Sometimes you just have to Get Started September 30, 2008
Posted by Riley West in : The Making of an Internet Marketer , 1 comment so farI’m not just an old salesman and internet marketer. I love to ride motorcycles and just rode back into Oregon from Death Valley and the Sierras. Beauty beyond words. You gotta see it!
But that’s not all! I’m a Dachshund freak, too. I’m just crazy about them. I have two and I have had two for almost 40 years. (Not the same ones)
So, when I was first looking into how to make money online, one of the suggestions I heard often was “Do what you love!” The money will follow.
Well, not necessarily. At least it didn’t go that way for me.
See, I had been through an Internet Marketing study plan and I was rarin’ to go.
I wanted to make some money! And I wanted to do it with a website about all things Dachshund. (Also known as Doxies and Wieners or Wiener Dogs)
It sounded like fun!
Now, mind you, I have been know to get carried away in some of my projects and I can see now that it happened here, too.
I could see my market. Wiener dogs lovers/owners.
I had a few products picked out that I thought would sell on a Doxie site.
I started putting it together. This was right after I had learned a little about…see list.
1. Domain names
2. Hosting
3. Making an html website. Inc. website file management - ftp.
4. Pay per click advertising - PPC/adwords - Relevance
5. Affiliate Sales.
6. Adsense.
7. Keywords
8. An autoresponder series.
9. Copy Writing
10. And other stuff.
So I set to work. I put about a week into it. My adsense started to pay right away, but it was small…like 3 bucks a day small.
And my affiliate products weren’t selling. After over 1000 visitors (ppc) at about 15 cents each I had quite a few people on my list and they were getting my autoresponder e mails and I was busy and…I wasn’t making money.
I was losing money.
True, my site was amateurish. I was new! I didn’t really know how to do it.
I figured I can get it to be better in the future but I wanted to be one of those guys you always read about who show you their Clickbank bars and brag.
But, here’s the nugget. I learned so much in the doing of it that I’m sure if I had known before what I learned while building it…I would have done a lot better job!
That’s what I mean when I say “Just do something! Get out there.” You can make it better… later.
But, and this is what this blog is centering on, what do you do when you don’t know the first thing on the list? And that’s my list here! There are things you should know way before you get to picking a domain name.
You need a good, solid, introduction to the broader concepts of Internet Marketing
and a familiarity with the terminology and what I call the “lay of the land”.
I have what I think is the perfect place to start and fun, too. Cheap, also. Not free. Inexpensive. A bargain. Best money you could spend at this point.
Spend a little time at this place and you will move up in skill level so fast that, when you look back at it, it will kind of shock you. That’s what you need.
Go there. Sign up for the free follow up mini course. Read all about it.
Maybe you’ll see the value and just jump in and start learning. Then…go for it.
Here it is, the school you need.
I’ll see you on the road to success,
Riley West - An Oregon pioneer making his way in the trade.
PS: You can comment on my blog…I’d love it.
Make Internet Marketing (IM) Possible for Newcomers! September 30, 2008
Posted by Riley West in : The Making of an Internet Marketer , add a comment
Hello Folks:
Here’s what I think about Internet Marketing (IM) and why I am here.
I’ve been around longer than a lot of folks. I’m 60.
Don’t hold it against me! The one benefit of being around a long time is that you can be automatically instilled with some wisdom. Drip, drip, drip…it happens!
Maybe you are asking yourself…”What is a 60 year old person doing in this arena that seems to be the province of 20 to 40 year olds.
Glad you asked.
I love marketing and I have been in it for 35 years! I started from scratch. I knew nothing. Well, very little. But, I had a garage.
At first, when I was 20 or 21 I would build a few lamps or headboards or nightstands out in my garage and take them around, asking folks to buy them. I got the designs by looking around at what was currently being offered and copy that or improve on it.
I told the people I was targeting (I didn’t know that word) that they could resell the items at 2x what they paid. They gave me money! I went home and gave that to my lovely young wife. It felt good.
The folks who were in resale liked it. The people who just wanted it for themselves were happy to know that they were getting it at a price that business people would pay to resell. Everybody likes a “deal”.
Within a year or so (15 months) I was selling 2 to 3 thousand dollars worth of these wooden items I made in my garage per week! Boy, was I busy. And I was making money!
Why am I telling you this? I am telling you this because I have made good money for a long time. I did it and at times it was damned hard.
Sometimes I lost money. Lots. There are worse feelings, but this is bad.
I remember a year in the 80’s that I lost 50 thousand dollars. Ouch! I hunkered down and worked my ass off. The next year I made 50 thousand dollars. Victory!
Soon, I realized I had just worked 2 years for zero income. That’s the kind of experience that imparts wisdom. Makes you think.
Again….why am I telling you this?
Because, about 24 months ago I stumbled upon this world of Internet Marketing (IM).
To me it looked like a neat deal.
You don’t have to have a huge cost (overhead). Low risk. You don’t have to lose money to try it.
You can use my smarts and see what happens. What can you lose?
Nothing. Well, not much. Effort mostly.
I’m already used to putting out a considerable effort. So when I saw IM for what it is I went for it. To me this looked easy. (I later found out it is not necessarily easy.)
I saw IM like this. You put up a website… (an advertisement). You get traffic to it. They buy what you offer. (some, not all) You bank the money and do it again. And again. Each time getting more savvy.
But, what really impressed me was that the costs were so low. Internet marketing can be darn near free.
I thought…”How can I lose?”…”If it doesn’t work I won’t lose anything AND I might learn something.”
At first I wasted a lot of time and money. And then I started “getting it”. I made money.
That’s when it occurred to me that I could make getting started in Internet Marketing a lot less painful for other newcomers.
That’s why I’m here and that’s why I can help you.
I can show you how to get started in a streamlined way and I can help along the way.
In my next post I’ll share some details on how to get into Internet Marketing in a way that suits you and your personality…but let’s keep our eye on the ball.
We want to make money! Not lose money! That’s what I am going to point you toward.
Make money! That’s what you are looking for. And that’s what Internet Marketing can provide.
All you have to do is know what you are doing! And…it’s learnable!
Thank you! - Please leave a comment.
Riley West - An Oregon pioneer making his way in the trade.
You Can Do it! Internet Marketing is Teachable! September 16, 2008
Posted by Riley West in : The Making of an Internet Marketer , add a commentHello Folks:
About a year ago I started looking into Internet Marketing (IM). I had a lot of the same reasons as most of you.
One, I liked the idea of using my wits and work, at home, with my trusty MacBook Pro, drawing in money from the vast crowd of visitors on the net. And it’s growing fast. The crowd, I mean.
Two, I especially liked the offers I received that said, essentially, “Buy my plan, follow these steps, you can’t fail!”
How easy is that! Not! Didn’t go that way for me.
What I discovered after spending lots of money trying out various schemes (plans) was that, although the plan might work for someone….it most likely won’t work for me.
And I found out why it wouldn’t (won’t) work for me. Plus I found out what to do so that some of these plans would work for me.
But it sure didn’t go that way for me at first.
Still, undeterred, I made my way to that point of understanding that I think we all have to reach before we can think clearly about this whole making money on the net business.
I’m going to lay out for you what I consider to be the single most effective thing you can do, at first, to insure your success in the World of Internet Marketing.
So Please…stay tuned. This is going to be terrific for those who have not figured their way yet. It will also jump start some careers. Without risking hubris I can say that what comes next on these pages will save some floundering Internet Marketing Careers and may even save marriages!
I’ll see you on the Road To Success,
Riley West - An Oregon pioneer making his way in the trade.
PS: I got my start in this Internet Marketing School.
