It’s that time of the month, again.  I have to say that I think more interesting things happened to me this month than in months prior.  For starters, I got contacted by a guy that saw me in what’s probably the most popular internet marketing forum.  He said that he not only liked my blog but liked how I answered peoples’ questions in said forum and approached me with an opportunity.

While I’ve been approached by people before to do various things, I’ve never actually taken people up on it before.  Because of what was involved, I decided it was about time to change all of that, so this was (and is – still working on it) my first little “mini joint venture,” if you will.  I was introduced to an internet marketing forum called Webmaster Sun (free to join, I’m “Miguelito203” on there)  that seems more geared towards newbies.

As the year comes closer to an end, it’s around this time of year that I start making plans for the upcoming year.  I try to take a look ahead and see what kind of promotions people have coming up for the new year and what not.  This can be tricky because nothing is set in stone.  Some people say they are going to launch something but then put it on ice for a number of reasons.  Some things get added at the last minute — so much so that you don’t have time to plan stuff.

I don’t like surprises – LOL!  I just hope that it’s better than 2015 because there weren’t too many quality products to come out in the IM space that I wanted to promote.  2015 seemed to the year of those binary option software products — not I said the cat.  I personally want to see more quality blogging products.  The only two big, quality blogging products out right now are Google Sniper 3 by George Brown (lower cost) and Affiloblueprint 3 by Mark Ling (cost a little more).

From what I can tell so far, everything is pretty much “to be announced.”  I hope this starts to change by the middle of December.  I guess time will tell.

Until next time…

This month was a bit more active for me than the past few.  I learned about a new product that was being launched in the niche I’m in that’s outside of internet marketing.  The only reason I found out about this was because I was subscribed to someone’s list, which just goes to show you the importance of being on leaders’ list in your industry.  I decided to use the Google Sniper Method to build a site to promote it.

Unlike some times in the past, I had a really easy time getting in contact with the product creator, so that I could get access to the product – only took like a day or so.  I was able to go through the course and have something set up by the middle of the month.  As of the time of this writing, this product hasn’t taken off, yet.  That’s okay, though.  From working in this niche for a while now, I’ve come to realize it can take a month or two for products to take off.

I decided to let go of two sites (the expiration time had come up – register them for a year at a time) that weren’t doing much of anything for me.  I also found out about another product coming out, but I think it’s still in the early stages, where you have to be white listed to promote it.  I still can’t find it on Clickbank, which means the creators are probably still testing stuff out.

Something else hap9pened to me in this niche that I hadn’t experienced before…I got my first refund!  Even though I’ve been doing this for a while and know that refunds are a part of business, refunds are still like a kick to the gut — especially when you know the quality of the product is good.  Thankfully, it doesn’t hurt as much as it did in the beginning.

That’s all from this neck-of-the-woods.  Until next time…

Everyone that follows this blog in any capacity knows that I’m an enormous fan of niche blogging.  As I’ve become a better blogger, I’ve come to realize that there are times when it’s good to create a larger niche blog, and there are times when it’s good to create a smaller niche blog.  While this may seem obvious, I used to be really resistant to the idea of creating a micro-niche blog (I’m stubborn like that).

Regarding the latter, I’ve also come to realize that it’s important when to know when to let things go.  This is a hard thing for me to do because I’m one of those people that just loves to keep stuff forever.  When it comes to IM, we also know that we need content out there in order to make money.  While we also know that some sites can take off faster than others, there are times when you just need to let stuff go — even if you don’t have something to replace it at the time.

For me, I’ve come up with this policy (in my head) that says that if a site I create doesn’t make money within a year (how long I purchase my domain names for), I let the sites go — even if the sites are getting search engine traffic and clicks.  The truth is that, if you’re in a halfway-decent niche, you can find other things to promote down the line.

I’m sure some of you are thinking, “I wouldn’t do that because the site could eventually make a sale.”  This is true.  However, think about it this way.  If you purchase a domain for like $13 or $14 per year, but the site only makes one sale (average of about $30) over the course of that time frame, you’re basically just breaking even (if the person doesn’t refund).

The fastest I’ve ever made money from a micro-niche site (without a list) and from only search engine traffic is 12 days (still hoping to get this under a week).  I figure that the approach I’m taking allows me to become a more proficient marketer without causing me to waste too much money unnecessarily in the process.

Until next time..

Well, it’s that time, again — where I break down what I did for the month.  Unfortunately, I did not get much done, so there’s not much to report.  Here’s why.  I got all excited at the start of the new month because I heard about a new product that was going to be coming out in my other name niche outside of IM.  As usual, I contacted the product creator in order to get review access (a.k.a. for free).

However, after multiple attempts, I did not get as much as a response back!  Needless to say, I got really irritated.  Some of you might be thinking, “Why didn’t you just buy the product?”  Well, looking back, I should of perhaps done that.  You know what they say.  “Hindsight in 20/20.”  After this experience, though, I’m wondering if I am ever going to promote any of the creator’s products in the future.

The truth is that, while I actually like the person’s products, they don’t really convert that well for me.  I also really, really can’t stand poor customer service.  On the upside, I just learned about a new product that is going to be launching in the internet marketing niche pretty soon.  Even though I’ve been craving something new, I don’t know if I am actually going to be promoting it.

While I heard some good things about the person in the past, I haven’t actually tried any of his stuff.  It was also during a time when he had a business partner from whom he has since split.  I’m also kind of worried because, when I look at the JV page, it has all these stipulations about how you can promote it.  I hate that.  If a product is of high quality, you shouldn’t have to worry about that, IMO.

I’m sure it’s going to be one of those products, where I have to come out of my own pocket in order to review it.  A lot of heavy hitters in the IM sector don’t like giving you review access to stuff — unless they know how you are going to promote it.  The product creator also has to manually approve every affiliate, so I think I’m going to just wait to buy it when it comes out.

If the product is good, then I can ask to be an affiliate.  If it’s not, I can at least make the most of the traffic and recommend something legitimate.  We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with it.  It’s still a little while away.  Well, that’s all from this neck-of-the-woods.

Until next time…

Today, I want to address a question that I’ve been seeing pop up in internet marketing forums and my experiences with it as of late.  The question is something along the line of “Is forum marketing really worth it?”  When you’re starting out online, people will often tell you that forum marketing is a good way to get traffic to a new blog or whatever (it is), but here’s what they don’t tell you.

When your blog is new, forum marketing is a good way to get targeted traffic to it, but in order for it to be effective, you need to find the most-popular forum in your niche (can tell by the number of members) and have built up a reputation in the forum — can really pay off, will explain below.  This means interacting in the forum and answering peoples’ questions.

The only place you should put the url to your site is in the forum signature section.  You need to write short, catchy taglines that catch peoples’ attention and cause them to want to check your stuff out — without actually telling them to check your stuff out (against the rules on most forums).  In order to get your links seen as much as possible, you will need to interact quite regularly.   You also need to make sure that you are linking to a specific page on your site.

So, how can this pay off?  Well, one thing that I’ve noticed is that one forum I visit on almost a daily basis will send out a weekly (one I’m referring to goes out on Fridays, good b/c traffic tends to drop on weekend) newsletter of sorts to all of its members.  What does it contain?  It contains all of the most popular threads for the week — based on views, comments, etc.  If you are one of the first people to answer one (or multiple) question(s), you can easily get 50+ extra hits a day to your blog, which will in turn boost your sales!

So, the moral of the story is that when you’re sitting around and can’t think of anything you could be doing, do some forum marketing!  Until next time…

Hey, guys.  It’s that time, again!  Yeah, the one where I tell you all about what’s been going on with me.  I purposely haven’t done one of these in a while because the Summer tends to be a bit a slow (unless you’re working in very specific niche markets that I have no interests in), so I wanted to wait until I had something to share.

The first thing I want to tell you about is a new product called Writer Help Wanted by Ron Douglas and Alice Seba.  As the time implies, this is course designed for the newbie and seasoned marketer alike that teaches you how to make money writing.  It’s great for those who are just starting out and need money to supplement their income or for those looking to establish a long-term business and who want to earn income passively from writing.

There are video tutorials, case studies with writers who specialize in everything from Kindle to PLR and beyond and other resources, where Alice and Ron walk you step-by-step.  One thing I love about this course is that it doesn’t just focus on the business side of things.  They actually teach you how to write and how to improve your writing skills as well.

I also used the Google Sniper method to put up another site the latter part of this month.  I particularly like this product because a lot of the products in the niche that I work in outside of IM are geared towards women, while this one was geared towards men.  I’m getting traffic and clicks but no sale as of yet.

I’m okay with that as long as it starts pulling in commissions within 30 days.  It usually starts happening around the third week for me (with no list in this niche) — takes a few days to get raked and settle in the search engines.  I also found out about another product that seems to be popular, but I’ve got to contact the product creator in order to get free access before I make a move on that.

Until next time…

I was browsing a popular internet marketing forum, and posters (mostly newbies) were asking whether or not it was better to be a product creator or an affiliate marketer.  They had heard that both were popular routes to take but didn’t know which way they should go given they had little to no experience.  I though I’d share my thoughts.

When it comes to making money online, both of these are two of a number of routes you can take, and each can you you money.  When I hear the question about which is better, I pause.  Why?  While being a product creator is the most lucrative, it really depends on where you are at the time in your online career that determines which way you should go.  Here’s why.

When you’re starting out online, learning affiliate marketing and niche blogging is the least expensive and requires less of a learning curve (& most common method).  Affiliate marketers, in large part, decide to promote something once they see a product is already getting search engine traffic and what not, so all we have to really worry about is writing content or creating video and getting ranked.

If we do this properly, the commissions roll in.  To find a product to promote you can either start out by promoting a product in a niche that you already own (that is currently being searched for) or ask for review access (free access) from a product creator.  Click the link below to learn more on affiliate marketing.

Become an Affiliate Marketer

In order to be a successful product creator, you need to have all of the skills of an affiliate marketer plus more.  Product creators have to  worry about all the behind-the-scenes stuff (like getting joint venture partners in the industry to generate buzz), so the product will become popular enough that affiliate marketers will want to promote it.

Whenever an affiliate earns a commission, the buyer is added to the product creator’s list (in addition to making sales from those who go directly to the site & earning the other half of the commission from an affiliate sale).  Click the link below to learn more about product creation.

Become a Product Creator

Until next time…

Today, I’ve decided to answer a question that I’ve been seeing a lot in various internet marketing forums and that I get via e-mail quite a bit.  The question is usually something to the effect of “How much money does it take to start blogging?”  This is an important question because I think the answer (or what some newbies might think the answer is) can deter them from getting started.  Let’s dive right in.

1. To begin with, you need a quality program to teach what you need to know.  While it is possible to try to learn everything on your own, I wouldn’t recommend it.  Why?  In my experience, not only took me longer to progress (learned more in one week with a quality program than I did after 6 months of trying to do it on my own), but I found that I was missing vital pieces of the overall process.  For product recommendations, I recommend that you check out Google Sniper 3 ($47 for main product, all you really need, make sure to uncheck the box on the sales page if you don’t want the optional “Sniper X”).

2. You will need to purchase a domain name.  You usually pay for domain names on a yearly basis.  The reason for this is because if a site is not performing, you might want to let it go or decide to sell it or something.  The cost for this is around $13 a year.

3. You will need to purchase web hosting.  Web hosting is where your content is stored.  This is paid for on a monthly basis.  This cost less than $10 a month.  This is the price for unlimited domains.  This means that whenever you decide you want to have more than one site (most marketers do), all you will have to pay for is the domain name.

4. After your website begins to get traffic, you should start building a list.  In IM, we build list with an autoresponder.  The most popular autoresponder is Aweber.  Awber offers a $1 trial for the first month.  After that, it’s like $19.00 a month — until you get up to a certain amount of subscribers.

So far, the total comes to $71.00 for the first month.  Keep in mind that all of these costs are standard and DO NOT include up-sells or anything like that.  At the start of the second month, you take away the cost of Google Sniper and add the regular autoresponder cost. This brings the total to $43.00 in the second month and so on.

5. You will need a product to promote.  This can vary and may not cost you anything.  When first starting out, I recommend that newbies go into a niche that they already know something about and in a niche in which they already own products — especially if you’re promoting a physical product.  All you have to do is to make sure that people are searching for it, so you’ll get traffic.

If the product is a digital one (something that can be downloaded), all you have to do is contact the product creator and ask for review access.  This is the marketer’s way of asking something for free.  Make sure to tell them that you are building a site in order to promote their product.  They will happily give you access.  Remeber, all of these costs are standard and can be made up with just a couple of sales.

Until next time…

Last month, I told you about what I thought would be a rather interesting product that I had just come across, but that I had to dig in deeper and do my research and what not before I could tell you more about it.  Well, I did just that!  I actually got so excited after I e-mailed you that I decided to dive right in — like a kid in a candy store — and can now let you in on all the details!

The product is called The Commission Machine by Michael Cheney, and I’m a fan for a number of reasons.  It allows the complete novice how to get their feet in the door of the internet marketing industry in a very ethical manner as well as teaches you a lot about the ins and outs of the niche.  It also introduced to a network that I’m loving, where my conversion rates have been considerably higher than Clickbank.  It also provides you with way more info than Clickbank, including refund rates and more.

I used the Google Sniper method to put up another site at the end of the month in my niche of choice outside of IM.  After I finally got access (had to go back and forth with the product creator), I actually liked the product.  It also got indexed really quickly.   If you’re not already doing so, I encourage you guys to make sure of social media sites to promote your stuff.  Don’t just use any site, though.  Use the one that the people in your niche frequent the most.  Make sure to have followers before you start promoting your stuff.

Certain social bookmarking sites also seem to get traffic to my sites quickly.   The launch for another product I was promoting on one of my other sites I delayed as well.  Even though I heard about the launch and got ranked for it at the beginning of the month, the launch didn’t start until the end of the month as well — the ups and downs of IM, I guess.  Since I’ve been putting up new sites, I also decided to let some of my older ones go.  After a year, they weren’t doing much.

Well, that’s all from this neck-of-the-woods!  Until next time…

Hello, everyone.  Thankfully, this month  started off better as I found a product in my niche of choice at the beginning of the month that was created by the makers of another popular product in my niche that still happens to be selling.  Because of this, I decided to go for it using the Google Sniper method before I knew whether or not the product might be another hit.

The one thing that sucked about the whole experience was that I had to go back and forth with customer service in order to get review access (so I didn’t have to spend my own money buying the product) and getting some questions answered about the product itself.  Due to the difference in time zones and the number of questions I had, this took a while.  On the other hand, at least customer service worked!

I finally got my site put up towards the middle/end of the month.  This was interesting because I started getting traffic really fast (like within a day) — even though the product had just come out and didn’t have time to sell that fast.  I few days later, WordPress notified me that it was updating all of my sites automatically.  Then, the unusually high volume of traffic stopped, which made me think all of that other traffic was just bots,  I started getting trickles of normal traffic after that but haven’t made any sales, yet.

Let’s see.  Oh, I started following a number of other products that came out during the month in the same niche.  Some of them had quite an interesting spin to them, but those products haven’t taken off, yet, either.  I also noticed that only a small percentage of the overall sales were coming from affiliates.  I’ve learned from past experience that one of the indicators that a product coverts well for affiliates is the fact that a majority of the sales are coming from affiliates — like 90%.

Finally, I learned about some interesting products in the internet marketing space at the end of the month.  They are both blogging products with a unique spin.  I learned about one while on a webinar call.  This product is by a really reputable marketer but hasn’t officially launched it.  It focuses on acquiring the main skills you need to make money online like writing, promotion, and getting traffic.

The cool thing about the product is that you know you’ve gotten good at those things when you can use those skills individual skills to make money — while you’re on your way to building your niche blogs.  It’s set up like a coaching program.  The goal of step one is to make $500 or more from writing before you move on to the next step.  It’s really cool.  I’ll let you know more about it when it launches.

I just found out about the other product a couple of days ago.  It’s by another ethical marketer.  The product looks really good and is leaser expensive than the coaching program.  The thing is that I haven’t actually gone through the course, yet.  It’s also on a popular network but one I haven’t used before — in other  words, not a Clickbank product, so I have to figure all that stuff out before I let you in on it.  I’ll get you abreast of what’s going on.

Until next time…