Need advice with marketing - currently "stuck"

Hey, this is going to be a little long but there will be a tl;dr

I'm currently stuck at a "cross-road" with marketing and would really appreciate if anyone could throw in their 2 cents or point me in the right direction

I've been reading A TON of different methods, different ways to market etc, books upon books

My issue is where does it all start? Do I need a website / blog (content marketing) to direct traffic to then hit them with a CTA? Although I'm not a big fan of writing / content writing

I have a TON of email lists but without a smtp to send out emails, would you recommend I start here / get a landing page to direct them to?

I've created an instagram account for a "general" niche, nothing too laser focused and about to play a lot with the other social media platforms but at that point I might as well be an influencer or start my own brand / product?

The adult niche seems interesting and I've dabbled in it but it seems that it's becoming extremely saturated

Basically I'm taking on all these different types of marketing at once and I'm quite frankly overwhelmed, social media, SEO/SEM, email marketing, pinterest, etc

What would your advice be? I'm quite strapped for cash so i'd have to pick 1 avenue and stick with it

Get a site / blog up with domain + hosting, write content and direct traffic there then a CTA?
Build a brand / become a social media influencer and advertise CPA offers without hurting reputation?
Focus on 1 social media platform and direct them to affiliate offers?
Email marketing?
Dropshipping / amazon FBA?
Adsense arbitrage?
PPC Ads / Ad campaigns?
etc..

I'm a developer with quite a bit of experience so automating processes / custom software won't be a problem


TL;DR: Overwhelmed with all the options of marketing / making money online and not sure which avenue to go down that will create the highest ROI in the shortest time possible, while that is creating some money to throw back into the system, focus on something longer term.

Thanks for reading

Alright decided to go the social media way and let everything compliment each other then once some smtp's are up, email marketing to targeted landing pages

Bro, you are all over the place, that is why you get stuck (information overload), pick one thing (like social media) and hit hard that for three months and see where it gets you, no other stuff, no side hustles, just three months (like till September or so) and then reevaluate, if it doesn't work, get to the next thing on your list and hit that for three months.

In 6/12 months you should have learned more than enough from the experience to make a least a bit of money.

Focus on one thing only.

fc-dh said:

Bro, you are all over the place, that is why you get stuck (information overload), pick one thing (like social media) and hit hard that for three months and see where it gets you, no other stuff, no side hustles, just three months (like till September or so) and then reevaluate, if it doesn't work, get to the next thing on your list and hit that for three months.

In 6/12 months you should have learned more than enough from the experience to make a least a bit of money.

Focus on one thing only.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, definitely an information overload, so much to learn, so little time

Would you recommend I stick with 1 social media platform for 3 months or 2-3 platforms?

I would go for one platform, and learn everything there is to know, what you learn in these 3 months can never be taken away from you.

I'll give you a real-life example as I am a bit in the same boat as you hobby-wise.

I would love how to make 3D landscape paintings in Blender and Photoshop, and I started to learn blender (an opensource of 3D software soon to be industry standard) But this software has so much to offer and so many great ad-ones you can literally do anything with it and I have over the last 6 months.

I understand the software a little but (like you) I was all over the place, now I just focus on really making 3D fantasy landscapes and concept art, I am in week three of recovery and I can see the improvements I have made (nothing to write home to but still)

I need to end my rant, but you get what I am saying, one thing, three months...

Good luck bro.

Dave.

Stick to one thing and master that thing.

Good day
Here are my 2 cents:

I've been online since 96, didn't do much, just learning and discovering, etc.
In early 2000 the net started to take off, yet nothing, just learning.
2005 I decided I will start no matter what, so:

I just posted free ads on classified websites to offer website design.
I didn't know much about design except theories and basic knowledge.
Posting the ad and getting people to ask FORCED ME TO ACT.
Got my first client for 100 euros (I was way cheaper than anyone at that time).
The rest is history.

This is not about me.
What I mean is, you have to put yourself out there, if you continue just learning and reading, you will not do a thing.

My plan for you if you agree to it:
Grow a pair and post an offer about something you know or kind of know.

Let's take the example of @fc-dh
He mentioned that he is learning blender 3D etc.
In his place, I would launch a course to teach people how to use Blender.
Target absolute beginners.
Charge a low monthly fee for 3 or 4 months then stop (people pay when they know it will stop).
Put up a landing page with a free pdf or a series of articles, or just 2 or 3 videos giving value, etc.
Put up a very short basic sales page to sell a course you didn't create yet.
Make it in parts.
Deliver the parts weekly or every x days.
Do not overcomplicate with plugins and stuff.
A simple free Gumroad connected to your site with a button is enough to start

So basically you are selling just with your welcome email, or, with the first part, or just a welcome video.
This way you will put yourself out there and have no choice but to deliver.

This works all the time.
I hope this helps.
Cheers.

MarketingLeader said:

I have a TON of email lists but without a smtp to send out emails

Click to expand...

Seriously ?
niche targeted ? if so we can do a JV

tupacz said:

Good day
Here are my 2 cents:

I've been online since 96, didn't do much, just learning and discovering, etc.
In early 2000 the net started to take off, yet nothing, just learning.
2005 I decided I will start no matter what, so:

I just posted free ads on classified websites to offer website design.
I didn't know much about design except theories and basic knowledge.
Posting the ad and getting people to ask FORCED ME TO ACT.
Got my first client for 100 euros (I was way cheaper than anyone at that time).
The rest is history.

This is not about me.
What I mean is, you have to put yourself out there, if you continue just learning and reading, you will not do a thing.

My plan for you if you agree to it:
Grow a pair and post an offer about something you know or kind of know.

Let's take the example of @fc-dh
He mentioned that he is learning blender 3D etc.
In his place, I would launch a course to teach people how to use Blender.
Target absolute beginners.
Charge a low monthly fee for 3 or 4 months then stop (people pay when they know it will stop).
Put up a landing page with a free pdf or a series of articles, or just 2 or 3 videos giving value, etc.
Put up a very short basic sales page to sell a course you didn't create yet.
Make it in parts.
Deliver the parts weekly or every x days.
Do not overcomplicate with plugins and stuff.
A simple free Gumroad connected to your site with a button is enough to start

So basically you are selling just with your welcome email, or, with the first part, or just a welcome video.
This way you will put yourself out there and have no choice but to deliver.

This works all the time.
I hope this helps.
Cheers.

Click to expand...

Nothing like the internet in the old days with IRC

This is great advice, thanks for the effort put in, I'll definitely be doing this

Where would you recommend that I market the landing page / course? Social media niche accounts, email lists, raw SEO traffic?

Shedi said:

Seriously ?
niche targeted ? if so we can do a JV

Click to expand...

Yeah, different niches and a bunch of random lists, shoot me a dm

MarketingLeader said:

Nothing like the internet in the old days with IRC

This is great advice, thanks for the effort put in, I'll definitely be doing this

Where would you recommend that I market the landing page / course? Social media niche accounts, email lists, raw SEO traffic?

Click to expand...

Hi
You are welcome
SEO takes a long time.
Paid ads, no if you are tasting.
Use the formula I just posted here:
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/whats-best-to-start-with-as-a-beginner-dropshipping-blogging-or-instagram.1414169/page-2#post-15349766

Basically, join FB groups, kill them with value, and users will come running after you asking for help.
Join 3 or 4 related to your niche.
Introduce yourself and that's it, no links, no details of what you exactly sell, etc.
A natural simple introduction.
Finish by, here to learn and help if I can.
Be genuine and human.
Start answering any post in the group with advice, even if you do not know, just say, maybe you can, I'm not sure, but you may try this... I'm not an expert but, you can use what (name someone you just found on google) method (without a link), etc.
If you do that like 20, 30 times a day in one group, you become an authority in no time.
And guess what.
People will start adding and contacting you asking for help etc.
The idea is to be seen as SANTA the giver (also a kind of expert or someone very helpful) and get noticed by all members freaking fast.

I hope this helps.
Cheers.