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You Really Don't Have
to be Amazon.com...
We all know that web sites
like Amazon and Ebay are earning millions of dollars per
year. These sites are always in the spotlight and they are, without a
doubt, some of the most successful web sites on the Internet.
The good news is, you don't
have to be as big as Amazon.com to earn a decent income on the web. All you need is an idea and
a solid execution plan.
There are
literally thousands of 'lesser-known' web sites out there that are
generating thousands of dollars per month and for this article, I thought
I'd focus on the "little people" (well, one isn't so
"little" anymore) to show you just how possible it is to earn
big on the web with a great idea and very little investment.
After
reviewing these sites, we'll take a look at why these people have become
so successful.
The message I want you to
take from this article is that if you have a unique idea and follow
through with it, you don't necessarily have to spend an arm and a leg to
earn a solid income on the web. You just have to have the drive and
choose a topic you are truly interested in and know a lot about.
AssociatePrograms.com
Ever been to
AssociatePrograms.com? If you have spent any amount of time promoting
associate programs, I'm sure you have.
An "associate
program" (also called affiliate or referral program) allows
webmasters to earn commissions from their web sites by referring visitors
to company (merchant) web sites. In most cases, all the webmaster has to
do is put a simple link on their site and when a visitor makes a purchase
from that link, the web site owner earns a commission. The merchant
(JC Penneys, for example) handles all of the money transactions, ships the
product, etc and the web site owner sits back and collects his commission
check for getting the referral.
AssociatePrograms.com
provides a thorough directory of all the different types of affiliate
programs you can join and is one of the most visited affiliate web sites on the
web. It offers
a wealth of information about marketing affiliate programs as well.
It is run by a gentleman
from The Land Down Under. His name is Allan Gardyne and he started the
site back in March of 1998. When he developed the site, affiliate/referral
programs were just starting to become popular on the web, and Allan
realized that no one had come up with the idea to simply create an A-Z
directory of these various programs.
So he registered the domain
name, associateprograms.com and the rest is history. If you visit his
site, you'll notice that it's nothing too fancy or complicated, but the
important thing to note is that his web site is clean, crisp, informative,
and Allan was the FIRST to come up with this idea and he executed his plan
beautifully. He keeps up with all of the latest affiliate programs on the
web and provides a directory from A-Z of various programs that you can
join.
Once/week Allan writes an
information-packed newsletter on how to succeed with these types of
programs. Allan makes thousands of dollars/month from this simple, yet
effective web site, and he now has over 16,000 subscribers to his free,
weekly newsletter. You can visit Allan's site at http://www.associateprograms.com.
RobotBooks.com
This web site is proof that
if you develop a plan and execute it well, you can sell anything on the
web. Who would have ever thought that someone would make a killing from
robots on the Internet? Heck, I didn't even think people played with these
things anymore. :-)
Well, Carlo Bertocchini, an
engineer, lover of robots, and the owner of RobotBooks.com has captured
the attention of thousands of robot-lovers and is making quite a name for
his site on the web. Carlos' web site may not be nearly as big as
Amazon.com, but this company is very much a part of his strategy.
Hey, if you can't beat 'em....join
'em, right?!
Let me explain..... Carlos
joined Amazon's free affiliate program and linked all the robot-related
books from his site. Pretty slick huh? So he has turned his site into a
virtual online robot bookstore. He also did the same with eToys.com. He
joined their free affiliate program and created a toys section on his web
site by linking to all the robot toys from eToys' site.
What a great idea!
Carlos admits, "This
isn't easy....and it takes a lot of work..." BUT he has developed a
unique idea that was executed well and he is starting to see great
results. You can check out Carlos' web site at http://www.robotbooks.com
------------------------------------------------------
So there you have it...two
successful netrepreneurs, and none of them spent loads of money getting
their businesses up and running. Even though their ideas are quite
different, they have several things in common:
1) Their own domain -
Trying to run a business on a free web site provider, just doesn't go over
too well for long term success. Even though these people are marketing
OTHER company's products on their web sites, they STILL bought their own
domains.
2) An Idea and a
Plan to Execute. People that copy other's ideas don't usually go far.
Notice that all three individuals had a unique idea that they executed
brilliantly. Even though robots are not really considered "hot
products" to sell, Carlos took a hobby that he loves and found his
niche. This niche is now earning Carlos a nice income.
3) A Clean Presence.
None of these individual's web sites will blow you away with their
designs, but they are neat, professional, and they offer valuable, updated
information to their target audience. And more importantly, they keep
people coming back for more!
4) They've Found Their
Passion! Allan found that he enjoys reviewing affiliate programs
and Carlos loves robots so they both created a web site based on their
passion. I've probably said it 10 times on this site already, but
when you love what you do, you stay motivated to keep at it!
I hope you can now see that
you don't have to have your own products or services to make it big on the
web. All you need is an idea and motivation to execute, execute, execute!
That's exactly what Allan and Carlos did. They didn't spend a lot
of money starting up their businesses, but what they did spend is time.
They took the time to
develop their ideas and it's paying off. Think about what you are
marketing now. Do you have your own domain or are you just using the
company's affiliate web site? Does your web site make people want to come
back? What can you do to enhance your business?
Carlos of RobotBooks.com
joined Amazon.com's
free associate program and added it to his existing web site theme.
Instead of trying to *be* Amazon.com, he used them to add value to his
existing web site.
Allan of AssociatePrograms.com
was thinking ahead and envisioned that affiliate programs were going to be
big, so he compiled a directory of all these programs and offers sound
advice for promoting them. Now over 14,000 people await his free
newsletter every week.
None of this is rocket
science, folks. Once you come up with your idea, you're halfway there. If
you execute correctly, getting traffic will become easier because people
will voluntarily link to your site.
And when you have a site
like this, word of mouth becomes your most vital means of getting traffic.
This article is a prime example! I am giving these three people FREE
exposure on my web site because of their valiant efforts.
The questions I leave for you
today are....What are your interests? What is your passion? And how
can you turn them into a site that makes people want to come back, and more
importantly, a site that generates an income for you day after day after day
just like these three individuals have done?
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