Many of you want my recommendation for the best kind of site to create if you want to make money online but don’t have a product to sell.

Here’s my answer…

I want to emphasize that the above video expresses my opinion based on my own experiences. There are many ways to make money online.  You have to discover what works best for you.

Lisa, how much money do you make from Twitter?

My short answer…

Nothing.

However, if I were to answer that question more indirectly, I’m sure it would be greater than that.

Here’s what I mean.

I promote my sites a lot of different ways online (through my forum, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)  However, I don’t do much direct selling on any of these sites.

In fact, I tweeted an affiliate link once on Twitter and I just felt dirty.   I personally don’t like hard selling on Twitter.  It feels a little cheap to me.

Nothing against people who do, and if it works for you great… keep doing it.  I just prefer to use Twitter to inform, educate and connect with my followers.

Now let’s talk about my forum, Website Babble.

This may surprise you, but I didn’t create it with the intention of making a lot of money.  Sure, I make some money from banners and sponsor ads, but it is hardly anything to brag about.

So what’s the point of creating a forum if you don’t plan to make a lot of money? (I can hear you thinking that.)

One thing I’ve learned about earning a full-time living as an affiliate marketer is you have to learn to build a brand…

A brand of Y-O-U.

Website Babble is just another site (like my YouTube channels and Twitter) that allows me to help and connect with my audience while I continue to build my brand and enhance my credibility.

My primary and most successful website has always been 2CreateAWebsite.com.  I use my blog, other websites and places like YouTube and Twitter to provide more advice, help, and drive traffic back to my main site.

Because of the credibility and trust I’ve gained through helping others on these sites, this strategy indirectly drives more affiliate sales in the long-run.

Maybe you don’t like Twitter and other social networking sites because you don’t see a direct way to make money from them.  But you’re failing to realize the compounded value of using multiple channels over time.

You may not be able to generate many direct sales from these microblogging and social networking sites. But if you do a good job of educating, teaching, helping, etc. you can use these tools to drive traffic to your sites and make more money in the long run.

It’s not always about getting the sale, at least not right away.  It’s a process.

Stop looking for quick, worthless traffic.  Develop your brand. Seek trust.  Become accessible.  Use the available free sites and tools online to develop relationships, connections and educate your audience.  Then watch the targeted, loyal followers that will develop over time.

These are the people who will come back to your site over and over again.

These are the people who will trust you the most.

They are more likely to buy what you recommend.

They will tell their friends and family about your site whenever they get a chance.

They will email you before buying and make sure they are purchasing from your affiliate link so you get the credit.

These people will become your bread and butter as an affiliate marketer. 

So are you just pitching products or taking the time to build your brand? Position yourself today to earn a steady, long-term income that will reward you forever.

Unless you have a shopping site, most visitors come to your site because they are looking for information. (Especially if they found you through a search engine.)

Of course there are exceptions to this, but for the majority of the time this is true.  (Searching for information is still one of the most common tasks performed online.)

Pretend You are a First-Timer Visitor

Take a look at your homepage from the perspective of someone who just found it through Google.

What is the first thing they see?

Are they blasted with Google ads?

Do they have to scroll down half a page before they get to your content because you have advertisements yelling at them to click or buy something?

Does the first paragraph of your site have a benefit-rich statement that will quickly tell people how your site will help them, or are you promoting a product?

Instead of asking for money, how about giving away something valuable like a free report, e-book, or good old fashioned help.

It’s little things like this that make all the difference.  As the old saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”  This holds true online too.

On all of my sites, I try to make the first few paragraphs rich with audience benefits and/or give something away.  I want people to realize that they will experience something different than my competition.

I realize I only have a few seconds to grab their attention so, I’m OK with forging an AdSense click or two in exchange for a lifetime visitor.

I am looking at the net effect.

It’s easy to believe that it’s best to get the ad click before a person leaves your site, but what if they never come back?  Why would they?  You haven’t given them anything to chew on except ads or a sales pitch.

Wouldn’t you rather sell them on your brand and information, hoping this will encourage them to come back again and again?  This could ultimately result in multiple AdSense clicks down the road and even more earnings from products you might sell or from affiliate commissions.

Trust and credibility are two factors you must have if you want long-term success online.  And you can’t gain either through an AdSense ad or a flashing banner.  But you can gain them by helping or giving away something of value.

I have nothing against ads, of course.  But I do have something against sites where ads seem to overshadow the content.

Remember, some of the highest earning affiliate sites, initially appear as if they don’t have much to sell at all.

Ponder that one for a minute.

When I hear people make statements like this, I wonder where or who they are getting advice from. Often times it’s from people who have tried and failed so they are quick to stamp the “It doesn’t work” label on it.

You have to be careful about who you get advice from.  Yes, there are many saturated topics, but I believe there is plenty of room in affiliate marketing for those who are creative, hard-working and innovative. Watch my video below…

I am an affiliate which is a little different.  MLM has never been my cup of tea so I don’t spend much time looking into these programs.

That is not to say you cannot make a lot of money from MLM, it’s just not my preference for monetization.

Now, I have to choose my words carefully in this post because…

1) I’m not an expert on MLM (nor do I want to be)

2) I realize there are a lot of varieties of MLM and you can’t paint all the programs with the same brush

3) Many people make a good, honest living with MLM

The Difference Between MLM and Affiliate Marketing

So you may be wondering, what is the difference between affiliate programs and MLM?  Well, in short, affiliate marketing is usually a one to one relationship (except the 2 tier programs) where MLM is usually a one to many relationship.

For example, as an affiliate, I refer a product from my site and the merchant (company) pays me a commission for the sale.  That’s the one to one relationship.

With MLM, it can involve several levels and you can make money from the sales of the people you recruit to the program and the people they refer too.  This can go on for several levels deep.

People at the top of the chain who have several high-performing team members (downline) can make great deal of money over time.

MLM has gotten a bad rap over the years because of all the get-rich-quick and pyramid schemes (that should not be called MLM).  You definitely need to do your research before joining such programs.

Watch the video below where I share my thoughts on MLM and affiliate marketing.

That’s what happened today in my forum, WebsiteBabble.com. And to be honest, it’s not the first time I’ve been asked.

In my opinion, this says so much about the importance of PREselling a product. When you give useful information, build credibility by actually proving you use the product… you’ll find many people will WANT to make sure you earn the commission for the sale.

Honesty is an element that is missing from so many affiliate sites. So when people find it… they value it and are often happy to reward you for it.

When I first got started with affiliate marketing, I used to do everything I could to hide the fact I was getting a commission. But that was because most products I promoted, I didn’t really use.

Well, I’ve come full circle in affiliate marketing and now could care less if people realize I am an affiliate. After all, I now only promote products I believe in so what’s there to hide?

Yes, I do earn a commission when people buy Site Build It! through my link and I’m OK with people knowing that. But I also make sure they know I actually use and love the product. And that’s the difference.

So the next time you try to disguise the fact you are an affiliate. Ask yourself why? Do you have something to hide?

Yes, some people may be turned off by the fact you are getting a commission, but if you do a good job in PREselling and show you really own and use the product, those who buy because of your honesty will outweigh those who don’t by far.

And from time to time, you’ll get the nice surprise of being asked to confirm your affiliate link before they buy. Wow!

Yup… you guessed it.

Affiliate Marketing.

I got an e-mail from a gentleman today who wanted to know how many hours he’d have to invest upfront to make enough money online to quit his full time job. He admitted he didn’t have much time to invest into his site.

Because the Internet appears so glamorous with all these inspiring success stories, people get fooled into thinking there is some short cut or easy way to make money. Just throw up a site and the money will come in, right?

Nope.

It takes work just like any other job, BUT the difference is once you invest the time upfront you can get by working only a couple of hours per day. Unfortunately, most people never stick with it long enough to get to that point.

I could take a year off from my sites and still probably come back to a very nice income because of the time I’ve put into building up my sites over the years. You can too, but you have to do the work now to get the rewards later.

There are no shortcuts to success and the Internet is no exception.