Yes, I know $2,000 isn’t a lot for some, but for me it’s a figure I’m pretty damned happy about. Especially as it looks like it can be scaled up.
Sometimes in life you just have to jump. Especially if the risk isn’t that big – why not try something to see how it goes.
As little as ten days ago, I had no idea about anything related to offline marketing. Yes, I had read a lot about it in theory, and spoken with (and even met) people that had made high five figures with it, but as for trying it myself – not really. I wanted to get started once or twice, but excuse came up – I didn’t feel like doing it so I put it off till tomorrow; the football was on so I held it off for the weekend – you get the idea. At the state before this week, I doubt I would have done much with offline marketing.
Then Hostican killed the blog. I’d like to thank them, actually as without them doing so there is probably no way in hell that I would have done the work, being a lazy ass – anyways, I had some spare time during that week and decided to give it a go. One of the most profitable decisions I’ve ever made, in fact.
The basic idea of (what I’m doing) offline marketing web services is contacting local services in your area and offering to build them a website. Nothing spectacular, nothing too difficult. As I mentioned before, most local businesses don’t have a website of their own but certainly would be interested in getting one, especially if you can do the hard sell and really tell them the benefits – you’re a webmaster and you know the joys of having your own website, so all you have to do is explain those joys to someone that has no clue about getting some virtual estate on the web. 
Seriously though, by providing website services to others – others in a business world where similar local services charge around $5,000 – $10,000 plus (and it looks like a load of shite in the end) you can make some money. How do I know? I’ve done it.
I contacted just two people – people that I know somewhat well, but people I’d never done business with before… and within half an hour of speaking with each of them, I walked out with two orders for a website that will let me bank $1,000 each. Not bad, at all. And you can do the same.
I was surprised that few others wanted to take part in the local niche project – the ones that are seem to be doing fairly well – if you haven’t, sign up to Blog Premiere and join the discussion. The great thing about this is that everyone can make money – a couple thousand is great for starting up an online business, and if you can make it easily why not.
This will actually take me less than an hour to create, as a) I already bought Brian Gardner’s Revolution Theme series and b) the rest of the work will be outsourced. I’m looking at getting involved in creating a few online niche websites too – today I started up a football website, which I’ll slowly be promoting over the next few days and the goal will be a slow increase – get it to a dollar a day, then two dollars, then five, then ten… it will add up. I’m also running the online niche thing as a project on Blog Premiere under the private section, so if you want to take part, sign up 
The basic message of this post is get started, stop wasting your time. Hardly a unique, or uncommon pointer made, but few actually do it. As soon as you finish reading this post, I want you to brainstorm domain ideas – either for a local website offering web services, or for an online niche website that you WILL be starting – the faster you start, the quicker you will make money. How much? That’s unknown, but if you work at it smart you will reap the rewards.
Blog posts may be shorter over the next few days as I’ll be working on these projects – I’m also looking at getting some guest posters in, so if you feel up to the task send me an email.
April 27th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Nice.. Sums me up perfectly >> I’m too lazy to get on with ANYTHING
George’s last blog post..Gallery Messing
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April 27th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Good post, next month so in about a week im hopefully gonna give it a shot
Tristan G’s last blog post..Top Affiliates
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April 27th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
@ Tristan – Perfect example of an excuse. =p
Just do it! Take action! Be the change you want to see!
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April 27th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Really Nice Idea by the way. I had thought about try this before but then I get the feeling of “will take too long”, “what if I can’t do it”, etc…
I might try it this summer when I have hell lot of free time!!
Usman’s last blog post..Contest Ending Soon!
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April 28th, 2008 at 1:15 am
Great initiative. You are achieving a lot at such a young age, its quite an inspiration.
Now when you say you will build them a website, does that include registering their domain and such? How will you actually “give” them the website?
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April 28th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Good job man, I have get some websites projects too…. I charge the design and hosting…
Mr. Javo’s last blog post..What Motivate You To Blog?
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April 28th, 2008 at 2:17 am
[...] How I Made $2,000 This Week And How You Can Follow My Success [...]
April 28th, 2008 at 5:33 am
You know what as soon as my cards come in, Im going to hit a few local shops that do not have any kind of a website up and offer up the sales pitch toss the laptop on the desk and show them what they will get. Tough sales are fun and rewarding and even if you fail you learn something which is better than having never done anything in the first place. More news of my journey to come on BP… So sign up!
Big Ben Patton’s last blog post..EcoInsomniac.Com: Norway Using Green Living To Rehabilitate Prisoners.
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April 28th, 2008 at 7:41 am
@ George, get off your butt and do some work
@ Tristan, no “hopefully”. I did that for ages and never got anything done. Say I WILL start on the 1st of next month
@ Jay, damned right mate
@ Usman, let us know how it goes.
@ Abdullah, means you buy them a domain, and get them to purchase hosting (through your affiliate link). You can also host it on your own server and charge them $x/month as costs. If you are interested in knowing how to transfer stuff, send me an email
@ Mr Javo, hope it works out.
@ Ben, thanks for the
spampromotion. What is this Blog Premiere forums you talk of? I’ve never heard about itGood luck with the site, if you need anything let me know
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April 28th, 2008 at 8:04 am
I always get a lot more stuff done, during winter time.
As soon as the sun starts shining, i find it really hard to sit inside and do the works…
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April 28th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I am one who has to go right at something. Last night I started a website, it’s not public yet but will be soon. I like the idea of setting up a website for money. And of course Jason, you have never heard of the Blog Premiere Forums.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Looking Into Something New
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April 28th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I already started, but I don’t outsource – I do the work myself (easier to keep straight). And actually I’ve been sub-contracting for someone else on top of that. It *is* good money and I *am* overworked.
When things calm down, I will focus on local businesses. There’s one web design firm here and I found out they charged someone $3,000 for a static six-page site made with Dreamweaver templates.
I can do the same thing in wordpress in a few hours and knock a zero off that price tag.
Andrea_R’s last blog post..WordPress MU 1.5 release candidate 1
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April 28th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
@ IR, likewise. Sometimes (well, usually) the football is far more important than the whole IM game
@ Nathaniel, good luck! Let me know if you need help.
@ Andrea, glad to hear you’re doing well. Aye, similar local firms are a ripoff, to say the least…
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April 28th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Wow, $1000 a site, that is a nice number. I wonder how much of that you will be able to walk away with after outsourcing. Let me know who you are outsourcing to as that may help me get my sites done quicker…. since I am also lazy.
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April 28th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
$2,000…wheeew!
Jeffrey Sigmon’s last blog post..Airlines WANT pilots to have a four year degree
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April 29th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Not everything bad is really bad. It could turn into really good.
Aleks’s last blog post..Funny picture – Oouups
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April 30th, 2008 at 4:26 am
let’s see, you contacted 2 people and within 30mins, you walked out with 2 contracts at $1000 each. It’s gonna take you another hour to build the sites, so thats $2000 minus outsourcing expenses for less than 2hrs of work! Most people in 1-2 weeks salary!! kudos to you mate!
anthony dinh’s last blog post..Moms Cash Blog Sold – Goodbye Krysti, Hello…JJ?
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May 1st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
New and Unique ideas are always appreciated in blogosphere and I believe you would get lot of, for this one!
Life is Colourful’s last blog post..April Earnings: Hattrick in Making Money Online above $2600
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May 2nd, 2008 at 9:15 am
[...] How I Made $2,000 This Week And How You Can Follow My Success at The University Kid. [...]
May 8th, 2008 at 3:42 am
One tip I’ve found pretty handy is to find businesses with old, outdated, crappy looking websites and hit them up. In most cases they’ve been sold on the web site idea already, you just need to help them do it right. You can also do a quick report, maybe even in their office, of other companies (i.e. their competition) and how they rank for keywords relevant to their business. That kind of thing can soften even the hardest no!
jtrigsby’s last blog post..Building My Online Business
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May 8th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I second jtrigsby’s advice. The best prospects are businesses who have already shown they’re willing to buy, but what they currently have is shi… poorly designed. And even with that added bit of research, you’re not upping the time spent by much.
If you’re going to be offering Wordpress-based sites, make sure you show them all the stuff us bloggers take for granted. Being able to update their site instantly by themselves. Podcasts, Vlogging, building email lists.
Vinny Lingo’s last blog post..Onychophagia Caused By Stressful News
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May 19th, 2008 at 6:10 am
While the hostican debacle might have set you back ultimately I think it might have been the storm in your calm that helped generate some very profitable ideas. Only time will tell but this is easy recovered from. After all your content sells itself.
Big Ben Patton’s last blog post..Traffic Generation part 5
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