Apparently there was some confusion about my last post regarding boycotting Squidoo. First off, my apologies if the points I was trying to make were unclear. It also seems from the comments that folks wanted to know if *I* thought we should boycott Squidoo….and I didn’t flat out give my answer. While I thought I was clear, it seems I was clear as mud… so let’s try this one more time.

Should We Boycott Squidoo?

I mainly was asking this question to all of YOU. I really wanted to know if YOU planned to boycott using the Squidoo site. I already know what *I* think…hahaha!

However, you, my readers, must not know what I think. According to this thread I just found in the Squidoo forum, I must have been VERY unclear now, and in years past, when I talk about Squidoo.

And that is MY bad.

So, based on that, I will ask MYSELF what I think about boycotting Squidoo (yes, I am talking to myself…and answering myself…again).

“PotPieGirl, do you plan to boycott Squidoo?”

“PotPieGirl, Do you think that other online marketers should boycott Squidoo?”

“PotPieGirl, do you think other marketers should still use Squidoo if it does NOT fit with their current online marketing plans or topics?”

If anyone thinks *I* plan to boycott Squidoo, they’ve lost their mind (and I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course).

Did you know there are over 700 sites out there that will allow you to make a free blog? There are over 460 free article directory sites and there is no telling how many free forums and social bookmarking sites and social networking sites there are – all allowing us to get our content online and found for free. Oh, and video sharing sites, and podcast sites…. and review sites, and RSS sites, and document and software sharing sites, and Press Release sites…. and on and on and on…all allowing us each to have a voice online for FREE.

I don’t plan to boycott a single one of them. If they don’t fit in with what I need, I simply won’t use them.

Free sites are designed to be authority-getters, link-getters, and traffic-getters. They are not designed to be MONEY-getters. However, in my opinion, Squidoo has made itself one of the rare sites online that will allow it to also be a money-getting site. Squidoo shares their revenue with you and allows affiliate links. That’s rare.

Squidoo has allowed affiliate links since Day 1 (and they still do). Squidoo allows you to use THEIR affiliate links via their earnings modules (like the eBay module or the Amazon module) and split the commission with you.

Squidoo knows folks sell stuff on their lenses 

In fact, recently Megan Casey (Editor-in-Chief for Squidoo) made a post on the Squidoo blog about a new, more interactive module/feature they are planning to add to Squidoo.  Creating things on your lens that promotes people to participate can make your lens more “sticky” – ie, people stay on your lens, read, and click when you want them to.

In Megans post she said,

When they can answer that, they’re more likely to dive in and participate as well, or at least get stickier and stay on your lens a little longer (until you tell them to leave, by recommending some action for them to take, like buying a book or visiting a blog).

Squidoo knows we make lenses to get reader interaction AND to get readers to sites WE recommend….and yes, to make money.

That makes Squidoo unique from most of the other free sites, doesn’t it? And, in my opinion, Squidoo is the perfect place to learn how to start affiliate marketing, testing markets, and getting some online income coming IN.

Once you have your own sites, Squidoo is the perfect place to also build a brand, promote your area of expertise or your business or your eBay store or your charity or your own product…

BUT…

You have to play by the rules.

If what you want to talk about is not allowed on the Squidoo site, then I would feel safe to say that Squidoo may not be the right site for you. However, that is a choice YOU would have to make for yourself. What *I* am doing may not apply to what you are doing.

Ok, now the big question…

“PotPieGirl, are you just saying this because One Week Marketing is another Squidoo guide?”

First off, One Week Marketing is not “just another Squidoo guide”… it is a beginners internet marketing guide, it is an internet marketing exposure guide, it is an action plan that focuses on using free sites and free methods to begin to make money online OR to gain exposure for your current online projects, your business, or your service OR both.

OWM was created by me to help ME clear the massive confusion I was experiencing while trying to make sense of internet marketing. It took me quite some time to break thru the brick wall of jumbled confusion, but once I did, it was all soooooo much easier for me.

It just so happens that Squidoo is a site that I focus on in One Week Marketing, but not ONLY Squidoo…and OWM does not have to be implemented on Squidoo. It works pretty dog-gone well on lots of free sites.

The main thing about One Week Marketing that I think either people miss (or haven’t read it to find out) is what is REALLY learned following the action plan.

Let’s do a brief over-view:

- Learn how to find a market
- Learn how to pick 5 or so relevant, low-competition keywords in that market
- Learn how to create a web page for each of those long-tail keywords
- Learn how to link those pages together for maximum exposure
- Learn how to get those web pages indexed by Google and other search engines
- Learn how to get traffic to those web pages

Wait a minute, doesn’t that sound like building a small niche website?

Why, yes it does

The beauty of One Week Marketing is that while many think they are only learning Squidoo marketing, they are in fact actually learning about online marketing…. oh, and using free methods.

What makes me feel really good is what *I* personally discovered when I started using the OWM Action Plan for my own online marketing. One day (in November 2007 to be exact), I realized it was time to reinvest some of my earnings from free methods and start to make my own sites.

When it came time to make my first niche site, I realized I already knew about picking the topic/niche… I already knew how to pick the keywords… I already knew how and why to link my pages together…I already knew how to get it indexed…. I already knew how to get traffic to it.

All I had to learn was how to use WordPress to build those niche blogs (which I teach for free at 6StepNicheSites.com ). The rest is very much the same.

It was quite the defining moment for me when I realized I already knew the basics for niche marketing online – and I haven’t looked back since.

After almost a year of One Week Marketing being available, I know that others….many others… have had that defining moment, too. They have gone on to twist and turn the OWM Action Plan into their own secret recipe – used it on all kinds of sites – added all kinds of sites – but they have had their defining moment and ran with it.

That feels AWESOME.

Internet marketing has flat out changed my life. No, not just my bank account, but my LIFE. I started with nothing – maybe less than nothing – and with the help of free sites like Squidoo, with pure grit and relentless determination, and with VERY little sleep, I turned that nothing into a nice heap of something and I’m still working it every, single day.

And now I know that with the help of 5 pdf guides from me, others are doing the same thing – taking nothing and turning into a whole heap of something. They didn’t let policy changes, or nay-sayers, or Google changes, or any of that get in their way.

They just keep moving forward. I am so proud of each and every one of you!

However, fact remains – and it’s in my face every, single day, that the majority of folks just don’t “get it” – or haven’t “gotten it” yet. Sadly, many quit any form of internet marketing long before they even give their brain a chance to experience their defining moment.

And that… well, that breaks my heart.

To summarize…

No, I am not boycotting Squidoo. No, I do not think other new online marketers should boycott Squidoo, either. However, it is a choice that you make for yourself.

So, let me ask the question I really wanted to hear the answer to from everyone…

Do YOU think YOU should boycott Squidoo?

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Should We Boycott Squidoo? (Part 2)

I don’t think it is any secret that PotPieGirl loves to make niche sites. I have a good bit of them and they are a source of consistent passive income for me each month. By passive, I mean that I did all the work on the front side, kicked them out of the nest to fly on their own, and now they bring me money each month…and I don’t have to do a thing. Are you interested in seeing a great way to get profitable ideas for your first, or your next, money-making niche site?

The Things People Just Give Away!

I found a real gem today. Through a weird process of steps…errr… clicks, I ended up on a fantastic blog. And on this fantastic blog was a link to a even MORE fantastic video. I want to share that with y’all today…but in just a minute.

Many of you are familiar with my 6StepNicheSites.com website. If you aren’t, it is a totally free tutorial website focuased completely on the topic of how to create money-making niche sites using WordPress.

I take you from the very beginning with topics like how to pick a topic, getting keywords, buying a domain name, getting a hosting account, installing WordPress on your site , etc… and we keep on all the way thru promoting your blog… and then kicking it from the nest so you can build ANOTHER niche website.

Now, one thing I don’t talk about in depth is how to choose keywords if you plan to monetize your niche site primarily with AdSense ads. There is SO much information out there about sub-quality ‘made for adsense’ sites that it is almost a negative thing to talk about now. I certainly didn’t want to come across as someone who was endorsing those kinds of sites.

What I wanted to teach others was how to create small, optimized, laser-targeted websites that have high-quality content..and I wanted to teach them how to use WordPress to accomplish this.

WordPress is…. well, it’s just awesome when it comes to creating a website. In all seriousness, if you can type email, you’ll be able to manage using WordPress. Gone are the days when you need high-tech HTML and coding skills to create a website. WordPress makes is SO SO SO much easier.

The Secret To Profitable Adsense Niche Sites

However, when you are creating niche websites, AdSense is a very common monetization option. In fact, with the right topic/keywords, you can make some good money each month just from the AdSense clicks.

But – How Do You Know WHICH Keywords Will Make Your Niche Site Profitable?

I have my own little way of getting an idea of what keywords will bring me more money with AdSense. Naturally, you can’t know for SURE, but you can definitely get a good idea. I thought about making a little pdf or video to show you what I do, but with all the craziness since One Week Marketing launched, I just never got to it.

So, that brings me back to today and my wandering on the wild, wild web (that IS what www stands for, right?)

I Found a SnowBall GoldMine

I came across SUCH a great blog… just a fabulous resource for those trying to make money in the blogging world. I read on that site for a long time… great info!

Then, I tripped into a goldmine.

Yes, an absolute GOLDMINE for snowball builders…

And…

IT WAS FREE!

This wonderful man links out to a 25 minute video he made that shows exactly how he goes about picking topics for his niche websites/blogs. He shows you, for FREE, exactly how he finds keywords that have the best opportunity for high paying AdSense clicks.

Right there… for free! I couldn’t believe it!

I want to share what I came across with you. I know, whether you are interested in AdSense for money-making niche sites or not, that you will get a lot out of the entire system as you get to watch and listen as he goes thru his process. It’s really good stuff!

But, we’re gonna make a deal first.

My readers here at PotPieGirl.com are awesome. Seriously! Y’all are some of the best people I have ever come across so I know this “deal” won’t be an issue – but I need to say it out loud anyway.

This blogger has gone thru a lot of effort to offer not only his video, but all the incredible content on his blog. He is GIVING AWAY this info to anyone and I imagine he is a bit like me when he hopes that maybe… just MAYBE….someone will follow through and DO what he shows.

So, I’m going to give you the link to the site, and you are going to do nothing less than leave this generous man a comment on his blog thanking him. If you do MORE than that, GREAT! I have NO DOUBT that it will be totally appreciated.

I will tell you that sometimes being a “helper blogger” can be…. well, it can be…. Odd – I’m at a loss for the right word. (TOTALLY unlike me to be at a loss for words! haha!)

Lonely. It can be lonely.

The SnowBall Effect

You see, we type and we give and we try…and sometimes it feels like we are talking to ourselves. Sometimes we feel “shunned” if we try to do anything but GIVE AWAY our info and learning for free. Sometimes we feel like no one puts any value in what we DO give away for free (because it was free) and no one just TRIES the method or tip or suggestion or idea.

While I can only really talk for myself, I will say that without sales of some sort, I couldn’t afford to be a “helper blogger” anymore, ya know? Being able to help others is a perk of my accomplishments, but sometimes it can feel as if it is a requirement.

I hope that makes sense? I certainly don’t want to sound like I am whining…. I just want it to be food for thought. I can promise that I am NOT whining – I LOVE what I do and I am incredibly blessed to be able to do it (and incredibly sleep deprived….hahahaha!)

I am a help-a-holic by nature, most likely from birth – it’s just how I am. It is just REALLY nice to come to place in my life, by my own hand, that I can afford to help.

I am so driven by my belief that ANYONE can do what I do. I started all this with nothing but a computer and internet connection, and I turned it into THIS.

If I didn’t think I would get arrested or booted from my community for being “that weird woman”, I would stand downtown at our town square (small Southern town. Yes, we have a town square…lol) and I would stop anyone who drove by and ask them two questions -

• 1. Do you need more money?
• 2. Do you have a computer and internet connection?

If the answers were “yes” and “yes” – Well, do I have an idea for them! It’s not about having resources – it’s about being resourceful. You don’t need a lot of money or a lot of time to do this, you just need the determination to DO IT. If you have faith and take the time to build the little snowball in your hand, you can then set it down and give it a shove downhill.

And it grows. It snowballs.

And… I am totally on my soap box again. Ugh! Bless my little heart! I’m sorry. I just REALLY believe in all this and I also believe there is room for EVERYONE. If the economy is pinching you – PINCH BACK! :::stepping off my soap box::::

Back On Topic

Part of the reason I can afford to help is because I am a BIG fan of money-making niche sites. I also would venture to guess that the reason Garry Conn can afford to help is because of his love of money-making niche sites. His blog is targeted to help others learn how to make money blogging - and the man does an amazing job of it (that said from one help-aholic to what looks to be another…lol)!

So head on over and read his post and watch his video on how to build a niche blog. You’ll like it =)

And I HOPE you’ll tell him thank you. He deserves it for putting that kind of help and free info online for all of us.

You can watch his video here.

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Money Making Niche Sites – The SnowBall Effect

Off To The Beach!

That’s right, Ma and Pa PotPie are taking all four PotPie kids (AND two of their friends) for a week long trip to the beach! We have all been looking forward to this trip for months…and now the time has come! The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind of wonderful things here at our house.

My 16 year-old daughter (will be 17 at the end of July) decided to kick it into high-gear for school. She was determined and driven (have no idea where she gets THAT from haha!), and the school let her take a big load for summer school classes. Yesterday, I took her for her final exams…and guess what? My 16 year old daughter is now a High School graduate!!!! That’s right, she is DONE! While she will get her diploma when we return from the beach, she won’t actually do the graduation walk/official ceremony until the rest of her class walks in the spring. She will start college classes after the first of the year. It is all SO exciting and I can’t even begin to express just how proud I am of her!

My son (who is 20) already graduated – so, two down… two to go. It will be quite some time for the younger two… they are 8 and 4 =)

Yesterday, we also FINALLY decided on a new family vehicle and it is set to be delivered here to the house in a few hours. Funny how things work out just when you need them to – the bigger vehicle will be wonderful to have for this trip =)

Joking with my hubby last night, I told him that in true ‘guru style’ that I should post pictures of me with new cars and sipping umbrella drinks on the beach….. hahahhaha! Totally NOT my style, but maybe a picture of me sipping a juice box while playing with the kids on the beach… or a picture of the new car with sand ALL in it… would be a LOT more realistic – and more my style!

I may or may not be posting to this blog while we are gone. Any of you that have been working online for a while KNOW that your family is ‘the reason’. My family has tolerated moms face at the computer for a LONG time… and the reason my face was stuck to the monitor was for all of us, and for moments like this next week. If the opportunity arises where I have time (ie, kids are ignoring me), I will post. I will be checking email, but please bear with me if it takes a little longer for me to respond. I really appreciate everyones patience!

Ok, enough about me…. I have found some great stuff for you to read while I am away. Since I haven’t done a PotPie Post in quite some time, I figured now would be a great time to have a totally UNfocused blog post that gives you some cool tools and tips.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool Improvements

First off, the Google AdWords/Keyword tool now has a wonderful addition of ACTUAL NUMBERS for search volume. Yes, REAL traffic numbers straight from Google! How wonderful! And how USEFUL! A big hat tip to Jim Morris for letting me know this from an email. You can read all about it thru that link. You can also read what WebProNews had to say about the traffic volume stats now being shown on AdWords keyword tool here or just go try the AdWords keyword tool directly here:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Should Big Time Bloggers Help Newbies?

Monika, over at Court’s Internet Marketing School, made a very insightful post about ‘big time’ bloggers and returning emails from those that ask for help and direction. I really liked this post AND the discussion that followed in the comments area.

Article Marketing Advice and Tips

Over at my own 6StepNicheSites.com blog, I have made two posts recently on the topic of article marketing (also known as Bum Marketing to many of you).

How To Get Affiliate Links In Article Marketing Articles

How Long Should an Effective Article Be?

Will Your Niche Be Profitable?

On the same blog, I also made a post about testing the potential profitability of a niche. When you start out building niche websites, you might have concerns about whether or not you should even bother with a niche market. This article could help some of you with that question when you wonderful if you have a profitable niche.

Also on the topic of niche websites, I came across this little gem of a case-study. The author is quite successful online and produced a very low-key blog that details his whole process of building a niche website. I enjoyed the read and I think it is good reading AND good learning.

Niche Research

This handy, dandy free niche research tool I found is just wonderful. Ever have to research and learn about a niche before you could write your content? It takes a while to sort thru all the Google search returns to get to the ‘meat’, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could summarize and page or search results and just get the gist of it all?

You can!

Try these neat tool that will summarize the content of a web page:

Gist a Web Page – just drag the little tool link to your bookmarks and you can simply click ‘gist it’ for any page you are on

Gist Search Results – THIS is WONDERFUL. Go ahead, type a keyword in and see what it gives you!

Ok, that’s it from me for a little bit. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I’ll be back before you know it. MAYBE by the time I get back, my locked Squidoo lens will be UNlocked! haha!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Heading To The Beach – A PotPie Post Of Great Stuff

If you’re like me, you’ve been busting it on Squidoo for over a year now. You’ve got a dashboard full of lenses… maybe even dashboardS full of lenses. You’re making some regular income straight from Squidoo each month, and you’re also making money from various affiliate programs. You have also learned how to create online content, probably learned some HTML and a few things about graphics, too. More importantly, you have learned how to get traffic to your web page in the form of organic traffic from Google and other search engines and from social traffic. Even more importantly, you have learned how to get TARGETED traffic to your Squidoo web page that converts into sales.

Do you realize the learning curve you have conquered?

Do you realize how much you know?

…and the biggest question of all….

Do You Realize The Goldmine That Sits Within Your Squidoo Dashboard?

Yes, that’s right… a goldmine. Sorry to use such a hypey word, but it really is a treasure chest of information sitting right there in front of you.

Let me give you a real-life example:

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a lensmaster named PotPieGirl. PotPieGirl was cranking out Squidoo lenses as fast as her little hands would allow. Within a short time, she noticed that one lens in particular was doing very, very well. That lens was making consistent affiliate sales. In fact, it was converting at something like 40%, meaning 40 of every 100 visitors bought the offered product. Nice, huh? Thing is, that lens didn’t get a lot of traffic, but the traffic it DID get was highly targeted. Oddly, when looking at keyword research for the appropriate search terms for this lens revealed nothing exciting. Had she known more about keyword research when she made this lens, she never would have messed with it.

However, she DID make the lens and the lens proved to be a brilliant testing ground for the market of that niche. PotPieGirl looked at her stats and suddenly this glowing lightbulb went off over her head.

“If ONE web page is making this many sales, what if I have a niche SITE to use in conjunction with it?”

One web page = good

Many web pages AND an additional site = WAY BETTER

But, what keywords would she use? The keyword research wasn’t any real help.

Oh, wait….. what about the traffic stats for that lens on her Squidoo dashboard? If her lens ranks #6 for those keywords folks were using to get to her Squidoo page, what if a niche site ranked #4 and #5 for the same searches? Or even #9 and #10?

A-HA!

And from that moment on, PotPieGirl started making niche sites using the research her Squidoo lenses gathered for her…and she lived happily ever after.

So, how many of you just had a little lightbulb pop over your head? If only ONE of you raises your hand, I will know that at least ONE person is now on their way to making REAL money online. I will know that at least ONE person is about to make the smart move to OWNING virtual real estate. I will know that at least ONE person thinks like me =)

Some Straight Talk About Squidoo and You

I want to talk straight here… completely blunt and honest… but before I do, I want to make my disclaimer heard perfectly clear.

I love Squidoo. I love the Squidoo community. I love the Squidoo staff. AND I think Seth Godin is a genius. In my opinion, Seth Godin has helped change the internet by reducing the entry requirements needed to be ‘heard’ online. He has helped changed the internet from a place full of online brochures and annoying advertisements, and turned it into a place of creativity, recommendation, and interaction. Best yet, you don’t have to be a high-tech person OR pay a single penny to be a part of it. To me, Squidoo is THE best ‘online marketing school’ there is, period. I don’t care if you are marketing an ebook or talking about your pet ferret – it is all a form of online marketing.

The most brilliant part of the whole thing is that somehow, he has made it so THOUSANDS of individuals spend every waking second BUILDING HIS WEBSITE – and…. BRINGING TRAFFIC TO HIS SITE.

Absolute Genius!

Right up there with YouTube and MySpace, isn’t it? No wonder both those sites sold for sick amounts of money!

Ok – enough of my bragging on Mr Godin… let’s talk about YOU.

Do you know that YOU are busting your bottom to not only build a website that belongs to someone else, but to also drive traffic to it? What if one day you wake up, and Squidoo is gone? What if it gets sold to a new owner who says, “No More Selling ANYTHING on Squidoo?” and it becomes a real fancy article directory? I have no idea if these things will ever happen, but the fact remains – you are building a site you have no control over.

Why aren’t you using even HALF that energy to create YOUR OWN sites? If you have 100 lenses, you have built a 100-page website…. or ten 10-page niche sites.

Why aren’t you building your own network of small, profit making niche sites that you do some work on the front side, and then ’set it and forget it’ – and it continues to earn you money? Why don’t YOU own some virtual real estate?

Common answers I hear are:

“It costs too much”

“I don’t know how to make niche sites”

“It’s too hard”

“I don’t have time”

You have time to build the Squidoo site, right? So, you have time to build your own online business. Squidoo seemed too hard when you first started, right? You are plenty smart enough to learn how to build niche sites, too – in fact, you already know a LOT of what others don’t know.

You don’t know how to build niche sites? You didn’t know how to ‘do Squidoo’ either at one time, right? I have spent a LOT of time making a complete website where you can learn – for FREE – how to make niche websites at 6StepNicheSites.com.

Building Niche Sites Is Too Expensive

Oh, I LOVE this answer. Did you know that you can have your OWN niche site up and online TODAY for a grand total investment of $5.96. Yes, five dollars and ninety-six cents.

Ok, but how much will it cost to own niche sites every month following the first month?

Let’s do some math for owning 10 niche websites using the 6 Step Niche Sites method.

Buy 10 domain names = $59.50

Hosting account for a year = $109.46

Grand total one year investment = $168.96

Average Cost Per Month to Own Ten Niche Sites = $14.08

Average Cost Per Month PER Website = $1.41

ONE DOLLAR AND FORTY-ONE CENTS!

Is THAT too expensive?

How Much Does A Niche Site Need To Make To Be Profitable?

Think you could make ten small websites that earn even $2 a month each? First off, I have NO DOUBT that you can, and secondly, if they each make only two bucks a MONTH – you have STILL made a profit.

And let’s keep this in mind. If a niche site makes one affiliate sale a month for a commission of $30 – that site has earned an average of one dollar A DAY. If all ten sites make just ONE $30 commission a month….

That is $300 for a net profit of $285.92!

Folks, I could go on and on about the benefits of doing this, but I know I need to hush now. There ARE some folks reading this that really do get it.

It all comes down to this choice:

a) Do You Want To Build Someone ELSES website and Make THEM rich, or

b) Do You Want To Build YOUR OWN Websites and Make YOURSELF rich?

If your answer is ‘b’ – get over to 6StepNicheSites.com and start learning how to make niche websites.

Thank you for letting me get all this off my chest! I feel much better now

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Hey Squidoo’rs – Can We Talk?

Introducing the 6StepNicheSites Blog

If you have questions about making mini-sites with WordPress, I’ve got answers (ok, or I can FIND answers!) I’ll do my best to help expand of more specific parts of each of the 6 steps. I realize this is all very new to some folks, and the last thing I want to do is over-whelm my readers with info OVER-load. I believe that each of you CAN do this and it is my goal to break the process down into small, easy-to-repeat steps that you can do over and over again.

You can find the 6 Step Niche Sites Blog here (www.6StepNicheSites.com/blog). So far, I have explained how Unique Article Wizard works, I have answered questions about how to put eBay ePN affiliate RSS feeds on WordPress niche sites for free, and…..

How to get HostGator for ONE CENT!

Yes, for ONE CENT! Just think, if you get a cheap domain here for $5.95 and then a one cent hosting account – you can have your very first WordPress niche site live for a great big investment of…

Five dollars and ninety-six cents! Yes, $5.96!

Nice!

Anyway, I hope you will check out the blog. There is a contact form you can use to ask questions to me directly, too.

Just a Note About The 6 Step Blog

You all know that I am in favor of no-nofollow blogs. THIS blog is a no-nofollow blog. If you post a comment (AND I approve it), Google will follow your links on your comment back to your sites.

However, the 6 Step Niche Blog is NOT no-nofollow. For now, all comments on that blog are nofollow. I want that blog to be a learning area and NOT a promotion area. I also want to discourage the ‘drive-bys’ that drop a comment link and leave.

In time, as the site ages and develops Page Rank and authority, I will consider a plug in that removes the nofollow from the comments of people who have already made a certain amount of comments.

I hope you understand. I want that to be a safe place for those that are serious about learning to make niche sites to ask questions and get answers.

Ok, thats it from me for the day- and it just might be ‘it’ from me for the weekend. I have been VERY busy – made the 6 Step blog and FOUR niche sites in the last 48 hours.

Now, I plan to go out with the hubby and play a little indoor golf at Bottom of the Cup (maybe take some money off him, too. haha! Oh boy, if he reads this I will NEVER live it down!).

This weekend I will be doing really fascinating things like laundry and dishes and cleaning the house. Since I AM a ‘real person’, my ‘real home’ is getting to look like a disaster area with my lack of attention. Any volunteers to clean the toilets? haha!

I will still check my email periodically so no fear of me just disappearing =)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

New – 6StepNicheSites Blog

What Online Marketing Newbie Has a PLAN?

Maybe I am one of the weird ones…. ok, I KNOW I am ‘weird’ =) But when I came to my computer looking to make money, I didn’t have a plan. The only ‘plan’ I had was to TRY and figure out how all this stuff works.

It was frustrating. It was WAY over-whelming. It was confusing. I felt dumb and incapable – especially whenever I would hear more experienced marketers tell us newbies that we needed a plan.

It also seemed like every time I turned around, those ‘experienced marketers’ were also trying to SELL me a plan. Go figure. (Yes, that was said with a good bit of sarcasm)

To me, asking an absolute newbie to internet marketing what their plan is, feels the same as asking a first-time mother, in the hospital with her newborn, how she plans to potty-train her new bundle of joy.

It’s a question that breeds anxiety and feelings of inadequacy….and blank stares.

My Advice to Internet Marketing Newbies

Folks, if you are new to all this – relax. Take it easy on yourself. Just like the first-time mother hasn’t even changed a single diaper when she is asked about potty-training, you haven’t yet made the rounds thru the poop online =) Ok, sorry, maybe that is a bad analogy, but perhaps you get what I am talking about.

When I was a newbie-

I knew NOTHING. Literally, N-O-T-H-I-N-G. I didn’t know what FTP was, or php, or HTML, or making words that you could click and it linked to another web page… I didn’t know what keywords are or how to find them. I didn’t know what ClickBank was… or what a hop-link was, let alone what an ‘affiliate link’ was. Heck, I didn’t even know what PayPal was! Things like Page Rank, and SERPS, and bookmarking….not a clue. Meta tags, title tags, bounce rate, RSS…..nada. Seriously, I could go on an on about all the things I DIDN’T know…and probably really embarrass myself in the process, but again, perhaps you get what I am talking about.

My point is this… If you are really a ‘newbie’ to internet marketing, you REALLY don’t know anything. And guess what? IT’S OK TO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT INTERNET MARKETING!

The Plan All Newbies SHOULD Have

The only plan any internet marketing newbie should have is this…

READ

LEARN

PROCESS

TRY

MAKE MISTAKES

READ MORE

LEARN MORE

MAKE MORE MISTAKES

BEAT HEAD AGAINST WALL

REPEAT

Then one day – you read something and a little light goes off. You have an “A-HA” moment where something clicks into place. Suddenly, you don’t feel like an outsider looking in – you feel like you are finally INSIDE.

And then something even better happens. You earn some money from all your fumbling around online. I don’t care if its 6 cents from AdSense, or your first payment from Squidoo, or an affiliate sale – YOU MADE MONEY. I will ALWAYS remember my first online earnings… my first check from Clickbank…my first AdSense clicks (and MONTHS later actually getting an actual PAYMENT from AdSense…haha).

There is no feeling like it.

And the power of it all… WOW! Just think about it. Between your brain and your fingers that made your online creation… you made money online. I don’t know about any of the other readers here that are now making money online, but for me, those first earnings were like a dose of a highly addictive drug.

The internet marketing ‘monkey’ was on my back. I was hooked. And hear me clearly – I wasn’t ‘hooked’ on the idea of becoming a millionaire, or making money fast and easy overnight…nothing like that hypey stuff you read.

I was hooked on the fact that I now had the power to change the quality of my life… and my family’s life…and our future.

By January of this year, I was so blown away with how it all really CAN work, that I wanted to tell everyone I knew to start some sort of online business. I want everyone I know to learn how to own and create small mini-sites that earn money…I wanted all newbies to learn about Squidoo… I wanted everyone to learn a way to make some money online because it CAN be done. I moved this blog to WordPress and changed my whole over-all theme to helping others learn how to do this, too.

The Two Things IM Newbies MUST Have To Make It All Work

There are two things that I feel that those coming online to earn money will simply HAVE to have. These things can not be bought and they can’t be given to you. There is no ebook or ’super-system’ that will teach these things, either.

The two things are:

Curiosity and Determination

I have always been a painfully curious person. As a child, my curiosity was a real pain in the you-know-what to the adults around me, but that same trait has really helped me out when I became an adult.

My trait of determination (also referred to as ‘too stubborn’ by my loving spouse haha!) has been my saving grace that kept me staring at this computer screen all this time.

Those two traits combined made me someone who was determined to figure out how all this works. I refused to give up. I knew there was a way and by golly, I was going to do whatever it took to figure out my way to be a part of it.

My curiosity and my determination got me to where I could finally….

Have a plan =)

Now, you may notice that I didn’t say that ‘desperation’ was a needed trait to make money online. Folks, I am going to be honest with you… If you NEED money NOW and you think online is the answer – it most likely won’t work for you if you are a complete newbie. Worse yet, that same desperation can make you extremely vulnerable to those online personalities that would be more than happy to sell you a plan. Be careful.

Making money online is not much different than trying to start ANY business – you have to start at the beginning. There simply are no short-cuts to success….not even online.

Read…read more…learn….learn more. As I always say, “If you are willing to do for a year what others won’t, you can spend the rest of your life doing what others CAN’T”.

How Long Will It Take To Learn Internet Marketing?

Expect to spend no less than a year in the learning phase. Expect to spend a year before you personally have a plan. If you accomplish it in less than a year – GREAT! But don’t expect it to happen in less than a year.

In my personal opinion, I think all newbies should start at Squidoo. While learning to make Squidoo lenses, you will learn about keywords, and getting traffic, and creating content…and you are learning it all for free… oh, and Squidoo will be paying YOU to learn.

Once you have gotten a good bit of lenses, you will have probably earned some money from Squidoo (money that will keep coming every month whether you make another lens or not), you will probably have made some other income from affiliate sales (again, more potential earning streams that you no longer need to work), and most importantly, you will most likely have learned a LOT about internet marketing.

At that point you will have monthly income coming in from your online business that you can now re-invest into owning your own little piece of the internet…AND you will have the knowledge to learn how. At that point, you are ready for a site like 6StepNicheSites.com.

My Final Advice To Newbies

This post has gotten very long (even for lil’ Miss Prolific…haha).

As I close, let me say this – if you don’t understand something, ask me. I get a ton of email from newbies every day and I LOVE it. Seriously, those emails help keep me ‘real’. I don’t want to get so involved here on PotPieGirl.com that I am talking above heads and I’m not helping anyone.

Also, if you don’t know how to swim, would you jump in the deep end of the pool? Would you PAY someone to be able to jump in the deep end? I think not.

Keep your credit card safely in your wallet until you have learned how to swim.

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

About Your Online Money Making Plan…

6StepNicheSites.com has been brewing in my brain for some time. Yes, I considered making it an ebook and selling the information. I also considered making it a membership-type site and/or offering some sort of mentor program. But something about charging for this information just didn’t feel right to me. I have been SO blessed and the folks I have met in this online marketing world have all been so wonderful… why is it ‘bad business’ to give information I have for free? It’s not really about business to me…

Why My Readers Are THE BEST EVER!

I believe in trying to give more than I get – but folks, you… each of you that are readers of PotPieGirl.com… have absolutely blown me away!

Do You Know What This Is?

That is a traffic graph for 6StepNicheSites.com. The first part represents the past few days before I “finished” the site, and that last HUGE leap in color represents what happened the last 24 or so hours since the site was announced!

Holy Cow!

Believe it or not, I was actually getting ‘accidental’ traffic to that site the past few weeks – and actually had some wonderful emails and comments from folks that stumbled across the few steps that had some content on them. But all-in-all, the site was getting maybe 30 or so organic visitors a day. I haven’t done any real off-site promotion or back link building for it… heck, Google didn’t even index it right at first… but a few visitors trickled in anyway. (Why is that when you WANT traffic, it feels hard to get it, but when you are hoping no one will find a site yet – PRESTO, there they are? LMAO!)

But yesterday, as tired as I was, I couldn’t tear myself away from my stats as I watched the traffic pour in… I couldn’t stop opening the wonderful emails I was receiving, either. This little 11-page website was getting some love =) Y’all are so wonderful!!!!

What People Are Saying About 6StepNicheSites.com

“… Wow, what a great site that turned out to be!!! I am going to blog about it on monday. You are awesome…. This is a great resource and I will add it to a bunch of my internet marketing lenses on squidoo as well. “

Thanks for being YOU!!

-Jackie from Internet Marketing Strategy for Moms

“I’m signed up but I gotta say I love it when women ‘talk straight’ like you do! There was a time when nobody on the net was talking that way. Nowadays, a few do, but not nearly enough…”

-Art from Wandering Salsero

“You rock. I love your http://www.6stepnichesites.com. I’ve purchased material from you before, and have been nothing but happy about the results they have brought me. I appreciate your straightforward and easy-going writing. So I’ve decided to follow your plan on that website, and document every step in my first niche blog….Thanks for being such a reliable resource. All the best,Brian (a huge fan)”

-Brian (follow Brian’s progress on Twitter)

“Oh boy, I am SO ready for this…you’re the best, Jennifer!”

-Cheryl from Lake Mary Musings

“I have just luckily run into your “thesis” on 6 Step Niche Sites. I don’t know if it is new or old, just that it may have kept me from throwing in the towel after trying for two months to get started.”

-Saul (Saul found my site LONG before it was finished. Thank you, Saul – you let me know I was on the right track!)

What’s Next for 6StepNicheSites.com?

I’ve already had some questions emailed to me that have set me to work creating some tutorial pdfs for readers. It looks like there are some areas that need to be expanded on – but its info that doesn’t need to go into each actual step/blog post.

But what else? Seriously, I am asking YOU. What would make 6StepNicheSites.com better? What information did I miss? What info was I too vague on when I covered it? What else would be helpful – another blog? a forum?

All you long-term Squidoo’rs out there – I’m sure you’re ready to make the next step into online marketing… what would help YOU?

I want to hear what your thoughts are. I want to make 6StepNicheSites.com the best resource for creating WordPress niche websites around.

Also, I’ve had inquiries about a potential affiliate program (wow, thank you!). Would anyone be interested in that if I can dream up a good program? I’ve tossed around the idea of paying to advertise on other sites….not just ‘other’ sites, but your sites. Those blogs and websites where people ‘like us’ really hang out. Naturally, I can’t pay a ton to advertise on your site….but, well, would anyone be interested in that?

I’m just tossing ideas out there, but what I really want to hear are YOUR ideas.

Go on, throw ‘em at me… Let’s see if something ’sticks’!

To all of you…. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

My Readers ROCK!