I really hate to be the one to break it to you – there is absolutely no magic button, or secret system that will make you rich overnight on the internet. None. Zero. Zip. There, I said it. I know a lot of newcomers are probably thinking “well then how come there are all these guru’s claiming to have discovered the answer to all of my problems?” Because that is how they make their money. 🙂
It took me several months to sift through the hype and focus in on the actual core values and elements involved with starting an online business. This may seem shocking, but the truth of the matter is that starting a business on the internet is no different from growing as an entrepreneur in the real world. There are specific “tools of the trade” required to become an online success and the best part of all is that the initial investment, compared to the real world, is very minimal. If you are looking to get cracking immediately, feel free to use the list below as a starting point to building your collection of magic buttons:
- Web Hosting and Domain Name – No matter what any guru tells you, it is essential to learn the ropes and become familiar with using an FTP as well as configuring domain re-directs, at the very least. It is very possible to produced income without owning a domain or having a web host package, but you will be skipping a very important developmental stage in your e-business career. Learning the ropes from the ground up will ensure you have a strong foundation for the future.
- Autoresponder – “The money is in the list”. I know this for a fact but from a different end of the spectrum. Being in music production and artist development over the last 8 years, when it comes time to promote a new album, upcoming shows, contests etc.. the first thing I would do is send a blast out to my mailing list. Having a program like Aweber or GetResponse will give you the ability to manager subscribers, tweak the opt-in process, seperate your contacts and leads into groups, and even set up autoresponders for different purposes i.e. you have one autoresponder set up to send thanks and confirmation for your vinyl records niche site subscription, and a second set up to blast out your weekly 5 part e-course to the list of subscribers from your real estate niche site. This is one of the TRUE secrets for real. Not much of a secret now, is it?
- Content Management System – Whether you are able to design your own websites or not, you still need a CMS or sitebuilder program of some sort to help you compile your sites, and make sure they are optimized for the search engines and floods of traffic from Mr. Guru’s Affiliate Flood Tactics $97 e-book that you just purchased. Personally, when I first started with internet marketing and affiliate networks I went with the Build A Niche Store script. If you are semi-computer saavy, and have the time to properly research your niche and make each and every category and sub-category unique using your keyphrases and meta information, the BANs script is a great place to start. I have also been hearing some funky fresh things about X-Site Pro. At first glance it looks very powerful and versatile. If you know a little bit of HTML and CSS, then you can’t go wrong with WordPress as your CMS. It is what we use for this site, and the learning curve is not bad at all!
So there you have it. After searching long and hard for these buttons and switches you keep hearing about on Jimmy Cracks affiliate marketing blog, I’ve saved you some time and given you a head start. Nothing will ever be free. No matter what anybody says you have to put in money to make money. If this was the real world you would be looking at an initial investment of around $25,000-$30,000 to get a business started. To start making money on the internet, you need about $200-$500. Since most products like web hosting or autoresponder services provide a price plan for an entire year, your only expenses after the intial drop is grabbing domain names for your campaigns. If you google “godaddy coupons” you will find tons of promo codes that will get you domains for dirt cheap – never pay full price if you don’t have to!
Let me know what you guys think, and good luck to those of you just getting started.
Cheers,
Elijah