Net Strife – The Making of Internet Marketer

This is a sponsored review of Net Strife that is based fully on my own opinion and is not biased in any way by being paid.

Due to the popularity of make money online (MMO) niche, every day a new internet marketer is born or so they claim to be. Many young starters are jumping into the blogwagon in the hope to make a decent living out of it or a name for themselves.

But how many will eventually stand the test of time is a question perhaps we are not going to address now.

The center of attention today is Lucas Tan, a young self-proclaimed internet marketer from the beautiful archipelago of Philippines who is intent to make a difference in the MMO niche with his flagship site, Net Strife.

The Blogger

If you have been blog hopping visiting in recent weeks, you would have probably crossed path with this young guy who is trying real hard to make his presence felt around the blogosophere. His active involvement in blogging community is evident everywhere through his blog commenting strategy.

I’ve been into internet marketing since two or three years ago, and I’ve built a lot of websites — and profited from them…I’m not one of those guys who create make money online/internet marketing blogs just to START earning money….

Young he may be but this guy seems to have a pretty good grasp of the game of internet marketing. From his active involvement in the forums prior to the launch of Net Strife, rewarding his followers with a cash reward on the day of the launch to smart outsourcing of his design work to create WordPress Themes he can call his own. Link building or link baiting or whatever name you may call it, he’s got it all covered.

Everything was meticulously prepared with much planning that would put anyone some bloggers to shame. A real aspiring internet marketer who is adapt at mixing pleasure with business, I mean mixing hobby with business and despite his young age, he possesses the business sense to invest money in a custom theme, evidently place advertisements in certain blogs to drive traffic to Net Strife and order a blog review to boost his online exposure.

OK, he has some money at his disposal but how many kids at his age readily understand the mantra of “you reap what you sow”? Lucas does beyond reaping what he sows, he re-reinvests to reap more.. Need I say further?

The Blog

Net Strife is an internet marketing blog which is dedicated to providing smashing tips, tricks, and strategies regarding online marketing and making money online. It was born out of a desire to make a difference in a world “make money online” niche.

Here’s what Lucas says about Net Strife

This blog is not your typical “make thousands of dollars within one week” blog, nor your stereotype “I tell you I make money but I actually don’t” blog!

If you are expecting yet another MMO blog that repeats the same basic lessons of making money online, you’ll probably be surprised that Lucas goes to great lengths to show his ways of making money online whether through developing WordPress themes and make a fortune out of it, capitalizing on typo domains to increase your affiliate sales, the power of zero-dollar marketing to how a $20 could get you more than 100 subscribers. Interesting enough? Read on…

The Design

Undoubtedly, Lucas understands the value of a brand. The fact that he outsourced the design of his theme and a sleek logo speaks volume of itself. Take a look at his logo, according to Lucas, “there are four arrows and each point to a different direction. The box represents internet marketing itself, and the arrows are the directions where a marketer could go.”

True to his intent on making a difference, he didn’t simply pick any available WordPress theme but had it custom-made and tweaked to his likings. The theme is unique and visually appealing with a mixture of black and red. He is so passionate about his hot design and he dares you to think otherwise..

The Content

This young guy is speaking writing with a tone of confidence and I tip my hat off him. He is not afraid of telling the whole world that he is young (he’s not yet 18) and yet entitled to his thoughts and viewpoints. I reckon he understands how to swing it to his advantage.

It’s probably true that being young has its merits as well as its evils. On one hand, we live in a society where we are quick to judge someone by his youth and discount whatever is being said due to age factor and lack of experience while on the other hand, to a few privileged ones who have made a name for themselves the like of Carl Ocab, the very same reason one is young give rise to a “WOW” factor.

Being young in the blogging world is a novelty that is fast becoming a trend if you ask me. Now I don’t know if youth is an advantage, but it certainly isn’t a disadvantage.

Whether Lucas is speaking out of his own experience or he has done a thorough research on the subject, one has to agree that the delivery of his often “unconventional” thinking with a casually-crafted writing style is a joy to follow and read, not to mention his good grasp of the subject of internet marketing. Either way, you could always pick a smashing tip or two from him.

If you aren’t yet convinced, here’s a couple of proof worth a mention

1. 15 Ways to Piss Off an Internet Marketer
2. You Can Never Make Too Much Money
3. Recycling Blog Posts: A Good Idea?
4. “Free” Doesn’t Always Mean “Poor”
5. How to Know If You Possess Great Marketing Skills

Constructive Criticism

In all honesty, I can’t find much faults in his blog at this stage of its development. Bear in mind, this blog has only been in existence in early August. If there is one thing I’d probably like to highlight is the visual appearance of the blog. Though it is unique and appealing, I’m not too sure if it’s just me but I personally find it too hot and too colorful on the use of its colors and that’s my first impression I had when I first arrived at his blog. It’s kinda drawing my attention away from his content.

Some of you may argue that content is king but I’d say both design and content is equally important in grabbing readers’ attention. I reckon it’s acceptably fine at the moment but he is intent to bring it up to the next level, his blog has to project a more professional and inject more seriousness into it, speaking of which the color of red has to be out of the picture and a simple tweak on the use of typography on the post title (read: make it bigger) should be enough to engage the attention of the readers to main area of the blog. In this case, the post title on the main page deserves a little more attention if you ask me.

On a side note, the use of post excerpt on the main page coupled with a proper robots.txt file would be a better optimization approach for search engines, lest the issue of duplicate content arises.

Final Thought

Is Lucas an internet marketer in the making and will he stand the test of time? In all fairness, we should give him the benefit of doubts and the opportunity to prove his case to his readers or followers that a young guy who loves logic puzzles and brain teasers could provide the missing puzzle in the ‘make money online’ niche.

With his youthful enthusiasm and a burning desire to make a difference, could he rise to the occasion and be the next successful internet marketer? To say he could is an understatement, for as long as he doesn’t lose his focus, I know he will go a long way.

Still, don’t just take my word for it. You’d be the judge and didn’t I tell you already where I’d place my last bet on?

On Another Side Note

As part of his marketing campaign, Lucas is running his very first contest where you can expect to win $800+ worth of prizes. If you are in the mood for a contest, you’d better be hurry as it will only run till September 21, 2008.

Related posts

• Internet Enterpreneurs + Michael Dunlop = Income Diary Michael Dunlop might be no stranger to the readers of TSB. He has been featured here twice, but this time...
• Michael Dunlop – Young Entrepreneur Making Money Online This is a sponsored review of Retire At 21 by Michael Dunlop that is based fully on my own opinion...
• Blogging Topics: Making the Right Choice This article is submitted automatically by Article Marketing Automation – a novel way of niche article submission. I’m yet to...
• 2009 is the Year of Internet Marketing It’s amazing how time flies. It’s already 2009 now. What started as a casual journal of my blogging journey has...
• Me, Carl Ocab and Direct Response Templates This is a sponsored review of Direct Response Templates by Carl “Kidblogger” Ocab that is based fully on my own...