photo credit: highersights
I have some serious concerns for website owners and I feel that they need to be much more aware of their potential disappointment.
This post may be hard for some website owners to read…but it has to be said!
Many start a website to build an extra income and the vast majority start, work hard for a short period…only to find they were disappointed with the income and eventually give up.
Then they tell everyone they meet, you cannot make money on-line.
Here Are My Top 9 Concerns
1. You believe the hype
If I said…in 6 months time you could be earning $50,000 a year via the internet…how much would you give me to tell you how?
$1,000?
$10,000?
$25,000?
Even $50,000 would be a good investment – you’ll be in profit in just over a year. For a new start up business – that is rare.
What if I said you only had to pay $47?
What would YOU think?
The thing is, perhaps you don’t, but many believe this type of hype.
These are just some of the hyped up headlines I found on the internet today:
“Who Else Wants a Step-by-Step Guide to Start Making $1000 or More Per Week Online…Without Spending Big Bucks on Another Complex Internet Marketing Product or Wasting a Single Penny on Google Ad Words”
Cost: $97
Pretty good! A $97 investment for a $1000 per week return.
“Discover The Step-By-Step, Super-Easy, Highly Profitable Secret System For Generating a Full-Time Income From Blogging…..In Just 6 Months!”
Cost: $47
Now it really depends upon what you think is a full time income.
$50,000?
Invest just $47 in return for $50k in 6 months. Nice!
“7 Shocking Secrets I Discovered After Starting 5 Blogs and Generating Up to $35,000 in Real Dollars”
Cost: $9.95
The best investment!
Less than $10 for a $35,000 return.
Unfortunately many website owners believe this hype, buy the products, work hard, get no return…and give up.
If the headline is too good to be true and promising unimaginable riches…believe me, it’s hype.
Best thing to do is to exit as fast as you can.
2. Nay- Sayers
photo credit: cglosli
Watch out for those family and friends who love to tell you’ll never make money on-line.
In one sense, what they say is true because most website owners don’t know how to make money on-line.
But there are also many that do!
If you have the drive and knowledge to make it work…don’t listen to the nay-sayers.
When I first started my on-line business a good friend (now ex friend) of mine at the time told me I’d never be able to leave the 9-5 and start my own on-line business. That was 9 years ago and I’ve been working on-line full time for the past 6 years.
3. Forums
Most forums on internet marketing I’ve visited (and quickly left) are hyped up. If you really want to waste time with people who are promoting their own hyped up ‘scammy’ products…then go ahead. But they are not for me.
4. No Patience
Getting your first $ income on-line is hard. It can take 6 months of hard work before you do.
If you are not prepared to work 20 hours a week for 6 months for no pay…don’t start an on-line business.
5. Role Models
Most people out there telling you how to make money on-line…have not made money on-line!
There I said it. It’s true.
They hype it up.
They pretend and lie about how much money they are making…hoping you will buy their product or service.
If you are seriously looking for someone to help you / mentor you…find someone you can trust from a recommendation.
Do your research before you part with any money and never pay for more than one month in advance.
I made that mistake. When I first started out, I paid for a year’s mentoring up front. We didn’t get on and no refund was forthcoming. Big mistake!
Oh and one more thing about mentors….you want one who is going to tell you the truth and not necessarily agree with everything you say / suggest.
6. The wrong niche
Many website owners don’t make any income because they have picked the wrong niche.
I know it’s been said before…many, many times but website owners just don’t understand how important it is to get right.
Before starting…you need to do the research to ensure your chosen niche will ‘sell’ on line.
7. Tools
There are so many different tools/ themes / software on offer for the website owner… many of which may have been created by those who claim to be experts.
Too many website owners buy ‘shiny object’ after ‘shiny object’ after ‘shiny object’.
Don’t do that!
8. Boredom
The boredom factor can sometimes kick in and before you know it you give up.
Ensure you love the subject of your on-line business.
9. Design
Design is very important for a successful website business.
Check yours is not:
- Too hyped up
- Full of ads
- Too cluttered
- Hard to navigate around
- Just a load of text
Don’t get me wrong, there are some website owners who make a good living (and a few more that make millions of dollars) out there.
However, the vast majority don’t.
Don’t fall into the camp that never makes it.
What mistakes have you made in your website business journey?
Please share your views in the comments below.
Andrew is a website builder and helps small businesses with their on-line presence…so they can grow their customer list and increase sales. That’s it! That’s what we do each and every day.
Yes, 9 reasons are right. and one thing is the most important for making money online is the patient. Sometime we could not wait until the website get enough traffic to make money, sometime we just pay attention to our website in a short time (that time is not enough and we start feel despression…)
So, for my opinion i will do with my website until i get money from it (althought its very small money).
Anyway, thank for your recommendation
Tuan
Yes it is difficult to make money blogging, the main reason is getting big traffic. In my view, if you don’t love to write, your chances are slim for success…it seems to me a long term prospect. Consistent long term effort.
Even ranking doesn’t seem to drive more traffic. My Moz rank is 5, which I understand is pretty good…haven’t seen a commensurate increase in traffic. So, just keep plugging with good content for the long term.
Nice and very informative post
I accept that there are numerous variables whether your website will be effective or not. What’s more I likewise accept that one thing will never show signs of change with all the Google calculations. What’s more that is posting extraordinary quality substance.
One ought to dependably blog about valuable substance which may be helpful for your followers and this will continuously build your power in the corner or point and expand movement to your online journal
Great post and I hope this post would help many bloggers especially beginners
Thank you for sharing.
All of what you say is true. The worst scam is really those Clickbank statements they put online as testimonials, always partly greyed out (no doubt for privacy reasons, honi soit qui mal y pense). They are often even true … but: they refer to their own hyped product that they sell successfully (e.g. through solo ads, joint ventures etc. with other similar “gurus”). So the figures are correct, but not showing their product’s application to a niche, but solely the success of the product itself. I would go even further, though: even if some of these products were good (after all, they often come with a money-back guarantee, so whoever doesn’t use them to find out within e.g. sixty days and then returns them, is master of his own fate …) then if everyone applied the “tricks” that would blunt the weapon. There are only so many buyers and readers to go ’round. With every reader turned into content creator, eventually and theoretically, we’d all be marketers, none of us would be buyers. The success distribution among onliners will always be a Gaussian bell curve …
Yes these are the true and best reason and it always happen with newbie actually they must understand and keep patience.
thanx for sharing such beautiful article….
Yes ! same things happening with me but now am changing my working routines with new motivation. Good Luck !
Excellent post which contains very useful information. No doubt all point your mention is the main failure of bloggers. because newbies don’t have any idea about niche selection as well as they show lack of patience in beginning.
Nice sharing every blogger must follow these tips.
Awesome article Andrew!
And yep, sadly, what you say is so true! This is my first visit to your excellent blog!
And what I really like about this particular post, those headlines that you showcased, are the exact type of ones, that for some reason when you’re first starting out online, those are the types you come across 90% or more!
They’ve got quotation marks around them, just like the fancy copy writers tell you to do, after they charge you all that money to reveal!LOL1
I really like all of your points, but I especially like #’s 4 – 6 & # 9. Great job! And thanks for shattering the myth!
This is an excellent post.
I have not joined any forums and never bought any product or e-book that was available for $10 and promised of making thousands of dollars.
I did by an ebook for $10 that taught me about Internet marketing but the book was true to its word, they didn’t teach me how to become an online sensation overnight but taught how you can actually do it!
Not many people would know that it is easy to make money online if you are dedicated and find a great niche but without proper dedication, no one has been able to succeed.
Thanks for this amazing post and I hope that every new blogger and marketer start making an income online soon. 🙂