Internet Marketing with Josh SpauldingMaking Money through Ethical Marketing.

29 comments

1. Chuck (7 comments.)
   7th February, 2008 at 1:30 am 

   Seesh…so I’m first in line? LOL…it’s funny…I was actually thinking earlier today about hiring you to coach me a bit anyway. So I’ll definitely step up here:

   1. I’m an RSS subscriber. Done.

   2a. With 10 grand? I would fund something brand new…a new site concept of some sort. It wouldn’t be anything like what I’ve done so far. It would be more along the line of a site I’m working on now with a partner. It’s not quite launched yet, so I can’t share more. But it has to do with user-generated content and a rather unique approach to monetization. The one thing that frustrates me about my sites now is that I really don’t sell anything…so it’s difficult to approach marketing in most of the traditional ways. I would incorporate that sort of hook with a new site venture.

   2b. Honestly, if AdSense were to go away tomorrow, I would probably quit trying to make money online. I was never successful at making money before they came along, and I don’t believe there are any other programs worth my time investment at this point. That’s not to say that I would go away. I started most of my sites before I had any clue about money-making anyway…and my passion hasn’t lessened for that. However, I would probably look to sell some of them or reduce my load somehow…since I would never be able to justify the kind of time investment I put in now.

   2c. Faith, family, friends. Sounds cheesy, I suppose…but I think it’s a pretty accurate reflection of who I am and what I’m about.

2. Josh Spaulding
   7th February, 2008 at 1:40 am 

   Well I’m starting to think I’m the worst blog contest host in the blogosphere, so you may be one of only a few who takes part, although I think I’ve upped the stakes enough this time to get plenty of participants

   Thanks for the excellent answers, Chuck. They’ll definitely be considered!

3. Terry Heath (12 comments.)
   7th February, 2008 at 1:42 am 

   Okay, I’ll bite.

   1. The first question is the easiest for me, or at least my answer came the quickest. I would definitely hire Michel Fortin to coach me and use the rest of the money in product development. I’d prepay a few months of the coaching fees, and that would leave around $8000 to pay for graphic designers, ghostwriters, video production, etc.. As a matter of fact, I’ll even tell you what I’d do with the $200 prize you’re offering; I’d put it toward the $500 to get started with coaching.
   2. Identifying my breaking point is the hardest of your questions. I think it would have something to do with being bored. I would quit working on an online business if it bored me. As a matter of fact, I did quit for several months for that very reason. But I realized it was boring me because I wasn’t finding myself ways to stimulate myself mentally. It seemed like everything was just a rehash of whatever everyone else was doing. Now it’s interesting to me again because I want to come up with new ways of doing things.
   3. My three main priorities in life are my family, my friends, and myself. As I mature, I realize relationships are all that really matters. I’m not sure what order my answers would really be in though. Part of me says “myself” should be first, like when you’re on an airplane and they tell you to put the oxygen mask on yourself first if there is a crash, because then you would be able to survive long enough to help others put theirs on. My family and friends are right up there though, because what would life be without them? Selfish, for one.
   Thanks for putting up the contest, it got me thinking and prioritizing. That’s worth more than any prize money you could offer!

4. Eartha (1 comments.)
   7th February, 2008 at 3:58 am 

   Hi Josh,

   1. I would use part of the $10,000 and invest in my education such as coaching, software, books, learning about PPC campaigns, etc. I would also begin to outsource more so that I could spend more time in developing my own products.

   2. I don’t think anything at this point would cause me to quit trying to create a full-time income online. All of the hours I spend on it just flies by because it doesn’t feel like “work” to me. I actually enjoy being creative and coming up with new ways to earn income. When I am not working, I am thinking about it, and how I can implement new things. I’ve always wanted to enjoy my work and I have finally found it.

   3. My three main priorities include my faith, my family, and my happiness. I’ve learned from the stress of my last job that happiness means more than the money you make and to me happiness is having the time to spend with my loved ones.

5. Kris
   7th February, 2008 at 5:11 am 

   I’ve subscribed via email.

   My answers to your questions:
   - If you had $10,000 to invest in your Business, what would you invest it in? This could be one thing or any number of things.
   I would invest it in training a few other potential internet marketers. I believe if you just invest in a fish, once it is eaten up, you have nothing left. But if you invest in a fisherman, he or she will catch many more fish for you. There is only so much one person can do but if you harness the potential in others, the possibilities are infinite.

   - What is your breaking point? In other words, what would cause you to quit trying to create a full-time income online.
   My breaking point will come if my online income pursuits cause me to lose track of other more important priorities in life. In essence, this is linked to your next question. It doesn’t matter if my income drops sometimes for some particular reason as long as I feel I am still doing the right thing. I may change my strategy but I won’t quit unless it becomes apparent that other things I love are being compromised.

   - What are your three main priorities in life? (most important to least important)
   God, myself, loved ones (family, friends etc). The first and third are self-explanatory. But why do I love myself above my loved ones? I believe the two are interrelated. If you love yourself, you will not do things which hurt yourself and indirectly hurt your loved ones. So loving oneself is actually a means to loving others.

6. Angela (1 comments.)
   7th February, 2008 at 5:28 am 

   Hi Josh, what a great contest!

   I’m already a subscriber to your blog so that part is completed.

   Questions:

   1. If you had $10,000 to invest in your Business, what would you invest it in? This could be one thing or any number of things.

   The first thing I would buy is a new desk and a really comfortable chair that’s good for your back (I think it’s called ergonomic?). The busier my business gets and the more time I spend in my computer chair the more I realize I need a great quality chair to make sure my back stays in great shape.

   The next thing I would do isn’t all that glamorous but I’d pay off my credit card.

   If there was anything left after that I’d buy myself SEO book and then I’d save whatever was left after that!

   2. What is your breaking point? In other words, what would cause you to quit trying to create a full-time income online.

   Wow, I really don’t think I have one! When my son was born almost 6 years ago I was DETERMINED to work from home and it was that determination that lead me through about 6 differented businesses and a lot of ‘learning experiences’. I spent way too much money and got into a lot of debt but that didn’t stop me.

   Now I am running a profitable business and I can’t ever imagine taking orders from someone else who has no interest in anything other than making a profit from me.

   3. What are your three main priorities in life? (most important to least important)

   My Son, My Family and Being Happy. I’m a single mom so obviously it is important to me to make good money but it’s also so important that my son knows and can appreciate that I am working from home to be a better part of his life then if I were slaving at a job for someone else.

   4. I’m adding an answer you didn’t ask for, lol. What will I do with the prize when I win:
   When I win the prize I will definitely pick up Aaron Wall’s SEO book with the money. I’ve been wanting to get it for a while so this would perfect because it would go well with your coaching I think. For the coaching part I would get suggestions from you for improving my current sites.

7. Jack from eyeflare.com (4 comments.)
   7th February, 2008 at 9:34 am 

   If I had $10k to invest, I’d spend enough on a full re-design of the site ($1k or so) and then use about $5k to buy great content over time. The other $4k would be spent on email marketing and list acquisition, some PPC, competitions, online ads, offline ads such as stickers / giveaways, etc. So, *loads* of different things!

   Giving up… Eventually if the work isn’t paying for itself (and pocket money at least) and not giving me pleasure, I’d sell up. I’d love for it to be full time, but I’m hoping to get some consulting work out of my site/s.

   Priority 1: My marriage and a life away from the computer!
   Priority 2: Excelling at my daytime career
   Priority 3: My hobbies and arts and friends. Last being most important and hobbies including my sites.

   - Jack

8. Jack from eyeflare.com (4 comments.)
   7th February, 2008 at 9:36 am 

   Forgot, yes, I’m an RSS subscriber…

9. tom (1 comments.)
   7th February, 2008 at 12:34 pm 

   1) $10,000.00 would enable me to purchase some essential tools that make tasks easier ,such as keyword searches, seo software,etc. Then I would outsource time consuming tasks - copywritng sales letters, completing an ebook, putting together websites, graphics; this would allow me to focus on creativity and marketing.

   2) My breaking point would be paying for another piece of Internet Marketing crap that is being sold and re-sold by an endless number of heartless “sharks” circling newcomers to this difficult business. I have never seen so many snake oil salesmen in my life. It will get to the point soon where class action lawsuits will begin to make news. This is unfortunate. Many IM’ers are worse than Kevin Trudeau’s infomercials right now. Bad advice and lack of startup capital could do me in. But, I am not going to let that happen! I want newcomers to see that success can happen and that people like Josh Spaulding, John Thornhill, Lee McIntyre and a few more are also in this business and they can be trusted with your money to provide real value. If not for them, I would already be out of this business.

   3) Providing for my family; using my talents creatively; giving to others as I receive. In 3 words - Family - Self - Others.

10. Jordan McClements (6 comments.)
    7th February, 2008 at 4:24 pm 

    Take heart from the fact that I gave away $100 in a ‘best photo’ contest on my blog not so long ago - which seemed like a good idea at the time (people were encouraged to let me display their photos on my web site and share the adsense profits 50/50)..

    In the end I spent hours (and hours and hours) trawling through hundreds of sub standard photos.

    In the end there was only one person’s photos that I could use!

    If I am lucky - I’ll make my investment back in about 10 years!

    Anyway - to answer your questions…

    1. I would use the money to allow me to get 100’s of new Adwords clients at a loss for the first few months (set up their campaigns and run them for free for 3 months or so) - then start charging them all like $50 per month for running the campaigns..

    2. If I have to deal with one more person who haggles with me via 127 separate emails in order to save $5!

    3. Family, Health, Work Balance, Money.

11. Allen (10 comments.)
    7th February, 2008 at 4:30 pm 

    I am subscribed to your RSS feed.

    1) I would use the $10K for speeding up the process and plan I already have in place by outsourcing the production of new sites, article writing, and probably some link building.

    2) About the only thing that would cause me to quit is if one of my family members were to become critically ill for a protracted period of time, and would require my full-time attention to provide care for them. Other than that, I don’t think there is anything that would make me quit, as I am determined to make a go of this so that I can spend more time and attention on the things that really matter in my life.

    3)Priority 1 - My Family
    Priority 2 - My Independance - financial, spiritual, and otherwise - freedom to live my life
    Priority 3 - My friends

12. Affordable SEO - Terry Reeves (1 comments.)
    7th February, 2008 at 5:00 pm 

    #1 - I would buy a “cheap” used vehicle, under 5k to aide in some of the trips I have to make to do business. Frequently, my clients are on the west coast while I am in Tennessee and there is no real reason for me or them to front the expense of flying there just to meet face to face. However, for those businesses that are within driving distance from my location, I always try to take the time for a personal visit. Unfortunately, my current ride is old and needing too much work to justify the expense. 5K in cash at a dealership will get you a great deal on a “slightly used” car.

    The other 5K would go into the baddest multi monitor computer setup I could find. I spend hours in front of my computer. I might as well enjoy the view and experience while there.

    #2 - The only way I would quit my income pursuits online is if I won the lottery. My business is profitable and can grow into many accounts making my business very valuable to myself and to my competition. I would love to receive a multi million dollar offer for my business some day. That day is definitely a long way off. Or, by winning the real lottery. I am not greedy, and million dollar check will do, I don’t care from where it comes.

    #3 - This is easy. God. My Wife and then my children.

13. Josh Spaulding
    7th February, 2008 at 6:20 pm 

    Thanks for all the great answers everyone. Some are very interesting. It’s going to be hard to choose the winners.

    I’ve just stumbled several blogs, sites and posts as well.

    We have about a day left before the contest ends, keep em coming. I love hearing all your answers.

14. Caroline Middlebrook (31 comments.)
    7th February, 2008 at 6:30 pm 

    Hmm I’m not one to enter contests but I just think they are interesting questions!

    1) To be honest, I am a believer that you don’t need money to make money online. If I had $10k to invest I honestly would not know what to do with it! I guess I could buy some PPC traffic or something but I am likely to just waste it as I wouldn’t know what I was doing. In all honesty, if I had that kind of money I would just sit on it for at least a year until I had a decent use for it.

    2) Breaking point? None, there is no turning back for me now. I have quit my day job, I will never ever go back to being employed. Thankfully I have a decent amount of equity in my home that can support me for many, many years so I really can’t see it ever being an issue.

    3) My three most important things:

    1 - My health, I’m no good to anyone unhealthy
    2 - My family & friends
    3 - Feeling like my presence on earth is not in vain

15. Bud (1 comments.)
    7th February, 2008 at 7:56 pm 

    Good luck on the contest I hope you get some subscribers. For me the answer to your questions would be

    1. If I had $10,000 to invest I would be lost. I have only been blogging a little over a month. I would use it mostly for promoting and link building over a period of time.

    2. There is no breaking point for me. I know I will not stop even if it is a part time thing.

    3. number 1 would be my family
    number 2 being a good person
    number 3 making something of myself

16. Elliott (7 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 2:20 pm 

    Great stuff Josh! I guess here my answers to your tough questions:

    1. If I had $10K to invest in my business, I would buy a new computer, invest in a great assortment of domain names for niche sites, take my wife out to a nice dinner and broadway show or something for all of the stuff she has put up with, get some marketing and copywriting books to read and study, and join a few paid forums that I would like to look into.

    2. The ultimate breaking point would be if Donald Trump willed all of his money to me, or I die.

    3. My priorities are God, Family, everything else - in that order.

    Thanks for the questions and number 1 really got me thinking about my goals for the business and what I am trying to accomplish. I think you got me thinking about priorities also of what I should be doing, and what I really need to focus on.

    Thanks!

17. Chuck (64 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 3:19 pm 

    LOL @ Jordan. Well, that’s certainly one way to grab a comment thread and jerk it off-course.

    This is an issue of perspective, and if you don’t have a personal relationship with God, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to try to explain it to you. Bottom line is that those who call themselves Christians believe that God comes before everything and is the source of all good things.

    As to your astonishment about the “abandoned family” scenario, this is actually a very old proposition. God required of Abraham that he sacrifice his son Isaac, which he didn’t want to do, but was willing to do. God belayed the order at the last minute…which I would contend means that he was in it to make a point about priorities.

    On the face of it, this sounds like religious extremism. Certainly to one who doesn’t share the worldview of “faith first” it would sound that way, and even to a believer like me, I tend to want to look for a thousand other paths first. But the bottom line is that God cares about us, and puts together our families in the first place. There’s plenty of counsel in the Bible about tending to the needs of your family…about the need for faithfulness, leadership and constructive discipline, in addition to the obvious priority of love.

    I think the bottom line is that there’s an eternal reality that, for Christians, supercedes the present reality. It doesn’t absolve us of responsibility here…in fact, it heightens our responsibility here in many ways. But those of us who believe in an eternal God hope not to lose sight of the fact that our perspective always needs to take that unseen reality into account.

18. Josh Spaulding
    8th February, 2008 at 3:38 pm 

    I deleted that comment as you were writing that Chuck, sorry about that.

    I don’t want a religious conversation started here because we all know how they end up

    I’ll say I personally believe there is nothing wrong with putting faith above everything else, but we all have our own beliefs and where “faith” lyes in your priorities will not impact my decision for the contest in any way.

19. Elliott (7 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 3:47 pm 

    I ditto what Chuck said, and having seen the comment about my “priorities” I won’t elaborate on my why’s or reasoning.

    Chuck, thanks for the great explanation, I couldn’t have said it better myself. I agree that both are closely and intimately tied together.

20. Jordan McClements (6 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 3:54 pm 

    Chuck, as an atheist I am *almost* persuaded by what you are saying…

    Josh - you are right - religion is not something that can be argued about in a rational manner, and this is not the right place for it anyway…

    So I’ll say no more on the matter either then….

    Thanks…

21. Josh Spaulding
    8th February, 2008 at 4:13 pm 

    Thanks guys. Just to be clear I’m not a religious person, but I do come from a religious background, so I do believe in God.

    However, this is an Internet marketing blog. I don’t see a problem with expressing where faith “ranks” (for lack of better terms) in your life since I did ask.

    I just ask that we all respect each others beliefs and keep our opinions of others priorities to ourselves.

    I appreciate all of your participation. We’ll see who the winners are in a few hours.

22. Jordan McClements (6 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 4:16 pm 

    

    Agreed.

    Apologies for going off on one…

23. Terry Heath (12 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 4:27 pm 

    This has become an interesting thread, Josh. Especially the second question, since it’s why the pedal hits the metal for so many people. I like what Chris said about getting training for some others, since some of the best innovation comes from working with others of a like mind to solve problems. Wish I had said that! lol

    But I’m really curious to see what your “hidden” questions were . . .

24. Kris
    8th February, 2008 at 5:08 pm 

    Thanks for seeing my point, Terry. I’ve enjoyed this thread too. Am keen to hear from Josh as well.

25. Chuck (64 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 5:11 pm 

    @ Josh - I do think it’s interesting where our motivation comes from. You’re the one who chose to put “ethical” in the title. For some of us, our motivation for “doing things the right way” might be faith-based…for some, it might be because the “play the numbers/get rich quick” way is so short-sighted…and for others, it might be because we care about our fellow man and don’t like to see other people taken advantage of. I’d say all three are factors for me.

    @ Jordan - I’d agree that arguing about religion is a dead-end street…especially online, where most folks are anonymous and given to bad behavior. On the other hand, if you have folks who are committed to respecting each other (as I am), I believe a reasoned discussion of faith vs. rationalism or whatever can sometimes be enlightening to all involved. I personally don’t think I’m better than anyone else, no matter what they believe. I’m perfectly willing to share aspects of my personal faith in God (inasmuch as I might be able to do so…some things can be very difficult to articulate), but when I feel like it becomes contentious or a fight where someone feels “the need to win”, I usually withdraw…because there ARE no winners in such a situation.

    I honestly believe that we all have a tremendous amount in common…much more than we have in difference. And, when frequenting a blog that’s focused on a more principled path of meeting our financial obligations (and hopefully more), I think that’s even more true.

26. Josh Spaulding
    8th February, 2008 at 9:04 pm 

    This Contest has ended. I’d like to thank everyone who participated. The winners will be announced in just a few minutes

27. Jordan McClements (4 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 9:58 pm 

    Chuck I agree with you 99%

28. Chuck (7 comments.)
    8th February, 2008 at 10:03 pm 

    That’s more than I could have reasonably expected, Jordan! LOL…

    best,
    c-

29. Off To a Good Start for the Week | Bud Calabrese - An Aspiring Internet Entrepreneur's Diary
    11th February, 2008 at 2:01 pm 

    [...] subscribed to his feed, I found it mentioned on another blog and liked it. He had a contest Easy Blog Contest - $350, Books and Free Coaching. I really liked his idea for the contest to enter you had to answer 3 questions (and the usual [...]