This is a post from a gentleman who made a pact with himself to make $60,000 within less than a year. Although he has not reached his goal he has made over $30,000 from article marketing and free promotion.  He is a real inspiration.

Here is his blog post in full:  please make sure and subscribe to his blog he is a true, true inspiration.

Issues Related to Internet Marketing and Stumbling Blocks

By Pete

Hi Guys

I think this will be quite a relevant topic. I have quite a few emails from people saying that they hit stumbling blocks when putting together campaigns. I even hit quite a few stumbling blocks. Whether it be articles not being listed ( even although you have done the same thing over and over again ) for some reason they just won’t list on google, or personal problems, or time constraints, or just sheer laziness.

I am sure we have all been in the these situations in the past at some point in our internet marketing lives. Well the way I see it this is basically what makes or breaks a marketer!

When the times are tough you have to be able to force yourself to work through these problems. You cannot let them get you down. If you let them get on top of you that is when you start questioning the internet marketing game, whether it is for you, did you make the right choice?

I find that when things get on top of you take a break, clear your head, do something different and take your mind completely off Internet Marketing or your article writing or your backlinking. So something different. You are not a robot and you cannot sit infront of a PC 24 hours a day.

Once you have your head cleared go back to it and before you start make a list of things to do like –

1. write 3 articles
2. submit those articles to bookmarking sites, and get 10 other backlinks to the articles
3. Answer 5 Yahoo Answers
4. Do 5 Blog Comments
5. Make 5 Forum Posts.

Once you have done this stop. You will find that you can do all this in a couple of hours or less. Cross off your list as you go along. You can then see that you have achieved something in those couple of hours.

Set yourself these small goals and do them on a daily basis, it will truly make the difference. When you are feeling low push through it and make a list. That is the best advice I can give anyone. When you are feeling low DO NOT give up. These are the times that will test everyone and if you achieve at least something in these low times then think what you will achieve when you are feeling good, or when you see that extra sale come in. You will be on a high and will want to do more, so write another list and double the values. This is how you achieve things in this online world.

Whatever you do DO NOT GIVE UP!

Pete

Bad habit #1     Spending too much time reading and “learning” instead of practicing what you’ve learned.

I am a musician and music teacher.  And I’m sure a lot of you reading this are either musicians yourself or have played an instrument.

One thing you know is that the only way you can learn how to play your instrument is by practicing. Practicing many hours.

By practicing I don’t mean keep reading books on how to play your instrument perfectly. Or books on how to become a professional musician. You can read 1,000’s of books on many topics, but you will not learn until you actually start playing. And unfortunately, playing terribly for a long time.

Bad habit #2     focusing on too many projects at once

If you are going to learn how to play flute, don’t also study the clarinet at the same time. The objective is to learn how to play one instrument competently. Once you have learned how to play that instrument then, you can start practicing another on the side.

Your body only has so much stamina and your lip muscles only have so much strength.

And you guitar players know: you’re fingers can only be cut up so much before they won’t play any more.

Bad habit #3     expecting immediate success.

It takes 9 months for the average baby to be born. The baby needs to develop fully before it is delivered. It would be ridiculous for an over-achieving parent to rip the baby out of the mother 5 months early just because they couldn’t wait any more for the child to come out naturally.

It takes time to learn and develop a business. It takes time to learn a language or an instrument.

Don’t rush things. Don’t read too much. Don’t have too high expectactions.

Find a plan. Stick to it. And practice

I have heard that the course Maverick Money Makers is good for beginners. I have  truthfully never checked it out myself because I started marketing online years before the course was invented.  But I do understand that you recieve video training, get a mentor, and have step by step blueprints to follow.

Whatever plan of action you take, just make sure and pick one, follow it, and practice, practice, practice.

1. Yahoo Buzz – http://buzzlog.buzz.yahoo.com/overall/

2. Google Hot Trends – http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?sa=X

3. Ebay Pulse – http://pulse.ebay.com/

How to Make Money Online Free With One Week Marketing

4. Amazon Best Sellers – http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers

5.  Flickr Hot Tags – http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/

These are only a few places to get you started. Having information like this is priceless when you know how to monetize it.

If you add any other hot searches links in the comment area and I will add them to the post and credit you AND your website (Do follow with hyperlinked keyword)

What’s you’re IQ?

For the past few weeks I have been trying different tricks to find great products to sell for the holiday seasons. To be totally truthful, I am not just looking for HOT products to sell but looking for products that people are searching for. Then, building websites around the major keyphrases and monetizing my sites with PPC, CPA and Affiliates.

By utilizing some of the ideas I learned from PotPie Girl, I have completely dominated the search engines for some products and am raking in some nice spending money.

Here’s 2 tricks I use (I’m keeping this post short so I’m not going into full details yet)

1. http://www.google.com/products

I go to Google’s Product Search and look at the “recently found” items. I spot a few products that look like they are good and jot them down in a scratch file. I refresh the page and continue until I fine about 50 products that look great.

Here’s an example:

2. Pick a product and type it into Google. Google gives HOT Search Suggestions

As you can see, the keyword suggestions are all useful for when I want to create my Niche website and articles.

If you really want to make a killing, utilize this idea with those of my article How to Make Money Online Free!

And as a special bonus, you will be noticed more than 98 percent of your competition.

Here’s the tip: Visual communication is 6 more times effective than plain text.

In other “words”:

They will also show how much research and time you put into your article.

Don Norman, author of Emotional Design, said in a Discover magazine article, “Beauty and the Beastly PC: The Graphics on Your Computer Screen Can Affect the Way You Feel—and Think,”

“I started out as an engineer, and I thought that what was really important was that something worked. Appearance—how could that matter? And yet for some reason, I would still buy attractive things, even if they didn’t work as well as the less attractive ones. This puzzled me. In the last two years, I’ve finally come to understand that it’s a result of the extremely tight coupling between emotion and cognition. Emotion is about judging the world, and cognition is about understanding. They can’t be separated.”

Here is an example of a Canadian poster used during WWII which became the “poster child” for other countries

There is nothing that is going to make a parent react more quickly than the thought of her child in danger

Final Thought:

If you put a lot of time and reasearch into your post, use photos and charts, and give proper credit, your post will surely give people inspiration and might even get a few backlinks.

1. Google Blog Search -

I’m always on the hunt to find new blogs leaave comments on. So, I go to Google Blog Search, type in a phrase I know something about like “How to make money online” and see what blog posts pop up.

If there is something worthwhile to add to the post I will and in the meantime get an extra backlink to one of my websites.

2. omgili.com

This is a great forum search. Type in a keyword and sign up to forums that you feel can be a use to you.  Make sure and leave your website address (hyperlinked with your target keyword) in your profile. And don’t forget to leave a signature with your posts.

3.  FeedAge.com

Sign up for a free account and add all your website feeds. For some reason Feedage links show up on the first few pages of Google. It’s a great resource to advertise your site and get you to the top of Google with your keywords.

If you know of any other sites please leave them in the comments below.

Warning: This article has absolutely NOTHING to do with Pay-Per-Click programs like AdSense.

Quick Tip: Do whatever it takes to get your visitors to take action

Whether you like it or not your visitors are not going to stay on your webpage all day – they ARE eventually going to leave.

So, why not direct them where to go next!

Isn’t that our job as an Internet Marketer? Aren’t we supposed to get our visitors to take some action when they are on our website?

Homework Assignment:

1. Find one of your pages that gets a lot of traffic
2. See what percentage of people take ANY action on that page (are they clicking on a link, filling out a form, buying a product, watching a video, etc..)
3. Do whatever it takes to increase the clickthrus. (Don’t be scared to try or add something different. Sometimes adding a goofy ad or a web poll can drastically increase the actions your visitors take)
4. Watch the video

I am currently subscribed to over 200 blogs in my Google Reader. Although I am tempted to delete a few of the “annoying” bloggers from the list I feel that there must have been a reason that I subscribed to them in the first place so I might as well just let them hang around a little.

Who gets read first
1. My favorite bloggers (Problogger, Copyblogger, 2 Create a Website, and a few others)

I will always start with my favorite bloggers. I know they regularly give valuable information and will not waste my time. EVEN if their headlines don’t attract my attention I will still read their posts because I don’t want to miss anything important. (I think that really says something).

2. The blogs of my friends (online business friends) and those who comment on my blog

I owe it it my readers and my friends to read their blogs. Although I know not every post I read will be valuable I think it is important to support the community.

3. The attention headline grabbers

After I read all the blogs in step 1 and 2, I will go down and click on every blog in alphabetical order to see if there are any headlines that stick out to me. If the headline looks good I will read the first paragraph or so of the post. If it hasn’t grabbed my attention by then I will probably move on to the next good headline. (I know I can miss out on some really great posts this way but I am not always very patient).

4. The bloggers “I’m supposed to” read

I don’t know why but bloggers like Shoemoney and John Chow don’t grab my attention. But, I will still read almost every one of their posts (If I have the time).

The perfect ingredients

1. Compelling headline
2. An article/post that delivers what is promised in the headline
3. Well researched, well proofread content.

I know after reading these three ingredients most of you are saying “Duh”. But, why is it that so many people write keyword stuffed garbage that gives no useful information. It’s easy to preach “don’t write for the search engines” but how many of you practice it?

Please take the time and look over some of your posts. See if your readers are really going to get value.

A few months back I was lucky enough to get my hands on the course “One Week Marketing”.

Although this is not the only course I have ever read, I will say it is the only one that I follow step by step every day.

A quick review of One Week Marketing and why I think you absolutely need this course
My rating 9/10

One week marketing is written by a lady who refers to herself as PotPie Girl. At first, this name turned me off, but I soon learned it was just a name she used in forums.

This course teaches you step by step how to choose a free affiliate product (from Click Bank) and sell it without spending any money. The methods she uses are real (I use them myself) and are extremely effective. I have personally dominated Google’s first page by using her tactics.

Although some people make money within the first 3 days of her methods, it took me about a week to start seeing money come in. (I didn’t mind the week because I was just glad to see money in my account)

Here are some Pros

• You can make a lot of money without spending a dime (You will eventually want to buy a few $1 domains)
• There is a step-by-step guide which spells out exactly what to do to make the money
• There is an action plan (Cheat sheet) guide for daily reminder
• You can read the first 18 pages for free
• You learn how to sell affiliate products instantly (By that I mean within a week)
• You learn how to dominate a Niche

Here are some cons

• Many people have already bought this course and are using her method (Luckily only 1 – 5 percent are actually taking action)
• Some of the techniques don’t work as well as they used to (Sometimes her methods can seem a little spammy. Places like Squidoo and Scrbd are starting to crack down on overt selling practices)

Overall Assessment

If you are lazy, this method is NOT for you. PotPie girl asks you to do a lot of work EACH WEEK.

Until you get used to the routine it can feel like a real job.

For those of you who don’t mind hard work – following her methods will bring you success. Marketing is a numbers game and she really teaches you how to play it.

I stake my reputation on this method. It works for me and if you utilize the tools properly it will work for you to.

If you want to get the first 18 pages free and learn how to make money online free, you can visit One Week Marketing!

Big Announcement

Starting November 1st I am going to be taking this blog to a whole new level.

I can’t share all the plans and details with you yet, but I am sure you are going to really benefit from each post.

Over the past few months I have been studying and implementing many free ways to make money online through my various websites. I have found many methods that work and many that didn’t (At least not for me)

I realized that finding a system that works for me and my personality was as hard as it was finding the perfect wife for me

Here’s where I need your help – but I will reward you

Almost every post from now on will be based on the theme “How to Make Money Online Free”. I know that many websites already have this theme, but, what will make this blog special is that I am going to give away REAL examples and REAL secrets.

Yes, that’s right.

I don’t believe in re-hashed methods, especially when a) they don’t work  b) they aren’t fully explained with real life examples   AND c) are impossible to implement without spending money

I would appreciate anyone who could link a url of a WordPress theme that will fit this theme.

As a reward, I will post your website link in the footer if I choose yours.

I have looked through thosands of themes but none of them have the clean look that I like.

Thanks in advance for your help.