- Joined
- Dec 16, 2004
- Posts
- 274
- Reaction score
- 10
Don't listen to people who tell you it can't be done. Don't listen to people who tell you that "if it was that easy everybody would be doing it" Like my Mum bless her.
It isn't easy. You have to become a jack of all trades. Modifying PHP scripts, HTML, understanding analytics, PPC, trends and more.
The most valuable piece of advice I can give you is to get started and keep going. getting started is the key. On day one you have a blank domain name in six months you have something you can show affiliate managers and get them to listen to you.
In the future you can outsource but now is the time for the one person who can make it happen to show up for work and roll up their sleeves. Get rid of interferences. Reading forums is not work. Checking email is not work. Facebook is not work. Writing posts like this is not work but once or twice a year I come out of the woodwork and allow myself to drink a beer and try to help the strugglers
Check your email twice a day. Browse the forums in your own time and not on your affiliate time. If you are not adding purposefully to your site you are not working. It's easy to sit at the desk all day and say I worked. But did you contribute meaningfully for that time?
Get statsremote to check your affiliate stats it will save you hours. Sign up for some of the copywriting programs for tips on generating content when you are out of ideas, buy some books on goal setting "Goals" by Brian Tracey is great.
Go to any affiliate conference you can get to. They are INVALUABLE. Meet people with the same ideas and ambitions. Introduce yourself to other webmasters in the same niche. Ask them if you can "guest post" with a great post not some crappy two liner.
Sell your sites that you don't make money from. Someone else may make money from them but you can watch what they do to turn the site around and you can learn from that. Any money you feel you may lose in the sale is made up for with that.
Unclutter your portfolio. Sell domains you don't need. Build one site for nine months and then start your second. Always keep a lookout for cheap domain names for your next site. get rid of anything not in your niche.
Don't be tempted to start another site before time. Get the first one making money and use what you know to make your second. Start outsourcing when you have the trick learnt.
Use affiliate managers wisely. Don't pester them. Foster your relationships with them. They all work on the 80/20 rule and to begin with you are in the 20 so you need to prove you are worth their time.
Work with affiliate programs that are progressive and are always adding widgets and tools. Don't work with the 30 day cookie 5% merchants - nothing good will ever come of it. Don't work with multi brand operations just because it is easier to get the code - they don't have any of your interest at heart, only the merchant.
And lastly but most importantly - build your mailing list. If you can successfully build a mailing list from your site you will always have a revenue stream to call on. Building mailing lists is one of the hardest skills to master but I have met several people who when they need cash just send out another email. It gives you something tangible for your efforts and it belongs to you not the merchant.
It isn't easy. You have to become a jack of all trades. Modifying PHP scripts, HTML, understanding analytics, PPC, trends and more.
The most valuable piece of advice I can give you is to get started and keep going. getting started is the key. On day one you have a blank domain name in six months you have something you can show affiliate managers and get them to listen to you.
In the future you can outsource but now is the time for the one person who can make it happen to show up for work and roll up their sleeves. Get rid of interferences. Reading forums is not work. Checking email is not work. Facebook is not work. Writing posts like this is not work but once or twice a year I come out of the woodwork and allow myself to drink a beer and try to help the strugglers
Check your email twice a day. Browse the forums in your own time and not on your affiliate time. If you are not adding purposefully to your site you are not working. It's easy to sit at the desk all day and say I worked. But did you contribute meaningfully for that time?
Get statsremote to check your affiliate stats it will save you hours. Sign up for some of the copywriting programs for tips on generating content when you are out of ideas, buy some books on goal setting "Goals" by Brian Tracey is great.
Go to any affiliate conference you can get to. They are INVALUABLE. Meet people with the same ideas and ambitions. Introduce yourself to other webmasters in the same niche. Ask them if you can "guest post" with a great post not some crappy two liner.
Sell your sites that you don't make money from. Someone else may make money from them but you can watch what they do to turn the site around and you can learn from that. Any money you feel you may lose in the sale is made up for with that.
Unclutter your portfolio. Sell domains you don't need. Build one site for nine months and then start your second. Always keep a lookout for cheap domain names for your next site. get rid of anything not in your niche.
Don't be tempted to start another site before time. Get the first one making money and use what you know to make your second. Start outsourcing when you have the trick learnt.
Use affiliate managers wisely. Don't pester them. Foster your relationships with them. They all work on the 80/20 rule and to begin with you are in the 20 so you need to prove you are worth their time.
Work with affiliate programs that are progressive and are always adding widgets and tools. Don't work with the 30 day cookie 5% merchants - nothing good will ever come of it. Don't work with multi brand operations just because it is easier to get the code - they don't have any of your interest at heart, only the merchant.
And lastly but most importantly - build your mailing list. If you can successfully build a mailing list from your site you will always have a revenue stream to call on. Building mailing lists is one of the hardest skills to master but I have met several people who when they need cash just send out another email. It gives you something tangible for your efforts and it belongs to you not the merchant.
