Where do I begin?

[AllenFontaine]

Hello everyone. Im new to all this and would like to know where to begin with all of this. Whats the best avenue for someone just starting out to begin? Im very excited to get started and very motivated. I know i'll have so many more questions so I will apologize now if I drive anyone nuts. :)

[Lynn Terry]

Welcome Allen :)

Do you have any ideas yet of what you'd like to do online?

To get you started, and hopefully spark some good ideas!, see:

http://www.clicknewz.com/2917/case-study-new-niche-site/
^ this is the thinking & process behind my newest niche affiliate blog/site

A 10-point checklist for getting started:
http://www.clicknewz.com/2343/how-to-make-money-online-for-beginners/

How to choose a niche that's a good fit for YOU:
http://www.clicknewz.com/2281/how-to-choose-a-niche/

I look forward to brainstorming with you!

[AllenFontaine]

I have thought about affiliate sites ... but which ones are good ones and not scams?

[Lynn Terry]

The ones you create yourself. :)

For example, my newest affiliate site is http://www.travelinglowcarb.com (discussed in the first link above).

Unless I misunderstood your question?

[AllenFontaine]

Gottcha .... Im just not thinking outside the box. :) I was thinking you had to sign up at other affiliate sites and promote their stuff to get paid ... I like the idea of making something of my own . Thanx

[angienewton]

Yes Allen, that is correct. You would pick a niche and then find products to promote. When someone clicks on them and makes a purchase, you make a commission.

[Rob Sutton]

Hi Allen there are 2 options sell your own stuff(something your passionate about) or sell other peoples stuff.
I am doing totally other peoples view www.giftswa.com

[Lynn Terry]

You do sign up to affiliate programs to promote specific products and services. But you choose which products and services based on the topic you select. See my link above on choosing a niche. ;-)

After you look over those links, I'm sure you'll have more questions. Just let us know! :)

[AllenFontaine]

Thank you so much for all your help. I can't wait to get things going ... I have a few ideas im thinking of.

[AllenFontaine]

Registered my first domain in between my 12 hr work day ... I can't wait to get home!

[Lynn Terry]

Sounds like you must have a good idea & niche in mind, then!

Congrats on taking fast action. :)

[AllenFontaine]

Well i've been working on my blog site ... I have alot done. I just need to do some tweaking here and there and add more as I go. I'm working on getting my affiliate links on the main page still. I would love some feedback on the site ... any ideas on changes I would love to hear. :) My site is http://www.eastcoastslotcars.com This is my first site and hope to build more!

[angienewton]

My first thought would be to get rid of the flashy stuff (the Welcome, the bar below it, flag, etc.) and you don't need the counter or calendar on the right sidebar, it will take up valuable space.

Looks like you have some links on the left sidebar, I would put them on a page if you want to keep them.

[AllenFontaine]

Thanx :) I am also looking to create a logo ....

[Lynn Terry]

Try http://www.fiverr.com for an inexpensive ($5) logo. :)

[wade_watson]

Cool site, Allen. I had an Aurora HO set when I was a kid. I've noticed over at the HobbyTalk forum that vintage slot car things are pretty popular with a niche crowd these days.

There's no doubt a few ways to monetize a site like yours. The easiest way would be Google Adsense, followed by Amazon (which probably sells some slot car stuff). If you can get on as an affiliate with one of the big online hobby suppliers, that would probably offer the best return. Also, it's possible to set up as an affiliate with eBay, thus allowing you to earn commissions on some vintage stuff. I've not done that, though, and I've heard they can be a bit picky with affiliates. You might try them after your site's been up awhile.

[AllenFontaine]

Thanx much ... I love slot cars ... I do more collecting more than racing. Im already looking to streamline the site more. I've just set up with ebay partner network and found a few more slot car affiliates to sign up with and looking for more.

[Lynn Terry]

Way to take action and get things rolling! :)

Pun intended, lol ;-)

[AllenFontaine]

Thank you Lynn and everyone else for all your help :)

[AllenFontaine]

So the site is up ... working on getting affiliates is there anything i can do to make what I have better? Streamline more? What can I do to make this site stand out? Any ideas?

www.eastcoastslotcars.com

[wade_watson]

I think it's looking pretty goo so far. You can get plenty of suggestions here, I'm sure, but the most important input should be from your market. You want to know who they are, exactly what they want and give it to them.

I'm not sure if it's just my browser, but your sidebar is showing completely blank and a bit odd for that reason. You can do a lot with the sidebar area. I think if I were doing a site like this I'd go for a calculatedly cluttered look for pages. My favorite hobby shops have always been those with interesting things to see everywhere-- and stacked to the ceiling. Have you ever walked into a very sparse hobby shop? It's not nearly as fun. A hobby website probably has the same effect on a hobby buff.

I believe I had a Batmobile exactly like the one on your main page.

[AllenFontaine]

I would love to have some input as to what else I should do to monetize my site to get some residual income coming in .... I do have 2 affiliates so far ... I am working on finding more. What else could I do?
www.eastcoastslotcars.com

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Allen,

I enjoyed browsing through your site! I would change "The Slot Connection" to "Slot Car Collectibles". That would get a lot more attention and clicks. Are you an eBay affiliate?

In your sidebar navigation you only have Archives (by date). You can change that to show your categories instead. Then add more posts featuring individual products. This will allow you to optimize pages/posts for the products you're recommending, which will bring in more buying search traffic. ;-)

[AllenFontaine]

Thanx Lynn and yes I am a Ebay affiliate and one of my other affiliates are in my sidebar navigation. Im still looking for more to add.

[Lynn Terry]

You might consider looking into CJ.com (Commission Junction) as well as Google Adsense. :)

[AllenFontaine]

I am setup with CJ ... i just need to get my butt in gear and get things on the site ... I am also looking into Google Adsense as well. What about ppc?

[Lynn Terry]

PPC is not a way to make money, but rather a paid advertising option. PPC = pay per click, where you pay for every click through on your ad, such as with Google Adwords.

[AllenFontaine]

Thanx Lynn :) I'm looking into every avenue to monetize my site. I just got 2 more affiliates! :) Im always looking for more affiliates and updating the site as I go.

[Lynn Terry]

Way to go - sounds like you're moving forward at good speed. :)

[AllenFontaine]

When you update your main blog ... is there anyway to have all my other sites update at the same time like Twitter instead of going into each site to add the same post?

[Lynn Terry]

It's best to manually share your new post on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc as each one will use different things that are relevant to that platform - like hashtags, @'s, etc. If you don't include those, you're missing out on more exposure. And if you include them with an automated program or plugin - it won't be relevant across all of your social media channels...

It only takes a few seconds to share the link on a few social sites, so I don't find it a time issue. I simply do it right after I publish a new post.

[nar321]

Check out this URL, it could be what your looking for
www.thesitewizard.com/.../dreamweaver-cs5-tutorial-7.shtml

Then again Lynn's suggestion will certainly keep you out of trouble.

Better to be safe than sorry

[AllenFontaine]

Has anyone heard of "Media Discovery" I was contacted by them and asked me if I was interested in selling some ad space on my site ... They want me to place a small banner on my site and pay me 120/year upfront this was the email I recieved:
Hi Allen,

I was wondering whether you'd be interested in selling advertising space on Eastcoastslotcars.com? The advertisement would be unobtrusive and we can pay you an annual upfront payment for the advertising space.

We can also provide guest blog posts from industry experts in many cases.

I am from Media Discovery, a new media agency headquartered in the UK. We plan out and acquire advertising space on major websites and portals, as well as smaller niche sites. I personally deal with our smaller publishers, increasing brand awareness and share of voice for the major brands that our group works with.

We'd love to work with your site. If you have any questions or would like further information, please do not hesitate to email me directly.


Kind Regards,
Randy Wilkerson
randy.wilkerson@mediadiscovery.com

Just wondering if I should do this?

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Allen,

Reply and ask them to show you the links and ads they are interested in placing so you can make sure they are relevant for your readers.

By the way, that's only $10/month. You would do better to place your own Affiliate ad or Adsense in that same spot. :)

[AllenFontaine]

Thank you Lynn, :) Their ads weren't really relevant to my site that's why I said no the first time and thanked them for contacting me. I told them I want to keep everything on my site relevant to my site. BTW ... were gonna have to chat about that whole affiliate thing! ;) Still learning alot as I go and I wanna thank you for all that I have learned from Clicknewz. Stop by my site when you can I'd love for you to check it out and tell me what you think.

[Lynn Terry]

I'm game for the chat anytime - just post your questions here and we'll brainstorm! :)

[AllenFontaine]

How do you make your own affiliate ad ... I don't have the money to be paying people or am I thinking the wrong way? I really want my blog to start making money ... I'm so tired of the 60 hr work weeks. :) Maybe if you have some time to check out my site to see if I'm missing anything important I would really appreciate it.

www.eastcoastslotcars.com

[Lynn Terry]

You only need to create ads if you have your own products and an affiliate program set up. Otherwise, as an Affiliate yourself you simply use the ads your merchants give you.

I'll try to take a look at your site at first opportunity. I generally only do site reviews in the private forum, as they're more time consuming, but I'll try to take a look when I have more time. ;-)

[AllenFontaine]

Thank you Lynn, Believe me ... if I had the money to join the private forums... living paycheck to paycheck really sucks ... I have to watch every dime .... most days I don't eat and if I do its ramen noodles! Im lucky to have $20 left after paying bills and thats not much to go on when you get payed every 2 weeks. :) This is why I want my blog to be successful!

[Lynn Terry]

I have no doubt you can do it. I was in that same position, with two kids to feed even, and I did it. So I'm quite sure ANYone can! I once lost 23 pounds in 7 weeks because there wasn't enough to feed all three of us. So I HAVE been there. ;-)

[erange]

...very encouraging Lynn! Keep it up Allen!

[AllenFontaine]

Thanx :) I'm trying very hard. I wanna be able to give my 13 yo a good life and not have to worry about going without.

[erange]

...just caring enough to have that thought tells me that your 13yr old already has a good life. Keep us informed...I'm anxious to hear about your progress. It encourages me to see others moving forward and having success too! :D

Eileen

[AllenFontaine]

Thanx Eileen :) Ya hes a great kid and I love him to death. As far as my site goes ... its a huge learning experience. I'm learning new things everyday. :)

[Lynn Terry]

Thanx :) I'm trying very hard. I wanna be able to give my 13 yo a good life and not have to worry about going without.

There is no better motivation in the world, and no better feeling than having accomplished it!

Keep posting questions here as you have them - we'll help you out every step of the way. :)

[AllenFontaine]

Thanx Lynn your the best! :)

[AllenFontaine]

Does anyone know of a good plugin for Wordpress to help with spammers ... I've tried a few but they seem to block non spammers as well.

[LaShae]

Allen,

Akismet is the default. It doesn't really stop spambots all that well though. I've been having some good luck with Bad Behavior which is a free plugin as well. It's in the wordpress plugin repository http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bad-bahavior/.

[AllenFontaine]

Thanx I'll try that. :)

[AllenFontaine]

I have Wed. off .. gonna spend the day working on my site. Does anyone know of a good way to display pdf files on a wordpress site? Maybe a plugin?

[Lynn Terry]

You can simply upload them and link to them. If you want a graphic, you can screenshot a page of the PDF, then link that to the PDF file.

[AllenFontaine]

Haven't been around much ... life has been kicking my butt and its taking a toll on me. I'm trying to stay focused but its so hard. I don't know how to get my mind back into this. Anyway i'm glad to be back.

[angienewton]

Just think of all the big goals you need to reach and that should give you the kick in the pants to get back on track:)

[AllenFontaine]

I hear ya ... just hard when things don't come as quick as you want them to and even harder when you have no help so everything is trial and error.

[wade_watson]

Running any business right has always been trial and error. No matter what business you're in, you need to constantly test variations and check results. The thing is to do it as a matter of course and systematically. I can be a bit stressful in the beginning because most everything is trial and error, but that's really the only way you ever gain solid experience.

I think you'll be more satisfied with yourself if you set sharp monthly+weekly+daily goals that you know you can reach and note what you have accomplished.

[angienewton]

Believe me, I get how frustrating it is in the beginning but like any business it's going to take time for things to start happening on a consistent basis. We all want the success to come faster than it does but with hard work and goal setting like Wade said, it will.

Google and You Tube are your friend when it comes to help/questions. And obviously you can ask here and we'll try to help as best we can.

[AllenFontaine]

Just stopping by to say hello ... I've been out of the loop for awhile due to life events. Life has been kicking my butt and I am currently going through a divorce which will be final June 27th .... I hope all is well with everyone :)

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Allen,

Sorry to hear about your divorce. I'm sure that made for a rough year. Great to hear from you though!

I agree with the comment above about Affiliate Marketing. I was just reading an *excellent* guide on the topic, which includes checklists and planning sheets - basically a step by step blueprint - and it's less than $10. I shared the details on my blog earlier today at: http://www.clicknewz.com/7480/affiliate-survival-guide/

Enjoy!

[AllenFontaine]

Thank you Lynn and I will be sure to check that out. :)

[Lynn Terry]

You're welcome! I hope things are going smoother now. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Another good read, if you haven't seen it yet:
http://www.clicknewz.com/7522/how-to-be-a-professional-blogger/

:) *cheers*