A Real Life Success Story

By D. A. Bolick

95 percent of Web businesses don't make any money! I know this is not what you want to hear ... neither do I ... but you will hear this over and over as you surf the web for money-making opportunities. So, it must be true, I guess. 

So, that means that around 5 percent ARE making an appreciable income on the Web. That doesn't sound like good odds, though, does it, especially to someone who is just starting out? Until you think about how many millions of websites there are online. So, a lot of websites ARE making money.

I'm pretty serious about my Web business, so I do a lot of research. Heck, why don't I just tell it like it is. When I am not marketing my Web businesses, I am surfing for information or I am reading, all in an effort to uncover new ideas, and to keep up to date on the latest things the five per-centers are doing. Frankly, I spend a lot of money on marketing related materials. And I come across some really interesting stuff out there in cyberspace and from its self-made millionaires.

Here's an example:

Eric W. admits he has gone through over twenty jobs in his working life. I don't know exactly how old Eric is, but from his cyberpicture, I'd say he has many more working years ahead of him. And, from his current situation, I'd say he's going to enjoy most every one of them.

Eric was in the right place at the right time, I guess; we should all be so lucky. But at least he recognized an opportunity when it came his way, and in serving his employer well, he educated himself equally as well at the same time.

Eric worked for a state-run merchant association at the time his fortunes turned. His employer assigned him the responsibility of building and marketing a website for the benefit of the association's members. In the course of his marketing, he came across "Winning The Search Engine Wars" by Stephen Mahaney, a classic on search engine optimization. Being a competitive person, Eric set out to compete for top search engine placement for his company. And he rapidly achieved his goal.

Eric got laid off soon after, kind of the story of his life up to this point. But, this time he was armed and dangerous when he got his walking papers. With a family to feed, Eric put his new Web expertise to work.

At that time, an acquaintance of Eric's was successfully selling truck bed covers online. This friend (Eric went to church with him) engaged the unemployed Eric to build and optimize a website that would increase his market share.

To his almost unbelieving surprise, Eric discovered through methods developed on his previous job that over 7000 people a day search the Web for truck accessories. His optimization skills helped him to secure for his client several hundred incoming links from related, high traffic sites. This coup by Eric rocketed his friend's site to the top of most of the major search engines, right onto a collision course with all of this pick-up traffic. Need I say more?

One little problem ensued, however. Though Eric's new employer now found himself atop Pace-Edward's Roll-Top Truck Bed Covers distributor list for the year 2001, he apparently decided to stiff the one responsible. The several thousand dollars in fees Eric expected but received none of, would have provided a much needed windfall for Eric's family. Instead, Eric found himself now facing a financial nightmare. 

I failed to mention earlier that Eric is rather competitive by nature. This ... spirit ... had driven him to read incessantly about search engine nuances during his tenure as webmaster for the Merchant's Association, carrying his pursuit of top listings well beyond Stephen Mahaney's tutelage. You see, Eric played football all the way through college, he'd even had a try out with an NFL team. He didn't give up all that easily, either.

Not getting the thousands he was owed from his "friend from church" just inspired Eric to drive himself harder - not the best eventuality for the aforementioned Distributor of the Year 2001, not when Eric's newfound ... inspiration ... led him to work out his own distributor agreement with The Pace-Edwards Company, Roll-Top Truck Bed Division.

Ironically, in 2002 the above mentioned Division has a new number 1 distributor in place. Care to guess who? 

Also ironic, Eric had never owned a truck of any kind. Didn't matter. Eric regularly searches the files of a Web company whose business it is to list how many times a day certain key words are searched for on the key search engine sites. This information is what led to his success with truck accessories in the first place. And, since a whole lot of people wanted to cover and lock up the stuff they kept in their truck beds badly enough to surf the Web a few thousand times a day for them, and with a fairly good track record in that category already, why not? He didn't say so in the article I read, but I'll wager he who laughs last in the truck bed cover war laughs the loudest. Damn, pay back is sweet, ain't it! 

Care to guess how "loud" Eric is laughing these days? Eric's new company (he has an equal partner who deals with paying the bills, faxing in the orders and other ... headache ... work) has grossed nearly $800,000 in its first year. Out of that, about 200 grand or so is profit. One headache Eric's company does not have to deal with is packing and shipping (fulfillment). Pace-Edwards and the other companies whose products he and his partner hawk drop-ship everything for them. It doesn't get any better than that, folks.

Now, Eric is planning on grossing a whole lot more than the high six figures in his second year. You see, he and his partner have been so busy sending in orders and taking checks to the bank from Eric's search engine optimization expertise, they really haven't gotten around to ... marketing ... their new endeavor yet. They have built two other unrelated websites, though, and added a number of related new products to their original site. 

How much did it cost Eric and his partner to get started? According to Eric, they invested $299 to get listed on Yahoo (that is the going rate for those who didn't already know this) about $100 for a webmaster to set up the site (Eric built the site himself with the Microsoft FrontPage program, the same program he used to build his first one at the Merchant Association) and $200 for two year's worth of hosting. They had the site up and running in less than a week. Turning a profit from day one, Eric claims. A five per-center, for sure, Eric is.

This is really a feel-good story, isn't it? I love to uncover these kinds of things in my own personal research. Shows that we all have a chance. 

Eric's web site is truck-bed-covers.com. There's a link to it right at the top of the page on my site at http://www.marketbetter.com/ew.htm if you want to take the easy route. (So, Eric just got another one of those incoming links to his site that search engines love, and he didn't even have to ask for this one!) Yep, Eric's fortunes have turned. Good for Eric.

There is also a link on this same page of mine, right at the top, to the site where you can read Eric's complete story, and the outrageous success stories of many more just like him who are solid five per-centers. There is also a link to the search engine keyword tracking site Eric used to find this bonanza of truck accessory enthusiasts. I sincerely hope this information will, if even in small way, help you to become one of those five per-centers, too! Thanks for giving me this time and best wishes from Dear Old Dave.

© 2002 by D. A. Bolick (Dear Old Dave) All Rights Reserved

The author is President of A-D Trading Publishers And  Marketers and has owned or operated over ten retail, wholesale and  golf-related businesses. He is a webmaster, author, PGA golf  professional, gourmet cook and a very serious student of Internet  and conventional marketing. DOD publishes "Small Business  Owners Unite!", a free, opt-in newsletter on helping you to sell more  of your products. Sign up at the URL given above. You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines and URL are included. Acourtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.