Getwhatchuwant
Elite Member
- Jul 25, 2011
- 1,998
- 1,336
I looked at my post count and realized I POST TOO MUCH! But in hindsight I wanted to come on and thank BHW for all I have learned and continue learning. BHW, THANK YOU!
As you can see I started this IM journey around the middle of last year and quite by accident. After several struggles and setbacks I think I am starting to really find my groove. I wanted this post to really help and encourage those who are struggling to let you know if you learn and then DO, you WILL see positive results.
My results since the 1st of this year include Almost $5,000 in client payments for SEO services, almost $200 from fiverr an extra $300 to review some copy to go on a website, about $6 from adsense (cant cash out yet though, LOL) $2 from Amazon (again, LOL) and roughly $7,800 billable in March which is just a few days away!!!!
If I can offer some advice it would be this-
FIND SOMETHING TO BE GOOD AT THEN BE GOOD AT IT!
I came aboard because last year I started 2 sites, one was a hobby and thought it would be fun, the other an eCommerce store. I had no idea what SEO was so of course I did the typical things people do, Facebook, twitter etc... Then I started talking about my site on forums, other blogs, I threw coupons on coupon sites for my eCommerce store, got a banner or 2 here and there but still traffic was very low.
After some time I came to find this forum and started reading and learning and here are some of the things I have learned that will help ANY newb get started!
KEYWORD RESEARCH
I have a little different spin on keyword research especially when it comes to a niche I know a lot about and intend to make an authority site. I look at phrase match 1st THEN exact match. I know this is backwards and many may disagree and that is fine but the phrase match tells me the POTENTIAL for that keyword in the long run. The way I see it is that if I know enough about the topic I will likely begin to rank for several of the exact matches surrounding that keyword simply by posting more and more content, not just that you will find that you start to rank for related terms (LSI) etc.. So if I know alot about knitting and I decide to start an EMD with "how to knit" I dont get discouraged if the exact match count is low IF the phrase match is high. Because I may rank for how to knit, how to knit socks, how to knit a sweater, how to knit a shirt, how to knit for a living etc...next thing you know you start to rank also for terms like knitting techniques, knitting supplies and so on. Of course this does not apply to MNS but a site you intend to baby and continue to work on.
MAKE YOUR SITE QUALITY
If you have a quality site it can pass a manual review, in addition it is likely to withstand any white or black hat link building that you do. I use very similar tactics to all of my sites and I have found across the board that my thin sites and sites with dup content usually get punished but my "good" sites not only stay pretty strong but get better as I link-build. Unique content, videos and articles do the trick, the more you have the better off you are.
LEARN BASIC ON SITE OPTIMIZATION
If you read my threads you will see I am not computer or web design guru but there are some simple things even a newb like me has learned to do and it has been working. I will not spell it out in this thread but if you look up h1 tags, title tags, page speed etc... you will have a good start on your journey.
NETWORK
I have gained my clients through referrals and Facebook that is pretty much it. I friend my wife's friends,I friend my brothers friends, I friend mutual friends I keep my network pretty big. I do case studies on my FB just like you see here, if a friend posts a link to their biz on their FB page I PM them and tell them what I do. The worst they can say is no or simply ignore you, on the other hand they can open up a dialogue with you.
DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT
I often see people in threads stating they are offering there offline services for $200 or $300 per month. To me you are not only hurting yourself but you are hurting the industry as a whole. Lets look at it this way, I know it took me at least 6 months of constant reading, experiments and investment to try and test methods and weed out the things that did not work and continue to try things that did. I guarantee I spent more of my days doing this than a college student would in an entire YEAR in college, maybe 2!! Why would I do something for $10 per hour when I could go into the real world and make $25-$30 an hour doing things I have done all of my life. The goal of IM (for me) is to maintain or even RAISE the standard of living I am accustomed to and being able to do it from home. Another thing to look at is if you UNDERCHARGE that means you either have to do all of the work yourself, or you will limit the amount of work that you will do for the client every month. Even buying 10 good articles for a client will cost you $50 out of that $200 you are making!! When it comes to creating work for yourself and charging, think VALUE not PRICE!
Last but not least
TAKE ACTION!! This Goes back to my 1st point and to illustrate it I will tell you a story my father used to tell me when I was a kid. It is based on Greek Mythology but it made his point rather clear!
One day a lone fisherman was several miles offshore fishing for a dinner for he and his family when suddenly a vicious storm whipped through! The fisherman lost his balance due to the churning waves and heavy winds and fell overboard.
The fisherman saw his life flashing before his eyes as he was going under and in a state of panic he screamed out "GOD PLEASE SAVE ME, I HAVE A FAMILY AND I AM BUT A HUMBLE FISHERMAN!!!!"
Suddenly a loud thunderclap could be heard and the water parted in front of the fisherman and the immense figure of Poseidon appeared. Poseidon look down at the fisherman for a moment, scratched his beard and Bellowed "MOVE YOUR ARMS YOU IDIOT!!!!!"
Moral of the story- Do for yourself before you ask for anyone (including God) to do for you!
GOOD LUCK AND I HOPE AT LEAST ONE PERSON FINDS THIS USEFUL!!!!
As you can see I started this IM journey around the middle of last year and quite by accident. After several struggles and setbacks I think I am starting to really find my groove. I wanted this post to really help and encourage those who are struggling to let you know if you learn and then DO, you WILL see positive results.
My results since the 1st of this year include Almost $5,000 in client payments for SEO services, almost $200 from fiverr an extra $300 to review some copy to go on a website, about $6 from adsense (cant cash out yet though, LOL) $2 from Amazon (again, LOL) and roughly $7,800 billable in March which is just a few days away!!!!
If I can offer some advice it would be this-
FIND SOMETHING TO BE GOOD AT THEN BE GOOD AT IT!
I came aboard because last year I started 2 sites, one was a hobby and thought it would be fun, the other an eCommerce store. I had no idea what SEO was so of course I did the typical things people do, Facebook, twitter etc... Then I started talking about my site on forums, other blogs, I threw coupons on coupon sites for my eCommerce store, got a banner or 2 here and there but still traffic was very low.
After some time I came to find this forum and started reading and learning and here are some of the things I have learned that will help ANY newb get started!
KEYWORD RESEARCH
I have a little different spin on keyword research especially when it comes to a niche I know a lot about and intend to make an authority site. I look at phrase match 1st THEN exact match. I know this is backwards and many may disagree and that is fine but the phrase match tells me the POTENTIAL for that keyword in the long run. The way I see it is that if I know enough about the topic I will likely begin to rank for several of the exact matches surrounding that keyword simply by posting more and more content, not just that you will find that you start to rank for related terms (LSI) etc.. So if I know alot about knitting and I decide to start an EMD with "how to knit" I dont get discouraged if the exact match count is low IF the phrase match is high. Because I may rank for how to knit, how to knit socks, how to knit a sweater, how to knit a shirt, how to knit for a living etc...next thing you know you start to rank also for terms like knitting techniques, knitting supplies and so on. Of course this does not apply to MNS but a site you intend to baby and continue to work on.
MAKE YOUR SITE QUALITY
If you have a quality site it can pass a manual review, in addition it is likely to withstand any white or black hat link building that you do. I use very similar tactics to all of my sites and I have found across the board that my thin sites and sites with dup content usually get punished but my "good" sites not only stay pretty strong but get better as I link-build. Unique content, videos and articles do the trick, the more you have the better off you are.
LEARN BASIC ON SITE OPTIMIZATION
If you read my threads you will see I am not computer or web design guru but there are some simple things even a newb like me has learned to do and it has been working. I will not spell it out in this thread but if you look up h1 tags, title tags, page speed etc... you will have a good start on your journey.
NETWORK
I have gained my clients through referrals and Facebook that is pretty much it. I friend my wife's friends,I friend my brothers friends, I friend mutual friends I keep my network pretty big. I do case studies on my FB just like you see here, if a friend posts a link to their biz on their FB page I PM them and tell them what I do. The worst they can say is no or simply ignore you, on the other hand they can open up a dialogue with you.
DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT
I often see people in threads stating they are offering there offline services for $200 or $300 per month. To me you are not only hurting yourself but you are hurting the industry as a whole. Lets look at it this way, I know it took me at least 6 months of constant reading, experiments and investment to try and test methods and weed out the things that did not work and continue to try things that did. I guarantee I spent more of my days doing this than a college student would in an entire YEAR in college, maybe 2!! Why would I do something for $10 per hour when I could go into the real world and make $25-$30 an hour doing things I have done all of my life. The goal of IM (for me) is to maintain or even RAISE the standard of living I am accustomed to and being able to do it from home. Another thing to look at is if you UNDERCHARGE that means you either have to do all of the work yourself, or you will limit the amount of work that you will do for the client every month. Even buying 10 good articles for a client will cost you $50 out of that $200 you are making!! When it comes to creating work for yourself and charging, think VALUE not PRICE!
Last but not least
TAKE ACTION!! This Goes back to my 1st point and to illustrate it I will tell you a story my father used to tell me when I was a kid. It is based on Greek Mythology but it made his point rather clear!
One day a lone fisherman was several miles offshore fishing for a dinner for he and his family when suddenly a vicious storm whipped through! The fisherman lost his balance due to the churning waves and heavy winds and fell overboard.
The fisherman saw his life flashing before his eyes as he was going under and in a state of panic he screamed out "GOD PLEASE SAVE ME, I HAVE A FAMILY AND I AM BUT A HUMBLE FISHERMAN!!!!"
Suddenly a loud thunderclap could be heard and the water parted in front of the fisherman and the immense figure of Poseidon appeared. Poseidon look down at the fisherman for a moment, scratched his beard and Bellowed "MOVE YOUR ARMS YOU IDIOT!!!!!"
Moral of the story- Do for yourself before you ask for anyone (including God) to do for you!
GOOD LUCK AND I HOPE AT LEAST ONE PERSON FINDS THIS USEFUL!!!!
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