Mike Paetzold is conducting a series on what you need to do before you start blogging.

Specifically, he’s covering how to hone in on your interests and then…

How to determine if your interests are profitable (which is key to successful blog marketing).

You can find his series on the blog at amplificationmarketing.com. Once you get to the blog, check out the “Niche Selection” link in the menu to be able to access each post easily and in order.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Internet Marketing Professor

Get your own free “marketer friendly” blog at MyCCBlog!

You may be shocked to learn that there are really only 3 primary ways to make money in an online business:

1. You can promote and sell a product or service that you own or have developed. A product could be an ebook, an audio or video course, a tele-training class, etc. A service could be a membership site, consulting, or selling advertising space on your website or in an ezine.

2. You can promote and sell someone else’s product or service for a commission. This is usually accomplished with affiliate programs. Using Google Adsense could also qualify as providing a “commissionable” service by placing their ads on your website or blog.

3. You can use a combination of 1 and 2 above.

What makes the Internet such a valuable tool for just about anyone when it comes to starting out is that you don’t need your own products and services to start a real online business. You can simply talk about and promote OPP (other people’s products), which is also called affiliate marketing.

And if you are dealing with digital products and services…

Affiliate commissions for digital products and services usually range from 40-100% (that’s right, up to 100%). And there are usually plenty of great information products with affiliate programs to choose from and promote in just about any viable market (be careful, there are also some stinkers out there too).

So, the real key to making money online is to have a strategy — a plan, a system or a model that you can take action on to get results and ultimately start earning an income from AND…

You must have an Internet “platform” (website) of some kind — a place for visitors to go and get information, see your product offering, ect. That’s one of the reasons I am excited about MyCCBlog, which provides a very professional Internet platform for free to those who are new to Internet marketing and online business, without needing a massive amount of skills to get started — literally in just minutes.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Internet Marketing Professor

Critical Blogging Mistake #3: Recommending low quality products and services on your blog.

The value of your blog to others who read what you have to say on your blog — and want to continue to read what you have to say on your blog is DIRECTLY related to your credibility.

Your credibility is DIRECTLY related to the quality of the products and services that your recommend on your blog.

Now granted, not every great product or service is great for everyone. But…

There are some really BAD products on the Internet — ones that sound fantastic on the sales page but don’t even make the “average” mark.

Here’s how I personally handle product recommendations, whether they be on a blog or to an email subscriber list:

1. I rarely recommend products or services I haven’t personally reviewed. If I do mention a product or service using an affiliate link that I haven’t reviewed, I let people know that I have NOT personally reviewed it yet.

2. I am very selective about the products and services that I strongly recommend. And there are products I simply won’t recommend, even if the affiliate commission is 100%.

The reason I tell you this is because…

Outside your enthusiasm for your topic, field of study, or area of interest…

Credibility is the biggest asset you bring to the table with your blog (or any website for that matter). Your credibility is directly related to the quality of the products and services that you recommend.

Your continued credibility is DIRECTLY related to your long term profitability. It’s called the power of recommendation — a power you want to always keep at the highest level.

And, as I have mentioned before…

You don’t have to be an expert to have and maintain credibility. You need only be a “credible and trustworthy information resource”.

Bottom line: Know what you are recommending to others. Be picky. Keep your credibility intact and profits will surely follow…

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Internet Marketing Professor

Critical Blogging Mistake #2: Failure to determine if your particular area of interest is even profitable to begin with.

I can hear the wheels turning in your brain right now.

How do you determine if your blog even has a chance of being profitable?

It’s really easy, actually. It’s just a matter of determining if there are quality products and services with commissionable affiliate programs that are related to your area interest or the focus of your blog (I talk about this in greater detail in my report).

But to illustrate my point (and have a little fun), I am going to use a crazy, off the wall example that is NOT profitable.

Let’s say that you have taken inventory of your interests and the #1 thing you want focus on with your blog and that you are most passionate about is:

Recycled toenail clippings (I told you this was crazy, but bear with me).

If you use a search engine — and search engine — and type in the term recycled toenail clippings, you will find that:

1. There are very few pages that even come up on this topic (I’m shocked that there are any at all). There also very few searches for this topic. But more importantly you will find that…

2. There are no products or services associated with recycled toenail clippings — much less any with affiliate programs.

In other words:

You could blog your little heart out, day after day about recycled toenail clippings and you won’t make a dime doing it, no matter how interested in or passionate you are about the topic.

Fortunately, there are many, many “markets” that do have plenty of products and services you could recommend — many that have affiliate programs associated with them.

So, how can you determine if your interests (what you are going to be blogging about) could be potentially profitable?

It’s easy! Here’s the condensed version of what to do:

1. Take an inventory of all your areas of interest, keeping in mind that you DON’T have to be an “expert” at anything. Put those interests in order of priority. Then…

2. Simply do a search for products and services (that also offer affiliate programs) related to your top areas of interest to ensure there are plenty to choose from AND to recommend for a profit.

While I certainly advocate that blogging should be a “labor of love” and NOT just another chore…

It seems kind of silly to me to spend any time blogging if there is ZERO chance of it being profitable.

But there is still one more critical mistake folks will make on a blog — one involving the products and services that they recommend…

See ya on the next post!

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Internet Marketing Professor

Critical Blogging Mistake #1: Starting a blog with a lack of passion, interest, concern or desire about the topic, subject matter of focus on the blog.

What is a blog REALLY? A blog is a powerful, potentially influential and potentially profitable communication tool.

Another way to say this is…

You need to have something to “talk” about using your blog—something you are passionate about, have a serious interest in and like to talk about.

Now, let me tell you why this is so vitally important:

1. If you are truly interested or passionate about a particular topic, subject, field of interest or market, you won’t run out of things to talk about on your blog.

A blog is only as powerful as your ability to regularly post on it.

Not only that…

But if you are interested in what you have to say on your blog, it’s less WORK and more FUN.

I don’t know about you, but for me…

If I wanted more WORK, I could just get a job. I don’t want my blogs or my Internet businesses to be WORK. I would much rather that they be a “labor of love”.

2. It also boils down to time. It takes far less time to post about something you are interested in than it is to have to try to “come up” with something to post about.

3. The sustainability of your blog, your persistence in maintaining your blog and its income potential are all DIRECTLY RELATED to your desire to post on your blog daily — even when you have ZERO visitors to your blog in the beginning.

4. The value of the “content” that you provide in your blog posts is directly related to your interest and passion about the subject, topic, market or field of interest you are posting about.

Otherwise, you just end up being another Internet “salesman”, hawking products and services you know little about and have no real interest in.

5. Your ability to “connect” with readers of your blog is directly related to your interest in what you have to say on your blog.

As I mentioned in my report, you DON’T have to be an expert at all in order to have a very valuable blog and to provide great content — from your own individual point of view and perspective — to your blog readers.

You simply need to be a credible, sincere and trustworthy information resource.

That’s pretty darn hard to do if you reall have no interest in what you are talking about in your blog posts.

Your primary “product” offering on a blog is NOT the products or services that you recommend along the way. Your primary “product” on a blog is the information, ideas, views, reviews, insight, opinions and observations that you talk about on your blog in your blog posts.

Notice I didn’t say “write about” – I said “talk about”.

Which brings me to next critical blogging mistake that people make, which deals with aligning your interests with profitability…

See ya on the next post!

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Internet Marketing Professor

I don’t really like the term “market”. It has a tendency to be something that is difficult to comprehend in the minds of many.

So, instead of the term market, let’s use the term “interests”.

Virtually everyone on the planet has a number of interests. Interests are those things we love to do, love to learn about and never seem to get bored with.

For example…

Some people love fishing. As a matter of fact, they love fishing so much…

They are more than happy to spend money on information, products and services that will make them better fishermen or fisherwomen. They are constantly looking for a fresh approach, new ideas and information that they can use and apply to the art of fishing.

As a side note: “fishing” and all it’s variations, deep sea fishing, fresh water fishing, ice fishing, etc. is a huge “market”, meaning to say that…

There are a TON of people who are very interested in fishing all over the world.

Personally, my idea of successful fishing is hitting the frozen food section in the grocery store. Subsequently…

I wouldn’t even consider building an online business around fishing, no matter how big the market is or how profitable it may be.

Why?

Because it would be difficult for me at best to “connect” with folks who do love fishing. I don’t even have a fishing pole.

So, here’s a couple of tips that you can use to “discover” what your true interests are:

1. If you met someone at a party or social event, what would you talk to them about? About the best way to get kids to eat veggies? About finding bargains when you shop? About cars? About sports? About health products that give you results?

These are your interests and the cool part is…

There’s usually a “market” associated with just about ANY interest.

2. At the end of the day or on weekends and you finally get some “me” time, what do you enjoy doing or learning about? Do you like to find bargains at garage sales? Tinker with your car? Take care of your lawn? Teach your children a skill? Like to cook and experiment with recipes?

3. Have you ever offered any kind of advice to someone? Of course you have! What was that advice about? I’d be willing to bet it was about something you know, have interest in and are passionate about in some way.

In my humble opinion…

Your greatest chances of sucess in an online business is to build your business around that which you not only enjoy, can can profit from as well.

So, make your list of interests (and skills) and I will talk about what to do next in the next email in my educational series.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Internet Marketing Professor

Use the form on this page or go to http://www.webcashnewbie.com/create-website/ to get the free email education series called: “What You REALLY Need To Know Before You Create A Website”.

Then, you recognize the need for Internet marketing information. So you sign up on numberous lists and the next thing you know…

Email starts pouring in at an incredible rate — so much so, it can be extremely overwhelming. I know because…

I have been there.

Let’s talk for a moment about email management. It’s important and something few people talk about.

First,  some basic concepts:

1. If all you have time to do is review the email in your inbox, the chances are pretty good you will have time for little else.

2. It’s extremely important to not only be selective about the email lists you subscribe to (or continue to be subscribed to) but also to be able to gather valuable Internet marketing information from the emails that you get.

In my opinion, there are 2 major categories of email: Personal and Business.

I would highly recommend that you have 2 email accounts — one for personal email (friends, family, etc.) and one for incoming business email (subscriptions).

Now, there are 4 primary categories of online “business” emails (in my opinion):

1. Internet marketing email subscriptions — these subscriptions tend to focus on Internet marketing in general terms and can usually be applied to just about any online business regardless of the market.

2. Target market email subscriptions — these subscriptions are associated with a particular market. For example, if your interests were focused on the real estate market, then the email subscriptions you would be getting would be about real estate (how to buy, how to sell, how to refinance, foreclosures, etc.).

3. Software email subscriptions — these are emails you get as a result of purchasing software, whether for your personal computer or for your website. These tend to be important email subscriptions because they can contain important updates and upgrades for the software that you have purchased.

4. Educational email subscriptions — these emails tend to focus more on foundational concepts and applicable knowledge than most subscription emails. An example of this type of email is the one I am offering on this blog and at http://www.webcashnewbie.com/create-website/.

The biggest challenge in managing subscription email usually lies in categories 1 and 2 above. In my email education series, I have outlined what you need to be looking for specifically in these email subscriptions and how to determine which ones to continue getting email from and which ones to discontinue.

One last note: Subscription email is NOT SPAM email. How can you tell? Because there is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of subscription email. That way, you can easily remove yourself from the subscription in an automatic way.

It is very “uncool” to submit SPAM complaints for subscription email. To discontinue getting subscription email from any source,  just use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.

If you have any difficulty or the unsubscribe link doesn’t work, don’t hesitate to email the online business owner and let them know you no longer wish to get email from them. Trust me, online business owners are usually more than happy to remove you from their subscriber list.

Email subscriptions can contain some very valuable information — beyond just the words in the emails — IF you know what to look for. I talk about what to look for in my email education series.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Prof

Use the sign up form on this page or go to http://www.webcashnewbie.com/create-website/ to get the free email education series called: “What You REALLY Need To Know Before You Create A Website”.

Unfortunately, there are a number of folks who base their online business on a single statement:

“I just want to make money online — it doesn’t matter how.”

That single statement is usually the foundation for not making a single dime online.

Why?

1. The source of income for ANY business, including an online business, is controlled by visitors, prospects and customers.

In other words…

There are NO programs available that cause a credit card to automatically jump out of a wallet on its own, input the data from the card into a payment form and make a purchase for products or services all by itself.

2.  If you are wanting to create a website for an online business AND it is PEOPLE who control the financial resources that are going to fuel your online profits…

** How are you going to help people solve a problem, reach a goal, gain knowledge, etc. with any measure of confidence?
** What’s going to motivate someone to invest in your product or service?
** How are you going to “connect” with your visitor, prospect or customer to develop trust in you?
** What’s going to motivate a person to subscribe to your list — and continue to be a subscriber?
** How are you going to develop “recommendation power” be for someone else’s product or service?

So, what’s the solution? Here’s the short answer:

1. You determine your interests FIRST.

2. You determine if an online business based on your interests can be profitable.

Most people approach an online business in a completely backwards fashion. They look for a “business opportunity” and then try to develop their interests in that “business” later — IF the business becomes profitable.

This is the hardest way I can think of to try an establish a long term, viable online business.

There’s a magical thing that happens when you focus your online business around your own interests. All of a sudden…

You start attracting people to your online business who have similar interests as you.

You are not at a loss of “what to say” to your subscribers and prospects.

You now put yourself in a position to help and motivate others far more easily.

There’s still more…

For my Web Cash Newbie subscribers: There is additional information, along with some easy-to-do actionable tasks in the email that brought you to this blog post.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Internet Marketing Professor

Use the form on this page or go to http://www.webcashnewbie.com/create-website/ to get the free email education series called: “What You REALLY Need To Know Before You Create A Website”.

A business is an investment of time and money for a return on that investment.

But I don’t think that most people appreciate what the Internet has done as far as providing an income opportunity for “the average Joe”.

Before the Internet, if you wanted to establish a business, it was an expensive affair. Let me give you an example…

Let’s say that you wanted to start a travel agency in a small office in a strip mall somewhere. You couldn’t even lease the office for less than $600 per month with a 6 month lease (minimum). That doesn’t include:

1. A computer and Internet service
2. Utilities - phone, electric, etc.
3. Furniture
4. Advertising
5. Education and licensing
6. A merchant account

That’s assuming it is just you and you have no employees. Because it is a travel business, you have no physical inventory. Still…

A “traditional” business involves a significant investment and has a significant amount of risk associated with it.

An online business, on the other hand…

• Involves a fraction of the financial investment, which means less risk
• Can be initiated on a part time basis
• Can be profitable far sooner than a traditional business — without even having a product of your own

But here’s the rub with an online business…

• It requires skill and knowledge — you really need to know what you are doing before you even know how to build a website
• It still involves work and committment
• It involves implementing an online business model that attracts visitors and motivates customers

Unfortunately, there seems to be a popular notion that establishing an online business that will generate bazillions of dollars can be accomplished in minutes with little effort.

I’m here to tell you — that’s absolutely not true.

One of the biggest obstacles most people face in establishing their first online business is acquiring the skills needed to build a website in the first place.

That’s why endorse these “starter” educational resources:

The Faster Webmaster

Easy Tech Videos

But, I’ll tell you this:

Being able to create a website and slap it up on the Internet is not enough. You still need to have an online business model, determine your target market, know how you are going to get traffic to your website, know how to write decent copy, know how to build a list, and on and on.

As I reflect upon my own online businesses, the #1 expense I have had every year involved education — NOT web hosting, autoresponder fees, software, etc.

I will leave you with this:

An online business still involves work, commitment, risk and a desire to learn and improve. Fortunately, it involves less risk and less financial investment than a traditional business. And the rewards can be FANTASTIC!

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Prof

Use the form on this page or go to http://www.webcashnewbie.com/create-website/ to get the free email education series called: “What You REALLY Need To Know Before You Create A Website Of Your Own”.