|pros • per • ly|

Since we have posted on the internet scam “Posting links on Google” and other money making schemes like Clickety Split many of you have asked about other similar services. One that was recently brought to my attention was iNetGlobal. They are an internet company that claims they will help you get a “piece of the internet pie”.

Based on the information on their website it looks like you download their software and then you have to visit certain websites for at least 20 seconds or so in order to earn credits. They then allow website owners to pay to have their website put into the software so other members have to look at the website in the rotation.

The major problem with this model is that people that are using this software only care about one thing, earning credits for visiting the required sites. They are not going to engage with the websites they are required to view (1) because it is a complete shot in the dark if it is relevant to something they want to see and (2) because that would eat into the time they can visit more sites and earn more credits.

This is a model that has been circulating around the internet for many years. If people like looking at sites that they have no interest in then more power to them. I just don’t think this is the answer to the question how do I make money online?

My big question is, why is this company using an MLM model? If they have the know how to teach people how to make money online, why don’t they just do that? I have to admit that they do a fantastic job getting people excited about these “opportunities” but in reality your time is much better spent building your own internet empire.

Here is what you need to understand: If you want to make money online, you need to start your own internet business. Don’t join an MLM and try to make money that way. All you will do is make money for the people who started the MLM. A common marketing tactic for companies like iNetGlobal is to show you the founders of Google, or Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) in order to try to get you excited about the prospect of making millions online. The point they don’t make is that the thing all of these people have in common is they started their own internet business, they didn’t join an MLM.

Decide what you are good at, think about what the internet world needs and start looking into internet businesses you can start from there.

About six months ago we decided we’d build out another site in the same niche where we had (have) our most profitable site.  We just figured, “Heck, let’s have two sites doing this instead of just one.”

Instead of going the traditional route of looking for domains/sites for sale, we followed our own advice on buying a website:

Do a Google search for one of your top key phrases. Go through all the websites on page 2 or 3 of the search results. Those should be your top candidates. They have done all of the preliminary work for you but are probably not making much money because they can’t get to page one in their rankings.

We found one that wasn’t ranking well, had some content, and had a bit of domain age, so we low-balled (not low enough to offend) an offer to the website owner, he countered with something much lower than we would have actually paid, and we took it.  The site (content and domain) cost us $500.  To date it’s one of the cheapest sites we’ve acquired.

So far this month the site is averaging $197 per day.  Within two weeks of its purchase we had earned back what we paid for it.  This is not just a site that fits the Prosperly Way — it was also truly a gold nugget among the scrap.

This site was actually our first acquisition of consequence, and I think its success tainted us a bit.  We’ve purchased several more sites since then and none have yet to match the ROI or daily revenue of this one (granted, some of our later acquisitions are in much more competitive areas, so the time required to get to profits of significance is obviously higher).  Is it because we were lucky?  Partially I’m sure.  I think it has more to do with the work that is required.

For every golden site you acquire, you’re bound to either purchase, or at least evaluate several that are garbage.  As you become more experienced, you’ll get better at this, and you probably won’t actually purchase too many junk sites.  Hopefully you’ll do your homework and won’t purchase a single one.

But you WILL evaluate a bunch of junk.

Just like I mentioned my Realtor friend that was doing so many house flips — he didn’t evaluate 180 houses to purchase and flip those 180 houses.  He evaluated several thousand each year.  He was playing the numbers game, and you’ll need to do the same.

Adam has figured out that he adds a lot of value to our portfolio by doing these evaluations, so that’s where he spends a large majority of his time.  He’s hardly wringing his hands if we don’t find a candidate every day.  Heck, we go weeks without purchasing a site sometimes, but that doesn’t mean he stops evaluating.  You’ll need to be like the best real estate investors, who canvas neighborhoods, cold-call, network, etc. and generate enough leads that they can find those gems among the junk.

Back toward the end of the real estate boom I was working on a project with a guy that was an absolute master when it came to buying and flipping real estate. He had perfected an evaluation system that basically made it easy enough for almost the layman to go to a house, fill out the spreadsheet, and have it pump out a thumbs-up/thumbs-down on the house.

He bought and sold 90 houses (clearing about $7k on each) in 2004, 120 houses in 2005, and 185 houses in 2006 (also, in 2006 he was clearing about $12k per house — mainly because he could be pickier).

He spent the vast majority of his time evaluating potential deals. He was always evaluating deals. He had a special phone he carried with him that he affectionately called the bat phone. Since they were paying for leads, and leads came on a round-robin system to him as a franchisee through that phone, he ALWAYS had it with him.

Now the question that you need to ask yourself is, what’s your bat phone? And are you spending the majority of your time on tasks that only YOU can do, that are adding value to your internet business?

We spend the vast majority of our time evaluating websites for sale, potential industries to get into (and then related websites for sale), and contacting websites that aren’t even listed for sale (more on that later). Also, when you can focus on one simple success metric, it makes it that much easier to have that laser-like focus.

I get tired of hearing about the “recession” and “economic downturn” from the media people that want you to believe that we are all doomed. I personally have never had such a stretch of economic success in all of my life. I will admit that certain industries (house, auto) are struggling but that doesn’t mean everyone is doomed to poverty.

Having said all of that, peoples perception of the economy is their reality. The reason I am writing about this is because there are going to be really good opportunities for gaining wealth in the near future. Specifically, alot of people who are running somewhat successful websites are going to be willing to part with their site at a bargain to get cash in their hands. During the great depression was the largest transfer of wealth in the history of US. Some people were getting richer and richer because they were buying while everyone else was selling.

My suggestion to any readers of this blog is that you put some money aside and be ready to pounce when the great deals come around. Be a buyer when everyone is selling and build up a portfolio of money making websites and you can build up and make even better. My personal goal is to have 10 prosperly websites that all make $500 a day. Set your own goal and then make it happen. There is no need for you to be in a recession.

People often bring different internet business ideas they have seen advertised online and want to know if they are legit or not. As I come across different internet businesses I will give you my take and hopefully you can make a more informed decision.

As I make my way through the ranks of the internet marketing community I keep seeing ads for the internet business Carbon Copy PRO. I went to their website a few weeks ago and read over all of their sales copy. I even signed up for their newsletter to see what it was all about and was sent to a page where they had a bunch of videos trying to sell me on the program.

I didn’t actually buy the Carbon Copy program so I haven’t used it but from what I can tell it seems to me that what they are really selling you is a chance to join their affiliate program. Their “unique” selling proposition is that you don’t have to do any selling. When you are using the Carbon Copy Pro program all you need to do is find the prospects and then they will sell to them for you and you get paid a commission.

Here is what they say on their website:

After years of market testing and MILLIONS of dollars in collective earnings, we have created the most powerful online marketing system on the planet.

Personal selling, convincing, and explaining: ELIMINATED
Cold calling, selling to your friends and family: ELIMINATED
Long learning curves, frustration and struggle: ELIMINATED
Mickey-Mouse home based money games: NEVER AGAIN!
Multi-Level-Marketing or Affiliate Marketing: NEVER AGAIN!

Sounds really good right? My question is this, how is this any different than any other affiliate program? For example, if I sign up with Amazon’s affiliate program, all I have to do is send the traffic to their site and then Amazon.com does the selling. It is a practice that has been going on for years now. That is what Carbon Copy Pro is doing, they have just put a different twist on getting you to join.

Also, you should never believe big-hype like this. They call it “the most powerful online marketing system on the planet”. Where is the proof? That is a pretty big claim to make, after all this is a big planet.

Does It Work?

As I said before, I never purchased Carbon Copy Pro so I am not sure if it works or not. It could very well be a legitimate business opportunity where you could make thousands of dollars a month. I just don’t like the way they sell it to you. Call it what it is, an affiliate program, and you shouldn’t have to pay to join an affiliate program.