21 Lessons I Learned In 2009 That Gave Me The Greatest Return On My Investment

On January 1st of 2009, I jumped in and started my blog, Newbielifeline.com. I chose this niche because I found the “How to Make Money Online” business was overwhelming for a newbies.

Working for my self was not new. I have had a successful home business for the last twenty five years. This experience gave me the basics for my online business. But of course there were some unexpected twist and turns with this new medium.

The basics that gave me the greatest ROI (return on my investment).

• Set goals. Keeping my goals in sight was a good lesson I learned. Right from the start, I set goals for my online business. It is impossible to go forward if you don’t know where you are going. I have only gotten in trouble when I have strayed from the goal.
• Have a plan. I have had a very clear plan from the start. Although I have changed parts of the plan according to new the things I have learned, the overall plan is still in place. When I go wandering off I can go back to my plan and goals.
• Learn one system at a time and learn it well. For example; I learned article marketing. I learned everything I needed to know from my mentor. Now I can think with that information and come up with new ways to use those articles.
• Learn on a gradient scale. I have learned on a gradient. I learn something well and then move on to the next step.
• It take patience and perseverance. There are plenty of bumps and stops in this business. You must push through to succeed.
• Everything always takes longer than I expected. The computer and the Internet are new to me. There are a lot of parts and pieces that have to be in place to get the desired product. For example: For a blog you need a blog format, a domain name, a theme, a plan, copy-writing skills, videos, photos, opting boxes, auto-responders, affiliate links and more. That is a lot to learn.
• Ask for help. I learned to ask for help and not waste my time trying to figure things out. I have been fortunate to have a great web master, great forum friends and a partner. They get me through the bugs and keep me moving along.
• Joined a group. The Utah Geek Club is a fabulous group of people using the Internet for business. Every geek brings something new to the group. I get to work with SEO geeks, WordPress geeks and podcasting geeks. When I first started in the club all of the geek talk sounded like Geek Greek. Now I actually understand what they are talking about. I can go home and put what I have learned into action.
• Know exactly what I am buying when I buy online. I have to admit this lesson was a one I learned the hard way. But I have learned the lesson. I dot spend any money unless I know exactly what I am buying. What ever I buy has to fit in my over all plan.
• Use a credit card for all purchases. When I use my credit card, it is easy to get a refund when there is a problem with a product. I also save all of my receipts and emails for every transaction.
• Get a mentor. Choosing Connie Regan Green as my mentor has brought the biggest ROI. In just a short time I learned basics that I did not know. This really jump-started my income.
• Support efforts of others. Helping others to succeed brings in big rewards. For example; I am writing this post as part of Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips group writing project. I have no doubt that Daniel will benefit the most from this project because he is using his legacy blog to help the rest of us.

The tools that brought the greatest ROI.

• My Mac is worth every penny I paid for it….and then some. I love this computer. Learning it was easy. I don’t know if I would have made it this far if I had to use my PC.
• WordPress as a blog format can’t be beat. Yes, just like any tool there was a learning curve. It has been worth getting through any bumps. Now I tell others how to do to use WordPress.
• Skitch.com is the free screen capture tool I learned. I love it because I can quickly snap, resize, edit, name and upload pictures to my blog in just a few minutes.
• Jingproject.com is both a screen capture and screen casting tool that was easy to learn. This is a simple way to get my screen casting on to YouTube.
• Firefox is my browser. This browser is the absolute best. I love the easy layout and all of the plugins and add-ons that make working on the web a breeze. Kudos to a big group of open source contributors that make this browser the best.

Marketing Investments that gave a great ROI.

• Article Marketing. I learned article marketing from my mentor Connie Regan Green. Just putting articles on Ezines.com has paid off! This is so simple. It is worth the time I have spent writing and submitting articles. Not only do I get backlinks, I get quality visitors to my sites.
• Twitter. To start my Social Media plan, I chose Twitter. It is quick to learn and use. And it is paying off. I get great data, I can support my friends and  bring visitors to my sites.
• Forums. Being active on forums that relate to my niches has been the top marketing ROI. I get quality visitors to my sites. Most of my email opt-ins come from people I meet on forums.
• Email marketing. This has taken me a little longer to get in place. There so many parts to get up and running. Now it is going full force and I am seeing the returns. Aweber was a great choice for my email auto-responder.

Hope to help you find what will bring you the best return on your investment,
Sheila

P.S. My newest adventures are in Niche and Affiliate Marketing. So far it looks like I will be able to add them to my 2010 list of “The Greatest Return on My Investment.”

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