“I’ve spent years trying to make money online, I’ve spent thousands on make money products, but I’ve never made a penny online”. Sounds familiar? I’ve seen statements like that countless times, and I’ve realized all of them have something in common. Something that prevents these people from making money regardless of how many years they put into it.
Coincidentally I’ve started making money within days of starting online. And I haven’t spent a cent to do it. What did I do different than all these people who dedicate time and money and still can’t make it?
The first natural reaction to any “I can’t make money” statement is to explain it in simple lack of knowledge. But what are the odds of a person spending years to learn something and learning absolutely nothing? And it’s widespread as well. No, there has to be something else.
That something else is purely psychological factor, the mindset. Now, this idea is thrown around back and forth but few people pay attention to it. But it is a problem. Some people never have this problem, some never acknowledge having it, and few solve it.
First things first, to solve a problem you have to identify it. Just saying it’s a mindset problem isn’t enough, you have to know exactly what is “wrong” and what is the “right” mindset to have.
If you want to see this “wrong” mindset in action, browse around the “product reviews” section of this blog. It’s dedicated to people sharing their experiences with various IM and make money online products, and I list those products that have hype around them so that they can get most attention. Most products that have more than a few comments to them are the products that cause rather negative reaction – people rarely post good reviews, but they always come to complain about a bad product. So you can see a lot of disappointed people in there.
Many of these people add the “I can’t make money” comment to their complaint as well, and many of them tell the same story. So what can we learn from them?
First of all you have to understand the nature of most products that receive these complaints. They are the “get rich quick” kinda products that promise the world but deliver little. Most call them a scam, and perhaps rightfully so. But the key point here is that they try to sell a dream. They are well oiled marketing machines built entirely on emotional triggers. The dream is to make money without skill.
That right there is the mindset problem. A mindset of “free money”. No business can be built on those foundations. If you’re not gonna treat it as a business, you will never learn and you will always keep chasing the dream while doing the exact opposite of what needs to be done to make money – spending it.
In order to make money you have to think in terms of creating value. You have to think in terms of learning something useful – creating a site, programming, writing, making videos, making pictures, i.e. learning a skill (or applying your existing skills to online world). A skill has to be a goal in itself, that’s step one. Making money is the second step and is only as good as the previous step is.
In other words, in order to make money you have to think in terms of business. Business makes money. There’s no question if Amazon, or eBay, or Google, or heck, even MadIMMarketing makes money. None of them were built on some IM product that promised overnight riches. They were built on business knowledge, skill and work.
But if all work you’ve done in the last 5 years was to buy 100 products, you’re up for some reality check and lots of hard work to make up for it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean all IM products are useless. They are tools that you can use in your business. But you have to have a business to use tools. See what I did there? And I keep harping that in every product listing in the reviews section – guess how many people listen? It takes guts to stop chasing a dream.
I hope it all makes sense. And next time you start drooling while reading a sales page or watching a sales video, turn off your computer and go for a walk.
Great article sir…it was really inspiring as i am in the mindset of starting an e-business.your article was straightforward without any thing artificial about it and thanks for that….If you could help i would love that but if not there’s no issue about that great article none the less.
Wow!!! What an article. I just got into all this IM and Affiliate stuff out of curiosity and boredom. I have had a website and blogspot up for years and never realized I could make money from them. In the last week I have learned some unreal stuff about the marketing side of the internet. I see there are REAL places to go get info (like here) and they can really help you avoid all the pitfalls of the millions of newbies (me) fall into.
I will be on this site quite a bit draing as much information as I possibly can from this big oil well of information.
Thanks again…Well layed out and VERY informative.
rusty
Thanks so much for this article. It is all so true… I have spent way to much time and money buying and searching for the latest and greatest information and tricks, and eventually woke up to the reality that there is none… and you actually have to work to make money, even online and even with all these “autopilot money making schemes”.
Sigh. All true. It is hard to keep going in the internet marketing world. Especially just starting out. The “selling the dream” part is true. I am trying right now to get into it. I am about 3 weeks into it and learning as I go and learning more and more every day. I get headaches. I am fast learner, but sometimes it is mindboggling. People like my self expect result day after setting things up and it doesn’t happen. Hard work, grit, determination, and a full time job are what get you through until it works.
“If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” People buying up IM products and expecting the money to come pouring in are deluding themselves. I like your sentiment about “creating value.” The internet is a huge, sprawling place, filled with every conceivable thing. It’s easy to add to the sea of value-less material there. Developing a product or service that has true value and rises above the dross is a big part of a successful business venture.
Well, since it’s a no follow based site, not much point in posting a link :).
Anyway … as far as making money “without working” is concerned … anyone who starts with that attitude deserves not only to make no money … but to lose money.
One other (personal) opinion which might actually get this comment sent to trash rather being displayed is … that if a product/tool/service uses only kajabi to be sold rather than their own site … it is definitely not worth paying for.