Advice for a stuck mid 40s playing catch up

whysee · Feb 3, 2020

Hi all

Would appreciate some advice on my direction.

A brief description on my background. In my mid 40s, started with printed media design in my late 20s. Branched out to HTML, CSS and PHP (still suck in it) to venture into online web design along the way. Started my own business on web design years later, clients mainly from offline recommendations throughout the years. Made enough to get by only, without the fortunes made by the many examples I read here. And nope, not a lot are keen to employ a mid 40s guy nowadays in my country.

Saw the need to upgrade my skillset recently, and hence spent a few thousand dollars on offline classes on SEO, and Analytics, hoping to keep up with the trend. Unfortunately, the knowledge I acquired from those courses only emphasized on on-page SEO, and my scale of business too small to take on Analytics for bigger companies. Only upon further self research did I chance upon Blackhat SEO, and then Blackhatworld, and the wealth of information it contains.

It never did occur to me to capitalize on the skills I have, to do affiliates marketing, adsense, pay per view pay per click ads on blogs etc. throughout the years. Demoralized upon realizing what I have missed. Trying to catch up to my lost years now...

Currently host about 20 client's websites on my reseller account.

How do I capitalize on the websites I am hosting? Is it wise to create a PBN using them from a reseller hosting account? I understand the shared IP address will render any attempts as PBN useless. The only backlinks they have to my own website is a simple "created by xxx" link.

Is it even wise to offer SEO services? I have attempted on-page site audits and off-page SEO twice, creating backlinks to my clients' site via parasites shared by some of the generous contributors here. Ranked pretty well within 3-4 months on low competitive keywords. Pretty encouraged, until a visit to the marketplace made my jaws dropped. Services offered such as【SHERLOCK HACKS GOOGLE 2020】etc made my previous attempts look like child's play. Do companies engage services offered in Marketplace, and repackaged it as their own? I seriously doubt I can have the capacity to offer the same sort of services as the peeps there.

Would appreciate any other suggestions for me to expand my income with my skillset. Need to save up for retirement soon.. Lol. Porn and movie streaming are no go as my country hits hard at any such attempts.. Affiliate marketing seems pretty workable in my opinion.

There are tons loads of good advice and information here. But it takes a good detective to suss out the good ones without getting confused.. Is it advisable to sign up courses on Udemy instead to learn more about affiliate marketing, dropshipping etc?

Thanks in advance!

K R Y Σ · Feb 4, 2020

Relax dude , mid 20s here no job struggling to make 300$ per month to pay my bills , word from me is don't waste money on courses , you can find them for free if you keep digging .

Mrnewbie · Feb 4, 2020

Here are some threads that are can help you make money. IM is always evolving, and what worked today may not work tomorrow. Just don't put all your eggs into one basket as they say.
Here is the thread https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/bhw-top-money-making-methods-guides-and-more.1046361/

whysee · Feb 4, 2020

K R Y Σ said:
Relax dude , mid 20s here no job struggling to make 300$ per month to pay my bills , word from me is don't waste money on courses , you can find them for free if you keep digging .

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure you will make it soon too!

Unreliable Witness · Feb 4, 2020

First I'd lose the negative attitude. You've plenty of skills that are relevant now. HTML, CSS and PHP are all still very valuable. You have far more to sell than the average member here.

Second, I'd not pay to go on "courses" that won't teach you more than you can learn for elsewhere on the web for free. Courses will give you basics like how to sign up for a free Wordpress account. They are not going to give you a blueprint to becoming rich. That either takes insight or hard work or both.

I'd recommend reading @phpbuilt's posts on his website (I think they are deleted from BHW). Just Google his name and "SEO". There are some great nuggets about off-page SEO in there. At the end of the day, off-page requires an understanding of Google Penguin and Google Hummingbird, and what "natural" link building looks like in relation to factors such as speed, topical relevancy, number of links and anchor text.

Off-page is largely about covering a niche better than anyone else. Look up Bruce Clay and the concept of "siloing", but don't confuse information (data) structure with file (directory) structure as many people tend to do.

Don't create a PBN using the sites you already host. Its not so much the IP address but using someone else's website for you gain. The link in the footer to your website will pass very little link juice in any case.

You could offer SEO services if you know anything about SEO. Otherwise, I'd offer HTML, CSS and PHP coding services (the skills you have). Sherlock Hacks Google is a "popular" BST - but I'd look at how many reviews come from established members with 500 or more posts before concluding whether it works. People do repack services bought here for their own clients, but you need to know what you're buying and why.

If you go down the affiliate marketing route remember that you need to be selling high value items or many of them to make any money. Personally, I would look for a product you can create yourself if you can. But it might be worth building and ranking a small website to gain confidence that you know what you're doing.

Aulig · Feb 4, 2020

Id also suggest reading on here instead of doing courses. By the time courses are finished the information contained in them might no longer be valid. Also its usually just the same old general useless information rehashed a different way. Good luck mate

whysee · Feb 5, 2020

Unreliable Witness said:
First I'd lose the negative attitude. You've plenty of skills that are relevant now. HTML, CSS and PHP are all still very valuable. You have far more to sell than the average member here.

Second, I'd not pay to go on "courses" that won't teach you more than you can learn for elsewhere on the web for free. Courses will give you basics like how to sign up for a free Wordpress account. They are not going to give you a blueprint to becoming rich. That either takes insight or hard work or both.

I'd recommend reading @phpbuilt's posts on his website (I think they are deleted from BHW). Just Google his name and "SEO". There are some great nuggets about off-page SEO in there. At the end of the day, off-page requires an understanding of Google Penguin and Google Hummingbird, and what "natural" link building looks like in relation to factors such as speed, topical relevancy, number of links and anchor text.

Off-page is largely about covering a niche better than anyone else. Look up Bruce Clay and the concept of "siloing", but don't confuse information (data) structure with file (directory) structure as many people tend to do.

Don't create a PBN using the sites you already host. Its not so much the IP address but using someone else's website for you gain. The link in the footer to your website will pass very little link juice in any case.

You could offer SEO services if you know anything about SEO. Otherwise, I'd offer HTML, CSS and PHP coding services (the skills you have). Sherlock Hacks Google is a "popular" BST - but I'd look at how many reviews come from established members with 500 or more posts before concluding whether it works. People do repack services bought here for their own clients, but you need to know what you're buying and why.

If you go down the affiliate marketing route remember that you need to be selling high value items or many of them to make any money. Personally, I would look for a product you can create yourself if you can. But it might be worth building and ranking a small website to gain confidence that you know what you're doing.

Thanks for reading through my wall of text, and offering point to point advice! Will definitely check out your recommendations! It's hard work that got me this far, still got it in me to keep going despite the age. Lol.

Aulig said:
Id also suggest reading on here instead of doing courses. By the time courses are finished the information contained in them might no longer be valid. Also its usually just the same old general useless information rehashed a different way. Good luck mate

Thanks for the heads up mate.

Will keep on reading and hopefully get something started soon!

Mrnewbie said:
Here are some threads that are can help you make money. IM is always evolving, and what worked today may not work tomorrow. Just don't put all your eggs into one basket as they say.
Here is the thread https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/bhw-top-money-making-methods-guides-and-more.1046361/

Thanks for the link. The consolidation of links definitely helps!

rafark · Feb 5, 2020

Don't create a PBN using your clients websites. First of all, because you're not getting paid for that. It's just wrong (why would anyone trust you to maintain their websites if you'll be doing shady stuff with them). Second of all, they are most likely not powerful enough to give you a nice boost, so you'll be risking your reputation and client websites for very little.

You can always start a PBN of your own. Buy some expired domains and host the websites yourself.

ComputerJunkie · Feb 5, 2020

Definitely don't get "roped" into any courses, as someone already mentioned above.

I'd recommend joining forums and participating within the community and ask questions, sooner or later you'll find a mentor that won't mind answering the odd few questions along the way, but it's ultimately down to you, how much effort you're willing to put into showing others you're wanting to learn, if you show you're making effort to learn, then I'm sure people will help when you ask. BHW is a very big forum, probably not the place to get what you're wanting in terms of learning material.

I mostly browse this forum for entertainment when I'm running low on creativity, it's nice to read shite when you're bored.

maslryu · Feb 5, 2020

As others say don't waste on courses , you have enough skills to upgrade and sell web design devices here . And assuming about restrictions you are from Europe right ?

jamie3000 · Feb 5, 2020

I know this has already been said 5 times above but don't buy any more courses, all that info and more is on this forum and it's obviously free.

What country are you from?

To be honest it sounds like you're already heading in the right direction. You're testing new things and experimenting, that's the best way to learn.

What sort of income do you want? Safe or risky? Dealing with customers or affiliate marketing?

arcticb · Feb 5, 2020

There's a gold mine of information here.

But my $0.02 one one of your points: you DON'T capitalise on the sites you are hosting. Those are your client's sites and should be respected as such.

The one one footer 'created by xyz' link is something else, that's fine if the client has signed off on it as part of the design/service you've provided.

Have you considered what additional SEO services you can offer to your existing clients? In terms of page optimisation, page rank/speed, mobile optimisation, copy, images, url structure etc... the things readily within your control. Content essentially as opposed to link building.

K R Y Σ · Feb 5, 2020

ComputerJunkie said:
Definitely don't get "roped" into any courses, as someone already mentioned above.

I'd recommend joining forums and participating within the community and ask questions, sooner or later you'll find a mentor that won't mind answering the odd few questions along the way, but it's ultimately down to you, how much effort you're willing to put into showing others you're wanting to learn, if you show you're making effort to learn, then I'm sure people will help when you ask. BHW is a very big forum, probably not the place to get what you're wanting in terms of learning material.

I mostly browse this forum for entertainment when I'm running low on creativity, it's nice to read shite when you're bored.

Hello , I'm kind of new in this forum , still learning and doing couple of initiatives to find what I like most in this line of bussiness . It seems kind of odd to me that you don't recommend BHW to someone who wants to learn , what places would you sent someone to for learning ?

whysee · Feb 6, 2020

rafark said:
Don't create a PBN using your clients websites. First of all, because you're not getting paid for that. It's just wrong (why would anyone trust you to maintain their websites if you'll be doing shady stuff with them). Second of all, they are most likely not powerful enough to give you a nice boost, so you'll be risking your reputation and client websites for very little.

You can always start a PBN of your own. Buy some expired domains and host the websites yourself.

Thanks for the advice again. Pretty impressed and glad by the advice. Assumed many here would tell me the "blackhat" ways to abuse the sites instead. Lol! Appreciated!

maslryu said:
As others say don't waste on courses , you have enough skills to upgrade and sell web design devices here . And assuming about restrictions you are from Europe right ?

I'm thankful for the skills I picked up years back, but as usual, with the low prices quoted by peeps from Fiverr etc, it makes business difficult to get back with just those skills. Hence a further need to upgrade myself despite the age.. Groan... Will check out the web design services the others are offering here. Thanks for the recommendation!

And nope. I'm from Singapore.

ComputerJunkie said:
Definitely don't get "roped" into any courses, as someone already mentioned above.

I'd recommend joining forums and participating within the community and ask questions, sooner or later you'll find a mentor that won't mind answering the odd few questions along the way, but it's ultimately down to you, how much effort you're willing to put into showing others you're wanting to learn, if you show you're making effort to learn, then I'm sure people will help when you ask. BHW is a very big forum, probably not the place to get what you're wanting in terms of learning material.

I mostly browse this forum for entertainment when I'm running low on creativity, it's nice to read shite when you're bored.

Have been reading since I joined in Aug. Feel the need to start soon or nothing will ever get done, hence this thread! Lol. Thanks for the advice!

jamie3000 said:
I know this has already been said 5 times above but don't buy any more courses, all that info and more is on this forum and it's obviously free.

What country are you from?

To be honest it sounds like you're already heading in the right direction. You're testing new things and experimenting, that's the best way to learn.

What sort of income do you want? Safe or risky? Dealing with customers or affiliate marketing?

From Singapore. From the many scams and hard knocks I've experienced when I was younger, I would say I am now more prudent with my ventures, though I'm still very impressed with what some of the guys here have attempted. As long as I don't break any laws or lose the rest of my pathetic savings, I don't mind some mild risk attempts. Lol..

I am still reading more about affiliate marketing and dropshipping. Hope the direction can lead me to something I can be proud of months down the road.

Advice for a stuck mid 40s playing catch up

whysee

Registered Member

K R Y Σ

Regular Member

Mrnewbie

Super Moderator

whysee

Registered Member

Unreliable Witness

Senior Member

Aulig

Senior Member

whysee

Registered Member

rafark

Elite Member

ComputerJunkie

Regular Member

maslryu

Power Member

jamie3000

Elite Member

arcticb

Newbie

K R Y Σ

Regular Member

whysee

Registered Member

Main Menu

Marketplace

Making Money

BlackHat World