So I have a helpful online marketer (actually a couple) willing to help me out here with my online ventures. He asks me about all my other websites. Wants to take a look at some stats to see where things are going good and see where they are sucking bad.
It was very sobering. He said “with this many websites you should be making a decent living online”. Reading that I sat there thinking yea if I was Brad Pitt I would be enjoying the nightly company of Angelina Jolie too. But I’m not and I don’t.
While I was picking my teeth up off the floor and scraping together what was left of my dignity, I thought back to what had gotten me to where I am today.
I fell hard into the build, build, build mantra chanted by so many wannabe’s and be’s. I built tons of keyword portal spam sites, weblogs, XSP sites and HTML sites. I’ve swapped links. I’ve written and re-written articles. Submitted to article directories. Alot of effort for very little reward to now. If it it wasn’t for MSN I would be sunk.
But maybe that’s what I deserve. I built so many trash sites that I had lost count. Is that any way to run a business? Probably not if you aren’t interested in being a spammer and I’m really not.
The stats, which I hardly ever looked at, were pathetic for numerous sites. Some were surprising as I am getting thousands of visitors to a few junk portal sites. But mostly, it was pretty bleak. Actually, it wasn’t even pretty. It was just bleak.
I feel like shutting down the hosts and start completely over. Clean things out. Tidy things up. Call it a website enema.
I’m lucky in that I have found someone who will take a look at what I’m doing and try to help me get back on track. There are so many different ideas and systems orbiting internet marketing consumers. How can we know what to believe in? This I struggle with.
So I am casting aside my ego and accepting suggestions and tips from folks who have no other interest than being nice people and helping a brother out. Internet marketing is a journey for many of us. Not many burst out of the gate writing ebooks and collecting $100K for each effort.
So this is where my journey continues. Getting help from those that have cracked the code. I’m not ready to give up.
I’m just a lost ball looking to get kicked out of the weeds.
[tags]Weblog, Internet Marketing[/tags]
9 responses so far ↓
mark ling // Jun 27, 2006 at 12:16 am
Hey Splork,
I’m still going through your websites, it has been very busy here in England with the summit and more interviews today with speakers, etc. I finally got to catch up with some of my friends over here tonight for dinner and drinks afterwards, which was great!:)
Anyway, you’ve got the most important ingredient and that’s persistence, we’ll get you there, and you are on the money with regards to quality of content.
Remember a search engine’s goal is to help visitors find what they are looking for. So even if you fool a search engine into giving you a high ranking by having a bunch of average pages slapped up, it’s not a great long term strategy.
Remember, it’s like how arnold schwarzenegger says, it’s the not the workout, it’s the last couple of repetitions that makes a champion. Arnold often threw up after his workouts but that’s what he was prepared to go through.
Don’t throw away what you have, you may as well keep collecting the revenue you are receiving, but I’ll have a look soon (it’s just after midnight) to see what we can do to get you back on the right track,
Mark
Splork // Jun 27, 2006 at 7:38 pm
Thanks Mark. You guys have been a big help. I’ll be the first to admit that my focus has been a little suspect. It’s very easy to bounce from system, to product, to idea in this business. Everybody has a better mousetrap. I just need to stick with something. However, like you indicate, I need to start thinking in terms of quality over quantity.
I think your new “roadmap” videos that you are working on will be a big help. I’m also plan on brushing off XSP and start building some websites that matter.
The “mindset training” is much needed, at least for me. Looking forward to that.
Marc Lindsay // Jun 28, 2006 at 6:28 am
Hey Splork,
Just noticed your website here and its a good thing you have going on.
Feel free to contact my via skype, I will pm you from our forum later on tonight.
Fully agree’d about the spam sites, having been there before myself I know that throwing up tons of rubbish sites rarely gets you too far without proper guidance. And even then it is something you have to continuously do to keep ahead.
I would like to talk to you some more and help you out some more so I will make some time available to you on one premise.
You take action and keep in the game because it is well worth it.
Regards
Marc
Splork // Jun 28, 2006 at 12:49 pm
Hey Marc. Thanks for stopping by and the for the nice words. I’ll check in over at the forum.
Bud Wiser // Jun 29, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Hi Splork,
Bud here from Army of Blogs, ready to council a solder in need!
As a long time IM and yes, spammer, I can assure you there is big money in every thing you have tried, but we all forget one important factor..
no matter what you do it’s still a Numbers Game!
There is no master plan or blue print that you can duplicate to achieve the same income or results that the top 5% do, I can’t do that either!
The trick, if it can be called a trick, is not to put all your eggs in one basket.
I have quality sites that I write all my own material for, and I have I lost count how many splogs for adsense and BL’s, and traffic. I’m not making a killing off adsense, but it contributes!
What cracks me up is people who try to sell an idea by using math. DO the math!
Any one should be able to make a blog that can earn just $2 a day. Following this strategy all we would need to do is multiple that by 100 blogs and we would make $200 a day! Hey why stop there, lets make 1000 blogs, who else wants to be a millionaire?
The problem with all that is nobody can so easily predict or calculate earnings or results, as each will vary greatly! Some blogs will NEVER make more then $1 a week! Some will make 20 cents a day, some will make $5 a day, etc.
So it’s simply false to say any one can make a blog that earns $2 a day because this can not be duplicated.
Smart IM’s use this strategy to sell you more tools you really don’t need! Because the math looks so convincing at first glance!
IM is like any job. You usually get out of it what you put in to it. I’ve been a self employed IM since 1996. I’ve had great years, and crappy years! I’m good at what I do, but I’m just another brick in the wall!
You have to look at the big picture! We all can not see the same results even if we do exactly the same things! It doesn’t work that way!
So now what’s left? Well you can now start dropping big bucks in to SEO and getting BL’s, been there done that, guess what bro? Same rules apply!
We all play a numbers game, and I have some bad news for you, the deck is stacked against us!
All we can do is learn how to effectively use the numbers to our advantage by being involved in many projects, when you find one that works, milk it dry, keep moving, use all your tools at your disposal, and for heavens sake, do not discount the value of splogs! BIG mistake! All that will happen is you will be mislead in a different direction!
Every thing matters! A lot of hard work, planning, experimenting, research, we never stop learning, trial and error, we fall a lot! Get up keep moving!
Your not doing any thing wrong solder! You just need to understand it’s a on going process for 95% of us. Only the top 5% make it look easy
Best of luck to you!
Jim
Splork // Jun 29, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Hey Jim. Thanks for the post. I can honestly say that you have one of the more informative blogs out there. Must read folks.
I kinda wish the numbers game wasn’t how you have to play this. I’m a realist. If you follow the VRE system, or blog mini-network, that’s how you will make your bank. It’s very hard to work a full-time job, have a family, other hobbies that you’d like to do AND build tons of money-making websites.
But what I need is a system I can, and will, follow no matter what. I get distracted and frustrated and bored and overwhelmed and motivated and excited….the only thing that is constant is my lack of focus.
I think I will get there. I have stamina. I want to make enough to pay off the house then quit my job and do something I really care about doing, even though it may pay like crap.
Splogs: I still make more with Fast Blogger Generator than Blogger can rip down. They don’t last but for some reason they still work to get my sites indexed well at MSN. Some of my better paying sites today are NPB keyword spam portal sites. Go figure.
Good to know I’m not the only making blogs that vary wildly in what they pay.
Hock // Jul 11, 2006 at 12:05 am
I’m no guru but I can also take a look at your strategies and give you some advice, if you like. I’ve been at this for over 2 years and have been profitable.
Bryan // Jul 25, 2006 at 6:52 pm
Hi Splork,
How, in the world, did you get into my mind? It sounds like we are on the same wave length as far as this whole “IM thing” goes. I, unfortunately, have not taken the action to do the “build, build, build” thing like you have, so I don’t have any basis to go off of. But, I didn’t do those spammy (arguably) websites, but I just don’t feel right if I am not able to add value to the web. It’s such a double edged sword. I have it in my mind that I want a website that pays my mortgage, one that pays my car payment, one that pays my bills, one that pays my fun things (I want to learn to fly, so why not have a website funding that??)… but the reality is it isn’t easy to get it set up. I am still chasing after the next big thing.
So, I am going to keep reading your stuff here (all good stuff) and hopefully, I will be able to email you with some successes of my own. I started with signing up for Hock’s Arbitrage Tactics course. Already have seen good stuff from it. Now I need to take ACTION.
Thanks for the good content Splork. I still don’t know how you were able to read my mind, because everything you wrote has been a thought at one point or another.
-bryan
Splork // Jul 25, 2006 at 7:31 pm
Action is good as long as you have a plan, at least that’s what I think it comes down to. I’d too would rather add value to the web as I’d like for people to come back to my sites instead of clicking an ad and leaving. Good luck Bryan. We’ll get there.
Thanks for reading.
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