Making Money Stuff

This was a comment left on a post on this site by Melody Rachels. I started to answer it in the comments section, then realised I was writing a blog post! So I turned it into one!

Hi Mike.

I'm frustrated. After ordering many make money from home guru afflilate marketing etc sites. I still cant seem to grasp what to do first to get going. I don't know whether to build a website or do affiliate marketing, and if i did I don't even know where to start. I already created a website. I got a paypal account. was going to subscribe to brainhost but cancelled the account until I am ready. any suggestions of a book or someone that can help that is legit and not going to scam me out of what little money I have.  I'm a single mom and don't have much room for failure.

Melody Rachels

Hi Melody

“…I don't know whether to build a website or do affiliate marketing…..”  read more »

If you have a blog with some reasonable traffic, it’s likely you’re strong in other areas of social media as well.

Don’t forget to make that point to your potential advertisers – your reach may be far bigger than you’re currently telling them.

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net  read more »

I may have mentioned this once, twice, or was it about a hundred and thirty three times over the last couple of years?

Your email subscriber list is the single most valuable thing you can have with a blog.

A blog can and should make you some income, but your email subscriber list will convert at about five times better, if my own experience is anything to go by. To put that into perspective, it’s like having shop on a busy, major High Street, versus having one on a quiet out of the way back street.

There are countless blog posts around the web on the subject and there are even courses in how to build an effective email marketing list.

And now there’s a book.  read more »

Web 2.0 generally, and social media in particular, could have been invented for people in the real estate business. Because of the complexity and size of the transaction, clients need plenty of help and advice, and tend to have a long lead up time to the decision.

Social media is the perfect place for agents to set themselves up as helpful, useful and authoritative contacts.

But sadly, few agents are even using the new media, and fewer still are using it in any effective way.

Salvation is at hand!  read more »

If you have any kind of worthwhile following on your Facebook page, chances are you've attracted people who simply post an advert for their business on your wall.

It happens all the time on our Lanzarote Information Facebook page - people identify that it has a good "like" count, that it's about the island, and they think it's OK to simply write a "Hey! Check out our website for great offers on xxxx" with a link to their site. Often, they haven't even taken the trouble to like our page themselves!  read more »

I talked before about how having a diverse income from a blog is secure and safe. And it is - having income from a large number of clients, spread across many products is about as safe as you can get in any kind of business.

 read more »

I think many people consider creating an online business to be a precarious venture. Some may even think it's a folly to throw your all your income eggs into the online basket.

But if you do it correctly, you can actually build a solid, long term, incremental income that just continues to grow along with your traffic.

The secret to the solidity and safety is in creating multiple income streams. That way, whatever happens, a loss of business from one client, or one sector, isn't a disaster.

Looking at my own business over the last 12 months may help to position this for you. Our income comes from 13 different "types" of sales, so let's look at a few of them in detail.  read more »

Every single blogger (myself included) bangs on about creating an email subscriber list. Ask any successful blogger to tell you what mistakes they made, and they will almost certainly include "not starting an email list earlier."

And yet...and yet. On an almost weekly basis I see comments like the one I saw this morning, which included the words "I am yet to start my email capturing campaign.."

And I thump the desk in frustration.

Let me try and explain this as clearly and simply as I can.  read more »

It's very rare for someone to turn down a business proposal with the words "No! I will never buy your product or service!"

In most cases you'll get some kind of indication that they might need you in the future, or to talk again when there's more budget available. Most people will leave the door open, just a little.

And many sales people will not bother to follow up!

The whole culture of sales is to move on, to get another prospect into the sales funnel. We seem to have forgotten how to stay in touch and follow up with our existing prospects.  read more »

I sent quite a few people to join David Risley's Blog Master's Club last year. I felt it was the perfect follow up to my own Beginner's Guide to Blogging.

And that turned out to be correct.

I've been in touch with a lot of those people ever since, and they all speak very highly of the quality of training and information within the club, and especially about the community that has built up there within the member's forums.

They are all learning together, and most importantly, they are earning together!  read more »