What is a Newbie Anyway…

After 36 years in the Corporate world, I found myself without a job.   Downsizing seems to be the new word in this crazy economy we are facing.  So I started looking for ways to make money on the internet and found out I was a newbie.  Yes a newbie.  I didn’t even know what the word meant.  Had to google it.  But for so many of us out there trying to find new ways of making an income on the internet and not even knowing where to start, makes us a newbie.

So there began my process.  I learned the first thing I needed to do was find a niche.  Didn’t know what that meant either.  It is finding something you have great interest in or a passion for like golfing, fishing, flower gardening, vegetable gardening, pet grooming, birds, weight loss, whatever you have an interest in.  From there you start your research.  Google what you may want to do and research how big the market is, how they are promoting the niche.    As a newbie, my best advise is to pick a niche you really love.  If you don’t, you will not have the will or motivation to sell.

From there I suggest you start with affiliate programs.  These are programs that you can join, majority for free to sell their products for them on the internet and you receive a commission for that sale.  Commissions usually range from 40% to 70% of that sale.  You can find these affiliate programs with Clickbank.com, Paydot.com just to mention a few.   I found the most popular was Clickbank which offers a wide variety of niches and companies wanting you to sell for them.

These affilate programs offer you every tool you need to sell their products.  They give you a sales page, articles, banners, advertisments for Adwords on Google, emails to send to your lists and usually free products to give to your customers to help sell their products. I am finding the most profitable are vendors selling memberships which you will receive a residual each month for their paid membership.

There are many free resources to promote your products.  You can write articles with GoArticles.com and Ezinearticles.com to mention a few.  You can also create your own blog. You can create your free blog from Blogger.com, Wordpress.com or any other blogging service.  However, try to host your blog on your own domain.

If you have a domain with hosting, you can install Wordpress blog on it. This is better than a free blog from Blogger.com.  You can link any product you are selling easier if you have your own website. It would be more profitable for you to look into getting a website.  You can go to GoDaddy.com or Hostgator.com to mention a few. Although they are both very good, I find Hostgator more newbie friendly.

You will also need to sign up for a Paypal.com account and a Clickbank.com account which is where you will receive payment for your commissions.  Each company pays in usually one or the other.

There are so many questions I know, but if you just sit back, relax and think of what niche you may like, the rest will start coming to you.  So pick your niche and start selling…

If you have any questions, or have any advice for newbies, feel free to leave a comment.  I welcome your questions and advice.