ShareYourIMStory.com

By Andrew Seltz – The Go-To Guy!

My nickname is The Go-To Guy! and I’ve got a pretty wide ranging background. I got my first computer back in the mid-1980′s – a Commodore 64. In addition to playing video games, I taught myself a little programming. Later I went to college and studied filmmaking and animation. I mortgaged my soul to purchase an Amiga 2000 computer that I used to create 3D graphics and animation.

Between film school and my current career producing corporate videos, independent films, and websites, I spent 3 ½ years working on an automotive assembly line building cars (Mom was so proud of how I put my college degree to good use!)

I got a late start with the whole Internet business. I didn’t actually get online for the first time until mid-1996, but I started learning HTML right away and building web pages for practice. It was a few years before I built my first complete stand-alone website for a non-profit group in New York and another 2 years before I started building sites of my own. These were some pretty awful sites, too!

I’m completely self taught when it comes to web design and web programming. I’ve learned a lot and can handle many technical and design tasks on my own. But, I’m not an expert in any one thing. I rely heavily on websites like www.W3Schools.com for tutorials and quick reference when I’m working on a project.

One thing that should be glaringly obvious from this little biography is that I have absolutely no formal background or training in marketing – online or off. I’m a storyteller with a touch of geek mixed in.

Until a few years ago I expected that the Internet business I was dreaming about would involve hiring myself out to design and build websites or create online videos for clients. In short, trading hours for dollars. Not much different to what I was already doing. But, deep down I knew I didn’t want that and started searching for another way to make money online.

What I’m trying to say with all this is that I know a lot about the practical side of the Internet, but I’m still learning when it comes to marketing and promotion – I’m no marketing guru!

My Internet Marketing History

My personal Internet marketing story can be traced back to a blog entry I read back in December of 2005. Professional blogger Yaro Starak had written about how you could make money creating niche content websites with Adsense ads on them. Adsense sites were the hot idea being promoted back then.

I had been toying with the idea of creating some sort of Internet based business for several years, but hadn’t figured out how to get started. Yaro’s article laid out a logical approach that seemed attainable. So, with no market analysis or research I ran out and bought a couple domain names and started experimenting. This was not a wise approach to business.

At the same time I set up a blog and wrote about my Internet marketing experiments and anything else I felt like writing about. This turned out to be my first wise move.

My Unremarkable Early Results

After one year of researching and experimenting with my niche sites, I had earned less than $30 from all my efforts and spent at least $250 on hosting fees, domain registrations, and some lame (and expensive) attempts at Pay Per Click advertising (back then, Google Arbitrage was still a popular idea.) I was not a raging success in the world of marketing. I was all over the map trying every idea I found that seemed to make sense. I was never tempted to try Spamming or auto-generated websites, but I tried a lot of fad ideas.

As depressing as my initial results were, those experiments were not wasted. Every one of them was an investment in my education. I learned a huge number of valuable Internet skills which became foundational to my later success.

I learned about:

• Effective web design
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Ad optimization
• How to set up a WordPress site
• How to set up an automated system for selling and delivering digital products
• Keyword research
• Much, much more

I also discovered that the blog I created to document my experiments (and also to write about other projects I was doing) was far more popular than any of the niche sites I had created. Owning a well ranked website with good traffic is very useful for promoting new projects for yourself and others.

My Run-In With a Real Mentor

Along the way I had also found a number of excellent e-books on various aspects of Internet marketing. I had to wade through a lot of junk to find the gems, but I found them. The pivotal book for me was “5 Bucks a Day“, by Dennis Becker. I discovered it during a special offer sale he was running at the Warrior Forum (the 800 pound gorilla of Internet Marketing Forums.)

I had been learning dozens of business plans that all seemed like legitimate methods for earning money online, but I hadn’t focused on any one thing long enough to get real traction in my business. Dennis’ book is all about focus and breaking down your efforts into small manageable projects designed to earn a little profit consistently. Over time, you build a portfolio of profitable projects that adds up to significant income.

My newfound focus wasn’t the only benefit I got from Dennis’ e-book. He also started a membership forum for all of the people who bought “5 Bucks a Day.” And, it was there that I experienced the first of many $100 paychecks.

As a member of the forum I got very active helping other members and sharing my personal experiences in the world of marketing. All of the knowledge and skills I had acquired became the foundation for helping others.

On the forum I answered questions about adding video to websites and how to record better audio. I jumped in with tips for people building WordPress sites. And, I offered detailed reviews of new e-books and software I purchased.

The forum also gave me a chance to interact with Dennis on a regular basis. He provided a lot of encouragement and delivered a steady stream of valuable resources to members of his forums (that continues to this day.)

All the energy I put into giving valuable information to fellow forum members paid off in the excellent reputation I was earning. I became a respected member of the community and even struck up a few friendships.

Forum Marketing In Action

I continued seeking out new information about Internet marketing beyond the e-books, audios, videos, and software that Dennis provided in the forum. One e-book I came across was “Niche Marketing on Crack,” written by Andrew Hansen. The night I bought that book, I devoured it, and jumped on the forum to offer up my opinion of the content.

Dennis is very generous toward the members of his forums. If you provide valuable information in a review and include a non-affiliate link to the sales page, he doesn’t have any problems with members including an affiliate link as well. I included an affiliate link in my review of “Niche Marketing on Crack.”

Over the next several days I answered many questions about the e-book. Fellow members asked about the specific techniques covered in the book to determine if they already possessed the key skills discussed. They told me what they were trying to accomplish with their business and asked whether I though the book would help.

Some people I encouraged to buy the book and I recommended that others look elsewhere for the information they needed. As with any product, it was not right for everyone.

As a result of the helpful information I provided and the good reputation I had built up, the majority of the forum members who decided to buy the e-book used my affiliate link.

My First Real Internet Marketing Payday

In the month of February 2007, that one product review earned me $206.80 US in commissions in the first 48 hours after I wrote it. Over the next 4 months I earned an additional $129.25 US from that same review. That was my first real taste of marketing success.

For a guy who hadn’t earned a fraction of that amount for all of the work he had done over the previous year, the experience was an adrenaline rush – I was really hooked.

A short while later, Dennis opened another membership forum called “Earn 1K a Day.” I joined in a heartbeat and put the same kind of energy I had spent at the “5 Bucks a Day” forum into this new venture. It was the foundation for my biggest success to date, my “Rapid Website Development” video training series which has generated more than 10 times that first success before it has even had a public launch.

Where I Stand Today

Due to the increased focus on specific aspects of my business, even some of those initial bumbling efforts at marketing have begun to generate small but steady profits and have opened up new opportunities. My Internet Marketing Insights blog is an offshoot of the work I did on my first blog. It was started with a collection of my marketing and business articles from the old blog as the initial content.

Of course, I also continue to invest in my business education to help push me to the point where my publishing business generates enough revenue to support my family. In the past year I invested in a copy of John Reese’s “Traffic Secrets” course, Mike Filsaime’s “7 Figure Code“, and (most recently) Frank Kern’s “Mass Control” course.

The most satisfying aspect of all of this is the fact that I’m funding the growth of my business and my ongoing education with revenue from my business and not credit cards and income from my ‘day job!’ (Okay, technically I did charge Frank’s “Mass Control” course on a credit card before I had the money, but I’m hard at work finishing up 2 projects which should earn me all of the money I need to pay that one off – and what I’ve learned is definitely worth the effort.)