Bill Stacy
1st February 2009, 01:10 PM
Start your internet business empire for less than $20
This article shows how to start an internet business today, with less than $20 total out of pocket expenses. Covers the step-by-step process - which you can complete in a single afternoon.
So you want to start an internet business.
But, you don't have any products, don't have a web site, don't have a merchant account, and don't want to invest a lot of money to get started.
If that's the case, here is what I would do.
I would create a discussion forum turn on Google AdSense ads for that forum.
I then would use Google optimization and 'leaving footprints' marketing to attract a crowd to the forum.
As the forum grew, its ad revenue would grow, and eventually, you might even end up with paid advertising sponsors.
One of the hobby forums I visit daily, follows this model, and generates $15,000+ each month in ad revenues - and they do no advertising, and their monthly operation costs are less than $30.
Below, I'll show you the step-by-step way to build an exact duplicate of the $15,000 a month forum - for less than $20.
The most successful business you can start for under $20
If you want to start building your internet business empire today, starting with a ad supported discussion forum, do this:
Come up with a topic for a discussion forum about something that people like to talk about, and something that costs money. The topic can be travel, or a specific camera or camcorder or expensive hobby - as long as the topic will draw an audience of happy people eager to talk about the subject, and eventually spend money on it.
Next, register a domain name related to the topic - use www.namecheap.com to find an available (and short and easy to spell) .com domain name somehow related to the topic. Or just choose something short and easy to type.
[added by Bill Stacy]For example, I recently registered the domain name pre49.com. The registration cost me $8.95. And it just so happens that pre 1949 hot rods is a very popular topic and a multi billion dollar industry .
check out --> www.pre49.com
After you register the domain name, sign up for low cost web site hosting - I recommend the HostGator Baby account Linux version for $7.95 a month. For that price, you can host an unlimited number of sites (which you may want to do as you build your internet empire using the business model covered in this article).
When you sign up with Hostgator, assign the domain name from step 2 to your HostGator account.
Now that you have a domain name and web site, it is time to build a money making business. To do that, go to Simple Machines and download their free Simple Machines Forum software. After you download the software, unzip it to a folder on your computer.
Upload the Simple Machines Forum software to your new web site - Use a FTP program like http://www.smartftp.com/ to upload the software from your computer to the public folder in your web site. If you are hosting with Hostgator, you will want to ftp the software into public_html folder.
After the FTP is complete, go to your HostGator control panel, and click on the MySQL icon to create a MySQL database. Give it a name, a user name, and password (you'll need to know these in the next step).
Install the Simple Machines Forum software - This is pretty easy. Just go to http://www.yourdomain.com/install.php (replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name). Enter the forum name, and the database info from the above step, and the forum will be installed for you.
Add SMFAds mod pakcage to your Forum - this will make it easy to display ads throughout your discussion forum.
To install SMFads, download the file from http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=255 onto your computer, but do not unzip it.
Then go to your Simple Machines Forum admin control panel. Select 'packages' from under the 'main' category. Then select the 'download packages' tab, then in the 'package to upload' box, browse to the SMFAds file you downloaded. Then click 'upload', and then 'install'.
After you add and install that mod package, you'll find an 'ad management' link in your SMF admin panel.
You will use that link to add google and other ads to your forum.
To get the ads to show for all visitors, click the 'permissions' link in the SMF admin panel, and select permissions for each visitor group you have set up. On the group permissions, place a check in the 'enable ads' box for that group.
You may also want to install the YouTube and video sharing package for the Forum. Find it at http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=977. Follow the install process as shown above. This package will make it easy to embed YouTube videos in your forum posts.
If you haven't already done so, create a Google AdSense account - do this by going to Google AdSense. After you create the account, create a plain white ad banner, and copy the code Google AdSense creates for you.
Add ads to your forum - go to the SMF admin page, and select 'ad management from the left column. Then select 'add new ad'.
Then paste in the full ad code from your google adsense ads. And choose on what pages to display the ads.
You can create an unlimited number of ads, using code from google and other ad sources, and add them to your forum with the Ad Management module.
Next, create categories and boards for your forums. Do this from the Simple Machine Forums admin page. Feel free to use my forum at www.exf1.com as a guide. Other forums you might want to view include http://hv20.com/ and http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php.
You may want to add the social bookmarking mods to your forum. This will allow you and visitors to submit your forum posts and articles to the social book marking sites. Find the free social bookmarking mod at http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=967. The installation process is the same as with other mod packages.
Next, start posting messages and videos in your forum. Find press releases, youtube videos, news articles, etc related to your topic, and get them posted. Use social bookmarking to get the word out.
Sign up as an affiliate for companies that sell the products you are writing about - add those affiliate links to the 'where to buy' board on your site. Having affiliate links can pay off if the products you write about are expensive, or if the affiliate percentage is good.
Set up an email address in your Host Gator control panel - something like webmaster@yoursitename.com - after you set up that email, use the 'forwarder' option in the mail control panel at hostgator to forward email to your normal email address.
In your forum admin panel, under 'server settings', 'core configuration', and 'feature configuration', enter your email address details. This will allow your forum to send email notifications to you, and to those who post messages.
Test, test, test - test all the elements of your forum, and correct any misspellings, and fix any areas which might not help your forum, or might not help search engine optimization.
All Done - Almost
The above sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Expect it to take an afternoon to complete it all.
Once completed, your site will be self running and your job will be to make sure message posts are answered, and that others find out about the forum.
Your goal is to keep the forum interesting, and do what it takes to attract the kind of audience which will appeal to advertisers and will click on the Google ads which will be on the site.
Income Potential
The amount of income your forum can generate will depend on the topic being covered and whether people want to visit, and whether advertisers want to advertise on that topic.
If you choose a good topic, it is quite possible to earn $10,000 or more per month from ad revenues alone.
And of course, if you produce DVDs or books or workshops related to the topic of the forum, you'll have a great place to advertise in front of an audience that will want the product.
And finally, once the forum gets up and running, it is quite possible to sell the forum and the site as a going business. Prices for an active forum can start at $5,000 and go way up from there.
But to earn any money at all, you have to get it started.
***************************************
For more stories and tips like this visit Bill Myers Online (http://www.bmyers.com/index.cfm?affID=1daywealth)
This article shows how to start an internet business today, with less than $20 total out of pocket expenses. Covers the step-by-step process - which you can complete in a single afternoon.
So you want to start an internet business.
But, you don't have any products, don't have a web site, don't have a merchant account, and don't want to invest a lot of money to get started.
If that's the case, here is what I would do.
I would create a discussion forum turn on Google AdSense ads for that forum.
I then would use Google optimization and 'leaving footprints' marketing to attract a crowd to the forum.
As the forum grew, its ad revenue would grow, and eventually, you might even end up with paid advertising sponsors.
One of the hobby forums I visit daily, follows this model, and generates $15,000+ each month in ad revenues - and they do no advertising, and their monthly operation costs are less than $30.
Below, I'll show you the step-by-step way to build an exact duplicate of the $15,000 a month forum - for less than $20.
The most successful business you can start for under $20
If you want to start building your internet business empire today, starting with a ad supported discussion forum, do this:
Come up with a topic for a discussion forum about something that people like to talk about, and something that costs money. The topic can be travel, or a specific camera or camcorder or expensive hobby - as long as the topic will draw an audience of happy people eager to talk about the subject, and eventually spend money on it.
Next, register a domain name related to the topic - use www.namecheap.com to find an available (and short and easy to spell) .com domain name somehow related to the topic. Or just choose something short and easy to type.
[added by Bill Stacy]For example, I recently registered the domain name pre49.com. The registration cost me $8.95. And it just so happens that pre 1949 hot rods is a very popular topic and a multi billion dollar industry .
check out --> www.pre49.com
After you register the domain name, sign up for low cost web site hosting - I recommend the HostGator Baby account Linux version for $7.95 a month. For that price, you can host an unlimited number of sites (which you may want to do as you build your internet empire using the business model covered in this article).
When you sign up with Hostgator, assign the domain name from step 2 to your HostGator account.
Now that you have a domain name and web site, it is time to build a money making business. To do that, go to Simple Machines and download their free Simple Machines Forum software. After you download the software, unzip it to a folder on your computer.
Upload the Simple Machines Forum software to your new web site - Use a FTP program like http://www.smartftp.com/ to upload the software from your computer to the public folder in your web site. If you are hosting with Hostgator, you will want to ftp the software into public_html folder.
After the FTP is complete, go to your HostGator control panel, and click on the MySQL icon to create a MySQL database. Give it a name, a user name, and password (you'll need to know these in the next step).
Install the Simple Machines Forum software - This is pretty easy. Just go to http://www.yourdomain.com/install.php (replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name). Enter the forum name, and the database info from the above step, and the forum will be installed for you.
Add SMFAds mod pakcage to your Forum - this will make it easy to display ads throughout your discussion forum.
To install SMFads, download the file from http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=255 onto your computer, but do not unzip it.
Then go to your Simple Machines Forum admin control panel. Select 'packages' from under the 'main' category. Then select the 'download packages' tab, then in the 'package to upload' box, browse to the SMFAds file you downloaded. Then click 'upload', and then 'install'.
After you add and install that mod package, you'll find an 'ad management' link in your SMF admin panel.
You will use that link to add google and other ads to your forum.
To get the ads to show for all visitors, click the 'permissions' link in the SMF admin panel, and select permissions for each visitor group you have set up. On the group permissions, place a check in the 'enable ads' box for that group.
You may also want to install the YouTube and video sharing package for the Forum. Find it at http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=977. Follow the install process as shown above. This package will make it easy to embed YouTube videos in your forum posts.
If you haven't already done so, create a Google AdSense account - do this by going to Google AdSense. After you create the account, create a plain white ad banner, and copy the code Google AdSense creates for you.
Add ads to your forum - go to the SMF admin page, and select 'ad management from the left column. Then select 'add new ad'.
Then paste in the full ad code from your google adsense ads. And choose on what pages to display the ads.
You can create an unlimited number of ads, using code from google and other ad sources, and add them to your forum with the Ad Management module.
Next, create categories and boards for your forums. Do this from the Simple Machine Forums admin page. Feel free to use my forum at www.exf1.com as a guide. Other forums you might want to view include http://hv20.com/ and http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php.
You may want to add the social bookmarking mods to your forum. This will allow you and visitors to submit your forum posts and articles to the social book marking sites. Find the free social bookmarking mod at http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=967. The installation process is the same as with other mod packages.
Next, start posting messages and videos in your forum. Find press releases, youtube videos, news articles, etc related to your topic, and get them posted. Use social bookmarking to get the word out.
Sign up as an affiliate for companies that sell the products you are writing about - add those affiliate links to the 'where to buy' board on your site. Having affiliate links can pay off if the products you write about are expensive, or if the affiliate percentage is good.
Set up an email address in your Host Gator control panel - something like webmaster@yoursitename.com - after you set up that email, use the 'forwarder' option in the mail control panel at hostgator to forward email to your normal email address.
In your forum admin panel, under 'server settings', 'core configuration', and 'feature configuration', enter your email address details. This will allow your forum to send email notifications to you, and to those who post messages.
Test, test, test - test all the elements of your forum, and correct any misspellings, and fix any areas which might not help your forum, or might not help search engine optimization.
All Done - Almost
The above sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Expect it to take an afternoon to complete it all.
Once completed, your site will be self running and your job will be to make sure message posts are answered, and that others find out about the forum.
Your goal is to keep the forum interesting, and do what it takes to attract the kind of audience which will appeal to advertisers and will click on the Google ads which will be on the site.
Income Potential
The amount of income your forum can generate will depend on the topic being covered and whether people want to visit, and whether advertisers want to advertise on that topic.
If you choose a good topic, it is quite possible to earn $10,000 or more per month from ad revenues alone.
And of course, if you produce DVDs or books or workshops related to the topic of the forum, you'll have a great place to advertise in front of an audience that will want the product.
And finally, once the forum gets up and running, it is quite possible to sell the forum and the site as a going business. Prices for an active forum can start at $5,000 and go way up from there.
But to earn any money at all, you have to get it started.
***************************************
For more stories and tips like this visit Bill Myers Online (http://www.bmyers.com/index.cfm?affID=1daywealth)