Trying to Avoid Going on Welfare

Hi

I'm new to Black Hat World, though not new to affiliate marketing. About 6 months ago I walked out of my day job (PPC) that I had done successfully for 7 years. The company was in a state of collapse, and I've no doubt I did the 'right thing.'

After departing I immediately tried to implement a number of affiliate ideas - this involved quite a bit of time and money. 6 months later I have accepted that my 'affiliate ideas' have failed, and I am now one week away from signing on for 'welfare support', something that I really don't want to do.

One of my largest failed projects was buying thousands of targeted Facebook likes (FB Ads), building a fanpage audience, and then driving the fans to a site with Adsense and CPA offers on it. Whilst the fans loved the content, they never buy anything, and the Adsense earnings were tiny. I reckon I chose the wrong niche. Plus to make a living from Adsense I reckon you need many thousands of visitors to your site every single day.

I've also tried Teespring, and while of my self-designed shirts tipped, I found it too unpredictable for steady income.

With each failed idea, my motivation has gone down further, and more critically so has my cash reserves.

I have looked through the forums on BlackHatWorld - tons of great info, but of course there is so much info it can be overwhelming at first.

I'd like to ask, if you were in my situation, and needed to start generating money in the next couple of weeks, which method from the BlackHatWorld forums would you choose? Since my cash reserves are running low, ideally I'm looking for a 'low cost/low risk solution.' Also, ideally I would like to use 'ethical methods' i.e. no dodgy stuff.

I have actually good experience of online marketing over many year, e.g. e-commerce, PPC, Facebook advertising, Facebook fanpages, getting targeted Facebook Likes for cents, Wordpress, landers etc, etc.

I don't know why I can't get my 'act together' and come up with a winning plan. I reckon my problem is my motivation levels are waning, plus the pressure really is mounting as my cash reserves dwindle.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Spodo1977

Honestly, I think you should get another job so you have a steady flow of income while you do affiliate marketing in your spare time.
Income in AM can dry up overnight plus it takes time and effort to make something work in the first place.

Welcome to BHW spodo1977. Wish there was a magic pill that would guarantee your success. My best advice is to identify some new projects to work on, set more realistic goals, and get comfortable knowing you are going to be making use of the welfare system for a little while. Many people lose a lot of self-esteem when needing to ask for financial help. There is no reason to feel bad about yourself because your ideas were not successfully implemented or were possibly poorly developed originally.

The only difference between you and others is that at the bottom of the hill - others dusted themselves off and kept swinging! We've all bottomed-out, or come up short of our goals. If success were easy anyone could do it. Take the financial help you need at this time, but get back on the horse ASAP with better project ideas or implementations. My new general rule of thumb is that if I don't expect decent success relatively quickly then I'm working on the wrong projects. I don't need $100's of dollars per day several years from now ... I need $30-$100/day starting now, so if a project requires 6 months or more to turn a big time profit - it's the wrong kind of project for me.

Anyway, the point is to take the help that is available, and keep trying new models/methods until you find something that is working relatively well that you can then duplicate, automate, or otherwise scale up to higher profits. Good luck, and welcome again to BHW!

• Trying to Avoid Going on Welfare

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spodo1977 said:

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About 6 months ago I walked out of my day job (PPC) that I had done successfully for 7 years. The company was in a state of collapse, and I've no doubt I did the 'right thing.'

After departing I immediately tried to implement a number of affiliate ideas - this involved quite a bit of time and money. 6 months later I have accepted that my 'affiliate ideas' have failed, and I am now one week away from signing on for 'welfare support', something that I really don't want to do.

...

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You need to get a JOB. 'low cost/low risk solution.' = low return
If you really are desperate you have no other choice and forget about suddenly making bank in a week.

Spodo,
I've been there so I know EXACTLY how you feel. It SUCKS.

But you MUST have income. You will NOT make it online when you are desperate. Chances are slim to none. Get a job making as much as you can doing whatever you can. Spend your free time running experiments. Sooner or later you will find something that works and from there you can begin to scale it up.

MANY of us have been in your shoes (or a version of it). LOTS MORE who never even post are probably in worst position than you. Suck it up and do what you gotta do. Get the job and then make a REALISTIC plan for moving forward. I.E. Set a goal of making "X" dollars 6 months and then 1 year from now. Work towards those goals.

Sometimes in life you gotta look through the microscope and sometimes the telescope. Experience and wisdom teaches you when to use each. Trust those here who have been where you are and heed our advice. Good luck to you.

So your priority is to get a new job. Your hobby will be trial and error testing of niches, Facebook, and Adsense. Once you have properly established authority and trust with your audience, you can then start to make more and more cash from the content you produce.

I have made approx $200 gross profit from IM over 2 years, so I am a noob. (I tried adult blogging.)

I'm curious though have you tried Meathead's method?

Search for; "easy $100 a day method - perfect for noobs"

Wordpress hosting can be found very cheap these days, and the method can be implemented with no cost other than domain and hosting.

But I agree with the others, I tried to make it when I was unemployed. It didn't work, now that I have a stable job and am comfortable (I make a below average wage, but I am naturally frugal), I am learning code and plan to do Kinlee's method once I grasp the basics. My point is, getting a 'real' job gives you the ability to have a safety net if IM doesn't work out - so that is best made a priority.

Been phoning about today for a 'real job' after reading the posts above. Fingers crossed...

There you go...Take some positive action and move forward. Do it enough and things will start to improve. Good luck to you!

spodo1977 said:

Been phoning about today for a 'real job' after reading the posts above. Fingers crossed...

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I agree with most other people on here, you should focus on getting a job first in order to avoid welfare and practice IM in your free time.

If you have been in the PPC field for 7 years then you of all people should know that you aren't going to see results overnight. If you are 1 week away from welfare then you need to go get a job. Any job. Worry about the IM dream after you have your bills covered and you can sleep well at night.

Nobody will make it if they are in panic mode. That is why so many fail. IM is a strategy game. You need a clear head...worrying about whether or not you have money for food, your mortgage, car payments, etc. will not allow you to dedicate the focus needed.

Get a job. Or get 2 jobs...get back on your feet and build up some savings before going after the affiliate dream again.

Good luck.

While you're waiting for that job to come, why don't you offer your PPC expertise as a service on freelancing sites. What country do you live in cause i could give you a leg up if you're in the UK?

No dodgy stuff/ small budget... Good night sweet prince...

Focus on getting yourself a few PPC clients that you can manage if that is where your skill set and experience lies. This could give you the income you need to keep the wolf from the door and a budget to test our methods until you find your niche. Your mind will be clearer when you know the bills are getting paid and your success will be more likely in that frame of mind.

Once again, thanks for all the ideas. I'm not in 'total panic' mode yet, but yes a real change of direction is needed now before the panic stage is reached

My 'welfare/benefits' interview is tomorrow - quite humiliating after almost 2 decades of solid work!

In response to 4ContactUK, I tried to send you a PM, but since I'm a newbie here, I can't do that. If you could send me a message with the best UK based freelance sites, that would be great. I'm still living in 2006 (the last time I looked for a job.) Obviously everything has changed since then.

Cheers
Spodo1977

First of all I'm sorry for your situation.

I was on welfare about 8 years ago. The only reason I'm not now is because I began writing articles for a living. I am currently burned out on it, but for me, when I need quick cash, it's always right there.

I actually have a client that pays me every day for the work I did the day before. Most companies will pay you every week. I started out with Textbroker and soon moved up to private clients.

It's just a suggestion, but you could try something like that. Offer your skills on a freelance site (as was suggested) or offer some coaching. There are plenty of people out there who will pay you to teach them things. I'm using the money I'm making from article writing now to fund my newest project, which is selling a physical product using Instagram. It's a brand new concept for me bc I am not into social media but I see the potential on Instagram.

Anyway, that's just my two cents. For what it's worth, I know it's humiliating but just look at it as a temporary setback. We all have them. The point of this is not to stay on welfare. I know it's depressing but you've got to push through this. Just keep moving forward. Don't look back - you aren't going in that direction.

Get a job that's easy on your brain. Think about methods/twists while you work your dayjob.
Be a IM at night.

KEEP pushing by using your OWN brain and don't copy paste - methods and you WILL succeed!

I suggest that you unplug for a few days. Step away from the computer and let your brain reboot. I find it tough to get motivated when I need cash. I know you have a sense of urgency, but just staring at the screen isn't going to help. Good luck.

Never put all eggs in one basket. Have like 3-4 incomes and if one fails - you have others. Now it's best solution for you is to get a job because if now you are desperate for money you never make it online.