What’s the $1 Equation?
Simple: You cannot make money on the internet UNTIL you have earned at least a dollar.
Once you learn how to make $1, the rest is easy.
So most of the emails I get ask the same question over and over - “How do I get started?”
To be brutally honest with you, the best way to get started earning a good online income is a lot easier than most people think. There are literally hundreds of different ways to go about cracking that first buck, but by far the easiest and fastest way is this: Find a topic you love and write about it.
Most everyone has something they are passionate about. Whether it’s building models out of toothpicks, surfing, making homemade wine, or even skydiving, most people have at least ONE THING that interests them and they have spent time learning about.
Your FIRST and most important task is to discover that one thing.
Are you good at golf video games? Do you play Madden 2009 all night long? Are you a big time remote controlled car fanatic? Do you love growing tomotoes? Are you into cooking? YOU, grasshopper, must choose your own path.
You see, if you are really into something, then YOU know a lot more about it than most people do and others will be willing to pay for your knowledge - if it is presented correctly.
So the One Big Thing is to be an “expert” of sorts in your chosen topic.
And here’s why it’s important that you really like whatever that topic is… People will sense it. They will be able to tell because of the way you write and talk about the topic. You will have a built in excitement and enthusiasm that’s hard to fake.
Does this “One Big thing” have to be something you have done a long time? Not necessarily.
A few years back, I decided to try my hand at making my own wine. I started researching it and made several batches of wine at home. Although I made what you could call wine, it wasn’t exactly “good”. And I realized that other people would have the exact same problem when they were first starting out making wine.
I did a lot of research, checked out how much competition there was, and decided to write an ebook on making wine. At the time, there were 3 or 4 competing products on Clickbank.
I made a sales page using Nvu (a free webpage maker) got a hosting account, figured out how to upload stuff, and then got the product approved on Clickbank.
Within a few months, I had a few sales. Not many - like 3 at $17 - but it was enough to show me that people would pay for this kind of information.
I had no list, I didn’t use PPC. I just put the sales page up and then did a little link exchanging.
I soon realized that FOLLOW UP and a list were KEY to increasing sales and developing a list of people I could ask over and over to buy.
So I set up a “lead capture” page. I offered a “mini” version of my winemaking book for free. I used Pay Per Click to drive traffic to the landing page and started getting about 20 sign ups a day.
My emails to the people that signed up gave them more free info on how to make wine. Within 2 weeks, I had 20 sales!
And that, in a nutshell, is how I got started making money online. That site continues to bring in between $1,200 and $2,000 per month.
YOU can do the same thing. People will always try to sell you the “next big thing” and “secrets” but I’m here to tell you - there isn’t a big “secret”. All you have to do is find what you are passionate about, write about it, and put together a free mini product and a bigger detailed product.
You CAN do it.
