven't created a sole proprietorship or LLC to get started (in the USA) then you are losing money right away. A sole proprietor is a business entity that allows you to deduct any expenses (domain names, web hosting, ebooks, advertising, computers, software, etc.) on your taxes. Be sure to do that at a minimum before you start. Just register with your state - the fees are low (typically $30-$50 total). You will save money on all of your expenses. (Note that the closer you get to becoming a corporation the higher the protection of your business).

Pssst!! Here's a Secret - How to Make Money Online

Ah, the age old question - "how do I make easy money online without any effort"? Guess what, unless you are a lotto winner the answer is 'you cannot'. Please listen to me when I say this - you are not reading this to just make money - you are trying to establish an online business. What's the difference you might ask? The difference is a business has a vision, plan, growth potential, focus, etc.

"But", you might ask, "I can just be an affiliate and make extra money, can't I?" Yes, you can. However, you cannot make the kind of money needed to become an independently wealthy or earn a full living online. Now, you might counter with examples of those who have done it - but I would say they have a vision and direction but just don't know or have the business education to realize it. Take a very close look at some of the leading internet marketers like Mike Filsaime, Neil Shearing, Michael Cheney (affiliate link) and Derek Gehl. They are making serious money online because of their commitment and vision of their business. (This goes back to yesterday's posting on driving business growth).

Internet Marketing Secret - there is not an easy way to make money online, but, there is an easy way to learn how to build a business to make money online. Study the names above very carefully, take notes, find their links, see what they sell and list their core business focus areas. If you are patient, and truly productive you will make serious money. It will take effort and a little time.

Getting There Part 2 - Blind Luck, Profit Puppy, Affiliates and Chuck McCullough

Now, of course, I'm in a very dangerous mood because I've lost $150 right away and have no real plan. Getting a bit frustrated I find an ad on Google for a new MLM advertising campaign. It had just appeared and getting in early was the key. Being terribly naive as I was I jumped at the chance - only to discover this was some kind of offshore business (I'm getting embarrassed just thinking about this). I threw $59 into it and by complete and total luck I wound up making $400 in about 1 month. This was a very bad omen and learning experience for me - because I threw another $59 in and absolutely nothing happened after that. What was I thinking? (I wasn't - it was all gut reaction and blind dollars).

Feeling a bit high and low at the same time (I was up $150 now) I knew I had to do some more research (I wish I had called it education). What was this business all about? How where these gurus really making money online?

So, I got online and began to search Google with terms on 'internet marketing', 'online profits', 'get rich online'... you know the drill. Even by this point in 2002 these search terms revealed a host of online schemes, affiliations, products, services and more. I thought it might be better to focus on the money and not so much on the marketing side (another newbie mistake). Again, using gut reaction I stumbled upon Rob Rawson's Profit Puppy site. Here was a kid in Australia making thousands a month just referring people to his own affiliate sites. Frankly, I wasn't overly impressed at that time but felt he might be on the right track with his site being a directory to other sites with affiliation. (I now think he was either a brilliant early adopter or just plain lucky with his timing). I still get a few Profit Puppy marketing emails to this day and love what he has done over the last 4 years online - my assumption being that he is older, wiser and probably a lot wealthier.

Reflecting on my Neil Shearing untargeted affiliate marketing campaign I starting searching the net for some experts on how to start an online business and not make the same mistakes I was making. Just a segue here - it is funny as I think back on my behavior at home trying to earn some extra money on how much of my past exeperience in business and strategy was completely ignored. I can't quite tell if this was due to a bit of desperation for a few extra dollars or just that it seemed like a fun exercise. Regardless, I never sat back and strategically evaluated what I was doing. More on this to come.

My search was now focused on mistakes and not making them. Enter Chuck McCullough's Affiliate Mistakes (link is gone). This was my 2nd ebook purchase and a real learning experience. Chuck's guide pinpointed the exact mistakes I was making and gave me my first education on affiliate marketing. Chuck had been in the affiliate marketing business for while and seemed to have some great experience. His other site, Affiliate Match, was highly ranked for some time. Alas, Chuck has left the online marketing business but his sites are still out there and Affiliate Mistakes is still a good purchase - so, if you are reading this someday, Chuck, I thank you for being my first online mentor and a great person to work with.

So, now armed with a few dollars and a little education I was ready to try again. Enter Google AdWords - (if you have used AdWords you probably know where this is going). I set out finding some high paying affiliates and immediately placed some AdWords ads this time a bit more targeted. This was exciting - seeing my online statistics virtually real-time and seeing actual traffic to my affiliates. The mentality was addicting - higher ad rate, more clickthroughs - more stats, etc. What happened? I generated a few sales and spent about $500 in advertising. Now I'm down about $200. 2002 was not looking like a very good year online.

Sitting back I decided I needed to educate myself and take a break. In 2003 I focused on consulting and building web sites and started to really examine what it means to be an online marketer. Thus the birth of the Agile Marketer. (Much of what I've learned since 2004 will be talked about in this blog in future articles).

My Story - Getting There, Neil Shearing and Jackie Ulmer

The call came on a hot July day in 2001 - the company is closing its doors for good. The internet boom is over. I had joined this company a couple of years earlier with very high hopes and excitement that the boom was on and I was a part of it. Here I was in downtown Manhattan working on a major retailer's new website feeling like this was a new beginning. Leaving behind a standard, large corporation at that time didn't seem like much of a risk at all considering they were countering with bonuses and stock options.

I knew I had to find a job fast and called my friends at my old company - very fortunately landing a position in late August 2001. Just 2 months later, post 9/11, and the hiring freeze was on. In the meantime, with the economy down and my web interests still bubbling I stumbled into the weird and somewhat chaotic world of internet marketing.

Neil Shearing's site ScamFreeZone.com and ebook, Internet Marketing Blueprint, was my first exposure to the possibility that someone is actually using the internet to make a living online. I loved the book and I was immediately hooked! Being a web programmer / technical manager this seemed to be something I could easily do (little did I know - this opinion probably cost me 2 years of real learning experience). I decided to become an affiliate (not really knowing much about affiliates) and had stars in my eyes (actually $ signs). I threw out a non targeted ad with my direct affiliate link and, guess what, lost my $99 immediately within a week. Oops, lesson 1 - learn something about advertising and maybe a bit about marketing.

So in my next search for help on actual marketing techniques I came across my 2nd guru out there - Jackie Ulmer. She is a master multi-level marketer and seemed to understand how to market an online business. Her products and services have changed over time but her marketing passion and message have not. Just by reading her web material on StreetSmartWealth.com and her other articles I was able to start to pick up on what you need at a higher level to start down a path to success. So, again, I paid a $25 membership fee to a MLM company and starting looking at how to sell something like this online. Bad idea - after thinking about it and tempted as I was I felt that my personality was not a good match with MLM. (Don't rule Jackie out, however. She is a great marketing resource).

So, my first mistakes were now etched in my mind (now being $150 in the hole) and I knew there had to be a better way for me. More to my story in my next entry.