If You HAD to Start Over - What would you do Different???

[lauraddirectnet]

Hello,

I am new to the affiliate world, but right now I am learning great advice and tips from everyone here. I think the best advice is to learn from the past and move forward with more innovative ideas! I have read posts from other people and most people have great ideas. Some of the ideas may or may not work for your company, but as Linda said you cannot hold back and be afraid to try!!

 

[Lovely66]

This thread is HOT HOT. It's so much information here, GREAT information. Although I am sorry that I can't post what I would change Bcuz I am NEW to this. About a month in half NEW. SO There is ALOT for me to learn. And I know if I have any questions,concerns, I can get them answered here. I am a member of ALOT of forums and THIS one will be my number one


Good Luck To Everyone and Myself

 

[James Martell]

Oh, this is such a good question...

"If I HAD to Start Over - What would I do Different???"

I would build one site.

Just one.

One.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Interesting James. Surpising to hear coming from you but I know where you are coming from.

Funny I have a blog almost ready to go about "focus" and how hard it is for new affiliates especially. Basically it says - Pick one thing and like Nike says "just do it!"

 

[James Martell]

If one was to focus on the development of one site, and spend each day working to improve and add to the site's content, over time the site would grow into a great resource.

Plus, because all of the attention is focused on the one site, as it grows in inbound links, new pages of content quickly (sometimes within a day or two) move to the top of the search results.

Here's a thought:

If you have been around for a few years, as many have, -- what would your site and business look like if all of the content (text, images, audio, video, etc.), and all of your promotional efforts (press releases, inbound links, email list, forum, blog, etc.) we're tightly focused on one site?

 

[johntan]

For me if I can start all over again. I would approach an guru and will volunteer to work free from him and at the same time learn from him. This is because, I always believe in imitation and observing how the expert spend their time and how they manage their business. Nothing cause me to learn best other then learn and apply.

This is what i would had done. Hope to hear more

 

[tigergem]

Well. Since I really am having to start over again...here is what I am doing differently, for better or worse... I am "telling it like I see it" in my content development, instead of trying to be instantly politically correct, writing from the heart instead of from the MBA.

I read somewhere that the average American adult has the reading skills of a 5th grader. Of course no one here is average, I presume ;-) But if that is true, then I have to make my content easier to read than it was before.

In the past I did not monetize my hits very well. When I finally started paying attention to my traffic, I realized that if I had made just $1.00 per hit, I would be a very rich woman.

Well. To do over, I will try to combine both my personal passions, insights and keep an eye to hopefully collecting a dime or two in the process.

Thanks for asking

 

[Edwin]

Do something! Do anything! Stop procrastinating and act! Although I don't elieve in rushing into anything blindly, I wasted a lot of time (2 years) researching things to death. Things will be different now.

Mike

Thanks for posting that Mike, now i now i am not alone
Development skills are also a issue with me but something i am working on right now i could do like a year ago.

And i have to say this is a very informative thread guys!

 

[idmgorg]

great timing for this Thread

I bet you could post this thread monthly and it would fill up.

I just sold off a successful venture and I am priming to start promoting and building some great new content sites to push traffic to advertisers.

Anyone have some starting programs or recommendations - I have all the skills and tools - just need a direction or team to work with. Since my sale of my last .com - I am not sure what to promote so I figured I would build out quality content via blog, or niche site to build traffic for only the BEST affiliate programs that pay and convert well.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH JAMES - I've had 1 site and 257 sites and I can tell you from experience 1 site is the best way to go - I feel into that over the last two years and had my one venture not sold - I would still be worried about the 257 problems I had to deal with on all those sites. Listen to JAMES everyone on this.

All the best - anything you touch will turn to Gold!
Patrick Wagner

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Patrick,

Welcome to 5 Star and thanks for adding to this extremely informative thread.
You'll find lots of tips and tools for finding your niche by just searching for niche or niches and many of the best are stickies in the newbie forum

 

[Franck S]

I just stumbled upon this thread, and it's funny because James Martell handbook is maybe the only affiliate marketing well known ebook I don't have on my hard drive.

I totally aggree with this. Just direct all your effort towards one site in a good niche, in which you are the expet. A no brainer.

I am trying to do this right now. I don't have many sites, less than 10 (all with blogs). Right now I am setting up my main site, and in the meantime, I am still working on one already successful.

I think that 2 are already a lot!

If you have many sites, and some have a potential, it would be a great idea to outsource.

 

[yanbiz]

Except for the money part, I would have not done anything different because I failed, experimented and been manipulated in some ways with "too good to be true" opps. But the good side of this is now I understand much more (but still to learn, always need to learn) what the game is about internet and network marketing.

The good part, it's much easier when you have burned yourself to contribute to forums and write articles. Experience of failure is worth something in this industry.

In the top earners or people who have success now, who didn't fail and only succeed? I bet there are very few, if none.

One of my favorite quote:
Experience is what you get when you don't listen to advise. Advise is what you give once you have experience.

 

[RedHat39]

I don't know if this is an answer for "If I had to start over..." or rather "If I only then what I know now..."

But anyway I would learn to create landing pages and squeeze pages. Having a list is critical and I have after all of these years just now realized that.

 

[Wazzy]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I've learned a few things since my last posting on this thread. The one big thing is to stop buying into all the over hyped products that promise overnight riches.

I've read a few books that have really been helpful, but the majority of them being released, especially the recent ones, have been nothing more than re-hashed crap.

I'm content taking the slower approach through Blogging, article marketing, building lenses on Squidoo, etc... The funny thing is the results are showing up quicker than I imagined. I've already had the privilege of front page placement on Google in only three days.

The best places to learn? Forums. Hands down, places like this have really helped, and now I'm actually able to contribute instead of just lurking. That's a big accomplishment for me.

Good Luck Out There!
Mike

 

[danmayna]

If I had to start over

I would have done better keyword research and better back link analysis. Experience is a great teacher.

 

[earner21]

Firstly I would have started 10 years ago. Yes, 10 years ago I started spending all my spare time online and over the years I have found it all out. But I never actually started any site. Why not? Because I knew what I wanted. I knew I wanted autoresponders, clever sites, ad tracking, a product ... blah blah blah.

Yes, you "need" all that stuff. But it won't come on day 1. So I should have started a one page website 10 years ago hand crafted in notepad just with some affiliate links in. Just think how my income and tools would have grown if I had just done that.

So my advice is: no matter how small and crappy you think your free site with zero knowledge will look - DO IT. DO IT NOW. Whatever you create you can add to, change, enhance, modify. Use it as your learning curve. Then plough your income back into it. You have to invest in yourself and your "business" at some point! I've just spent £2000 this month - purely to move my whole game onto the next level... at some point you will have to really bite the bullet and say "I am no longer playing, this is working for me" - and BELIEVE in yourself!.

The other thing I'd have done is: sign up for adsense the very second it appeared. I'd have not spent hours/days/weeks looking for affiliate programs to sign up for, spending hours finding something I thought my site could promote, then getting the code, sending them traffic only to have 0 conversions.

No - unless you are starting out with a very tight niche then just use adsense on the damned thing. Site1 - you need money right! You can't be too precious about your site. Treat your first site(s) as learning grounds, experiments. . . and a way to prove that internet marketing DOES work and you CAN do it.

I did, however, install the best stats I could find - and now I've found the best free stats package in the whole world AddFreeStats Free web stats, free website statistics - check that out (it's not an affiliate link) - there's even a piece of code that you put on your site that tells you where your adsense clicks go to.

To me: Your site stats are King. Get them. Even if you've no idea why right now do it. When you do find out how stats can improve your site and sales, at least that way you've got some historical data to check out!

Good luck

E

 

[johntan]

Hi Earner,

I totally agreed with you on the point that we had to get started and put our knowledge into action. Do not wait till thing are perfect then we are happy. Our business will grow bit by bit as we learn.

Most of the top marketer also started in the same way. Their first site are not that great but as they move along, it become better and better.

Great info earner.

 

[ReVoVe]

Yep would definably agreed with both of you on putting knowledge into action. I wasted a lots of time over the past 12 months worrying about the layout of a page and not getting it out there and I'm just starting to build a list which i was in I didn't think was to important but do now.

 

[Linda Buquet]

"I wasted a lots of time over the past 12 months worrying about the layout of a page and not getting it out there"

2nd only to buying crappy ebooks "analysis paralysis" can be a new affiliates worst enemy.

Sometimes you can't just keep fiddling with a new site or trying to find the perfect niche. Sometimes you just need to pull the trigger and GET STARTED. Even if you don't get off to the PERFECT start, you'll learn the most valuable lessons on the way.

 

[ReVoVe]

Soooooo true. You defiantly have to draw a line even if the sites live and you do a few mods.