Warriors Among the web

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Sure that quotation applies to.... some portion of beginning a business on the web. In my opinion, I say when in Rome, start breaking off a piece that European pie and establish your own country! "Ivy... are we talking about ruling the web now?" Not all of it... ;)

The internet as I've said before, is a breeding ground for full blown marketing. This is the territory that we've been given to tread on. For internet entrepreneurs, it's like a battlefield. We all want a piece of that land! What entrepreneur wouldn't want a piece of Myspacetopia, or Youtubia? Who wouldn't want the land of Diggnation or the Facebook Empire? Wouldn't you like to become the next King John Chow, or Emperor Tom Anderson? The answer should be yes, but heed these words....everyones journey is different!

That land has already been tread on, following in their footsteps just makes deeper foot prints! And furthermore, once you reach their destination... well, it's already been ruled. "But Ivy... does that mean we shouldn't take their advice?" Hey... I said nothing about not taking advice, I'm speaking in terms of literally trying to do what they did to become successful. Advice is great to absorb because knowledge is power, but take this knowledge and start your own journey.


Survival Guide for the Territorial Battle:

Okay, so you've decided to take over some of that internet land, huh? Well you can't go into battle without the proper preparations. There are somethings you need before you start breaking some territorial ground.

• Advice from successful entrepreneurs: This will be the shield, armor and weapons your army will use in battle. Every word you receive, every blog you read will plan you for what lies ahead in the battle field. From ways on getting traffic, all the way to making a first good impression to your visitors.

• Entrepreneur Testimonials: This will be your water, first aid, and bandages that will comfort and aid you during battle. Words of encouragement keep us going through times we feel like giving up. Hang in there warriors! You will one day have your time to shine!
  

• Your Idea put into works: This is your army. Warriors that are ready to go out and win some of that territory. It's time to put your armor on, gather adequate aid, and go show the world what you've got!
  

What drives you?

The first time I mentioned to one of my friends the goals I want to reach next year financially, the reaction I received was a "Wow, good luck with that"... Thanks pal! :P. On a serious note, my friend mentioned how he wasn't driven enough for something like that, which got me thinking. What is the initial drive behind the minds of these entrepreneurs that pushes them to be successful?

Well, I suppose I can answer that question from my point of view, seeing as how I am one of those strong willed individuals. It's not necessarily the money or power running your own business, it's mostly the pride for me. Remember when you were a little kid in elementary school, and your teacher gave you an assignment to do a project completely based off of your creativity. You could have built a volcano, or sculpted Mount Everest out of paper mache' like what all the other kids were doing. Instead, you wanted to be different and build something bigger and better because creating is what you loved to do. You wanted so much to get an A on that project so you could say, "look mom! I got an A on this project I built from ground up!". That's kind of how it feels with me. I love being able to create something new. To build something completely from ground up, market it, and watch it grow and bloom into a successful business flower... or website... or what have you.

Most of you out there who probably have children young or older now, want to see your little boy or girl grow up to be successful men and women. You get up every morning to go to work to your full time job, just to put food on the table and to provide adequately for your children for them to be able to reach their goals. You are so driven to see their success, and the pride that follows will be, "hey... that's my kid right there... the Doctor. I raised him since he was a little baby... Now look at him."

Your drive can come from pride & love, or even anger & jealousy. However... the emotional foundation of your drive should probably be on more positive selfless intentions than one of vengeance.

"But Ivy, why 5-figures monthly? Why in such a short time frame? Are you unaware of how long it can take for a business to get that successful?" I hear you say. Fret not, if you believe it will take long for prosperity to meet you, then it will. Just keep your mind open, and your ideas fresh. You never know if your business may become the next big thing, so never limit yourself to short standards. Which leads me to my next post.... after these messages... I'm going to go get some breakfast.

Where have I been?

Okay, so first off, I'd like to apologize for my prolonged posting of a new entry. I have been researching and preparing vigorously for a brand new website that I hope to launch before Christmas. I figured I'd cut back on writing about what I was going to do, and to just do it as I've mentioned in many posts before this one. However, Good news! I don't know if you've noticed, but the YOEG just initiated it's new member only a few days ago as you will see on the right side of the page.

I welcome Shantella Spriggs, a 19 year old aspiring entrepreneur, into the Young Online Entrepreneurs Guild. It really does inspire me to see other young aspiring driven individuals who have set a goal towards their success. Once more members sign join, I will be setting up a permanent website for the YOEG. That way, other driven individuals can receive inspiration and advice from each other, and hopefully network. I would love for the YOEG to grow to as big as 1000 members world wide.

If you are uncertain of what the YOEG is, please refer to this post.

Overload, Sizzle, Idea!

So I've pretty much been researching my little tush off all day. I mean really, reading blogs authored by young entrepreneurs, experienced businessmen, you name it... It was until the very informative blog post of Paul the uberaffliate (http://www.uberaffiliate.com), he mentions that instead of filling your brain constantly with all of the information... just do it just as Steven Kovar said... With that being said... I took about... a 15 minute break and since I was bored, began research again... then I took another break. I figure since I truly have the desire to create a successful online business, that it will come. Sure enough... it did! I do have a great idea right now that would probably only take me a short time to set up, purchase and execute. I will reveal the site once it has been launched, but in the mean time, preparation....

I've learned a lot upon reading the Uberaffiliates blog. For one, it does take a lot of money to successfully market your affiliate program, so I took a step down from that for a while and focused on something more simple. I think it would make more sense to let you know what my idea is after it has succeeded, but this is just idea number one! The next step to a great business plan is to ... well plan, accordingly. Gather resources, scripts, choose platform, mark your budget, etcetera, etcetera. But if you haven't yet, check out Paul's blog, his posts are extremely saturated with great info!

More research tomorrow

Sorry not much was posted today. The actual venture begins tomorrow! Besides my actual intro to the blog and money making basics, I'll post more tomorrow on what I've been doing so far to accomplish my goal of 5-figure income by spring. As you can see, since my launch on Tuesday I've been focusing primarily on getting traffic to my blog. The secret behind my traffic is definitely from the teachings of the blogger, John Chow. I've done everything from search engine submissions, to RSS submissions, blog posts, joined blog communities, advertised my blog via craigslist, technorati submission, posting comments on other blogs, link referrals, getting involved in forums, submitting my RSS feed to over 20 different sites, and Entrecard!!! Whew..... that was a big list. Search engine traffic hasn't even kicked in yet, but I do see great results so far with basic manual promotion. Check it out!



It's not much, but it will grow bigger in time! Getting blog traffic is definitely a lot different from getting traffic for my other website. That website focuses primarily on media people want to see, so it's a site practically for anyone. However, since my blog focuses on making money, I have to focus on getting in contact with those who... well, want to make money! You know, the determined folk! :) And I couldn't be happier having the opportunity to get to meet you all! I'll be researching to my best ability to bring the best resources to making great reoccurring income online. Also, if you're not shy, why not drop a comment and introduce yourself just to say hi.

You know what else would be great, if you were to hit the big black Feed button at the top right corner, or the link below....

Subscribe Today!
....please? :)

Live 2.0 - First Impression counts!

As a web designer, I've always focused primarily on the look of a website before the content. Make no mistake that content isn't as important, these 2 actually go hand in hand. You may have a website packed with great content, but if your design is poor and hard to navigate, your first time visitors may become your last time visitors. I always emphasize on a simple CLEAN design because the internet is practically a world of convenience. I tend to get frustrated when a page takes 15 extra seconds to load, not even to think of when it's actually done loading, and I can't find how to get to the content I'm looking for.

If you are to launch a website its best to higher a web designer that will understand the image that you want to go for, but if you are a personal blogger and want to search for a theme to use, here is my advice for you:

• What makes a web design a GOOD design? Well, design is based on preference and image. If your blog is about business, yet you have hearts and stars throughout your layout, it doesn't really go well for your image, does it? :P Obviously when dealing with a business blog, it's best to keep things clean, simple and to the point. Use colors that are soothing to the eyes and not over the top and too bright.
  

• When planning content assortment and block placement, make sure the title of each block is clearly visible and pertains to the content it holds. Seems simple enough, but I've seen blogs where 4 different types of content were placed in one block. It really gives assurance to your visitors that if a tab says "Tutorials" that they will be seeing tutorials when they visit that page.

• A custom logo/header is like a last name for a website. Having custom logo separates the serious from the not to serious. That may not be factually true for your site, but from a visitors point of view, a custom logo gives a website a certain prestige that plain bold text cannot. You have no idea how much a custom header can make a whole website look completely different even if you are using a free template.
  

• Favicons are great! You don't really need one, but it sure makes it a whole lot easier to identify in bookmarks.

So remember, first impression counts. We all knew this, but just in case you had no idea on how to make a good first impression, try my advice, let me know what you think! If you have any other tips for a good design, drop a comment and I'll add it to the list!

Entrecard, bloggers gold

What's this new thing that all bloggers are raving about? Entrecard is a brand new way for bloggers to not only network with other bloggers from their specific criteria, but to also get a chance to be advertised on extremely popular blogs. I recently joined up with Entrecard last night and found my self actually having fun dropping cards on all the blogs I could get my hands on.

The way Entrecard works is on a system of credits. You gain credits by dropping off cards on other blogs, as well as receiving cards from other bloggers. Then you can use those credits you've earned to advertise your entrecard for a full 24hrs on a bloggers page by browsing through the "campaign" section. Credits are then also earned by bloggers who want to advertise on your blog as well. It's never ending cycle of you collecting and spending credits on traffic to your blog! Everybody wins!

I haven't purchased any advertisements yet in terms of getting traffic from other bloggers, but I feel Entrecard is a great outsource tool towards finding other bloggers who blog about similar things as you.

I give Entrecard a 10/10 for its easy navigation, ease of use, and delivering fast results.

Click
Drop
Earn
Advertise!

Thanks for creating a VERY useful tool for new bloggers to get their feet out the door!