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Hi Glenn;
Grab a cup of coffee, this might get long.
First, sorry to hear you've had no results. I know that's frustrating and disappointing.
That's an adorable baby on your lap. When I talk to each client, and each member of my forum, there's one thing I hold firmly in mind. We're all real people, with real families and real feelings.
Everyone that gets online trying to make an income is doing so because they have needs. For people with young kids, maybe they want to give their kids a better life. Maybe they want to help make sure their kids can afford college. And for older folks, maybe they want to be sure their kids won't have to support them in their retirement years.
No one goes through the frustration of trying to figure out what works because they have hidden masochistic tendencies. lol
Why am I saying that? Because TOO many companies and people forget the *human* element. They dangle carrots, but don't show you how to feast on them. They have their own ulterior motives and hidden agendas, and forget that it's human lives they're messing with.
In one of my other threads, we talk about the failure/success rates, and they're horrid, whether it's MLM, affiliate marketing, etc. 2% of affiliates make 98% of the sales. The other 98% share 2% of the sales. Most websites are failing, and most people fail in MLM, too.
I'm saying all of that so that people reading along listen... and hopefully, learn.
The Most Common Mistakes
The most common mistake people make when trying to make money online are:
--> Joining an MLM when they don't know how to sell in the first place
--> Joining affiliate programs and not adding value to what they're trying to resell, but just using an affiliate link.
--> Setting up a gift site or online mall that has so many product categories, it looks like an online flea market. The web is saturated with them, and most aren't making any money. Flea market doesn't work... niches are where the riches are.
--> Trying to sell high tech goodies like camera phones, VOiP, etc., from sites that do NOT look like high tech, professional sites, and offer no information, presell reviews, product comparisons or anything else to make them stand out from the crowd.
--> Signing up for Adsense, Amazon or other such "small payout" programs when they don't know SEO. The only way to make money from those programs is if you know how to get quality traffic.
--> Get rich quick schemes and pyramids. Yes, you can probably make money. But you can probably lose money, too. Those aren't an online business. They're gambling. As long as a person knows that and can afford the gamble, it's their choice -- but they are NOT a business that will last the test of time.
Why do people fall for those?
Easy. They fell for a great pitch, usually. Statistically, 96% of North Americans will be dependant on government or family when they hit 65.
Most of us do NOT want to be in that position. So, we're seeking ways to improve our finances. "Needing money" is a huge market. The companies that want to hook you in have professional copywriters writing the copy that will reel you in.
The fact is - it's a numbers game to them. Take affiliate programs, for example. Any large company running one KNOWS that 98% of their affiliate sales will come from 2% of their affiliates. They don't care about the rest. The 98% that are failing aren't making them any money. They are necessary only wto help them find the 2% that can sell.
Same thing with MLM. It's a numbers game. Reel them in looking for the few that can sell.
Same thing with VOiP and digital goods and everything else that you can get a reseller id for. They're pulling in the numbers to find the people that ALREADY KNOW HOW TO SELL.
Know what all the people who DON'T know how to sell are?? Linkback! Free linkback. Nothing more, nothing less.
Every single place you post ld.net or veretekk.com, you're giving them free linkback. Why would either of them care if it's working? It's a numbers game, and 2% of the people that signed up are bringing them 98% of their sales. So, it's not cost effective to help the other 98% learn.
You're on your own to figure that out.
The TWO WAYS to Make Money Online:
There are, essentially, two ways to make money online.
1) Start a business, where you sell something of your own.
Doesn't much matter if it's a tangible or a download. Point is, it's YOURS. Doesn't matter if it's candles, coffee beans or a downloadable recipe book. It's yours. You control it. You recruit resellers. You make the lions share of the profit. It's yours.
You can sell your time, too, if you want, but that's not the smartest thing. Even if *I* do it. LOL. But seriously, as much as I love design and marketing, I get a total blast when someone buys my sewing patterns.
I mean, how cool is that. I created my patterns years ago, put them online a while back, and money comes in while I'm sleeping.
Even if you are selling your time, it's YOURS.
2 Be a V.A.R.
VAR means "VALUE ADDED reseller." A value added reseller adds something to what they're reselling.
Take Rosalynd Gardner, for example. When she decided to "make money" online, she chose the dating industry.
Here's what most people would do. They would sign up as an affiliate. Then, they'd start using "cheap traffic" and banner programs to post their link all over heaven and the blue yonder, and hope they're going to make some sales. But, they don't.
Here's what Rosalynd did. First, she learned to build a website. Then, she went to every single dating site and signed up as a member to see it from the inside. Next, she wrote in depth reviews of every dating site out there.
Did she stop there? Nope. She made comparison lists. She separated them into categories. Finally, she built a website. When visitors arrived, they could find what they needed at a glance. Looking for christian dating sites? here they are. Compared and reviewed. Looking for African American dating sites? Same thing. Etc., etc.
The value she added is probably most appreciated by --- (drum roll) -- people frustrated with trying to pick the best dating site. Those things aren't free!! For anyone that hates the bar scene, and wants to know the tone and what it's like "inside" - she gave them that. She wasn't done yet. She created a newsletter to keep people updated on changes to the sites and tips for online dating.
Then she promoted her list and her site. She wrote articles and tips. She explained how to upload a photo to a dating site. How to check someone out to see if they have a criminal record. What to put in a profile. How to handle smarmy people. And so on, and so on.
The reward? Over $400,000 in AFFILIATE sales. Why? Because she went the extra mile to provide value to her visitors.
What she did NOT do is offer a bazillion free downloads (that everyone else is giving away, too) to anyone that "buys from her" and *think* that's a bonus. It's not.
I could give you story after story after story about "super" affiliates and what they are doing.
What you would discover is that each and every one of them found a way to ADD VALUE to what they are trying to resell. Not a single one of them just advertise an affiliate url. That doesn't work.
If anyone is making $1,000+ per month promoting an unmasked affiliate url, please feel welcome to tell me. You'll be the first I've heard of in 10 years... but I'm still waiting to find at least one... *wink*
My Advice For You....
Read the two methods above again. There are a few products you can "resell" without adding additional value, but they are few and far between. Most of them will sell better offline than online.
Then, follow the four steps in this post;
http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShowPost.aspx?PostID=201893
Once you've done that, come back and post your results. Maybe we can help you get on track with a moneymaker. I can't help you make profit with the program you're with... but if you follow the four steps in the link above, there's a pretty good chance I can help you get on track.
: )
Linda
P.S. I'd attach a bottle of Visine if I could, but the web does have a few limitations. :)
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