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larslarson123
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Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 96
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#1 · Posted: 21 Dec 2008 15:27
When writing articles to promote your work-at-home website, do you write articles exclusively about making money from home? Or do you slip your link into your signature regardless of the topic? Seems like the market is so over-saturated that it would difficult to write one after another on the same topic without repeating everyone else.
If you're not plagiarizing, is it okay to basically repeat others' advice? I guess whatever gets traffic right? Of course, it would be best to get a fresh, unique look on affiliate marketing, but I'm not sure how realistic this is....
anyone?
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Vishal P. Rao
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1255
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#2 · Posted: 21 Dec 2008 23:22
Yes the market is extremely over saturated and you really need to think out of the box to get results. Repeating the same thing again will hardly deliver any results.
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getagrip
Joined: 20 Feb 2006
Posts: 2073
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#3 · Posted: 22 Dec 2008 02:58
It is ok to look at others work and put it in your own words as long as you don't copy, but you should always try to put your own unique spin on things.
As far as what to write about, I'd take a look at forums to see what kinds of questions people are asking - this should give you a lot of ideas of what to write about.
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A8ch
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 856
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#4 · Posted: 22 Dec 2008 09:32
larslarson123: When writing articles to promote your work-at-home website, do you write articles exclusively about making money from home? Or do you slip your link into your signature regardless of the topic?
My articles are generally about Internet Marketing, which means that they are either directly or indirectly about making money from home, and I always make sure that my signature is relevant to the subject of the article.
So if I write an article about techniques for designing a Web site to attract targeted traffic, my signature would say something about visiting my site to learn more about other design tactics in particular, or other marketing strategies in general.
larslarson123: Seems like the market is so over-saturated that it would difficult to write one after another on the same topic without repeating everyone else.
I understand what you mean by "over saturated" and I have always viewed that description as subjective. Those of us who make our living on the Internet would naturally be more aware of how much stuff is available in our market niche, compared to the casual surfer. But the Internet is a very big place and the prospective customer who comes across your article might not have a clue as to how many more articles there are like yours out there.
Even if the prospect read a dozen articles before seeing yours, the way you present your information, the quality of your content and your writing style might be what convinces her to check out your site and eventually do business with you.
And I wouldn't worry about repeating anyone else, because there are some procedures that are what they are and that's that.
Example:
If you are explaining how to Cut and Paste a section of text, there are only so many ways to do it. The steps are the same regardless of how you explain it. That kind of "repeating" is unavoidable.
However, if you are explaining something more complex, like the elements of great copywriting, it is your grasp of the subject matter, and your ability to convey your ideas in your voice that would be different (clearer, more easily understood) from to someone else's, even though you are making the same points.
Hermas
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#5 · Posted: 22 Dec 2008 10:36
Hi Lars,
I entirely agree with the three replies above.
Whatever your main category may be, it's best to stick to relevancy. Sure, you can stray from the path here and there, but try to remember your main theme and why visitors are visiting your site.
On the other hand, some folks like to do the extreme opposite. They post about what ever they feel like posting about. The result is a wide array of topics.
Generally speaking, the sites that are consistent within a given theme seem to do better than general sites.
Yes, Internet Marketing or Working From Home is over-saturated and it's very difficult to break into.
However, if you have a broad and deep understanding of it, it's one of your ruling passions, and you can add a unique spin on top of offering value (even if it's been done a thousand times before), then you should consider going for it.
Know what's popular, know what's in demand, know your competition, know your visitors, and try not to focus too much on the money.
Know your stuff and figure out ways to be helpful. If you can do these things, you should be able to do well regardless of saturation.
I will say it again, the Online Marketing / Work From Home market is relatively over-saturated. That doesn't mean you should avoid going into it.
You can also create a micro-niche site where you focus on one aspect of Online Marketing. I'd make it general enough so that you can write about it for a few years. This too has been done over and over again, but the more you drill down into a main topic, the easier it is to break into a field.
There are exceptions and you have to study the competition before stepping into it.
If you know enough and really like the whole broad, general topic and love it, then consider going for the macro. It's up to you.
You can monetize on any topic you like.
It's okay to be inspired by others when choosing what to write about. Just be sure to write from scratch. Don't even copy/paste a section of someone else's writing unless you intend to use quotes or a hyperlink reference. Avoid being a thief.
~Newbie Shield~
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larslarson123
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Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 96
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#6 · Posted: 24 Dec 2008 17:12 · Edited by: larslarson123
Vishal P. Rao: you really need to think out of the box to get results.
This is my favorite part! I love using my creative inspiration to produce real monetary results.
getagrip: I'd take a look at forums to see what kinds of questions people are asking
Great advice! It's sort of like surveys.... you have to see what your target audience is looking for. If a huge volume of people are asking the same questions over and over, it's a safe bet to say they'll visit your site over and over if you provide those answers.
A8ch: I always make sure that my signature is relevant to the subject of the article.
By the way Hermas, your posts are very easy to follow and have interesting depth to them; your quotes always stick in my head  thank you. The cut and paste example makes a good point.
Newbie Shield: Know what's popular, know what's in demand, know your competition, know your visitors, and try not to focus too much on the money. Know your stuff and figure out ways to be helpful.
Heavy advice, indeed.
I think it's really interesting that the market can be viewed subjectively, and that it's only relatively saturated. The concept of the internet is really neat; I used to think it was all about money and regulations, but I'm finding that basically anyone can find their own place on the web.
I certainly know better than to plagiarize. Yikes.
So in the spirit of finding your own niche on the great expanse of the web; have you noticed if it's a safer bet to use keywords that get high traffic with heavy competition, or low traffic with little competition? And how do you define high and low traffic/competition in terms of number of visitors per month?
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Joined: 22 Sep 2007
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#7 · Posted: 24 Dec 2008 18:58
Hi Lars,
I would say that at first, you'll want to find reasonable demand with low competition.
Later on - somewhere over one or two years after launch - you can step it up and compete for medium competition and later, with higher competition.
The numbers vary quite a bit depending upon who you ask. There is no magic number. Some say 10 visits a day per page, some say 50 visits a day per page, and some insist on 100 or more.
Furthermore, it depends upon how competitive the niche is.
At first you won't be able to compete via "high traffic with heavy competition" in regards to keyword research.
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larslarson123
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Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 96
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#8 · Posted: 27 Dec 2008 21:11
That's what I figured. It's sure a tricky game trying to find the magic keywords though. Is it worthwhile to invest in a keyword tool that you have to pay for? I currently use Google Adwords, but everywhere I turn the good spots are taken...
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 2227
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#9 · Posted: 28 Dec 2008 09:34
Hi Lars,
With any tool, just drill down into each phrase you'd like to use from within the first list that shows up. Use each phrase - one at a time - as the new master phrase and run it.
Finding the phrase for your main page is usually the hardest and most time-consuming. After that it is easier for the most part.
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larslarson123
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Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 96
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#10 · Posted: 28 Dec 2008 16:54
ok cool, I think I'm catching on.
The world gets bigger every day lol, I'm noticing you can spend months just barely scratching the surface of knowledge on the internet!
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
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#11 · Posted: 28 Dec 2008 17:13
larslarson123: I'm noticing you can spend months just barely scratching the surface of knowledge on the internet!
Hi Lars,
Yep, that's why it's important to identify the basic categories ASAP.
Then read a reasonable amount about each category.
Part of the time factor is wading through and discarding misinformation. But even without that, it still takes several months of hard study for the basics. Anything worthwhile does :)
Slow and steady wins the race - think tortoise rather than hare.
Longevity rather than quick buck.
Write about stuff you know and love. It'll show in your writing and you'll be able to write about it for a long time (plus enjoy it quite a bit).
I've been in love with the learning process for decades now. I got hit with that bug in the early 80's and I'm forever grateful.
Take your time and don't focus too much on the money. You'll do great.
~Newbie Shield~
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larslarson123
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Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 96
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#12 · Posted: 28 Dec 2008 20:36 · Edited by: larslarson123
Newbie Shield: I've been in love with the learning process for decades now.
That's amazing.
My favorite aspect of the web, which displays its incredible power, is that a random 14 year old in his basement can hold ongoing conversion with highly successful business operators and insightful lecturers. No where in the world do you find communication with such transparent barriers.
And about the tortoise and the hare
I actually love the fact that there are 'hares' popping up right and left and annoying the heck out of everyone haha.
Even if you don't have a highly revolutionary idea, as long as you provide enough information that people can actually use, your content will be a refreshing change of pace.
I trust sites with a lot of content up front more than those who tell you everything about their system except what it actually teaches you.
It makes me laugh when a site brags on and on about their secrets and inside strategies, their success stories, what you can buy with the money you make, the lifestyle you'll enjoy, etc.
I love sites that let you in on endless amounts of valuable info before they even think about selling you something. Obviously this takes years unless you're already a genius on a certain niche, but I'd say it's a very worthwhile endeavor.
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malibumentor
Joined: 27 Jun 2006
Posts: 354
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#13 · Posted: 28 Dec 2008 22:15
One good way to get fresh ideas for articles is to go to
the libary and read books about marketing. 95% of the people
writing internet marketing articles seem to have a pretty shallow
level of general literacy on teh sunject of marketing - so by
understanding the fundamenals you can then learn them very
well yourself by teaching them and also distinguish yourself
from the herd spreading the same (much of it stupid) information.
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#14 · Posted: 29 Dec 2008 14:26
larslarson123: ...a random 14 year old in his basement can hold ongoing conversion with highly successful business operators and insightful lecturers. No where in the world do you find communication with such transparent barriers...
Hi Lars,
That's really cool. If it weren't for the internet, it would only happen on the rarest of occasions.
Another cool thing is that you can learn about anything you can think of just by dropping a phrase in Google.
Whenever someone asks how to find out about something, the answer comes to mind before I even finish reading their question - just drop a phrase into Google and go dig around a bit in the results.
Wikipedia is great site I visit almost daily. Howstuffworks.com is another one.
No matter how busy my daily schedule is, I find myself on this forum "more often than I should". I love this place.
Have you had much of a chance to visit w3schools lately? How goes your studies?
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larslarson123
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Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 96
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#15 · Posted: 2 Jan 2009 18:18
malibumentor: go to the libary and read books about marketing
Great advice. It's sometimes difficult to access new information that isn't repeated ad nauseum across the web, so I image hard-copy study tools are an outstanding idea. I'm thinking most people really don't care to spend time learning marketing basics, because they have a generally lazy attitude, and want fast results from turnkey, 'zero effort' get rich schemes.
Newbie Shield: I find myself on this forum "more often than I should".
And I'm grateful for it!
Thanks for asking, my studies are going slowly but surely :) I've been writing a lot of articles for ezines and trying to get some content out there lately. I'm so much worried about optimizing my website just yet, I've got the basic shell set up.
I work 40-50 hours a week sweating my butt off lol, so I have a lot of motivation to make this work, and make it work well. I have all the time in the world to make sure I've got a better career option than carpet cleaning haha.
I've found that reading articles is a great way to generate ideas and see what's out there, and I'm considering checking out offline means for learning the necessary tactics.
It's been amazing to crank out a few 1000 word articles a day, and to watch my typing speed shoot up to over 80 words per minute! I never knew I could find so much inspiration without having any sort of required assignment.
If you don't mind my asking, what type of work from home do you do? Any article marketing? Affiliate programs or your own products?
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Joined: 22 Sep 2007
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#16 · Posted: 2 Jan 2009 20:59
Hi Lars,
Glad your studies are coming along so well.
Traditional jobs tend to motivate once they show their true colors.
Sounds like you've got the speed and productivity thing taken care of, wow :)
I've had a .com up for a bit over 10 years and have been doing well with it from the start. I invented a health product for myself and it worked so well I decided to market it. I started offline at first but got it on the net shortly thereafter.
It's drawn a lot of traffic, attracted natural back links (quite a few doctors have written articles - I found out after the fact each time when my orders exploded and didn't know why at first but discovered the links. When ever a health magazine would pick up the story, I'd have to scramble like crazy right in the middle of an ordering frenzy to replenish my supplies (thousands of containers, boxes, and labels plus rolls of packing tape.), and has generated a lot of sales at $70 a pop.
I still have copies of the magazines and so does mom (sent her a copy each time it happened).
If you go by SERPs I'm the biggest fish in a small pond within that micro niche for several competitive in-demand phrases.
Coolest thing about it is it's a tiny site and I haven't added any pages or made any changes since 2002. It keeps getting back links so I don't really need to update or add pages - nothing more to say about it. It's just hyper-focused on a single product
I've been working 12-16 hours a day now for about a year and a half in the home office. I've been bringing myself current on marketing - something I ignored between launch of the site and early last year.
So, much of my up-to-date learning has come relatively recently and is largely due to long hours 7 days a week doing a lot of reading and experimenting.
I learned on-page SEO and a few other things back in the 90's but a lot has happened since then, so I've been busy learning modern methodologies.
I just purchased two domains late last year. I am slowly rolling out one of them now and will roll out the second one later this year (not sure exactly when).
I'll give out the third domain addy when ready later this year. The existing site and the one I'm rolling out now won't be listed. I will tell you that the second domain is a music site. I started music lessons right after preschool and it's one of my ruling passions.
In regards to marketing, I'm into just about everything you can think of. I'm fully obsessed with all of it. I'll be engaging in all of it with the second and third site - paid hosting in each case.
My main marketing sentiments essentially involve good ethical conduct, providing value to visitors, the tortoise style (slow and steady wins the race - the longevity approach), spending however long it takes to master all useful marketing topics plus related knowledge and skills as well as helping others with their own pursuits.
That's me and what I've been up to for a while in a nutshell.
Thanx for asking :)
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lathalukose
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Joined: 3 Jan 2009
Posts: 33
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#17 · Posted: 5 Jan 2009 14:06
I have decided to cater to other niches other than making money online. I feel it is saturated and I want to swim in the kiddies pool first, not drown in the big one.
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lathalukose
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Joined: 3 Jan 2009
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#18 · Posted: 5 Jan 2009 14:09
Yes people are making money online consistently. My mentor is and she showed me her stats.
AS for me, I am making small piles here and there, nothing to brag about.
I think the biggest mistake I ever did was share my intent of making money online with my famile. Except my husband noone supported me and I fell for their what ifs... This made it difficult to focus. The moment I saw no cash I panicked. I tried many jobs, left came back to internet marketing. Now I back for good...
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larslarson123
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#19 · Posted: 7 Jan 2009 15:22
Wow NS that's impressive! I honestly hope to be at your level at some point with multiple projects and a gold member status lol. It's very encouraging that it sounds like knowledge and quality info is the backbone of your efforts and that you're still engaged up to this day :)
lathalukose: I want to swim in the kiddies pool first, not drown in the big one.
I agree... very difficult to jump into the money making market. However, as I slowly transition my efforts towards my project of real interest, I feel like I might as well maintain and keep working in the home-based business niche. It can't hurt to have a couple things going.
I'm sorry to hear about your family experience, as I had the exact same. It's a tough secret to keep, especially with my girlfriend living with me... i still don't have a single bit of support from my peers and parents. Everyone has the impression that it's all a bunch of scams and spam on the internet.
I can't wait to show them my clickbank account in the next few months and years and watch them lining up to learn what I did! hahah
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lathalukose
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#20 · Posted: 21 Feb 2009 11:52
Just wanted to update all that I am finally making some money consistently per week. Not everyday but every week. For me this is a sign to continue.
Cant wait for my $1000 days
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