Announcement: The Black Ink Project

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was working on something big for 2008. I’m finally ready to pull back the curtain and talk about it in more detail.

Quick Summary

I’m launching a new project aimed at new affiliates who are struggling to become profitable.

Background

I got into affiliate marketing in late 2003. As a new affiliate I learned the ropes very quickly, and started making money shortly after putting a few affiliate links on one of my sites. Back then it was relatively easy to get a top search listing, click prices were low, and the competition wasn’t very savvy. Anybody with a decent looking site and a little traffic could have made money.

Fast forward 5 years to 2008 and the affiliate landscape is completely different. It can take months (sometimes years) to get a front page listing in Google, click prices have sky-rocketed, and the competition is a lot smarter. Creating a successful affiliate business in this climate is a lot harder than it was five years ago.

The Lie

Unfortunately, a lot of the people selling e-books and info products would have you believe that making money online is easy.

Check out some of these ads (lies highlighted in red):

Now I’ve been online for over 10 years, and still haven’t found a business opportunity that delivered on the “$100,000/month in 5 minutes a day” promise.

Click on one of these ads and you’ll be taken to a page with pictures of the latest European sports cars, piles of cash, and a good looking couple sitting on the back of a Yacht. They focus on the dream of making money, rather than the reality of running a successful online business.

While it’s possible to make a substantial income as an affiliate, it’s unrealistic to think you can go from $0 to six-figure-success in minutes a day or from buying some automated money-making system.

The Truth

Based on my experience and observations, only a small percentage (less than 10%) of new affiliates ever go on to make any money. Even fewer go on to quit their jobs or become super affiliates.

There are a number of reasons affiliates don’t make it. Here are few of the most common:

• Unrealistic Expectations
• Too Much Time Learning and Not Enough Time Doing – Most are anxious to learn, but few actually create and execute a well thought out plan.
• Failure to Research Markets and Understand Customers
• Lack of Technical Skills – You don’t have to be a graphic designer or have a degree in computer science, but a basic understanding of how to build and manage websites goes a long way. Most of the successful affiliates I’ve worked with either A) know how to build sites, B) have invested time and effort to learn, or C) have learned how to outsource.

There’s no shortage of blogs, forums, or books to help you get started in this business. These learning materials serve as a great guide and reference, but without implementation they’re not very useful.

The Best Way to Learn

In order to become proficient in any skill you must first learn, then do, and repeat. This cycle of continuous improvement is what makes you successful.

Most resources and guides help you learn, but few show you exactly how to do.

My e-book is a great place to start, but once you’re ready to take the training wheels off you may need a little more support and guidance – that’s where the “Black Ink Project” fits in.

What is the Black Ink Project?

In accounting, the term black ink (or operating in the black) is used to refer to a company that is profitable. On the flip side, when a company loses money they’re said to be operating in the red.

The goal of the Black Ink Project is to show affiliates how to bridge the gap between learning and becoming profitable.

My book covers the fundamentals and gives you a solid foundation for building on. Some people find this is enough to get them started, and proceed in their own direction.

But many don’t have the skills or experience required to take the next step, which is taking what you learn from the book and turning it into action. It’s not that you lack motivation, but finding and sticking to the right path can be a challenge.

The Black Ink Project will help you get over the hump by focusing on the areas where most affiliates fail. The project will help you:

• Set realistic goals, based on your time and budget.
• Develop and launch a campaign from start to finish. At the end of the course, you’ll have a complete action plan and checklist you can use for future sites.
• Research prospective opportunities. Learn out how to avoid potential pitfalls and find the right niche.
• Learn the software, scripts and tools that will help you create and manage your affiliate site. I’ve partnered with Yahoo Small Business and Adobe to deliver this project and we’ll be covering their tools and platforms throughout. I’ll also be giving away all of the scripts and templates used in the training.

What’s Next

The Black Ink Project will be delivered throughout the course of a month. Each lesson builds on the next, and it’s recommended that you follow the same timeline when possible.

Most of the sessions will be recorded, and made available on the site shortly after they’re delivered. We’ll also be doing some live streams with Q&A sessions throughout the course.

What’s the Price

Free. Yes, you read that right; it’s not a smudge on your screen. I decided to kick off the new site by raising the free bar to new heights.

Because of hosting, bandwidth, and webinar considerations, the Black Ink Project will be limited to the first 1,000 customers.

Who Is This Training For?

This training is aimed at new affiliates who have yet to earn a profit or are struggling to earn consistent profits.

Pre-requisite: You must read my e-book before joining this class. If you don’t have a grasp on the basics you won’t get the most out of this project.

Where Can I Sign Up?

The project is in the final stages of development. I haven’t released a schedule because I’m still ironing out my travel plans for April and May. Plus, I’m taking extra time to ensure all the systems are in place, to minimize any technical or logistical problems.

If you want to be among the first to get notified, make sure you do one (or all) of the following:

• Follow me on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/quityourdayjob. This is my micro blog. I use it to communicate short messages throughout the day.
• Friend me on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=741887791.
• Subscribe to my blog feed – Click on the pretty orange square at the top of the screen, or visit http://feeds.feedburner.com/quityourdayjob

Why do I recommend subscribing to one these feeds?

• Social experiment – I want to gauge the effectiveness of social networking and blogging for announcements.
• E-mail deliverability is not always reliable when you have tens of thousands of users on your list.
• Encourage members to use blog readers and social networking sites

Stay tuned for more information. I’m going to be moving on this very quickly.

All the best,

Jeremy