Forum Moderators: mack
There are alot of things a newbie has to learn and none of them are easy to find spelled out in black and white.
I have nothing much to offer in this thread besides telling the new guy this. Keep reading, keep trying, participate in related forum discussions. Never give up. After all this time, I turned my first profit this month. Granted, it was a tiny 'beer money' profit, but the site/venture that finally started to show some promise earned 3:1 return on investment in 3 weeks.
With very conservative estimates, the new opportunity that I've created can easily become a high 4 to 5 digit income within a few months.
Simply put newbies, I'm one too, it can work. Just, and I emphasize this cliche' phrase, "Don't Give Up".
I should add, for certain, that if you are reading this message, you have already found the number one source for knowledge related to Internet businesses that exists on the web today. webmasterworld is one of those "best kept secrets).
I encourage you to use the info here, and donate to the web masters. But keep your referrals to this site to only those that you believe really care, and don't mind working hard.
Anyone who cares to put forth enough effort, and time, can make this Internet thing (the greatest human development in 10 centuries) work for them.
I expect a modest income in the coming months, and hope for significantly more a year or two from now. You should too.
Tim
:o)
Just goes to show that hard work will pay, it may however take some time.
Mack.
Seriously though, it's nice to see success, thanks for sharing the warm fuzzies.
Aside from Tip 1, don't give up, any more tips?
:o)
Pibs
#3 - Sometimes a little tweak can mean a world of difference. You may find that your cart isn't earning anything from your Adwords campaign. Then you edit one of the keywords from singular to it's plural version and find your sales increase 12%.
#4 - Keeping your nose close to the grindstone is good but this business is also heavily dependent upon your ability to look at and analyze trends over months. Some successes happen in small increments. Identifying what works is sometimes a matter of looking at the whole picture over a period of time.
#5 - Networking with your peers is essential. Never burn a bridge if you can help it.
#6 - While you may not want to become adept in programming, design, accounting, or marketing you need to at least become familiar with how each works and impacts your business. Then you'll know what to ask and look out for when hiring someone to do the work for you.
#7 - Your webserver better create log files. Read them.
#8 - Every few months you should be evaluating your business plan and setting new goals for your business.
#9 - Every month you should be looking at your conversion rate and/or income streams and evaluating which are the most profitable and the least profitable and take the time to understand why. You may not have concrete answers but you should be able to develop at least a few good hypotheses.
#10 - Test and retest. Test the UI. Test the Security. Test the links. Test the SSL. Test the analysis programs. Test the ad campaigns. Establish a routine. Add something new - identify all of the pieces it could possibly impact. Test them thoroughly.
Just because you don't have a physical storefront doesn't mean that standard business principles don't apply.
Revenue - Expenses = profit
that doesn't change.
I started my business with HTML 4 for Dummies and a lot of research. (I still have oodles to learn… if only the rules would stop changing). The days were long and the profits came slow but I don’t think I ever seriously thought about giving up because I loved what I was doing. The days are still long, but that’s my own fault. I’m addicted.
If you like golf… sell golf supplies not Enron stock. When you believe in yourself and the products you sell other will to.
This Forum is a great place to learn and a must know for anyone serious in learning the biz.
Dolfantimmy – Good for you! And all the rest of you dream catchers
I enjoy the heck out of these threads, this site in general. I feel bad sometimes that I can't really contribute finacially right now, and being a relative newbie, can't contribute much with knowledge either.
It's nice to know I still have something to offer, even if it's only moral support!
Tim
I am a newbie too. I started my website about a year ago, being super naive, thinking that people would be knocking down the door to buy my product (I work in the mental health field and have what I think is a "great" product which would sell well, in my opinion at least :) ).
Well guess what! Close to a year passed and the sales were few and far between. I then began educating myself on a deeper level. Then about two months ago I jumped into things full swing. I've been putting about 4 hours a day into my business every day (many days much more).
No, it isn't fun. No, it isn't easy. But threads like this one have me hope for the future. What a difficult thing this has been for me, taking up all of my extra time. It is a strange concept for me to put all of this work into something, and not see a positive result from it (yet).
I am hopeful for the future, but there certainly have been times I've thought about giving up. We really need to support each other in here.
It's funny, the other day I was looking at the first book I got. One of those "how to make money on the internet" books. I reread the chapter on websites and thought to myself "no wonder I didn't get successful, this is a bunch of crap"!
After I found this forum, eventually over time I gained a much deeper understanding of how these things work. I really hope that knowledge (and time and dedication) will take me right to the top!
There are no "get to the top fast and easy" routes everybody, so keep working your butt off!
Matt
