Internet Marketing -- You mean I can make money online?!?!

Hey everyone,

well there was a thread titled "what is your occupation" or something of that nature.

I posted I am into internet marketing, and own a few online e-commerce sites, and things of that nature.

Well it seemed to spark a number of people's attention and I got more then 30 PM's from people asking for information on how I got started -- how they can learn, etc, etc. Well I figured I would make a post with my response that I wrote to one of the people, because I really can't anwser every single person one by one.




I got into internet marketing when I was a 15 -- 6 years ago, my dad owned a retail business selling handbags, and he wanted to get a website made.

So I looked into web design, and made the website.

We then started paying for advertising, well one day we ended up paying 400 dollars and didn't get one sale.

That was the day I decided advertising for traffic was not the way to go, and looked into how google, msn and yahoo rank websites, and how to get your site to rank high without paying.

And that was pretty much the start of it, I built that website into the largest retailer of handbags online, getting around 10,000 uniques a day (for a handbag site, that is a ton).

And then I just moved on from there, opening up new companies and selling different items. All you have to do is look for a drop-shipper. Then you don't have to keep any inventory, you just get an order on your website, then place the order with the drop-shipper, and he ships the product to the customer. And you pocket whatever the profit is.

There is a ton to learn though, getting your site to rank on the top 10 for google for a certain keyphrase is not an easy thing, there is a ton of trial and error, and it might take you 1-2 years before you have your first sucessful site that is making you profit.

A good forum to learn a ton of info on internet marketing, and things of this nature are : http://forums.digitalpoint.com

This is not something you are going to master over night, but it is definitely not hard, I started when I was 15 / 16 and it took me 15 months before I was the number 1 website ranked for tons of handbag terms.

There is a ton of money in internet marking as well. I rememebr when I was 17, I was in a computer repair school trying to get my A+ certification. My teacher was saying how he was at the top of the game at one point, making 100,000 dollars + a year.. I was like thats the most you can make in computer repair? I was making more then double that at the time, that was the day I dropped out of school and took it on full time (I was practicly already doing it full time though, I was working 7 hours a day after school lol)

But yeah, it definitely takes some time to learn the basics, get your first site goign, make some mistakes adn then learn from them, etc. But you don't need any type of previous schooling, middle school education is more then enough to become a millionaire with internet marketing.

I will give you an example, if you have / had a myspace account, do you remember those myspace bulletin spam messages for free PS3's ,etc? I was one of the first doing that, I was making 5,000 - 10,000 a day just off myspace for about 6 months, I made more then a million dollars off myspace in a 6 month period. Thats just an example of the ways to make money with internet marketing.

Good luck with whatever you do!

Best Wishes,
Jay




-- Please ignore the typo's and spelling errors, I wrote this fast because I was going to reply to everyone one by one, then I got the idea just to make the topic so everyone else who might be interested could see. Take it easy.

 

I don't have to, believe whatever you would like sir. I'm fine with you thinking its bullshit.

But just for shits and giggles, heres a picture of a random day, from just one of my affiliate accounts.

Picked a random day, nov 15th 06. This is just one offer of one of my affiliate programs.



I'm sorry you think theres no money in internet marketing. If that was true, why are there so many website's selling items? Why does every store owner now want a website? Because the internet is a goldmine, imagine being able to have a store where millions of people walk past everyday looking for what your selling, and not having to pay any rent. That is what a website which ranks high on google is.......

 

I have websites on everything from handbags, to cologne, to hunting gear and back to wedding dresses.

Not only selling stuff, informational sites where I have companies that advertise on my site for a monthly price / or pay by the click.

The possibilities are endless, there are a million ways to make a buck on the internet, and it is best to utilize all of them, a saying among internet marketer's is "don't put all your eggs in one basket". Meaning to diversify and use multiple measure's to make money off your website, and not just one way.

But for me it all started with selling handbags, that was my first website.

 

For starting, it is best to start with an interest of yours.

For example, let's say you liked skateboarding. You could start a skateboard website, find a drop-shipper for skateboard's, wheels, clothing, accessories etc.

Then you can add maybe a forum (like grasscity did, forums def help) which will help build your site a community. That is not needed, but def. can help.

You can see the proof right here at grasscity, members of the forums are more likely to purchase their glass-pieces off grasscity, they feel like they are supporting their "community".

But thats just an example.

But yeah most people start their first site on their hobby, or a personal interest, it makes making the website more fun, instead of seeming like work -- and you are still be learning valuable information on how to design, market and monotize a website -- and it feel's like your having fun since its on a topic you enjoy.

Anyway digitalpoint forums has a plethora of information on the subject, and is a great way to get some basic knowledge / input on the subject -

http://forums.digitalpoint.com

 

Well with the type of stuff I have talked about on this forum (i.e. drugs, etc), I really don't want to say anything that could ever expose my identity. I have read about LEO's busting people on myspace for simply talking about marijuana, so it's just a chance I don't want to take.


But! I can give you an example on how to find a drop-shipper, there are 2 different type's

One is from the manufacturer, you can contact the manufacturer of say, steering wheel covers. Tell them about what you are planning to do, build a website to sell their steering wheel cover's. That you would want to know if they drop-ship (a lot of companies do).

They usually give you 20-50% off the retail price, so you can make 20-50% profit on each sale (or less if you want to be lower than their price, which is a good idea because people want the lowest price).

Ok if they say no, there are two options, you either have to purchase from them wholesale, and then ship yourself. Or you can find a company such as --

http://dropshipdirect.com.

Which is simply a company that purchase's mass amounts of products at wholesale price, adds 5 -20 dollars onto the price, and then provides a dropshipping service to other people who can't afford to purchase wholesale from the manufacturer or do not have the storage space to stock the items.

I hope that answered your question =)

First thing you gotta do is pick what your going to sell, and then use google to find a drop-shipper. Picking a niche is better then a mall type site -- Example, it would be easier to have a site selling New Era Hats, than a site selling all types of clothing (atleast for your first project).

But this is only 10% of the battle, the hard part is getting into the top 10 on google for what you are selling, that is when you start making cash.

 

Hello Sir,

Making the site secure is actually not as hard as it seems, most shopping cart software will automatically be secured for you, and if you can not install something like this yourself, you could use a service such as - http://www.scriptlance.com, and have it installed for as little as 10-20 dollars.

YES! you can make a lot of money off informational sites! There is a program run by google, that lets you do exactly what you said. It is called google adsense.

you know when you search on google, you see sponsored listings on the right hand side of the page? Basically, google adsense is a program you apply to, and then you place the code on your website.

It automatically figures out what your website is about, and shows relevant ad's, and you get paid every time someone clicks on them -- depending on how much people pay. The average amount is 10-20 cent per click, but you can get more or less depending on what the topic of your website is.

An example of a page making revenue this way is : http://www.bellyfatology.com/

Do you see the row of ad's under the dark blue navigation header? Those are the google ad's in action on this person's website. He gets paid every time someone clicks on them.

This is a very easy way to monotize a website because all you have to do is copy and paste a piece of code onto the site where you want the ad"s to show up, google takes care of the rest.



But information on actually making the site. Well, you can use free templates to start off, and just use a program like Frontpage or Dreamweaver to make changes. Or you can hire someone to make a custom design for you.

This is definitely not something you are gonna be able to wrap your head around overnight, but you can take steps, everyone started somewhere. First step is picking a topic, and then making the site, you can use google to find a free template, and do some reading on digital point in the web design section, or google for some other website design guides - - there are ton's available to read for free.

I don't suggest going to the bookstore and buying a book, most of the time the info will be out-dated, and available for free on the internet.

 

LOL

Yes I was one of the first doing that. I stopped before myspace started suing people though =)

 

Into the myspace thing? The program was 100 bucks, I had to buy a server in iran to avoid getting it shut down for spamming, which was 800 a month (they are called bulletproof servers, meaning they can't be shut down for things like spam).

The myspace thing is pretty dead now though, I wouldn't mess with it, people started getting sued back in March / April, and affiliate companies will not pay you if they find out your traffic is coming from myspace now.

If you were asking my investment in my initial website -- the handbag one, I built that from scratch the only cost was 7.99 a month for a shared hosting account and 89.99 a year for a shopping cart to process the orders through.

After that website though, I actually had some money to work with, so I invested more into all my later projects because I had the money to do so, and sometimes its faster to make money by spending some.

 

Nah with the myspace thing, it was pretty sketchy.

I was using mass accounts to send out bulletins offering free Iphones, PS3's, Xbox 360's, Chocolate Cell Phones, etc. And I would get 1.25 for every person that filled out their e-mail address on the form.

That was more of a quick cash scheme, then a long term business plan like my e-commerce websites -- but it was good money while it lasted