Online Promotion for Off-Line Profit

Y'all are going to turn as green as an unripe tomato: my income that is directly traceable to the internet this month will be more than $900. What am I doing? Planting veggies for AOL? Landscaping Google's headquarters? Hitting the keyword jackpot with a blog on how compost cures mesothelioma? Paying for ads on hot blogs?

No. I'm using the internet to show off my knowledge and attract customers for my off-line business. I hang out on a few gardening forums, post reliable interesting information about landscaping, and watch the money roll in. Or at least I watch the job offers roll in, and the money is pried out of the client's wallet after I finish the work. This method is where average talent, combined with patience, can compete with impatient people with superior talent.

Requests for landscaping design that I can trace to the net this month - three that I can fulfill. Others were from clients too far away to accept, or were for projects that were too big for me to handle. I'd rather turn someone down than screw up their project, and I don't want to hire an assistant ... I'm in a comfy niche.

Requests to write articles for online and offline publications, by editors who found my other writing on the net - four that were worth taking. Several others were either too big for me to finish before their deadline or too low-paid for me to accept. I'm not interested in working for the glory of seeing my name in print, you have to show me the money. This may seem to contradict my forum and Associated Content activities, where I am writing for free or low pay, but in a forum I can say what I want and don't have editorial policies, word length restrictions, and deadlines hanging over my head. It's fun, not work, and it's also free advertising.

As for my true online income, such as Adsense and other "revenue streams" from various websites ... I could maybe water a potted cactus with that "stream."

What does it take? Time and writing talent. You have to spend the time to build up a reputation for being knowledgeable, and you have to be a good-enough writer so you can get the knowledge out of your head into the reader's head.

Where are the best forums? What! You expect me to tell you where my hidden goldmine is? I'd have to shoot you if I did. And remember, I know how to compost a body so it's gone in 3 weeks, without any tell-tale stench to alert the neighbors. It gives "pushing up daisies" a whole new meaning.

It doesn't matter what forums or newsgroups you pick, as long as they are active. There are forums, newsgroups, and bulletin boards all over the net, on every topic. If you are a potter who makes pots for bonsai, or a mechanic who rebuilds engines for classic cars, go find a forum and start contributing. Be polite, answer questions, and read your email.

How long does it take? Don't try it for a month and quit because you aren't rich yet. I was getting a few nibbles at the 6-month mark, and got a solid consulting request by the end of a year (I think it was around the 9-month mark). It takes time to build a reputation and a backlog of material to attract interest. The best part of using the net instead of print ads is that the "ads" on the net never go away ... I still get emails about some pages I posted 5 years ago.