I finally fixed the Testimonials page – thanks all that sent them in, I’d been busy and forgot to put them up. If you want to send in more, feel free. 
All of you are ’selling’ something if you run a website – it may not be directly for money, but if you plan to run a profit money will be an end goal. Some of you may have simple aims for your readers – just to keep them coming back, or capture their emails addresses. Others may want their visitors to click ads (Adsense etc), sign up for something (CPA etc) or even buy a product.
What most people recommend to others trying to sell anything is to do what they call ‘market research’ … take a look at what 5-10 of your competitors are doing, take what you think are their best ideas and use them for yourself.
This is bullshit.
Firstly, you don’t know whether the ideas you see on other websites are successful. For example, there are plenty of bloggers preaching about how to get loads and loads of traffic… and then on the off chance they post a traffic report, you see they’re getting 50 – 100 visitors a day (or even less in some cases).
Secondly, all strategies are different. Funny posts about where he ate lunch may work for Blogger X because his readers are morons his readers like that kind of thing, but post up a picture of where you snacked yesterday on your internet marketing blog and you’ll get laughed at. I dare you.
For me, the best way to find out what your market wants is also the easiest one… to ask. If you have a list, send them an email; if you have a blog, write up a post (like I’m doing now). If your list or blog isn’t big enough for you to get answers, use relevant forums as people that visit them will be the same that could be buying your product (whatever it is).
By just asking, you save a) time and b) money. It took me around 30 minutes to write this post – now think if I had to analyse ten blogs or sales pages, how long that would take me. And we all know I was born lazy 
Does this work?
I only give you guys stuff that works… if it doesn’t, and is just a theory, it comes with a huge disclaimer. There’s no disclaimer with this post, so yes – it does work.
Over the past two months, I’ve sold three different main products, in three different niches – one cost $27, one cost $47, while one cost $97. In total, they’ve made over 200 sales till date (combined).
Total refund requests?
3.
One person didn’t want a refund anymore after I explained something to her, so that’s 1% of refunds. Whereas for standard products, the refund rate can be as higher as 15 – 50%.
How? All I did was send an email out before hand, asking what people wanted… and when they told me, I tried to deliver.
Anyways, here’s where the asking comes into play – I have a couple questions I’d like answers to, and it would be killer if you guys could help out.
1. This blog. I’ve got post ideas, but I ramble on here quite a bit.
I want to know what exactly you guys want. You see, the less crap I put out that no one’s interested in, the more time both you guys and I save, so let me know what you want to see on here and I’ll try to oblige. The more specific, the better – for example, don’t just say ‘money making ideas’, say the topic you’re interested in.
2. The site flipping course.
I picked up a decent domain as well as vBulletin today, and will be getting ready.
There will be two courses – a cheaper one, aimed at the masses (around $37 – $47) which includes forum access and the like. I want to know what exactly you want to see on there – what sites, etc. I might be getting some JV partners on board, not necessarily to help me promote, but to help out in the forum, answer questions etc. What kind of websites do you most want to learn how to flip? If it’s ‘easiest’, don’t worry; I got that covered.
The second course will be more personal, and will come with a double your money back guarantee. I’m confident in my abilities, and know that if people take action they’ll make money. It will also be higher priced.
Let me know guys, would be a great help. To make things easier, *best* reply to this post gets 1 x free lifetime access to the former course.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Seems like a great idea. I can’t wait to see the results from other people, I’m sure they’ll be making a ton of money. Flipping sites is one of the easiest and fastest ways to make money.
Germz’s last blog post..My brand new HP Pavilion Laptop.
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July 30th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
As I have said already, MMO-ideas are always good to read. I’d also love to hear about different tactics in getting traffic to your blog/site.
Reals projects of your own would also be great reads as those would be real examples of succesfull(?) sites.
Also waiting for the $500+ flipping -post.
KaruKalamies’s last blog post..SteerWheels
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July 30th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
This is a great idea, and it looks like you have put a lot of time into this. I am looking forward to seeing some things, and I am more interested in the course.
Here are some things I want to see:
I want to see a guide on how to create a website in this, and raise the traffic and rep quickly. This would include:
Choosing a domain and hosting
Choosing niche, theme
Launch Day – a big blast!
Raising quickly with traffic, RSS, comments
Being able to monetize but still transfer to a new owner easily
Now we have something very important that I want to see, that almost all reports do not include.
The Tech Stuff- I want to see all the little tech details, for reports do not include these, though they can be the hardest parts. This includes many things, I am not sure how many times I have had to ask around for a little help on this tech stuff, but I need it in there.
Next I want to see how to flip many kinds of sites, but I want to know in particular about movie sites and how to raise them. Celeb sites also might be a possibility, I don’t know how to do those but probably won’t.
For a third kind of site I want to learn how to deal with the personal waters, I want to know how (if it’s possible) to bring a personal blog to the top.
I also think that with this site flipping you should have a contest at the end of the course, having all the users compete and sell the website for as much as they can. The biggest sale will win a prize.
To help the course takers, you should also begin a few sites that they can follow, and they can see examples that they can follow along through the different niches. This would be really exciting. You should also encourage everyone to join in with flipping a few sites, and that way using their experience and your teaching they have ultimate success with not only the contest but also for a lifetime of site flipping knowledge. Maybe the followers will start courses of their own in a few years, and maybe they will credit you saying what a great teacher you are!
I am looking forward to the course, thinking about joining, but my direct income still has to be made. Adsense didn’t pay me the $50, so I am not sure if I will be able to participate.In about 15 days I will have money for the course and to flip a few sites, so I’ll be around then.
I hope the course goes well, I am looking forward to it’s success!
I would be happy to help out in the forum too, if you need additional helpers or promoters. Here is the end of an extremely long comment!
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Blogging Is Like Chess
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July 30th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Also Jason, maybe I didn’t specify too well but I want to know how to make the site user friendly, with theme, design, attachments, plugins, what kind of pages, and anything else that has to do with how visitors interact with your site. It is another of the most important things, I am talking about it soon myself.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Blogging Is Like Chess
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July 30th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
One last addition Jason, I want you to show us how you are paid, I guess this might be part of the tech details but still a good idea.
I think you should have a young entrepreneur section where you can talk about the ups and downs of being a young entrepreneur. This should include some ways to get around some problems if you can.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Blogging Is Like Chess
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July 30th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
hmmm think of a good response…..add some spam….ok im out if ideas :p
but kudos to Nathaniel for that huge mini essay comment :p
good luck with you new venture and i’ll prob bug you for details on msn
Don’s last blog post..Buying any PayPal item for $0.01
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July 30th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Something I’m always curious about with bloggers, and this fits well with your shift to a more entrepreneurial focus rather than strictly MMO, is how many and what types of blogs/websites/ebooks/PPC/etc. they maintain. I understand that you probably don’t want to give specific URLs and may not want to reveal all of your niches — no problem with that — but I’d be curious to know what your overall business plan is in general terms. The big question for me is always what to do next with my limited time, e.g., add new material to an existing site, make a new site, do a static site versus a frequently updated blog, etc. etc. etc., and hearing what others do and why would be useful. Not that I think there is a one size fits all solution by any means — some people may do one blog and nothing else and make a ton of money whereas others to tons of websites that each make a little so it adds up to a lot and still others do something in between. I understand if you prefer not to provide this info or if you prefer to be general rather than specific about it.
Fred’s last blog post..Bachelor Matt Grant and Shayne Lamas on the Rocks
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July 30th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I guess Nathaniel pretty much summed it up
However, I would seriously like you to write a thorough, and when I say thorough, I mean 20 post series explaining every single tiny step to flipping a website. That is something I have not found online so far and would love to find it here
Rajaie AlKorani’s last blog post..Do-Follow Blogs List Released
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July 31st, 2008 at 1:01 am
Lets see I would definately like to see your ideas and school of thought about list marketing. I really think this is an undervalued, atleast publicly as a method of making money. I know I do well with it, but I am always looking to learn new tricks about the trade. I think many of your readers that are driven enough to truly make some money would love to see a course or two about this subject.
As always Jason raising the bar on the “A” listers. Keep it up.
Big Ben Patton’s last blog post..Five Easy Ways To Kill Your Blog By Commenting On Other Blogs
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July 31st, 2008 at 1:31 am
i dont see mine in Testimonials
narendra.s.v’s last blog post..Logo Design for Affiliate Launch
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July 31st, 2008 at 4:19 am
I’d have to say that I would love more posts about affiliate marketing. It’s one of the biggest money-makers.
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July 31st, 2008 at 9:45 am
My best question would be how to find and act on the best untapped niches/sites/ideas and dive into those, being the early bird that gets the worm. Sure I can join your course and follow what you do, as the other members will be doing as well. But by the time the dust settles and everyone is doing it the niche/topic/strategy can become overly saturated. Look at some of the most commonly flipped sites and everyone is doing them.
I think a key component to site flipping is learning to do what others haven’t done yet and providing something unique to flip. Many of the sites that people are trying to flip today are already well played out and too common. I want to learn how to find and act on ideas “outside of the box”. I want to be the one that starts a frenzy, not the one that follows it.
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July 31st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I would recommend that you do what your competition is doing to get traffic to their web site and duplicate it. The reason for this is so there you can find out for yourself what is working the best for your blog. You’ll never know until you try so just try everything they are doing first and then you can ween the tactics that aren’t working. Then add other ones in and try those out with the ones you know are already working.
Ultimate Blogging Experiment’s last blog post..Don’t Scare off Your Blog Traffic by Your Page Loading Slowly
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August 1st, 2008 at 7:27 am
Oh Jason, if you were serious about someone getting lifetime access to the course, would you mind telling us who it was?
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Make Your Blog Friendly To Readers: Logo Time!
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August 1st, 2008 at 7:38 am
Thought I mentioned it in the latest post, must have forgotten – it was you mate
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August 1st, 2008 at 9:09 am
Good choice. Nathaniel threw some great ideas and questions out there! Congrats dude!
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August 1st, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Looking forward to reading the posts… I am very interested in learning about site flipping, as I have a number of sites that I don’t really use anymore.
Sell Porn Make Money’s last blog post..Friday Freebie – Free Porn Video – Take 2
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August 1st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
i would be waiting for the course jason.dont forget to hit me up when u begin this.
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August 1st, 2008 at 2:20 pm
That is what attracting other bloggers to come to their blogs!
that is just a common thing!
Paul U’s last blog post..Knoll, not a competion for Wikipedia
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August 1st, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Oh Thanks Jason! I have been more and more interested in the class, glad I could join in!
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Make Your Blog Friendly To Readers: Logo Time!
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August 1st, 2008 at 4:17 pm
LMAO! How did I miss this post? I think we were talking about this a few weeks ago on how some MMO bloggers are fakes and don’t make a dime or get any traffic but they claim “this is how you get traffic”, “this is how you make money”, “this is how you increase your RSS Feeds…” LOL!
Jay
Jay’s last blog post..Search Engine Traffic = More Money (Seriously this time!)
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August 1st, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I agree man, this is marketing 101, market research is just that…asking your target group what they want! I’m surprised more folks don’t do this man!
I’m looking forward to everything you have planned TUK
JK Swopes’s last blog post..How to Develop An Efficient Blog Commenting Strategy
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August 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
I agree with Nathanel’s previous comment. You should start a young entrepreneurs section listing out the ups and downs of being a young entrepreneur.
One more request – Please write a post, or a series of posts on what you did to make money online and what are the ingredients of making money online. I’m waiting for that post.
Ganesh’s last blog post..7 Smart Blogging Tips
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August 2nd, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I agree that following the leader is a bad idea. I should have researched a bit before getting into the MMO blogs. I will be following your feed to see how you do with this idea. I am flipping sites myself and wouldn’t mind seeing how you do.
CreatingRevenueOnline.com’s last blog post..LayawayGuns.com
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August 2nd, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I think your live site flip is a pretty ingenious way of teaching your readers, and the intrigue of not being able to see the site until the end of the month will keep readers wanting more. Tricky, tricky…
I’m still looking forward to seeing the end result of that flip, and I’m looking forward to more posts of yours.
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August 3rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Great tip. Got to take time to make a post asking my readers what they want some day.
BlackHatWay’s last blog post..Cookie stuffing forums
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August 4th, 2008 at 2:49 am
*best*
Ryan @ Smarter Wealth’s last blog post..Different Ways To Save Money on Fuel (Gas)
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August 4th, 2008 at 2:50 am
haha I think my post above was the *best* post. Hehe just thought I would be funny in the hope to win because this product sounds awesome
Ryan @ Smarter Wealth’s last blog post..Different Ways To Save Money on Fuel (Gas)
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