Introducing myself

[Meenub]

Hello my name is Meenu,
I am new to this forum and wanted to introduce myself. I am happily married working mother of 3 (that's a mouthful :)).
I am just starting out in Internet Marketing. I have been looking online and trying to learn for the past month or so. I have been on Warrior Forum and looking for advice and help on getting started. I have to admit I am more confused now than I was before. I came across so many "money making offers" that promised so much but unfortunately did not deliver.
I came across this forum and find it to be a breath of fresh air. Everyone here seems very geneuine.

I look forward to learning from all of you.

Meenu

[angienewton]

Meenu,
Welcome to SSWT! I apologize for not responding sooner, totally missed your intro but I do believe we have connected on the forum here before. Looking forward to getting to know you better.

[Joe Micheal]

Welcome on board. :). Hopefully you'll learn new and trustful ways of earning online money by members of this forum.

[Engage]

Hi Meenu, welcome, nice to meet you.


I am just starting out in Internet Marketing. I have been looking online and trying to learn for the past month or so. I have been on Warrior Forum and looking for advice and help on getting started. I have to admit I am more confused now than I was before.

You are not alone. You've just set foot upon a very well worn path of confusion. A path which is unnecessary, and has been traveled by many, most of whom got so confused they quit.

We can already see that you are an articulate writer. That's half the battle won right there. Seriously. Congrats.

Leaving the Warrior Forum, another 10% of the battle won. Good judgment too, you're on a roll. :-)

Here's more good news. If you want simple, or complicated, either way you can have it.

If you want simple, here's a step by step.

1) Pick a topic that sincerely interests you, and that you'd like to learn lots more about. If you have more than one topic that qualifies, and you want to compare the profitability of them, that's easy, will explain upon request.

2) Stop researching web business now (yes, really), and get down to work researching your topic, and writing lots of interesting informative articles about your topic. More is better, better is better. Become "the" expert on your topic.

3) When you've got a couple dozen quality articles ready, put them on a website.

4) From this point forward, spend about half your time writing more articles, and the other half getting links to your site.

5) Content and links, content and links, content and links. More and more and more.

6) Put some Adsense panels on your site. Will take you maybe an hour the first time, and then you can forget all about it. Worry about other income streams later, when you have an audience.

If you want simple, you really only need these two words. Content. Links.

If you want "the secret" here it is. It's just work. We do it, or we don't.

If you want complicated, then there are about a million of us who are ready to fill your head with all kinds of unnecessary complications so that we can sell you something, or impress you with our knowledge etc.

Simple, and get to work now.

Or...

Complicated and confusing, and study the unnecessary confusing complications for awhile instead of getting to work now.

Sorry for the rant! My heart's in the right place.

Best of luck!

Phil

[BrittMalka]

Welcome, Meenu

Phil, I second that.

My most lucrative site is one, I created six-seven years ago about a topic I was passionate about at that time. I just started doing it, and I kept adding content, week after week, while creating a list together with the site. Sometimes, it was only hard work and no rewards. Other times, it paid a little. But then all of a sudden, it happened. And since then, profits have only gone up.

But that being said, when I started out with AdSense, I knew nothing about the topic; I just added the code. And I gained almost nothing. It wasn't until I got my hand on a couple of ebooks about AdSense that I started making serious money.

[lisamariemary]

Welcome to the forum, Meenu! It can definitely get confusing out there! Stick around here and you will get a lot of support and guidance. Also, start reading Lynn's blog http://clicknewz.com - there is a MOUNTAIN of good, usable, actionable information there! (She's the owner of this forum)

And I wouldn't totally write off The Warrior Forum, I have learned a lot there myself. You do have to have your filters on when you are there - and you pretty much don't have to do that here.

[Engage]

Hi Britt, thanks for your report.


It wasn't until I got my hand on a couple of ebooks about AdSense that I started making serious money.

Well, now you're just going to have to spill some beans for us. Pretty please? :)

Here's what I know.

The ads above my articles do the best.

The ads below my articles do about 80% of the ads above the articles.

The ads in the sidebar do about 33% of the ads above the articles.

I haven't tested ads in page footer, don't expect they'd be too great.

If you have some tips that will double my Adsense income, I'll be eternally grateful :) but I'd still suggest new comers stop studying web business, until they have lots of articles, lots of links, and a real audience to work with.

I appear to be on a Holy Jihad against analysis paralysis. :)

Remember Nancy Reagan? She has a new campaign out now. Just say no to complications! :)

http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/content/womens_leadership/exhibit/photos/nancy_reagan2.jpg

[Meenub]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.
Britt and Phil thanks for the great advice. Phil, I have a topic that is very near and dear to me and I would definately like to learn more about it. I am not an expert in it by any means but it is the first thing that came to mind when I read your post. Beyond that I'm not sure how to get started. I don't know what articles to write or how to build a website.
I know I can come up with some ideas if I take time to think it over though.
I truly appreciate your help.
thanks again

Meenu

[Engage]

Phil, I have a topic that is very near and dear to me and I would definately like to learn more about it.

Ah, that's great. Truly, you're lucky, many people enter this market not knowing what they're interested in.


I don't know what articles to write...

Ok, here's a suggestion.

You want to write articles that your audience is interested in. You want to provide information your audience is looking for. Here's one way to get started.

Go to this site:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Enter some words and phrases related to your topic.

This tool will show you the words and phrases that people are using to do Google searches. That is, it shows you exactly what information people are looking for in regards to your topic. These words and phrases are usually called keywords.

Be patient, and spend some time with this tool. Hours, maybe a day. Experiment, try lots of different search phrases. Make a list of keywords that could be the starting place for articles.

Another idea.

Go to this site.
http://ezinearticles.com

Search for your topic. Look at the articles others have written. Keep some notes of article ideas that occur to you.


....or how to build a website.

That's easy. I've been making sites for 15 years. If you want help, private message me. No charge.


I know I can come up with some ideas if I take time to think it over though.

Yes, I'm sure you will too.

Another suggestion. Forget about the Internet for a bit. Pretend there is no Internet, and you are writing a book. Think of your book as a series of chapters 500-1000 words in length, that is, articles.

Before you start writing articles, you may want to spend some time researching the income opportunities in your market. Some topics are very profitable (and competitive) while some are not. We can talk about this if you wish.

If your topic is one where nobody is selling anything related to the topic, you may need to reconsider, if your goal is income.

[BrittMalka]

Hey again, Phil

Pretty homepage, you link to in your signature.

I guess you also know that you should blend your ads with your content - same colour headlines, blue links, big rectangular ads above the content, remember to use the link ads - sometimes, they even bring in the most income...

Anyway, most of what I know, I know from Joel Comm. And then - things work differently from site to site. I guess the most important thing is to always try small changes, until you're satisfied with the result.

[Engage]

Pretty homepage, you link to in your signature.

Thanks, appreciate it. My design skills are modest, so compliments are relished. :-)

Not a home page actually. I've been experimenting with creating pages that focus on a specific offer, and linking to them in my sigs. Jury is still out. As soon as I finish up a few things here, will probably replace this sig with a link to an "umbrella page" that shows everything I have to offer.


remember to use the link ads - sometimes, they even bring in the most income...

Now that is a good idea, and something I haven't tried yet. I'm going to take your suggestion on this one. Have you compared the ad panels to the link ads in a specific spot over time to compare? Will be interested in any data you care to share.


Anyway, most of what I know, I know from Joel Comm.

Another good suggestion. You've reminded me that I've actually got his Adsense book on my desktop. I suppose I could actually read it. Duh... :)

[BrittMalka]

Thanks, appreciate it. My design skills are modest, so compliments are relished. :-)

And I learned a new and tasty word: relished. Thanks :)


Not a home page actually. I've been experimenting with creating pages that focus on a specific offer, and linking to them in my sigs. Jury is still out. As soon as I finish up a few things here, will probably replace this sig with a link to an "umbrella page" that shows everything I have to offer.

Oh, please whisper me the URL to your umbrella page. I'm so curious!


Now that is a good idea, and something I haven't tried yet. I'm going to take your suggestion on this one. Have you compared the ad panels to the link ads in a specific spot over time to compare? Will be interested in any data you care to share.

Erm, no... I started out with links in that place. The only thing I have tested, besides link ads on that spot, is a link to an alternative ad, when there were no ads available from Google, and that alternative was a banner. It gave nothing.


Another good suggestion. You've reminded me that I've actually got his Adsense book on my desktop. I suppose I could actually read it. Duh... :)

Lol ;-) Yeah.

I always print them out, ebooks. Two pages on one to save paper and toner. Then I can high light words and paragraphs, take notes, and read a lot faster than when reading on screen.

[Meenub]

Thanks Phil,

I will definately check out the websites you recommended. The articles you suggest writing, are those to build a blog?

[Engage]

Oh, please whisper me the URL to your umbrella page. I'm so curious!

Thanks for your interest Britt, appreciate it.

I have a few weeks of details left before I can go fully public with my latest projects, but I will happily whisper a few of my URLs to you in a private message, so you can have a VIP insider's behind the scenes hush hush top secret sneak peek, and all that other marketing jazz. :)


Erm, no... I started out with links in that place.

Ok, I gotcha. Again, thanks for suggesting the links. I knew they were there, but didn't test them for some reason. It really does seem a good idea to advance my education here, and I'll be trying this soon, thanks to you.


I always print them out, ebooks. Two pages on one to save paper and toner.

Another great suggestion. Yes, it's much easier to read print than computer screens for some reason, and I do think that's why I've not read the book yet. Time to fire up the printer! Thanks again.

[Engage]

Hi again Meenub,


The articles you suggest writing, are those to build a blog?

A blog or a website. The differences between the two aren't so important in my opinion. Usually with a blog the latest article is always printed on the home page, whereas with a traditional web site the home page is more of a welcome page, with a description of what the site contains etc. Imho, don't worry about any of this for now.

Given that you already have a topic in mind, I'd suggest the following as a next step.

You probably should get some advice about the business potential of your topic before you dive in to writing lots of articles. This is one web business thing you should probably do now.

We could discuss evaluating the profitability of topics here in general terms if you want.

And/or, you might want to join Lynn's Elite Club, even if just for one month, so she can help you determine if your topic is a good one to proceed with. I'm not sure if her club is open for new members right now or not, but I'm sure other posters here would know.

So...

Next step, find out if your topic is profitable enough to merit your time.