Introductions Thread

[eliquid]

By old school, do you mean updating meta tags and stuffing your kw at the bottom of the page 3000 times and making it the same color as your background?

 

[coopreme]

By old school, do you mean updating meta tags and stuffing your kw at the bottom of the page 3000 times and making it the same color as your background?

The good old days. Add in some directory "links" and you've got yourself a "legitimate" business!

 

[ari]

How old school are we talking here? Have you stayed in the game this whole time? What kind of projects are you working on these days? Are you seeing the success you want to any degree?

10+ years? I took a hiatus for a little bit to work on a SaaS after getting my ass kicked one too many times by Goog, but then came back to it, because a)I'm good at it and b) it works, and c) there's still a marketplace for this stuff (in terms of buyers who will buy legit sites).

I'm working in a few key verticals that I've always worked in and have relationships in. I am mostly seeing the success I want, the last few weeks (pre penguin 4 as well), have been odd, with a lot of jumping around etc. But overall, things are going up and to the right, which is what I always want. I'm an impatient person but somehow I manage.

By old school, do you mean updating meta tags and stuffing your kw at the bottom of the page 3000 times and making it the same color as your background?

Among many other things, sure. But if you wanted to properly date me it would be closer to when TLA was legit, and all you had to do to rank for nice money terms was buy some links to an old expired domain. Heh, not much has changed. You (eliquid) also know me from Smax's other forum.

The good old days. Add in some directory "links" and you've got yourself a "legitimate" business!

It took me a long time to realize this, but "legitimate" is determined solely by the people who will pay for the biz. In other words, the marketplace determines at any given time if your biz is legit or not. I am not talking about the legal/ethical side, but solely on the who sends you traffic and how dependent you are on them for your traffic.. And right now, the marketplace is saying, we're all for whatever works..

 

[Samedi]

Sup man, welcome

Thank you & thanks all for the likes.
WOW! Where DID the last 10 months go?!? Life likes it's little surprises & the last year has seen more than a few.
( I'll spare y'all the morbid details. )
Just got back here within the last couple of weeks. I've been reading intensively & giving significant consideration/actual thought to the mind-blowing stuff offered. Just amazing! Y'all give me hope ( and some sorely needed confidence ) for which I thank thee!
Because of that I've been looking for SOME way of giving back. Alas, I'm not qualified to give advice on most of the topics I've read, UNTIL...
I found one where I could add something of worth, BUT...

1) I realized I hadn't even Thanked our hosts for the place.
2) It just seemed kind o' "uncool" to wander in & offer up opinion with my SECOND freakin' post in my 1st year here.
3) I need [3] to query & participate on other topics around BUSO, yeah?
( mostly #2, fwiw )

So, thanks again, folks! Going to do my best to
learn,
apply,
ball,
give back,
rinse,
repeat.

 

[Ryuzaki]

See ya in 10 months!

Just kidding. Drop your advice, we don't care if it's first, second, or 100th post. Good info is good info! Glad to have you back around.

 

[Repz]

Hey guys! Glad to find a relevant no-bullshit IM forum that's still alive.

It's likely that not many people know who me, but I started my so called IM career back in 2010. Back then, I used to lurk and post on BHW, but sadly that forum hasn't been very good for a long time. Then mostly lurked WF for a while (RIP), finally found this place and it seems like this is where the remaining online ballers have emigrated.

I've been kind of lazy for the past 1,5 years, focusing more on doing the "digital nomad" thing and photography over my business, I guess it was a combination of a burnout and a success barrier, but somehow things didn't crash... which is a miracle because for example it seems that like 30% of my PBN has gone down, expired or been hacked, I literally hadn't checked it for about a year. Jeez. Really embarrassing how lazy I've been. Time to get back into the game!

 

[Samedi]

Hey Repz. Howsit?
Your story sounds remarkably familiar. And I've found not just an astounding wealth of intel here but also some long lost motivation. See you around, I hope.

Start here...

 

[Repz]

Start here...

That's gold! Read the on-page SEO part so far, seems to sum everything up perfectly, lots of stuff I hadn't previously known or considered as well... Definitely gonna read the whole thing now.

 

[Ryuzaki]

That does sound incredibly fortunate that your sites and rankings didn't tank or weren't deindexed. I'm sure that ranking and establishing some user metrics like CTR and Pogosticking back to the SERPs helped keep you there despite 30% of your PBN going down.

What kind of projects do you think you'll be getting into at this point?

 

[Repz]

That does sound incredibly fortunate that your sites and rankings didn't tank or weren't deindexed. I'm sure that ranking and establishing some user metrics like CTR and Pogosticking back to the SERPs helped keep you there despite 30% of your PBN going down.

What kind of projects do you think you'll be getting into at this point?

Well to be fair, a bunch of sites did tank, but the biggest site that is my main business didn't. It's only dropped slightly from top 3-6 to bottom 6-8 for the main kw. But, of course, it has a whole bunch of other high quality links, a strong brand and a some affiliates as well. It basically runs on autopilot after hiring customer support - which is exactly what made me lazy and complacent I reckon. I tried to sell it before but no luck, now I'm glad I didn't.

So before getting into any new projects, gonna try to milk this to its true potential. Updating the main site a lot more, hiring someone to maintain and market it better while I'm looking into starting another brand in the same niche. Some of the competitors run 3 or 4 even, so it seems like a proven strategy.

Oh and of course gotta fix that damn pbn, lol.

Then in the future, maybe apps. Curious if anyone here has invested into apps or has experience in that field?

 

[SSG]

I found this website by clicking around SerpWoo. Ended up in their blog section and found this (Sorry I didn't read it, Ryuzaki):

Saw "BuilderSociety.com" and thought, "well that sounds like an interesting website..let's look around". I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy what I saw. The fact that there was a crash course available for anyone to read without signing up made me want to sign up!

But anyways, I guess I should mention something about me, right? I'm nothing impressive unlike some of the members here (-cough- The Bragging Thread -cough-), I have been focusing on SEO for about a year now. One website I have is a micro niche site with a exact match domain, it's ranking and getting some traffic. I am monetizing with Amazon Native Ads but nothing has converted to a sale yet.

Thinking about going the local route. Build one website that would act like a service guide to the area, that way I can have lots of options and not be trapped like the website I mentioned above. Not sure if that'll be a good idea though.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read this intro from silly old me!

 

[Concept]

Hey SSG, great to have you on board.

Good bunch of guys here. If you are looking at going down the local route, check out my Journal (link in signature). I've got two local sites, one which is making money, one is new and getting there. It will give you an idea of what you can do, and mistakes I made along the way (lots). Feel free to ask questions.

Enjoy your time here mate

 

[Ryuzaki]

(Sorry I didn't read it, Ryuzaki):

One website I have is a micro niche site with a exact match domain, it's ranking and getting some traffic. I am monetizing with Amazon Native Ads but nothing has converted to a sale yet.

Very nice. I'd suggest using text links as well as the Native Ads, and doing review posts of the "Best _____" and "____ Reviews" style. Link images back to Amazon too, only when you show the product itself using the picture from Amazon (okay to resize it and crop it though).

Glad you've signed up. A lot of us use Amazon here and will be happy to help out.

 

[SSG]

Hey SSG, great to have you on board.

Good bunch of guys here. If you are looking at going down the local route, check out my Journal (link in signature). I've got two local sites, one which is making money, one is new and getting there. It will give you an idea of what you can do, and mistakes I made along the way (lots). Feel free to ask questions.

Enjoy your time here mate

Thanks for the welcome Concept! I'll be sure to check out your Journal as I'm sure there will be tons of great stuff in there!

Very nice. I'd suggest using text links as well as the Native Ads, and doing review posts of the "Best _____" and "____ Reviews" style. Link images back to Amazon too, only when you show the product itself using the picture from Amazon (okay to resize it and crop it though).

Glad you've signed up. A lot of us use Amazon here and will be happy to help out.

Thanks for the tip Ryuzaki! I'll get going on writing some new articles for that project and add in some text links to help with generating more leads to Amazon. Plus, I need to work on my writing skills anyways.

 

[lion1978]

Hav you thought about writing with a specific product in mind for your articles, find a problem it solves then write thee article based on that and then add a call to action subtle or un subtle which ever way you want.

Oh and welcome to the greatest place on eath

 

[SSG]

Hav you thought about writing with a specific product in mind for your articles, find a problem it solves then write thee article based on that and then add a call to action subtle or un subtle which ever way you want.

Oh and welcome to the greatest place on eath

I have thought about it but I used to think that I was a horrible writer and only paid other people to write for me. I have changed my mindset and decided to git gud at writing so I'm looking into that as an option now.

Thanks for the welcome by the way! Loving this place more and more every time I revisit it!

 

[lion1978]

I have thought about it but I used to think that I was a horrible writer and only paid other people to write for me. I have changed my mindset and decided to git gud at writing so I'm looking into that as an option now.

Awesome, you've already made the most important change which is your mindset, a quick tip for writing awesome content is to write it for ONE person, or keeping one person in mind as you write your content this way you automaticlly write in a more personal way than if you are trying to write for anybody who might land on your page.

Another tip is probably going to sound harsh, but when you think about it I'm confident that it will make sense to you the tip is: Realize that nobody cares about you.
What you should get from that statement, is that whenever it is possible to change the narrative from I to YOU do it, it makes your content much more relatable for the person reading it, because the see them self in what they read, which leads me to my final writting tip ( at least for this time) when ever you do write with a product and/or problem/solving in mind start writing WIIFM's (What's In It For Me) because that is going to be what your reader is thinking in the back of their minds, often in the subconciouse part of the brain.
for every feature a product or service has think about how it helps to solve a problem, what does the feature do for you and/or your audience.

Hope my english was at least somewhat understandable if not then shoot away the questions and I'll be happy to clarify.

 

[SSG]

Awesome, you've already made the most important change which is your mindset, a quick tip for writing awesome content is to write it for ONE person, or keeping one person in mind as you write your content this way you automaticlly write in a more personal way than if you are trying to write for anybody who might land on your page.

Another tip is probably going to sound harsh, but when you think about it I'm confident that it will make sense to you the tip is: Realize that nobody cares about you.
What you should get from that statement, is that whenever it is possible to change the narrative from I to YOU do it, it makes your content much more relatable for the person reading it, because the see them self in what they read, which leads me to my final writting tip ( at least for this time) when ever you do write with a product and/or problem/solving in mind start writing WIIFM's (What's In It For Me) because that is going to be what your reader is thinking in the back of their minds, often in the subconciouse part of the brain.
for every feature a product or service has think about how it helps to solve a problem, what does the feature do for you and/or your audience.

Hope my english was at least somewhat understandable if not then shoot away the questions and I'll be happy to clarify.

Thanks! It's one of many things I'm trying to change my mindset on these day and become more disciplined.

I really do appreciate that tip you mentioned about nobody cares about me. I was always worried about what if people hate my writing or bash it, but not anymore, they'll either hate it or love it.
Also, I can't believe I never actually thought about writing in a WIIFM style. Makes a lot of sense and I'll be keeping that in mind today when I write my first article for my new website.

Your english is perfectly fine and I understood everything you wrote, thank you for taking the time and writing that out for me!
PS: I'd "like" you but I can't figure out where that is on this forum lol

 

[Deluge]

Hi everyone,

I'm a writer with several years' experience producing news items, feature articles, interviews, and reviews for a whole range of high-profile publications. It's safe to say that I have an exceptional command of the English language, and it allowed me to do well for myself while I was studying and working as an adjunct university lecturer.

I'm now starting to take myself seriously as a freelancer. I have some copywriting experience, turning out blog posts, and marketing material.

I would also be very happy to receive any words of wisdom, advice, or help any of you could offer about how to get into the game and sustain myself while I'm in it.

Thanks!

 

[lion1978]

No problem, and awesome that my english writing is still understandable.

btw. the like button is in the lower right corner of the post.

Oh and another thing on writing is try whenever possible to write in short sentences and paragrahs and not use to many fancy prancy academic words to make your content easy to read (this is the one thing Im seem to struggle with).
A great tool to messure readabillity is called readabillity-score.com I belive it is, it's free fto use for about three times per day or something.

 

[SSG]

No problem, and awesome that my english writing is still understandable.

btw. the like button is in the lower right corner of the post.

Oh and another thing on writing is try whenever possible to write in short sentences and paragrahs and not use to many fancy prancy academic words to make your content easy to read (this is the one thing Im seem to struggle with).
A great tool to messure readabillity is called readabillity-score.com I belive it is, it's free fto use for about three times per day or something.

Thanks, found it!

I will keep that tip in mind when I write another article today. Yesterday I definitely used too many fancy words. Going to have to go back and edit it to make it.
I'm definitely going to use that readability tool. Sometimes I feel like I just get carried away while writing and forget about that.

 

[lion1978]

Yeah I think most of us has fallen into that trap of using to much fancyness in our wording.
Readability-score is definatly one of my go to tools when writing, the only thing u have to keep in mind when using it ofcourse is that for some topics yu'd actualy expect a low score for example if you are writing about rocket science, there will inevitably be terms and phrases that will bring the score down, sbut as long as you keep that in mind it's an awesome tool.

 

[SSG]

Yeah I think most of us has fallen into that trap of using to much fancyness in our wording.
Readability-score is definatly one of my go to tools when writing, the only thing u have to keep in mind when using it ofcourse is that for some topics yu'd actualy expect a low score for example if you are writing about rocket science, there will inevitably be terms and phrases that will bring the score down, sbut as long as you keep that in mind it's an awesome tool.

It took me a few days of writing to stop using fancy words unless I really have too. I have to remember to use that tool as much as I should be. I'm sure my readers will enjoy it my content more once I add that into my work flow.

Thanks to you @lion1978, those who have posted their journeys / case studies, and this forum I am now attempting things that I never would have before. I haven't achieved anything yet but I know I will if I keep this up. This is my stats for a new website that I am building and it's the only project I will be working on, throughout it's ups and downs.

Here's a stat of my first week for this website (it's nothing compared to you guys ), please excuse the drop at the end, Sunday just started. I've never built a website without SEO as it's main traffic source and I'm already getting results faster than any project I've ever done. This website has only made $0.20 from Adsense but it's been more than any other half assed project I've worked on in the past that focused on SEO.

 

[lion1978]

Keep up the good work man and remember succes is the result of determination+persistance+will+hard work.

 

[Kid EH]

Hey everyone,

I'm very new to the world of IM. Currently have a small business, and I got tired of spending money hiring hack digital marketers who promise the moon and don't deliver shit.

So I'm going to do this myself. And eventually crush those motherfuckers.

But first it's time to grind. Stay tuned for my journal in the lab!

Cheers!