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SEO - Where to start?

Tommy92l

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I found this guy named Alex Becker, he's been doing SEO for roughly 6-7 years and is making 4.8 Million a year, most of which he reinvests.

What got me interested was the fact that he said he could do this WITHOUT having a product of his own.

Affiliate marketing, I believe?

Anyone with experience in this without having your own product?

http://source-wave.com/

That's his site and I plan to learn on that.

So in short - can I learn SEO and make money without having a product of my own ? Where do I find products to sell?
 
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Trivium iz rC

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Not to sound like a A$$ but.

Re-Read MJ's book & look at the commandments. CENTS. Your forgetting the most important commandment in my opinion which is CONTROL. There is no control with SEO (One Google Update Kills All Your Traffic) & Affiliate marketing for Info/Physical Products (Company Cuts Affiliate Commission or Worse Shuts Down There Whole Affiliate Program).

"So in short - can I learn SEO and make money without having a product of my own ? Where do I find products to sell?"

Yes, but will you always be chasing the next thing is someones Headline Copy? "I Made 4.8Mil A Year With Blah Blah SEO Technique". SEO isn't a business its a skill (Unless you run an SEO Firm). Solve a problem in the marketplace and then you will be able to print money like the Federal Reserve.

GL
 
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Mass

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I second the thought of finding and reading @andyblack posts. He's a genius when it comes to stuff like this
 

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Tommy92l

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You always seem to be swayed by the big $$$$ stories. Always chasing the almighty dollar.
Thanks guys I'll give his posts a read tonight!

And no, when I understood the way it worked, that's why I was swayed. Because it may not seem easy but it certainly makes perfect sense as to how money is made on it.

Maybe this may come as a shock to you but I'm really not a person who can't accept a timely success. I'm not someone who posts pictures of 80,000 watches up to a Ferrari steering wheel and rants about how I'll be a billionaire in 2 years if "I just believe in myself".

Right now I'm not even aiming for a number, just a basic knowledge of the process and tools...
 
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16thCylinder

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I quit the SEO game in October last year. As mentioned by others, there is zero control and the next Algorithm update can end up being your last one.

I played the Google index manipulation game from early 2010 when you could rank tough keywords with high PR forum profiles (good days...). Then progressed to high PR homepage backlinks and long story short, took a startup (not mine, sadly) from nothing to around £6 million in commissions (financial sector business). We held the number 1 spot in Google for the best keyword for 6 months before getting hit by a major Algo update.

By then the company had made its money but we started over with new site but it was never the same again.

I wouldn't go back to SEO. Too much stress and no control.
 

blackhat

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And no, when I understood the way it worked, that's why I was swayed. Because it may not seem easy but it certainly makes perfect sense as to how money is made on it.
Then why post this thread asking about how he does it?
 

JasonR

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That's his site and I plan to learn on that.

So in short - can I learn SEO and make money without having a product of my own ? Where do I find products to sell?

You must have entirely missed that a big part of his revenue is from his members only forum, paid content, and courses. Those are most certainly his own products.

You'll probably find it hard to just "copy" someone else is doing and make mistakes.
 
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Tommy92l

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I don't think that learning from someone could be called copying, though.

I looked through his reviews, who he is, ect, ect.

I think it's hard to get a grasp on how to learn this stuff because everyone comes off as a guru.

Oh, I learned from a guy on a forum. GURU. I learned from a guy on YouTube. GURU.

I'm just sort of confused as to how to even start. It's a lot to take in.
 

BigBrianC

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I don't think that learning from someone could be called copying, though.

I looked through his reviews, who he is, ect, ect.

I think it's hard to get a grasp on how to learn this stuff because everyone comes off as a guru.

Oh, I learned from a guy on a forum. GURU. I learned from a guy on YouTube. GURU.

I'm just sort of confused as to how to even start. It's a lot to take in.

I already told you how to start. It's your turn to do it. If you try SEO tactics to beat Google's algorithm you'll bust. Use Andy's methods at driving traffic and you'll do well in driving traffic.
 

Ronnie Bryan

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Clickbank is a good resource for finding products to sell through Affiliate Marketing.
Setting up an account is free, as far as learning SEO

I learned from WEBCEO and SEOINPRACTICE. I also bought a book off AMAZON,
called SEO MANIFESTO. But keep in mind so much has changed with SEO and YES, there is ALWAYS competition.

I gave up after a little over a year, self teaching on this NICHE.Best Wishes to you though, some do really, well and go on to write books about what they know. Speak to ERIC FACAS, an Google Employee I know who might be able to even share more .Google Him.
 
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Ronnie Bryan

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Clickbank is a good resource for finding products to sell through Affiliate Marketing.
Setting up an account is free, as far as learning SEO

I learned from WEBCEO and SEOINPRACTICE. I also bought a book off AMAZON,
called SEO MANIFESTO. But keep in mind so much has changed with SEO and YES, there is ALWAYS competition.

I gave up after a little over a year, self teaching on this NICHE.Best Wishes to you though, some do really, well and go on to write books about what they know. Speak to ERIC FACAS, an Google Employee I know who might be able to even share more .Google Him.


If this helps people, let me know, I am trying to improve my writing structure.I will be going through this online course.I tried to learn ENGLISH bought a book in 2007 called, "ENGLISH the easy way" from books a million but that disappeared in 2013, So trying this see if it helps. http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/structure.html
 

Tommy92l

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Clickbank is a good resource for finding products to sell through Affiliate Marketing.
Setting up an account is free, as far as learning SEO

I learned from WEBCEO and SEOINPRACTICE. I also bought a book off AMAZON,
called SEO MANIFESTO. But keep in mind so much has changed with SEO and YES, there is ALWAYS competition.

I gave up after a little over a year, self teaching on this NICHE.Best Wishes to you though, some do really, well and go on to write books about what they know. Speak to ERIC FACAS, an Google Employee I know who might be able to even share more .Google Him.
Hey man thanks for the help!

But this begs the question. Why did you give up?
 

Ronnie Bryan

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SEO and AFFILIATE marketing wasn't my thing, I worked hard at it for over a year,and I can research keywords well, but to write content. REALLY? I struggle with good English here.I am more of an researcher and thinker type.
 
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Ninjakid

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Buddy Guy Eh
everyone comes off as a guru.

Duly noted. Now think to yourself, "why would someone be so eager to share this information with me? What are they getting out of this?"

Despite the impression they give off, gurus aren't giving you information because they somehow have this secret information, and a heart so generous that they simply must share it with you. This is their business. They've figured out that this contributes to making them money. Everything they say to you is them selling you something.

Keep that in mind before you jump into something that intrigued you because someone else is a great bullshitter.
 

DaRK9

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I quit the SEO game in October last year. As mentioned by others, there is zero control and the next Algorithm update can end up being your last one.

I played the Google index manipulation game from early 2010 when you could rank tough keywords with high PR forum profiles (good days...). Then progressed to high PR homepage backlinks and long story short, took a startup (not mine, sadly) from nothing to around £6 million in commissions (financial sector business). We held the number 1 spot in Google for the best keyword for 6 months before getting hit by a major Algo update.

By then the company had made its money but we started over with new site but it was never the same again.

I wouldn't go back to SEO. Too much stress and no control.
Using the word manipulation and SEO in the same sentence shows me why you failed and couldn't recover ranking.

I already told you how to start. It's your turn to do it. If you try SEO tactics to beat Google's algorithm you'll bust. Use Andy's methods at driving traffic and you'll do well in driving traffic.
SEO is not about beating Google. This is the main reason people think it doesn't work.

It's about helping Google find you. If you are relevant and craft your site carefully instead of trying to manipulate or beat Google, then you will keep your rankings.

Every person who lost out on an update was using grey-area tactics. They knew the risk and took the easy bait.

End of story.

SEO + PPC is a monster of a machine if you do it right.
 

John Mak

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I found this guy named Alex Becker, he's been doing SEO for roughly 6-7 years and is making 4.8 Million a year, most of which he reinvests.

What got me interested was the fact that he said he could do this WITHOUT having a product of his own.

Affiliate marketing, I believe?

Anyone with experience in this without having your own product?

http://source-wave.com/

That's his site and I plan to learn on that.

So in short - can I learn SEO and make money without having a product of my own ? Where do I find products to sell?

Hi, I am John and I know Alex and his services. Just be careful. Alex is doing SEO and with his strategy is generating money but he also generates money with his services. I once bought his service but it was only to figure out how his strategy works.

In order to market a product or service with SEO you will definitely need to learn the "process". Do not look at the results (i.e. $4M / year) because this might have worked for Alex but not you.

SEO needs capital and increasing your skills in many areas including buying a domain, hosting, privacy, wordpress, web content, SEO on-page and off-page, branding, link building, social media, etc.

What I would suggest you to do is to research how SEO works (watch some free webinars from Alex, etc.), research the market on what products and services are really worth promoting and know that you really have to learn the process to make things work for you.
 

Tommy92l

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I absolutely will! I would say I can't wait to learn this but it seems that anyone who tries to learn coding/Seo, Ect - just says forget it and outsources. Seems like the product is the thing to have and they end up hiring people to do it.

Well, at least for the coding.


Either way, I think will be an excellent skill to learn.
 

Andy Black

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If you want to learn how to get traffic from Google, why not learn paid search instead of SEO?
 
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DaRK9

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Failed? It was an outstanding success.
Before crumbling away.

Look, I'm not trying to get in a pissing match, I'm saying there is a right way and a wrong way to rank and stay ranked.

I absolutely will! I would say I can't wait to learn this but it seems that anyone who tries to learn coding/Seo, Ect - just says forget it and outsources. Seems like the product is the thing to have and they end up hiring people to do it.

Well, at least for the coding.


Either way, I think will be an excellent skill to learn.

Because the trendy thing to do is have zero skills and magically generate passive money by outsourcing everything.
 

16thCylinder

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Before crumbling away.

Look, I'm not trying to get in a pissing match, I'm saying there is a right way and a wrong way to rank and stay ranked.

Fair enough.

I'm no longer interested though. Moved onto a bigger and better business model which doesn't violate the Control commandment in CENTS, something which SEO does.
 
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freelancedev

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I've known Becker from a distance for a number of years now and followed him from being very much a nobody to one of the most well known people in SEO. Ironically, the only reason I read Millionaire Faslane was because Becker was constantly recommending it everywhere.

Be careful assuming that SEO will make you easy money. I've been doing SEO for about a year now and have bought a lot of Becker's products and I've still yet to make much. Not to say that money can't be made, but Becker has a talent for being very charismatic and making it all sound so easy when that isn't the case.

Whether you should do SEO really depends on what your aims are. If you just want to earn a little money on the side, I'd say go for it. If you want to build a multi million dollar business then take a leaf from Becker's book and make products and software for people doing SEO.
 
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DaRK9

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I've known Becker from a distance for a number of years now and followed him from being very much a nobody to one of the most well known people in SEO. Ironically, the only reason I read Millionaire Faslane was because Becker was constantly recommending it everywhere.

Be careful assuming that SEO will make you easy money. I've been doing SEO for about a year now and have bought a lot of Becker's products and I've still yet to make much. Not to say that money can't be made, but Becker has a talent for being very charismatic and making it all sound so easy when that isn't the case.

Whether you should do SEO really depends on what your aims are. If you just want to earn a little money on the side, I'd say go for it. If you want to build a multi million dollar business then take a leaf from Becker's book and make products and software for people doing SEO.
I don't understand this. I just landed a 7k /mo deal yesterday.

Mind you I have positioned myself as an online marketing optimization consultant, not just another SEO. I do SEO, turn normal sites into sales funnels, email marketing etc. I turn a normal website into a 24/7 marketing titan. Not just rank for X Keyword. Although that happens in the process.

You say he is charismatic and makes it look easy. Maybe the reason it was easy to him is because he is charismatic. Read The Charisma Myth, it has helped me a lot.
 

freelancedev

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I don't understand this. I just landed a 7k /mo deal yesterday.

Mind you I have positioned myself as an online marketing optimization consultant, not just another SEO. I do SEO, turn normal sites into sales funnels, email marketing etc. I turn a normal website into a 24/7 marketing titan. Not just rank for X Keyword. Although that happens in the process.

You say he is charismatic and makes it look easy. Maybe the reason it was easy to him is because he is charismatic. Read The Charisma Myth, it has helped me a lot.
Definitely not saying it's impossible, I just don't think it's as easy as Becker will have you believe.

What is your main client acquisition process like if you don't mind me asking. I can only speak from personal experience but I spent some time running Facebook ads, did some direct mail and also some cold calling. I managed to get a few over the phone consultations but couldn't close any of the deals. I think in the UK businesses are less willing to pay large amounts of money like 7k and the SERPs are actually way more competitive because of how dense the population is so not only are you getting paid less but it's much more difficult to rank. Again this is just my experience and impression but maybe I'm wrong.

Are you part of any SEO communities or groups? Also I read the Charisma Myth earlier this year.
 

RazorCut

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The problem with SEO is shifting sand. It's ok for people to say do it right and you wont have problems but there were a lot of people doing it right before PR was introduced and that hurt a lot of small businesses. It is the same issue with Amazon and eBay. You are forever at the mercy of the policy changers.

The only way to insulate yourself if not to have all your eggs in one basket. Do SEO by all means, AND Adwords. But don't forget there are loads of other ways to draw traffic. Social Media, Mutual Link Exchanging, Email Marketing, Blogging, Podcasts, Youtube, Content Building, Forum Participation, Off Line Promotion etc. etc. etc.. Just pick methods that are a good fit for you, your products/services and the market base you want to reach. Just don't try to do them all unless you can afford to hire in expertise.

Become an expert in you field so you can stand out from the crowd. But most of all give value and a great user experience because the best source of traffic there is, is via personal recommendation.
 
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DaRK9

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What is your main client acquisition process like if you don't mind me asking.
It's all referrals. Maybe ads in the future.

Most businesses don't care about SEO, they want customers. Don't sell SEO, sell customers. You aren't trimming the site to Googles Technical WebMaster Guidlines. You are "editing your site so that Google and customers can see it easier."

When I give my proposal to someone I generally have these main categories.

Website Basics:
Clean up junk code.
Get Website to Webmaster Guidelines.
Decrease page load time.
Remove any flash and pictures with text that should be crawlable.
Install Analytics. (It's surprising how many people are "local online marketers" and don't even track the page.)

Advanced Web:
Figure out what the majority of people are looking for on the page.
Create funnels to direct customers to most looked for info. This is usually done by turning the homepage into a hybrid landing page.
Write copy on each of those pages directed towards a CTA. (9/10 the CTA for a local business is to call.)
Set up 7-day email marketing campaign for those who opted in for the email list.

Improve Search-ability: (Unless the client knows what SEO is already I don't even call it that at first)
Keyword research. I look at KW metrics and I ask people "How did you find this business and how would you have searched for x product/service?"
Real people over metrics, every-time.
More and more numbers. Numbers everywhere.
Technical analysis.
Competitive analysis.
On-page technical.
Link building.

The next go-around I tweak and optimize and upsell to AdWords management.
 

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