* RodWarnock.com *

Hi,

        WOW! I finally made it, I have after struggling for two weeks managed to get my ebook sorted so that it is now accessible from my blog.

I have already given one extract from my ebook, which I hope gave a flavour of what is inside. It traces my fourteen month journey to find a REAL sustainable internet business. I have covered all the programs that I purchased, and commented on them. I only tried a handful of the many programs I was sucked into buying through hype and B.S.

Here is the important thing! If you are just starting out to find a sustainable internet business, I hope that some of the tips I have included will help you and that you can avoid some of the pitfals I mentioned. My aim is that you should not have to suffer the same set backs and take as long as I di to find the right path.

I will provide you with free information on how to proceed as I fail forward towards a profitable sustainable internet business.

I would welcome your comments on my ebook. The next project is my video! Watch this space!

What fun that is going to be!  

Hi,

        I have now completed my first ebook, but have not yet despite help from others figured out how to make it accessible. If anyone can help I would be pleased to hear from you. In the meantime I thought you might like to see an extract from my ebook.

One of the first things that was recommended to me when I went on line to look for an internet business, was Online Surveys. If you are new to the internet then this is something you will want to avoid as I will outline. Like many opportunities on the internet there is quite a bit of hype as to how you can make a living with online surveys.

I found that this was not true. You can sign up to survey groups for free although some groups will charge a small fee of $11 or $12 dollars. You then get access to a list of companies requiring surveys to be done. you will have to register with as many companies as you can and it is recommended that it should be at least 300 in order to make a decent return.

The Rewards! Well they are minimal as you will earn for most companies points which can be used to purchase goods, or you are entered into a draw for say $250 prize. If it is cash then it varies from $1 to perhaps $5 in extreme cases. The surveys take from a few minutes up to forty minutes depending on the complexity of the survey.

Findings: On four separate occasions over the past year I joined survey groups and having completed dozens of surveys I did not make a cent. I also found that if you live in the UK then only one third of the surveys available in the USA are available to you. Thirdly I found that my inbox was filled with junk mail.

I therefore recommend that unless you have loads of spare time and nothing better to do and do not mind if you make any money, then give online surveys a wide birth. Your time is just too precious! I know that it is true to say that surveys can be interesting and fun to do, but they really do not represent a viable proposition as an online business.

Hi,

          Today belongs to Barack Obama! I believe that it is not just a great day for America, but for the rest of the world also. It is not just that he is the first black president, but he is a special kind of man who gives hope to us all at a time when there are so many problems in the world. I am sure we all wish him success in the huge task ahead of him.

Today I have been working on trying to sort out the problems of trying to give access to my free ebook. I found another useful video on a fellow  students blog. Thanks to Jeff Mc Call. I was also referred to another site for help on html, so I am getting nearer to the launch. The next challenge will be to complete my first video. The joys of Blogging. 

Hi,

         I am sure Alex Jeffreys must be feeling really chuffed to learn that other marketers are now following his lead. Andrew Fox has now got his own Blog and twitter account. His latest product has also similarities to Alex coaching course. I guess it just shows that once you become successful others will follow your lead even more experienced marketers like Andrew Fox. Well Done Alex!

In my last post I said that I was working on completing my free e-book. Well it is finished. All I have to do now is put it on my blog. Easier said than done. No Doubt I will have to seek the assistance of some fellow bloggers, but it will be available very shortly. 

Hi,

I am working on my eBook of my journey to a “REAL” Internet Business. I will launch it in the next few days. Obviously I will have to overcome some technical problems on the way, but it is complete in draft form.

In the meantime another member of the community referred me to this Blog which is an excellent piece of work containing much good advice about improving your Blog and monitizing it. Check it out here: www.JohnChow.com  Enjoy!

Hi,

What a great webinar last night by Maria Andros the video queen and Alex Jeffreys. Now we have been set a great challenge with a prize of $3,000 for the best video.   That’s certainly going to be a fun new experience. I suppose if I am honest I have been reluctant to do a video before now because the years have not been kind to me. However I am sure we can put on our best face and produce a good one.

I have made a start to writing my free eBook at last!  Look out for it over the coming days.

 Hi All,

              I have made a start to driving traffic to my blog, with submission to Blog Directories and a Squidoo lens. It is very simple to set up a Squidoo lens even for a non techie like me,it is free and you can add photos, audio or , video and can be set up in a few minutes. It is a good idea to also set up Hub Pages, and I am working on that right now.

I have been oil rig hopping on a number of the other blogs of Alex students, and there are some great Blogs in the community with really good content. I have certainly learnt from visiting other Blogs. Thanks Guys!

 Hi,

I am now going to set about trying to attract traffic to my Blog, watch and see how I do. I have already joined Twitter and had some followers after a few hours. I will also submit to blog directories, and article directories, and set up a Squidoo account. I have already started by Oil rig hopping ( visiting my fellow students blogs) and other blogs to leave comments in the hope that others will visit my Blog.

That is what I will aim for online, but I also intend to attract traffic with free Classified advertising. I will stay clear of Pay Per click for the present as I understand it is a good way to empty your bank account unless you know what you are doing. I am sure that Alex Jeffreys my mentor will have good advise in the coming days, but in the meantime I will have a go myself. Look out for free stuff which I hope to add in the next fews days.  

 The way you organise your Blog will determine to a large extent the number of visitors you attract and whether they will return. I must say that I have struggled to get my Blog exactly the way I want it, but it has been a great learning experience, and you can learn from some of the mistakes I have and am making.

The first important factor is how the Blog “looks”. There are thousands of free themes available from wordpress theme directory or via google. The thing is to be careful of the theme you choose, what looks great will not always suit the plugins you want to insert. I was advised by my mentor to have a 3 column theme, but after searching for four days and following advise from fellow students I discovered that I could not get my Opt-in form into a 3 column theme and I had settled on a 2 column theme,when one final search revealed a 3 column theme that suited reasonably well.

An alternative to using free themes is to have one designed or pay up to $150 for specific designer themes already in existence. Once you have your theme then you have to decide on  what plugins should be on your Blog. There are a number of recommended plugins for your Blog such as RSS, comments, an Opt-in form, and a Blogroll which is contraversal at present as some believe it may affect search engine optimisation of your Blog. Then there is the whole area of adding videos and social media to the Blog, and most importantly driving traffic. I am looking at these aspects right now.

In my next post I will outline how I intend to attract traffic to my blog and of course my mentor has given us an incentive of $1,000 prize for the person who drives the most traffic.