I own a small business and when the Recession came on, we got hit pretty hard. And I thought I was prepared. I had a year’s worth of money saved in the bank, just like everyone told me to do. Well, nobody expected this recession to be so deep and to last so long. Around six months ago, I realized that my savings were at risk and I might not make it through to the other side of the downturn. I had to find a way to bring in more money, but I couldn’t get out of my business.
I started looking online, running Google searches on how to make money online. I read words like Affiliate Marketing, SEO, ClickBank, MicroSite, Niche Markets, etc. I was overwhelmed and I wanted to make money quickly. I did not know where to begin.
I also considered writing an eBook. I got about 15 pages into a topic that I thought I might be able to sell, but I was disappointed with the content. In addition, I did not know how to build a site and even if I did, I did not know how to drive traffic to the site to sell the eBook. I never published it.
My next step was going to every site I could find that claimed to have the path to overnight riches online. I put my name into pages to gain access without realizing I was building people’s mailing list. Soon, my Gmail account was getting flooded with so many enticing messages that I didn’t know where to turn. I must have joined 3 or 4 different sites and bought half a dozen eBooks. You know what? The get rich quick sites were usually the worst. Now I was in for a few hundred dollars and I was suffering from information overload. I almost quit again.
At this point, I was behind on time and I was actually in worse financial shape than when i started. I had to wipe the slate clean and start over.
Step one: I realized that I did not have to have my own product or eBook to sell. I now understood that I could make money selling other people’s products. I opened a ClickBank account for free, giving me access to other peoples’ products. These people are willing to pay a commission of up to 75% of their product’s cost if you can get someone to buy it.
Step two: I learned how to register my own domain names and forward them to my new partners. There are a lot of low cost sites, but I chose GoDaddy because of its user friendly interface. I also learned that if I registered a domain name that I did not want to buy all of the add ons. GoDaddy is very good at trying to upsell additional products. You usually don’t need any of them.
OK, now I was stuck again. For days. Then I learned step three: I needed to find a program, just one program that taught internet marketing, and stick to it. I recommend that you run some queries about online marketing, make a list of half a dozen sites that look and feel legit, and write down their names without joining. Then research the sites using their names and words like “feedback” in Google, Bing, whatever search engine you like.
Then, join only one group or program. It will cost you a little money, but it’s worth it. The time you will save by following someone else’s blueprint will make you money much faster than you can on your own.
You should be able to get some sample training materials before you join. Don’t join anyone who gives you no information before you join. Stick with the group you join for at least one month, maybe two. Most quality programs have a 60 day, money back guarantee. You will know in less than two months if you joined a quality site or not.
Lastly, realize that you won’t get rich quickly. However, if you invest a little bit of time each day with a quality program (you can find mine at the end of this article), you CAN and WILL make money online. And the earnings will compound themselves and grow over time. Be patient and have fun. The money will come fastest if you learn from others and don’t try to reinvent the wheel on your own.