Only the "Guru" makes the money?

Okay, can I ask a simple question... who is making money from home on the web? Is it "regular folks"... or is it only "Marketing Gurus"?

1 - Is anybody making money selling info or products about something OTHER than "Internet Marketing"?

2 - Has anyone made significant income by creating a "content based theme site" and tapping into traffic to make affiliate sales?

3 - Has anyone been able to do this consistently, month after month?

It seems to me that many of the "success stories" I hear are about how "Mr X made his fortune selling his How To Market On The Internet Course"... what about Mr. Y, who has a web site about goldfish or an eBook about how to play golf? Anybody making good money with THAT kind of product?

> 1 - Is anybody making money selling info or
> products about something OTHER than
> "Internet Marketing"?

> 2 - Has anyone made significant income by
> creating a "content based theme
> site" and tapping into traffic to make
> affiliate sales?

> 3 - Has anyone been able to do this
> consistently, month after month?

With the proviso, that I'm not sure that my understanding of "content based theme site" is the same as your understsanding. I think I saw you post on other boards about Ken Evoy, so I presume this is his phrase, amd something you read in his stuff.

Yes, yes, yes

I suppose that you'd probably consider my e-book compiler + related stuff to be "Internet Marketing", it's my personal passion, but it ONLY one of the things I do :-)

Also, for record, none of the top few (that I know of) e-book sellers (that I know of), or super successful affilates (of various programs - I know a lot of people cos of geekvillage) that I know of, are based around selling Internet Marketing products. These people plough their own furrow, and I'd guess it's pretty unlikely they're going to post here's how I make (for example) "$30,000 per month, please copy my idea and set yourself up in competition with me"




New! Create E-Book Covers **online** that look like this:

Hi Ray,

Most of the money-making sites online are NOT about selling marketing info. In fact, it's probably easier to succeed in areas apart from selling internet-marketing related stuff, because the internet marketing area is full of heated competition....

Have a look at this web site.... www.crikey.com.au

This is a "quirky" Australian political news web site.... It is run by just TWO people, making money from subscriptions. I've read that they have 1,600 subscribers, who are paying $55 (Australian dollars) for access. They're not getting rich, but they ARE making profits, and their business is probably increasing in profitability as time goes by.

In my observation, the BEST web site to start is one which appeals to a niche market. If you target your niche well, you could have little or no competition. Make sure you are offering people a great deal, so they will buy or subscribe. That way, word of what you are offering will spread....

I've written about many profitable web sites from time to time here on Sowpub, and others have written about the ones they've found too. There are plenty around.... And most are NOT internet marketing related - though (of course) they DO often use internet marketing techniques, as well as often using offline promotional techniques too.

- Dien Rice


Here's the article where I found out about crikey.com.au ....

> Okay, can I ask a simple question... who is
> making money from home on the web? Is it
> "regular folks"... or is it only
> "Marketing Gurus"?

I make money from home. I am "regular" folk, and not a guru.


> 1 - Is anybody making money selling info or
> products about something OTHER than
> "Internet Marketing"?

I don't sell info, just my services as a web developer

> 2 - Has anyone made significant income by
> creating a "content based theme
> site" and tapping into traffic to make
> affiliate sales?

Tried it. But my lack of marketing skills prevented me from making much income this way.


> 3 - Has anyone been able to do this
> consistently, month after month?

At web development I have made money every month, but the amount is never consistent. Sometimes it is so much it stuns you, other times it is so little it scares you ;-)

> It seems to me that many of the
> "success stories" I hear are about
> how "Mr X made his fortune selling his
> How To Market On The Internet
> Course"... what about Mr. Y, who has a
> web site about goldfish or an eBook about
> how to play golf? Anybody making good money
> with THAT kind of product?

I couldn't answer that. Most of the people I work for are info marketers, who do very well.

I checked out your website. I see that is is "under construction" so I am assuming you want to jump into the fray of selling something on the web, but don't quite know which way to go. I've been there.

I was on the web for four years and never made a cent. I was fascinated with how the web worked. People in my home town use to call me "tinker man" because my fascination with how things work was kind of born into me. When I was little, I just tore things apart. By the time I reached my early teens, I was putting things back together and making them work... except for Dad's new chainsaw, which he will never let me forget.

After I hit 20 years, people started calling me to troubleshoot electrical problems, fix appliances, televisions, VCRs, etc. They were more then happy to pay me.

Then along came the WWW a few years ago. For four years while I was online and trying to figure out how to sell info products, I worked my hobby. I tore the web apart and put it back together several times. Even today, I will admit to having more questions then I do answers.

People I networked with started getting me to fix stuff on their websites. One thing led to another, and my hobby became a business three years ago. They KEY point here, lest you don't recognize it, was that I was INTERESTED in what I was doing, and maintained that interest until I could make money at it.

This brings us to the present. Yeah, I make a reasonable income. But I could care less.

My wife wanted to buy a house. Me? No, I was happy in our rented townhouse. She wanted a house so we got a house.

My wife wanted a new car. Me? No, I was happy with fixing up my 10 year old Honda. She wanted a new car so we got a new car.

Money? Money is only a means to an end. By making money developing websites, it gives me time to "tinker." Which is really what I like to do.

So my advice to you, is to find something that you can do that INTERESTS you, and don't only be motivated by money. Take time to develop your own goods and services. If you're interested in it, you won't mind doing it until you can figure out a way to make money with it.

Info products can be likened to services. What kind of website would you get from me if I WASN'T a developer? Likely, one that wouldn't work. If this were the case, I wouldn't be getting any business. If you sell "how to" info products and you don't know "how to" you will find your market dries up very quickly.

In conclusion, if you're both interested and knowledgeable in what you plan to do, don't worry about the money. It will come.

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan






homebusiness-websites.com

Here are a couple more sites - www.meltdown.com and www.stophairloss.com, selling vitamin and other health related products targeting balding women (won't work for men, apparently:-()

Anyway, these sites have been up and making money since 1996 and are still going strong. Definitely not internet marketing oriented.

Bob