Quote from dsq:
This sounds like a teaser for an infomercial on how to get rich quick.I dont mean to be cynical or sarcastic but...
I know of many people who failed with online business.Getting search engine optimization is hard and then every other wannabe has a had a brainstorm and is selling your product also.
Internet business is canabalism.IE music,movies etc...
Personally i would like to help somebody get their online jewelry biz going but have no idea on getting traffic/eyeballs there.
I did not mean for it to sound like an infomercial at all, but I went back and read it and can see that in it. To be clear most business will fail, I think the statistic for business is about the same as it is for traders, around 90%. That still does not, at least to me, change the thought that an online business is a good way to make money.
I disagree with your search engine results being the most important thing. I have nothing against good SEO, I'd love to have good search engine results, but I've never had them.
Getting traffic is a bitch. It's by far my weakest point, but I can usually make up for it with Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN Pay Search (I don't use Google very often and never for PPC, I've always gotten much better ROI's out of Yahoo and MSN anyway...although if I got HUGE then I'd have to go to Google coz they are the only place that can scale beyond a certain point). I think it's just about being creative though. Here is an example.
Most people work on their SEO, on Google Adsense and on Joint Venture/Affiliates to build the business. That's a valid path. I always test every assumption that I have. That's how I found out that for me Yahoo and MSN are better sources of traffic then Google, even though most people think that Google is the only way. The assumption is also made that PPC is the "only" way to go, I have worked really hard to create banner adds that pull, and I have found that I get double the ROI using CPM, others who actually have gone ahead and tested have gotten similar results. Most will never test it though.
You also have to think outside the box. Example: I have a dating site, pick up artist stuff. Geek gets the girl. (I should read the course, maybe I'd have a girlfriend). Anyway, so everyone else does a few things. First of all they advertise pretty much with 100% related locations using Google (because that's what Google allows for). Well I said hmm..who else buys this stuff? What is my demographic? Geeks! So I started running my banner on sites geared towards gamers. Who other then poor traders has a harder time getting a girl then a guy who spends 11 hours a day playing Call of Duty or World of Warcraft. Once I had those running I could see right away that it was going to be successful, I had picked the right demographic, and so then I started to TEST my banners and message. You also have to test stuff on your site.
Anyone that would try to say it's no work to make a site work is lying too you, just like anyone who would say the same thing about trading. That all being said though I do think that a person has a better chance of making 100K on the net then as a trader.
In terms of the online Jewelry business, I really have no idea about the retail business. The only thing I have been involved in is info products, which has been a good business for me. I've been expanding it pretty actively the last several months since I've been feeling better and having a lot of fun doing it. I've got a friend who has an organic coffee company (bricks and mortar) since 1970 that is pretty successful. He is eager to go online with it, so I am in the process of getting those plans together etc..but I really have no idea yet how to build that business. It's going to be a challenge, but one I'm really looking forward too because I do think that the right online retail business can make a ton of money. I saw a lady who has a scrapbooking site and is making around $3million a year on it. I read of another guy who, when the housing boom was booming, had a site that specialized in the cool little toys of an "outdoor kitchen". He was bringing in about $1 1/4 million profit and was smart enough to sell the site three years ago for $6million. The new owner just closed it. That's a pretty spectacular failure as far as I can tell and does show that its not gauranteed, but like I said if your willing to think for yourself, hustle always learn it's not the most difficult thing in the world.
Brandon
, I'm just willing to put in some effort and figure out "How can I make money with this". If the guys in SF did the same thing they would make a ton of money, but thats just not what they do there yet, so they continue to waste investors capital...but as has been said that is clearly starting to come to an end.