e-Biz Consultants?

[Jill]

I'm not sure if such a person even exists. But I think I could benefit from a consultation with someone who has some depth and breadth of experience in the world of Internet Marketing. Why?

• I own 100+ domain names, many of which I THINK have potential if developed.
• I've developed a few sites with various MOs / objectives - blogs, eCommerce, affiliate marketing, etc.
• I don't want to continue to waste time throwing mud against the wall just to see what will stick, if there is someone out there who can with confidence look at my situation and give me some guidance WRT where I should be spending my time.

Does such a person even exist? Is there someone who would advise me for a little juice, rather than cash up front? It's not that I have a problem handing out cash. I just tend to trust the advice of those who have a little skin in the game.

 

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[ScottHardy]

Jill,
There are TONS of people out there who will try to take cash for their "help." I don't mean to offend anyone out there but I'm bound to anyway. I REALLY dislike business consultants who do it for a living, are "experts", but the only thing they ever started was a business consulting business. They never created a living, breathing, company on their own (or with Partners), with actual employees and a big audience. Make sense? OK, off my soap box. Onto being actually helpful

I would try reaching out to friends who have experience with start-ups. They could help out and likely won't demand any equity, and if they DO it shouldn't be much. When I started Top Class Actions I leaned heavily on my good buddy Dave. He's been there, done that. Originally he was going to be a Partner in the business but couldn't put in the time or cash. Because of that he stuck to helping coach me along by helping me with my pitch decks and connecting me to potential investors. What's he get for all of that assistance? 1 - 2% of the company. THAT'S IT! If they aren't bringing in hundred/thousands of hours of sweat equity or a big chunk of cash their equity stake should be minimal.

Another bit of advice is to find the one thing that really speaks to you and really focus on it. Whether it's a blog, e-commerce site or affiliate marketing, or something else, focus on that ONE thing. Really hard. For at least a year. Don't launch any other websites. Don't get distracted by other super cool ideas. Write the ideas down and save them for later. If you don't stick with one idea and give it a chance to work you'll likely never be successful. For the first seven months Top Class Actions received less than 200 unique viewers per month. FINALLY I hit 1,000. Then 10,000... Then 75,000... It just takes time and EXTREME amounts of focus.

Feel free to PM me. I'll try to offer a few pointers if I get an idea of what you're trying to do. I won't charge you a dime. Don't promise anyone ANYTHING until they have shown they can do what's promised. There are MILLIONs of big idea people out there but only a small minority can actually make those ideas work. It's easier to talk about the next big thing than actually implement it. Ideas are easy. Implementation of your brilliance is hard.

I hope that helps!

Good luck!

Scott

 

[LondonLife]

Jill,
There are TONS of people out there who will try to take cash for their "help." I don't mean to offend anyone out there but I'm bound to anyway. I REALLY dislike business consultants who do it for a living, are "experts", but the only thing they ever started was a business consulting business. They never created a living, breathing, company on their own (or with Partners), with actual employees and a big audience. Make sense? OK, off my soap box. Onto being actually helpful

I agree wholeheartedly. There are alot of jokers out there who have successfully schmoozed the people I invest in, generally annoyed me and come up with some terrible ideas who are in the e-biz consultancy process.

Though I am of course an e-biz consultant myself. Hold fire for a second though. I run an angel investment firm with two others (built off the back of a group of internet based companies we set up and later sold). We listen to pitches, invest and then structure the business and act as consultants. We are helping build the business from a very high level, measuring risk. And thats the key. Risk. We are the investors, we're risking our own money.

Now an e-biz consultant. What is their agenda beyond getting paid? Is reputation and word of mouth important to them, so they play it too safe? Are they "Billy big balls" types who make very high level risky decisions because it's not their own risk? I'm not saying they're all bad. But you have to be so careful.

 

[Rem]

I'll take a look for free. Not sure how I can help but usually I am full of ideas :smxF:

 

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[LightHouse]

Jill, What are you looking to accomplish? I knwo you all had a few things going before that we discussed. Are those projects dead? Shoot me an email if need be.

 

[ScottHardy]

Great point! I don't disparage Angel Investors one bit. Anyone who has done "it" is good in my book. My end goal is to become an Angel Investor myself. For now I'm just trying to help others based on my experience building my business.

 

[mtnman]

Annnd you needed a reason to justify coming out to PHX.... muhahahaha

Is there a thread somewhere that explains what you're going after?

 

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[Jill]

Annnd you needed a reason to justify coming out to PHX.... muhahahaha.

Is there a thread somewhere that explains what you're going after?

I know. My primary interest in coming this year was to brainstorm with the IM contingent. But alas, it didn't happen.

Jill, What are you looking to accomplish? I know you all had a few things going before that we discussed. Are those projects dead?...

I am looking to accomplish money. :smug2:

I would consider flipping some domains if someone told me they were worth something.
I would consider developing a few sites for residual income, OR to sell.
I would consider focusing on affiliate marketing sites e.g. using reviews for passive income.

I spent the year learning as much as I could about the various aspects of IM. But I've yet to make any money. Now that I'm going back to work in a "real" job, I won't have the time to spread across all the different things I was doing (link building, article writing, blog posting, etc). Therefore, I wanted to see if someone with some objectivity would analyze my sitch and tell me if there is any intrinsic or potential value in any of what I have (or even any of my ideas). Does that clarify it a bit?

Oh, and no, LH, nothing is really dead. Just comatose.

I may consider posting more details on the private forum. But for now, I was just wondering if you guys know anyone who has a good understanding of all the different facets of IM. Maybe you? (I would pay for your time. Because I do want a thorough analysis.)