Kids, kids! You're ALL wrong! (Or all right?!)

I've been around the block a few times.


I've had some companies, some awesome successes, some miserable failures, and through them all - I've learned a LOT.


One of the greatest lessons I've learned? THINGS CHANGE ALL THE [censored] time.


So here's my history.


I started with eBay, then I went into websites, then I went into affiliate marketing, then I went into doing SEO for people and made a crap load of money doing it.


Then ultimately I went back to eBay, whilst keeping some affiliate sites that generate some income - as I saw that was the funnest - and most profitable for me while keeping my sanity.


Then, I decided to start teaching people eBay and have built a site related to that using what I've learned.


All-in-all I've seen a LOT of changes on the Internet -- and I've seen Google come out with policies, algorithm changes, updates, changes in policies, etc.


I follow -- quite closely, the SOURCES of the Internet changes.... You know, the Matt Cutts', and his friends - I figure he'd be one to listen to.


I DON'T listen to people who do 'SEO' for a living. Why?


Well, I'll tell you why -- there are many types of people who do SEO.


People who KNOW what they're doing... (who are few and far between)


And people who do SEO the same way they did it in:


pre-2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2007 and a half, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2011 and a half, 2012, 2012 and half, etc.


And they do the same thing, selling the same product over and over again claiming that their tactics work STILL...


Like I said - the Internet ALWAYS changes...and the rules of 'backlinking' and 'saturation percentages' and 'authority' and 'content to code ratios' and 'meta keywords' and the like always fluctuate.


And next year there will be something else that 3,424,234 marketers will fight over-- where one will say 'I'm right' and the other will say 'Nuh uh! I am times infinity infinities!'


And the truth of the matter is, they BOTH WERE --- depending on the millisecond they learned their tactic.


But for as long as I've been around, here is one thing that HAS remained a constant.


Have a phenomenal product that people love and are willing to buy.


From there, you'll KNOW how to market it almost instinctively.

wow thats a lot to read in one post but ill try again here haha

The part of have a product or service that people will be willing to pay for is business 101. Sometimes we think too much of the things that may work and leave the things that work, if we put in a little effort. I'm against this idea of setting up 100 websites that earn you $1 a day since I see no value in it.

I'd rather create a web property that serves a certain need. These grow organically and are usually the ones where SEO is not relevant.

Super case you have made here.

It's all about looking 'natural'.

Google doesn't want a perfect product. They want a 'Natural' looking product - and that is what they reward. They reward passion and great products.

That's what they've been doing this whole time.

And their big headache has been spammers trying to game the system.

1- this is BHW, spammers here 'game' the system and make bank.
2- products are easily the long term solution for someone with capital and looking to make money with the same site for a long time
3- knowledge of eComm + knowledge of black hat = YES PLEASE

^^ Which is why I tend to stay in the 'White Hat' forum...

I'll admit, I've dabbled in Black hat--- but it didn't get me far, and I only did it for a couple of months on one of my sites....Shame too, because it was a site that had a lot of promise and it was slapped pretty hard.

I figure - I'd rather spend my time 'doing it right the first time' rather than 'fixing what I did wrong in the first place'.

I can see that you are/where doing affiliate , just by the typical text structure.

I've dabbled in a lot of it.

I started with eBay, then dropshipping/affiliate websites, then back to eBay.

Now I have a website teaching eBay and utilize all the techniques/mistakes I've learned along the way.


As long as you got heart and head in the game - it looks 'natural' and that is what Google rewards.

i stopped reading when op says he follows matt cutts

WaffleCheese said:

I've dabbled in a lot of it.

I started with eBay, then dropshipping/affiliate websites, then back to eBay.

Now I have a website teaching eBay and utilize all the techniques/mistakes I've learned along the way.


As long as you got heart and head in the game - it looks 'natural' and that is what Google rewards.

Click to expand...

So you failed at all of them and now teaching someone how to succeed? I must be missing something.

What I did/do is all of 'em.

To be MORE detailed, I started with eBay. I started wanting to do dropshipping, but I found out my dropshipper was making a pretty good profit on my sales. So I wanted to figure out how he was doing so well!

So, through some investigations, I found out his source. And so I kept selling on eBay, but became a wholesaler as well. But then I wanted to figure out where MY source was getting them from, because I, again, wanted to increase my profits.

So I then became a manufacturer of these products and importing them into the port of Los Angeles and shipping them FOB to my warehouse.

Then, I became a dropshipper myself - and then creating a website where I sold them from my website as well.

THEN, I added affiliates to them and started having people selling some related product to affiliates for commissions.

Then I did what a lot of business owners to.

I sold the company.

And started all over from a different direction--- mostly because my non-compete told me not to go in the same direction.

So, I started selling on eBay again -- but now I've set up a website teaching everything I've learned through the whole process.

Did I fail?

Nope.

But I now have a unique perspective... and this is why I've been able to create a website (this time not to sell the product itself but to teach it)

So thanks, it wasn't so much an attempt to 'call me out' as it was to clarify my comments. I think that was the 'something' you were missing.

For me too.. thats a lot to read in one post

I nominate this for most pointless thread ever.

B. Friendly said:

I nominate this for most pointless thread ever.

Click to expand...

Ok where you nominated, let me know so that i can too..

I think it'll depend on what you get out of it.

If you read it not wanting to learn - yeah, it'll be pointless.

If you read it because you're wanting to sell something that doesn't work - yeah, it'll be pointless.

If you read it because you're 'always going to be right and no opposing opinion will ever be right' - yeah it'll be pointless.

If you read it because 'you've arrived at greatness and are now the absolute superlative of magnanimity' yeah, it'll be pointless as well.

But, if you take from it what it was trying to convey - that we all need to keep learning, growing, adapting, evolving, and offering customers and ourselves a great product -- then a friendly reminder couldn't have hurt.

i like the message, follow your passions! ... lets hear more about this ebay training

Are you here to sell your ebay training course coz the other things which you are saying about google rewarding natural products don't make much sense to the crowd here

I've said nothing about selling my eBay training course.

In fact, the phrase: 'Google rewarding natural products' doesn't make sense to the thread, actually, so let's get back to the original topic - and the category it is in: the 'White Hat SEO' menu topic.

Google rewards natural TACTICS on website construction, and how they come to be.

This is why people have come out complaining that 'SEO' is dead -- such as 'OVER-SEO'. This is when your SEO is 'too good'. Why? Because that is not 'natural'. It's like you're trying to 'tailor your product to Google' instead to tailoring it to the masses - the people who want to buy it and love it.

Now, when you have a product that you're passionate about -- that you've developed and created and marketed -- and subsequently people ALSO love it, that is what Google loves. They love the evolution of the site. The data collection, the decision made because of it, the optimization (using their tools, of course) and ultimately the arrival of perfection -- not the presentation of it.

Think of it as moving to a new school.

You're not going to be the most popular kid the first day. But little by little, if you put yourself out there and join clubs, activities, and really try hard in excelling at what you do, then eventually you'll be recognized and accepted in your 'circles' and gain 'authority status'.

Not only with your grades, but also your influence to other kids.

You're not the most popular the first day you move there. It's a natural process you get through hard work.

Because if you're caught cheating or lying about your credentials - you've pretty much damaged your reputation on day one. And you've pretty much ostracized yourself (sandboxed) yourself for a long, long time.

OP simplified:

1. Sell what people want/need ethically.
2. If you play the G00gle game then listen to google.
3. Build for the long term and long term results will follow.
4. If it is interesting others will share and the search engines will take notice.
5. You may be able to fool a few for a while... Yourself included. Keep it real and you will have followers forever.
6. Build a business.