10 Things That Stop You From Making Money Fast

March 8, 2010 | 1 Comment

While I work with many fine, big businesses to help them grow their business using business blogging software to generate online leads, I also find that I end up mentoring a lot of people on creating Internet businesses.  The problem is that they do not like what I have to say, which is that it takes time and work.

Here are 10 reasons it takes longer than people think (or hope) for building online income.

  1. Google sandbox - while this is unofficial, most SEO people know that the first 6-12 months are much harder on a website with a new domain.  It does not get consistent good ranking from Google until it ages.  If you just quit your job and started an Internet business, I hope you were planning a year in advance and set up some niche sites.
  2. No email list - Sure, there are faster ways to build a list.  But starting from zero is just going to be a lot of work, especially if you have not done it before.
  3. Selling something they are unfamiliar with - lets face it, no one likes to sell something that they do not understand.  If you just started and you are selling a money making opportunity, and you are not making much money yet, how are you going to convince other people?
  4. Lots of Internet Marketing courses - If you are buying a lot of Internet Marketing courses and programs you are probably not taking action - just learning more.  Make sure to take action asap.
  5. Focusing on one site - It is OK to focus on one site - but only if you are well targeted and are going to really make an incredible effort on that site.
  6. Not testing - If you are spending money on pay per click or advertising but you are not building your list or making sales to a decent percentage of visitors, you are going to burn through your money with little outcome.  Traffic is not the goal - conversion is the goal.
  7. Not planning goals in tiers - Your goal cannot be to make $100,000 in 6 months from zero.  OK, you can have that goal if you want to, but consider this.  I always suggest someone set daily goals and when you are just starting out, learn to make $10 a day.  I know that cannot support you, but until you know how to make a little you cannot scale up and make a lot.
  8. Pick products that can be sold, not one’s with the highest payout.  The places I make the most money besides working with clients are mid-priced products that have incredible quality and are very valuable.
  9. Too complex of a plan - remember that people will not find your new website unless you promote it day and night.  Keep your plan simple and focus on relentless promotion, value and content.
  10. Giving up too quickly.  Lastly, people do not make money fast so they think everything is wrong and they jump to the next idea.  Unless you focus on a few things and do them well for an extended period, you cannot be successful.

Bonus:  Especially when you are just starting, do not build many different business models.  There are a lot of ways to make money on the Internet but you cannot do them all.  Really master one and then learn a second.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Internet Marketing, Marketing ROI 

Add New Revenue Sources to Your Business

August 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment

One thing that I really enjoy, but also gives me headaches, is the many different ways that I make money for my business.  I am a firm believer that you have to focus on one very successful way to make money and build that up and automate it.  If you try to do too many things you will probably be failing at most of them.

Then again….

Let’s say you have a successful business or maybe you are just working a day job and want to dabble at night.  What ways are there to make money?

This is not exclusively Internet Income - I am going to mention some things like speaking and books, but the funny thing about those is that my speaking leads usually come via my marketing speaker website.  And my book would have never been so easy and profitable had it not been for print on demand and amazon as my main book store.  So even those areas that are not direct internet money making strategies can still be influenced by them.

Here are some other ways to add revenue to your life or business:

  1. Create a membership site - yes, this is one of the ways I make money.
  2. Build up a newsletter following and sell products to them.
  3. Blogging - Yes, you can make money lots of ways with blogging.
  4. Consulting and Development
  5. Webinars
  6. Affiliate Income
  7. Set up an eCommerce Store and sell eBooks, Etc.
  8. Set up your own Reseller Program for Web Tools

These are just some of the revenue sources I have.  Some are very small and some do very well for me.  And yes, I do have my main business that is doing very well, but it is not that much more work to add many of these things to my daily effort.  In fact, many of these things not only produce side income for me but they also help sell the main company.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Internet Marketing, Small Business 

Lead Generation Marketing Speaker

June 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment

A while back I took a hard look at the value I was bringing to clients.

Understand, I have never felt it was a bad value or I would not have been doing it.  Period.

But there were issues around selling people software that they simply did not use to it’s full potential.  So the product was good but the average outcome was less than ideal.  -  By the way, I think Microsoft suffers from the same thing.  I want less, not more.

As a Marketing Speaker, I get a strong feel from the audience on what they want, and that is usually less as well.  Just tell me the couple of most important things - not a long list of things I will never do.

That is why we built our Lead Generation Product.

It is simpler than anything else I have ever built.  And it is more valuable.  It generates massive leads for clients that use the system.  And since the whole thing is automated, there is nearly nothing to do.  You only need to either write short articles or pay someone to write short articles.  Then leads find you and request information from you.

I often get hired as an SEO Speaker but most people do not want the details - they want to know how to get the maximum results for the minimum effort.

That is why I now do Web marketing workshops around using SEO, Social Media and Lead Generation Strategies to build your own lead generation engine.  You need to contact me if you are interested as we customize it to your industry and goals.

It is high, high value and I have never felt better about what I have to offer.  You should take advantage of it before your competition does.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Internet Marketing, Marketing ROI 

Successful Inbound Marketing Techniques

June 8, 2009 | 1 Comment

Inbound Marketing is the strategic creation of content to increase targeted visitors to an offer on the web.

It can include video, articles and any other kind of content that someone can create to help them be found and encourage people to take action.

Inbound Marketing is simple for people that have been doing Internet Marketing in the past, but can seem like a lot of voodoo to someone that has only ever had up a basic webpage.  Let me spell out how to do Inbound Marketing in a simple, step by step plan.

  1. Have a great call to action.  When someone lands on your website, they are not necessarily going to call you or buy your product.  Create a good call to action - maybe with a free give away - that will collect information and turn your visitor into a lead.  For example, I offer a free lead generation course.
  2. If you know your call to action is good, then you need to start building bridges from the big Internet world into your call to action.  This is a critical step:  Identify the problem your product solves and think about what people are searching on to create content that will rank high and attract attention.  Do keyword research to find those words that are not too difficult to get but have good traffic.
  3. Create a business blog and hire someone to do blog writing if you cannot do it.  This is going to be your inbound marketing engine that will generate a steady flow of leads for you.  Make sure your business blog software is designed for automatic seo and is 100% ROI focused.
  4. Create Content Often - The search engines love fresh, relevant content.  If you set it up and forget it, you will not be very likely to have an Inbound Marketing success.  The trick is to keep building and growing your effort, which is why business blogging is the best Inbound Marketing technique today.
  5. Know your sales funnel - Leads are just where you start.  Make sure you know how your online lead generation feeds into the sales process and do not drop the ball on leads that are coming in daily once things get going.

Find Out More: Inbound Marketing with Business Blogs

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Buzzoodle, Internet Marketing, Small Business 

How to Measure Inbound Marketing Results

May 28, 2009 | 2 Comments

Ultimately, there is more than one way to measure Inbound Marketing results.

Inbound marketing is the intentional creation of information/content to draw targeted people into your information portal.  It may be a blog or a website.

So measurement #1 is increased traffic.

But effective Inbound Marketing draws in targeted traffic, not just general traffic.  So how many people are taking advantage of your call to action?  If it is a low number, your Inbound Marketing may not be targeted very well or your call to action may not be attractive to the market.  One way to know this is by looking at the search engine keywords people are using to find your site.  If the keywords are good and seem to be the right target, then your call to action needs improved.  If you are not getting good keywords, your content is not targeted or optimized.

Measurement #2 is leads from that call to action.

Measurement #3 is actual sales.  This may take longer to track, but is your Inbound Marketing effort generating sales results?

Your Inbound Marketing strategy may have some other outcomes you want to target and measure as well, such as growing lists.

When I say grow a list, I mean a lot of things.  Email list, twitter followers, faceBook friends and RSS subscribers are all different kinds of lists that you can grow with Inbound Marketing.

If you assign a value to each of these things, you can then estimate the ROI on your Inbound Marketing - be sure to include the time you spend writing.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Internet Marketing 

Basic Internet Marketing Tools

May 20, 2009 | 1 Comment

I am putting together a list of links of basic internet marketing tools for a presentation and I thought I would share them here.

Two Things You Must Have

Most things are free - these are not but they are necessary:

>>> BlueHost - Set up 50 blogs in a few clicks for less than $9 per month.

>>> aWeber - Every business needs to be building their list every day.  I wish I would have started a list sooner.

Blogging Solutions

Lead Generation Engine

Social Networks

Social Bookmarks

Reporting and Research

Publishing

I know there is a lot more that is not on this list, but I am trying to think of what somone new to Internet Marketing may need to promote their business.  Feel free to add your own additions in the comments.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Internet Marketing 

Why Twitter and Facebook for Business

May 11, 2009 | 2 Comments

I will be the first to admit that I like email much better than facebook and twitter for business.

But here is why you MUST take Twitter and Facebook seriously.

Most people do not go to the time and expense of building a great email list.  The email list would be more valuable, but just look at the facts.  You really have to know what you are doing to build a good email list, and it takes a long time to develop.

On the other hand, Twitter and Facebook are nothing more than lists and messages that are much more effortless.  Many people that would never consider building an email list have large lists of people that get their messages in FaceBookand Twitter.

I am sure the targeting and response of these tools is less effective than a good email list, but look at how things are going.  Many people have valuable lists in twitter and facebook and they do not think twice about sharing messages with that list.  One the other hand, if I have a great email list, I am going to be very careful about what I share on that list.

Twitter and Facebook may not be as targeted, but they make up for it in size, ease of sharing and viral growth.

To get the most out of Twitter and Facebook, find ways to leverage your relationships there to drive targeted people to your email list and grow that list more aggressively.  One is not a replacement for the other, it is just a great tool at the top of your sales funnel.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Internet Marketing, Viral Marketing 

Website Audit - Your Domain Properties

May 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment

If you are like a lot of people I know, you get the occasional idea for a product or brand and then you go out to a domain registrar and buy a good domain name if it is available.  But of course, making that idea into a reality takes more time than domain registrattion, so it just sits out there, costing you a few bucks a year and teasing the back of your mind.

I suggest that you do a website audit and put up at least one page on your domain as soon as you can, even if you cannot get around to doing anything with it for a long time.  And if it is not too much trouble, link to the site from one source that is indexed by Google.  Maybe it is your personal blog, or maybe it is another old website.

Why should you take time to do this?

First, it takes a while for search engines to respect a new website.  If you have a one page website up, it is better than nothing.  It means when you do launch the site you will get much better and faster results.

Second, you can set up your one page website to either promote other things you are doing or even affiliate products.  You might be able to cover the cost of the domain, at least.

If you are not a web person, it is OK.  This can be the simplest of websites and you can use a template (but with unique content) on each domain name.

I had one domain that just sat out there for many years doing nothing for me, but when the time came and I used it for something, it got ranked so fast and so easily that it surprised even me.

My new rule for myself is that I do not buy a domain without setting up a basic article on the domain’s main page to begin with.  The investment is worth it when you try to do something with the domain in the future.

Do a website audit.  How many of your domains do not even have a one page website on them?  Take some time and get that fixed.  It will pay off.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Internet Marketing 

Wordpress Themes

March 4, 2009 | 1 Comment

If you are setting up a Wordpress blog and are looking for free wordpress themes, there are many.  But there are also some advantages to purchasing a premium wordpress theme.  And the cost is usually very reasonable.

Wordpress Hack has a good article about Wordpress Themes and choosing the right wordpress theme for your project.

They cover issues around support and customization of the theme.

One interesting thing I learned about Wordpress Themes from the article is that there is a problem with people selling bad themes as premium themes.  Since I am very careful with my shopping, I have never experienced that.  But I can see how someone new to Wordpress could easily be fooled.]

The good thing is that you can find and install Wordpress themes in a few minutes, and if you do not like them you can change the theme in seconds.  It is very nice.  Go try a few free wordpress themes first, and if the basics are not enough for you, then go shopping for a premium Wordpress Theme.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Buzz with Blogs, Internet Marketing 

SEO - Web Hosting Secrets Revealed Guest Post

February 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Having a blog with little or no visitors at all? Seriously, it is not surprise to see that there are many blogs are read only by the owner’s friends and families. The Blogsphere, after all, is a crowded place that’s full with competition. In fact, there are more than 130 million blogs indexed by Technorati since year 2002 and the figure is still growing.

Apparently, it takes a lot more hard work to own a successful blog that stand out from the crowd. Besides creating valuable blog content, bloggers nowadays are required to learn more in Internet marketing as well as search engine optimization (SEO) as these are the basic methods to expand readership.

Nevertheless, not every blog needs an SEO expert. Most mom and pop blogs, in fact, can achieve huge improvement with some simple SEO efforts. For instance, here are 9 simple ways you can improve your blog SEO scores.

1. Be a big fish in a small pond

The first thing to do in SEO is always keyword research. Get to know what the users are searching in your niche, learn your competition, and come up with a list of targeted keywords.

Smart bloggers avoid direct search engine competition with big players. Instead, they go for long tail keywords with moderate search volume and low competition.

2. Pick a keyword-rich domain name

A domain name is where blog readers start to know you. It should memorable and contains your primary keyword.

There are lots of examples proving that a keyword-rich domain name helps a lot in term of SEO. Blog ranks high for certain keywords just because the words are in their domain.

3. Focus on one to two keywords on each page

It is almost impossible for a webpage to rank high for 15 - 20 different keywords. Hence, it’s wiser to create several posts/pages and optimize each of them for a small number of different keywords.

Say that you are running a financial blog and wish to rank high on a series of technical terms like MACD, EMA, and RSI chart. The best way to do so is to create a different page for each of these terms and build different incoming links to these pages.

4. Customize your title tags

Title tags are the most important on-page SEO factor but yet most blog platforms emphasize so little on the issue. Most blog platforms use post title as the title tag and that is certainly not good enough. Title tags should be handcrafted independently and it should be more than just your blogpost title.
I am not sure with other blog platform but in case you are using WordPress, there are a few plugins that allow you to customize your title tags. Stephan’s SEO Title Tag Plugin (http://www.netconcepts.com/seo-title-tag-plugin/) for example, is a good one to go with.

5. Use heading tags wisely

Heading tags (<h1></h1>) is another tags that are misused by most bloggers. I am not sure why but most blog theme designers like to use heading tags for sidebar titles. These heading tags are used on irrelevant words like Categories, About, Archive which offer zero SEO value.

To make sure your blog do well in term of SEO, such heading tags must be alternated. You can modify your CSS and quit using heading tags at your sidebar; or you can insert targeted keywords into your sidebar.

6. Make your blog reachable

Don’t do silly mistakes on robots.txt, don’t fool around with your site navigation; always have a link to your achieved posts; make sure your blog has a XML sitemap. All in all, make sure your blog can be easily crawled by search engines.

We want the bots to index deep and wide on your blog content. So make sure you provide enough roadways for the spiders.

7. Proper optimized internal links

Interlinking your own blogposts is not enough. As you already know, search engines (Google especially!) pay a lot of attention to links and both of your internal and external links count.

You only have control over internal link thus that’s the least you can do with linking. Make sure your internal links are filled with descriptive keywords and avoid using anchor texts like “click here” and “read more” that are meaningless to search engines.

8. Be consistent

Posting consistently improve your blog creditability and expand readerships. More over, it increases the number of pages indexed in search engine’s database and in turn, increases the probability your blog to be found by searchers.

9. Build links

You need incoming links as much as possible. Trade, beg, buy, or even steal links from websites or blogs related to your blog. There are various ways how you can build links - writing guest post, directory submission, blogroll exchange, link trades, forum signatures, and text link ads are some of the common known methods - some of these methods contain risk of being filtered by search engines while some do not.

Guest Author Block
This guest post is brought to your by Jerry of Web Hosting Secret Revealed. Jerry inspects and reviews web hosting companies based on his own usage experience. Readers looking for honest hosting advice are recommended to read further at his blog.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Buzz with Blogs, Internet Marketing, Marketing ROI 

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