Over the weekend, I got a note from a friend. My friend is trying to build up an empire of websites that will earn money for himself. From what he says, though, so far it just is not working.
Because this fellow is a friend, I would love to help him be able to attain his goal of making money on the web, so that he can live the life that he wants to live.
So, in my desire to assist my friend, let’s look at bits of his e-mail, piece by piece, and I will offer suggestions on what I think he should do. I’ll call my friend Charlie. Here is what Charlie had to say:
im a total newbe to internet marketing. but willing to learn. i have 5 blogs but im not getting anywhere on them.
No problem with being a newbie, we all have to start somewhere. Just plug away, and soon enough you won’t be a newbie anymore, Charlie! Now, first thing… if your sites are not going anywhere at all, I would highly recommend that you start over. This time, choose one site to concentrate on. Choose a topic that you are passionate about, and also that has interest for others. If you are passionate about the topic, then you should be able to write regularly, like trying to write every day or at least 5 articles per week. After you have made a hit out of the one site, you can move on and build additional sites. But, use all of your efforts on a single site to get started.
ive been reading all your articles and i like what you said about online image. i want to use your services but not sure where i should start. building a fan base?
Yes, you should certainly build a fan base. The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to start out on Facebook building up your number of friends. If you get up to where you have 500 or more friends, you can start to effectively build a fan base for your site. Make sure also that your site has a Facebook Fan Page too, that is very important. I’m not talking about a Facebook friend page, I’m talking about a fan page for your site.
You should use the Wordbooker plugin on your site so that whenever you post a new article, it gets a little feature on Facebook so that your fan base knows about the new article. This will drive plenty of traffic to your blog if you have enough friends and fans on Facebook.
right now my site is on blogspot so maybe if you recomend it next week i will get started with a domain for my blog
Oh! Stop the presses! You need to stop everything and get a domain, then set it up with your own WordPress site. Right now, you are actually lucky that your site is not popular, because if it was, you would have a lot harder job of moving it to your own domain. Remember, if you blog on a hosted service like Blogspot, you don’t own the content there… Blogspot does!
my current blog is for filipinas and another for truckdrivers like me.
OK, Charlie, well, as you know, I blog on Philippine topics too, because I live here in the Philippines. Just a word to the wise, though, the Philippine niche is a low paying niche, and you will have to work hard to make decent money. You can make more money if you choose a better niche. However, if the Philippines is what you are passionate about, so be it, and move forward!
you can check out my blog and see what im doing
I checked it out over the weekend, Charlie. Let me be honest. I am not trying to be mean or hurt your feelings, only offering a true assessment of how I see the site. It looks pretty unorganized to me. You need to clean it up a bit. I don’t like the color scheme… too dark and to me, it is hard to read. I would try to brighten it up a bit, clean up the clutter, and make an effort to make your articles a little more engaging.
i want take my time do it right and learn
That’s the kind of attitude, Charlie, that will lead to success! Keep plugging away, and always keep an open mind. If you seek a critique like this one, have an open mind to what is said and don’t feel offended. I like your attitude, and I feel that you can learn and become successful on the web.
my ultimate goal is to live and have a family in the rp like you. i love and respect there culture. thanks bob i hope you can help me do it right
Thank you, Charlie, and again you are displaying the kind of attitude that will lead to success if you take the time to become successful. Don’t give up too early!
To sum it up, Charlie, here are my recommendations to become more successful on the Internet:
- Work on Facebook and other social networks to build up a large number of friends so that you can promote your sites to them.
- Choose one topic to blog about for starters, and write on a schedule every day if possible.
- Get off of Blogspot.
- Get your own domain.
- Set up a WordPress blog on your domain.
- Go for a cleaner look on your site, lighter colors and such. Make it easy to read.
- Make sure you check your spelling and grammar before you post your article. It is important to do so so that you present a positive image.
- Keep on working!
thanks
I was going to e-mail you a link to this, Lance… looks like you already found it, though!
yes bob everything you said is so right on. my problem is finding something to write about i know trucking but im not passionate about it i hate doing it ive always seen it as just a way to earn a living. and im dont know how to desighn a sight or even how to get a server yet. i spend all my time just sitting at home always have. so what can i blog about. well ill figure it out and focus on 1 thing only and getting better at that. thanks again bob.
Hi Lance – I offer hosting and can set up the server for you if it will help. Also, I offer blog installation and theme customization services too. It’s not expensive, and would help get you going, if you are interested. http://web-earner.com/content/websites/blog-offerings/themes/
thanks bob i will use it as soon as i can find a topic to blog about.
Just let me know anytime I can help you Lance! I want you to succeed!
thanks bob your really a good guy.
Good advice all the way, Bob. And to Charlie … read and heed and you will succeed.
Let me echo something Bob said, since he and I are both in the Philippines blogging niche … and I know we both have readers who think, well, if Bob blogs about the Philippines and Dave blogs about the Philippines, then why don’t I blog about the Philippines. The answer is, there’s very little money and interest in it in terms of the overall web.
Let me take the broad category of trucking as an example. It’s huge. And there is money there. Remember my example a couple weeks ago about Tom Nixon and his online high school site? How many people do you think search weekly for info about truck driving schools? More than 135,000 a month or about 4,400 a day or something like 135 every single hour.
Living in the Philippines? About 1 tenth as many. Find a Filipina bride? About 1 one hundredth as many people search for that subject. And, if you look at what advertising pays, trucking subjects wins, hands down.
Focus and go with what you know, and what people are looking for. Find what people are looking for and provide it to them. Godspeed.
Hi Dave – You are so right! Regarding the Philippine niche in blogging.. yes, it is a small niche, and not a well paying niche. However, I am happy in the niche, and I believe that you are mostly happy with it too. Yes, there are better paying niches, but if you take the time to build yourself up, there is certainly money to be made. I guess it all comes down to whether Charlie is willing to spend the years necessary to build himself up in that niche, when there are easier and more profitable niches out there!
Nice to be used as an example. I think you do need to find a place where you can be happy. In my case, much of my work life relates to online schools. It was an easy transition to create a website that related to the topic.
It goes back to writing about what you know. Even if you don’t like truck driving, you still can know a lot about it.
Hi Tom – Absolutely! Write about what you know about. If you can find something that you really know, enjoy, and also has a nice payoff as a niche, all the better! 😆
Thanks Bob, your advice is golden !
Thank you Cj Cook
hi sir hows yuour life in cebu
Ha ha.. my life in cebu is not good, Ronpals… because I don’t live in Cebu! Live in Davao is great, though! 😉
good day’sir
Good day, Ronpals Palma
bob i decided to go with trucking its all i know and i do still love. and i can incoperate trucking in the philippines into my blog so both loves. im on host gator i have an account there now. how important is the domain name im thinking http://www.gonzotrucker.com its availble. also is gonzotruckdriver is availble to. then what package the hatchling. after that i will sighn up tonight for your services. thanks
Hi Lance – I would go with the shorter name – gonzotrucker.com. BTW, be careful about posting the name publicly when you don’t own it yet… somebody might snatch it up! 🙂 Good luck, my friend!
I agree with Bob. I would go with the shorter one, but I would buy both. You don’t want someone to come along after you and have that still available. It’s a cheap and easy way to protect your niche.
Hello,
I got the same problem when I started making a website. Until now, I keep on learning and I read a lot to enhance my English especially my grammar.
Bob is right, focus first for one website so your mind is not divided. Like what I did, I started one domain and in the next day I got two and got one additional domain lately. I only focus to one domain for now, and the rest are standby. Well, my purpose is to make sure nobody will get it and those are domain names I like the most.
For three months time working with my website I can say that until now, I am not certain WHEN to achieved the goal to make a living from those websites. Most important is I learned a lot and I gained valuable knowledge. I am doing it one step at a time, building one block at a time until I can succeed.
Thanks Bob for many informative articles.
Hi Margie – Than you for coming to read my articles, I appreciate it very much!