Memo from a Pink Kool-aid Drinker
A very frustrated woman wrote to me on my blog and I'm going to show you her note in a minute.
Me drinking pink koolaid (no one is immune)
But before I do, a quick bullet:
- If I were to do what a lot of guys do – and teach newbies that the way to make a lot of money on the Internet is by being my affiliate and selling my products – I would be committing some kind of crime.
(A lot of people teach this, and since there's an endless supply of newbies, a lot of people going through the revolving door get taken advantage of.)
Yes I have a good affiliate program, and yes my products sell well, but:
If you don't have an established market presence already, it's may make you lunch money but it's not going to be megabucks. Might be good target practice, but it ain't going to make you rich.
Same is true of ANY other program or product you might promote. You have to 1) know how to play the game, and 2) enter a niche you can actually compete in.
Today I'm going to give you some straight talk about:
1) How ordinary real people get scammed out of their money online, and
2) How ordinary real people actually make money online, or in any new business for that matter.
I don't endorse very many other peoples' products, especially "beginner" products. Much of what I deliver is designed for marketers who already 'get it.'
But you can visit this site for a beginner product I wholeheartedly endorse, by Glenn Livingston and Terry Dean. They've over-delivered on content, and if you spend the 97 bucks and thoroughly study their material you can unsubscribe from just about every other marketing guru email list you're on… and do quite well, thank you very much.
Go here for the best A-Z online course for beginners I've seen in a long time.
Onward to Gia's cry for help.
I got this very frustrated blog comment from Gia, a woman who has attempted all the usual stuff 'they' teach you about how to make money on the Internet:
I'm tired of trying, I really am. What's left to do? I'm wondering. You are very good with what you do, and I know you've made a bundle, but little entrepreneurs like me, nothing, absolutely nothing! No matter what the product or ebook cost, I've never seen the profits. And it took me this long to read this email, because I'm loaded with emails, about 5000 of them actually, so I read them slowly to make sure I get some type of benefits, and so far nothing! No matter how very well I follow the instructions. I'm starting to believe they are all over sold out and outdated products.
Gia Lactchman, Brooklyn, NY
Here's what I wrote back to her:
Gia,
I looked at your website, and if the general gist of what I see there is indicative of what you're doing, I can tell you exactly what the problem is.
The problem is you're selling "how to make money on the Internet" information, and that's how you're attempting to succeed online.
There is a whole host of problems with that:
1) If you do this the way you've probably been taught, it's nothing but a glorified chain letter.
2) You haven't succeeded yourself, so you have no business teaching others how to succeed.
3) This general 'get rich on the Internet' topic is one of the most competitive categories in e-commerce, period. Telling a regular guy off the street he can get rich on the Internet by showing other people how to get rich on the Internet is like telling your grandmother that she can go down to the local martial arts dojang, take on 3 black belts at one time and kick their ass.
Fat chance. The marketing and make-money niche is a game for razor sharp, A-level marketers. Not for entry level people.
All that happens to entry level people is, one way or another their money ends up in the hands of razor sharp, A-level marketers and you have nothing to show for it. All kinds of razor sharp, A-level marketers take advantage of this fact without the slightest twinge of guilt.
(Their rationalization for exploiting peoples' ignorance is: "Well if I don't take their money they'll just waste it on some other equally stupid thing." Well hey, it's not like they're exactly wrong about that…even piranhas have their rightful place in the food chain, right? Hey pal, I'm just saying, if you're not a piranha, don't swim with them. Find a pond that just has regular frogs and dragonflies and hang out there.)
4) Carbon copying other peoples' product is a doomed strategy, no matter what niche you're in. Sure you might try to be the guy who makes El Cheapo knockoff products in China and sure, some people make a lot of money doing that, but the bottom line is: If you don't have a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) then sooner or later you're dead.
My advice to you:
Abandon this niche entirely. Stop selling "get rich" stuff.
Stop selling "how to market stuff on the Internet" stuff.
Do a thorough inventory of yourself and your knowledge and your skills.
Relax. Stop striving to "Get Rich" and just make ONE DOLLAR first. A modest goal. One dollar of honest profit that you can be proud of.
Find some OTHER niche (hey, there are only a MILLION other things you could sell on the Internet – yes, literally a million). Find some other product to sell. Find something that has NOTHING to do with making money on the Internet.
Maybe there's some odd thing you collect, like pink flamingos or wrought iron furniture. Maybe you're familiar with specialized motor parts or some sort of industrial equipment. Or you grow orchids or collect 16th century romance novels or movies from the 1930's.
Or maybe you go to a trade show and find manufacturers in some market where most people are clueless about marketing, and build them an online presence. Work out some kind of profit sharing deal, or get them to put you on retainer. Sell that product.
(That's a real useful tip I just gave you there.)
Or sell some kind of information about that topic. Like I said, do a thorough inventory of what you know and where you've been and go into a niche you're intimately familiar with.
My nephew Josh asked me for broad advice about starting a home business and here's what I told him:
Josh,
1. Don't get into a pre-packaged business. There are LOTS of them out there. Network Marketing deals, Internet deals, etc. You should capitalize on your individuality.
2. Doing something online…. boy I deal with that ALL THE TIME. Is is VERY competitive. An at-home online business is the white picket fence of the 21st century. Super great – if you can pull it off. Most common things are things like selling ebooks or selling things on ebay. If you do something like that you have to specialize in some particular niche.
The people who do best at that 1) know their subject and their customers EXTREMELY well; and/or are 2) very in-tune and comfortable with the whole online scene and culture and websites and everything.
The more nichy your topic, the more you can rely on #1 instead of #2.
3. Offline: Anything you know how to do – like plumbing or handyman stuff or swimming pools or repair hang-gliders… or knowing how to cook or take care of kids or organize a house… as soon as you have a way of advertising and getting customers, you have a business. Might not necessarily be an "at home" business, but it's a business.
Oh, and by the way if you do a business like handyman stuff or repair or remodeling, all you have to do is show up on time, answer the phone, tell people the truth, finish projects on-time and on-budget, and you'll kick everybody else's ass in town. In a business like that, half the secret to success is literally "showing up." You'll get lots of referrals, customers will love you, and you'll make a good living. Even in an economy that sucks.
4. If you know what you want to do, then I can advise you about promoting it. Let's take plumbing for example… to advertise yourself as a plumber you need all the certifications and everything. Doesn't
keep you from doing it when people need it and getting paid for it, if you're a 'handyman' instead of a plumber.5. Any business that is going to work for you is based on the gifts and skills that you mostly already have. So it's actually kind of sitting under your nose all along. You just need to start taking inventory. Asking other people what they see you being good at. Listing your skills and looking at all the things you've done etc.
Here's something I sent to a personal friend of mine, Anita, last summer when she asked me pretty much the same question:
Anita,
OK, here's some things I'd like you to do… Good stuff to do over your morning coffee or whatever.
BTW what we're ultimately looking for here is intimate knowledge of various microcosms in the world, where you may have sell-able skills.
BUT….. right now I don't want you to think in terms of selling or jobs or all that while you're doing this. That would be a limiting way to think of it right now.That can fall out of it later. For now, just
crank out the list o' stuff.-List every magazine you've ever subscribed to for any length of time
-Same for newsletters & various publications that you consistently enjoyed reading
-Every job or industry you worked in long enough to become really familiar – even if you've been out of it for a long time
-Every "group" that you've been a member of. Examples could be – golf, Presbyterian church, girl scouts, cancer survivors support group, bowling league, pottery making class, David Hasselhoff Fan
Club, horsemanship, stamp collecting, backgammon, owning rental property, investing, chess club, etc.-Every major schooling / training / educational experience you've had (like travel to Africa or airplane mechanic school or nursing degree)
-Every hobby or fascination you've had
-5 topics you know a lot about, that most people don't know you know a lot about
-Specific products, services or experiences that you have great familiarity with (like a washing machine that broke down so much, pretty soon you knew how to fix it better than the repairman)
-Topics you own more than 5 books on
-A story of 2 major personal victories from each of the following: childhood; teen years; early adult; recent adult. Tell what happened and what made you feel GOOD about it.
Why don't you chunk on that for awhile and let me know what you come up with. I bet somewhere buried in that list is a marketplace that would pay money for your skills.
From that you can form a USP, determine something unique to sell, have a ready-made understanding of the customers who buy that sort of thing, and have a MUCH easier go of it.
If you in fact do have a solid grasp of basic direct marketing principles, then I DARE you to do this homework assignment – and I mean, do *everything* I just said to do right here – I dare you to do that and not have some kind of successful business that you are really proud of, 1 year from today.
Perry Marshall
P.S.: If some endeavor you're pursuing has failed and failed and failed and is making you feel utterly sick on the inside, then STOP. Cut the ball and chain. It's like that sad Stevie Nicks song "Stop dragging my heart around." Don't waste another minute on it, until you've found a completely and totally different way to approach it. Or just drop it entirely and find something else. No more Pink Koolaid.
P.P.S.: All the advice I gave to Josh and Anita and Gia still applies to Glenn Livingston's and Terry Dean's A to Z Internet Blueprint Product. Actually it applies to any marketing project. Before you spend another dollar on education, promise yourself you're going to take the inventory I just gave you above. Your success depends on you finding a NICHE that matches your passions and your expertise to a hungry crowd.
The A to Z Blueprint will take you back to the basics and builds a solid business brick by brick.
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About the Author
Entrepreneur Magazine says: "Perry Marshall is the #1 author and world's most-quoted consultant on Google Advertising. He has helped over 100,000 advertisers save literally billions of dollars in Adwords stupidity tax."
He is referenced across the Internet and by The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune.
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I think that, the psychology of "everyone makes money selling 'how to make money online'" is the really a psychology of fear. It's like people believe there's only ONE giant wave sweeping the internet, and they better get on board or they're going to get swept UNDER it.
The exact opposite is true. You'll get swept UNDER it if you try to get on it without knowing what you're doing.
I remember the first time I went to Hawaii as a 9 year old boy … I almost drowned because no one taught me how to manage the 10 foot waves. I just got out there because everyone else out there looked like they were having so much fun.
But then came the waves, one after the other. I could barely get up before I got knocked down again.
What people don't realize is that for everyone they see carelessly having fun in the giant waves, there are 99 others who drowned.
(And these are shark infested waters)
Before I started teaching people how to make money I entered over a dozen niche markets myself. Some of them were wildly profitable, others only a few hundred a month … but I definitely cut my teeth first.
And I have to tell you something … it STILL requires a lot more work to make money in the "make money" arena than getting other markets to work. If I wasn't such a complete and utter marketing junkie nerd, I'd probably just go quietly under the radar like so many other smart people.
But I DO love marketing, and more importantly, I think I'm still a psychologist at heart, which means my heart goes out to all the broken hearted beginners who've been swayed by the wrong idea.
"The truth is a poor competitor in the marketplace of ideas" — Albert Camus said that, and I couldn't agree more.
Well, one last thing before I sign off …
In addition to Perry's assignment above, I'd recommend looking at some of the sites which show EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE (hard data) on where people are actually making money.
Places like …
- Paypal Shops (you can see the number of transactions by category)
- Amazon Best Sellers
- Pulse.Ebay.com
- Lulu.com
Etc.
Nothing like the facts, if you're willing to bear them
Glenn makes many great points (no surprise). It isn't an accident that the advise that Perry and Glenn give works.
It isn't easy to make money on the Internet despite what many will say. To the lady who is tired and frustrated I understand. My brother and I spent probably 8 months just "working" on things and then more time working with Perry (and using Glenn's stuff as well) before things really started to make things work.
It takes work, it takes passion, and yes it takes a few bucks but if you really like what you are marketing it really feels less like work and more like the hobby you have always wanted to follow.
My brother and I aren't where we want to be, yet, but we will be as we keep working toward the end goal.
WOW Perry – that is not great online marketing and business building information that is ANY kind of company (online, brick and mortar, home based) marketing and business building advice! I loved your checklist for how to find a niche to specialize in. Talk about what you love and others will find you interesting!
Dear Perry,
I bought your e-book on google adwords a couple of years ago. I did learn alot from it and found out I had make many mistakes before I read the book. I have been managing my own adword account but I am still spending alot on this account. I also have a seo company doing seo work on my website. I was expecting to lower my budget on adwords after the seo work produced good results. However, I do not seem to be doing that because for the last 4 years, the seo work did not increase my traffic enough to lower my adword budget. What else can I do to increase my traffic. Lately , We have been getting between 8500 to 9000 visitors per month with a 49-50% bounce rate.
Thanks, Perry! Your honesty and insights are very refreshing and enlightening.
Thanks for the helpful info Glenn.
Perry, you are so dead on. I have spent over $30,000 on ebooks, internet programs with gurus promising me that I would be a millionaire in a year, programs that turned out to be absolute scams.
In real life, I am still struggling with this internet stuff, but I know what you are saying works. Finally, after two years of "duh" and overwhelming information overload with emails screaming at me. . . "buy mine! buy mine", emails that come from newsletters or free items I've signed up with offering the same product as 10 others on the same day. . . I decided to stop and reevaluate what in the world is wrong.
I did build an Ebay business first. I found a very specific niche. I don't make a lot of money from it, but I am a powerseller who makes enough to pay my mortgage. I branched out to open an ecommerce site within that same specialized niche. Now my sales have increased by about 1/3, as Ebay sales are going down. I have at least 10 of my keywords on the first page of google which brings in traffic. I've done all of this from reading some of the thousands of dollars of ebooks I've downloaded and taken bits and pieces and applied them to my sites. I make enough money on adsense to pay my hosting and domain name fees with that income coming from 6 different websites. Those websites are also niche websites.
It is so important for people who are new at this NOT to buy into every program out there. Pick one thing to do on the internet, whether it be a blog, or build a website, or sell affiliate products, or build an Ebay business and focus on doing that one thing right until it becomes profitable. Then duplicate those efforts and branch out. Find a niche, research it, find the right keywords, and stick with it. FOCUS ON ONE THING UNTIL YOU GET IT RIGHT. That's what I failed to do and am now starting all over again.
It's never too late, and it can work, but it is a tremendous amount of work to build a business on the net. Compare it to building a brick and mortar biz though and it is hands down, a much better option.
Thanks for all of your advice on this page and for being so honest up front and telling it like it really is.
Hi Perry,
Sage advice as always.
Being unique instead of a "me too" marketer is really the key.
Thanks for a putting some good resources and some good food for thought!
Sincerely,
Jay
Dear Perry and Glenn,
I can't thank you enough for your candor and honesty. I have entered the e-commerce arena guileless, enthusiastic, and totally believing, and totally at the mercy of the sharks.
Initially, all I was after was a profitable online business that provides a good service on a topic where I know something, maybe even provide a little inspiration to other people and glean a decent living for myself. I have been totally "sucked up" in a sea of information that I have not been able to apply successfully. Why? Because it's overwhelming. Too much!!! My email box looks like the red light district. Everyone is selling something. With all of the chatter, you're left pretty much on your own to figure things out.
My area of interest and experience is fine art and design. I've abandoned all 3 of my sites to give myself time to think things out before investing more time and money. My sites are wasted real estate at the moment. PPC has been a bomb for me.
If you can share any insight that would help me get onto a better path, I will be so grateful.
Perry, I feel you are one of the good guys. Respect.
Sincerely,
Joan
I think this is one of the best posts I've read in a long time.
Thanks, Perry, for sharing that story and for the "homework" assignment.
I actually do have a fair amount of background (corporate, however) doing internet marketing and graphics,yet I'm still not convinced I'm in my right niche "yet" although am officially launching a graphics site.
I tend to do all kinds of projects for others (websites, etc.) and not for myself so I've found it difficult to get out of that mindset.
I love to share and help others, newbies included, and teach them how to accomplish and learn things — it gives me tremendous pleasure. I also like to share my personal stories with anyone that I think will benefit and have been told I have a gift of writing and sharing those things. Another reason to reconsider my direction.
I am going to do the homework and see what I come up with. Thanks, Perry!
Christine
Great post. I will definitely be directing people here in the future when I get the same type of questions.
I can relate to Gia's story 100%. After many years, I still consider myself a newbie, and it's like the blind leading the blind or newbies leading other newbies. It wasn't until I stopped following other newbies and starting following my own heart that I was able to finally start attracting the success I wanted to achieve with online marketing.
Gia, you can have, be, or do anything you want as long as you really really want it and keep your focus only on the things you want and keep your mind off the things you don't want.
Wishing you Great Success!
Karen Shain
Co-author of "Living an Abundant Life," and publisher of many eBooks for Health, Happiness and Success. Karen Shain is also the Founder of Bloomees.com, a shopping network of hundreds of stores where members can join for free and receive cash back on purchases made through the Bloomees Shopping Network.
Hello Perry and Everyone else,
As I read the post above it just further cemented a hunch (my gut
) that I've been having for quite some time now. This may sound a bit weird, but the more I read of Perry's stuff the more I'm convinced of my hunch. Ok, enough babbling, I'll get on with it.
My hunch tells me that most of what I have found on the internet that "teaches me how to make money, or how to market on the internet" is mostly just "repackaged" Perry Marshall stuff.
I mean seriously, every time I read an article on this website, I read something that makes me say "hey so and so, teaches that same thing."
Anyway, keep on doing what you do Perry, I think I found my "horses mouth", forgive the pun.
Be Great!
Miles Hennis
Hi, Mr. Marshall
Thanks for your honest commentary on the Internet marketing business. Your are one the first online marketers comments I've read who is honest enough to tell it like it is. Thanks for the dose of reality.
Perry,
This was a great post!
In the past year I've signed up for tons of educational materials on internet marketing and have sampled nearly everything available from the big names. I've spent much more than $10,000, and as much as half of that was more or less wasted.
Out of all that investment of time and money, a very small handful of people have provided what I consider to be very solid advice of extraordinary value. They are you, Glenn Livingston and Rich Schefren.
Dan Kennedy is also great for on- and offline marketing advice, but he's also a bit of a huckster.
Fortunately I found you all early enough to give me the perspective I needed to protect me from some of the worst of the newbie exploiters.
Plenty of other marketers provide useful tactics and tricks for making money, but no one teaches the "mindset" like you guys do.
I'm looking forward to meeting you in person at Ken McCarthy's System Seminar in Chicago later this month.
Thanks for all the great material you provide.
– Scott Silverback
Before entering any niche ask yourself one thing, knowing how much (or little) you know about this topic, product or service would you be happy to buy from someone with this level of knowledge me and be satisfied with the outcome.
Let's face it if you would feel cheated having bought from someone with as little knowledge or experience as you have you shouldn't be trading in this market.
Most people have a great deal of expertise in something (but not in getting rich on the internet); so sell advice, help or products in the area where you have expertise … and don't try to rip anyone off about subjects where you are not an expert.
Hi Perry,
I get emails from you quite often on different topics and would like you to look at my site that I bought in to and tell me what you think. DO you think it will sell or do you think I am wasting my money and time promoting this. I just got started in this. Clickbank shows it is one of the top sites out there. Thank you
Now having developed an internet-based business, it drives me crazy to see 'internet marketers' selling information to people who wish to be 'internet marketers' as if that was what 'internet marketing' was all about!
It breaks my heart! It's such bull!
In all honesty, I really don't like the phrase 'internet marketing' just because of that association: I prefer to think of it as just 'marketing'.
For me, the realization (and success) came when I realized that I was creating an internet-based *business* (emphasis on the business!). It's just a business like any other except one's point of sale is done on a website and the way that one tells people about their business (marketing), is through the internet.
Repeat:
It's just a business like any other in your neighbourhood.
So, if you don't think you can sell something to someone in your city or town, then why would you be able to sell it on the internet? The people on the internet are the people in your city or town!
I find that a great way of testing a business idea is just describing it to your friends and family. If they say, "Hey, cool!" then, it might be worth looking into. From that point, see if anyone else, online, is doing it. A Google search or two will tell you that.
Heck, just go to etsy.com and check out all of the homemade stuff people are selling online. Those can be internet-based businesses!
At the end of all of this, I'd just like to say that the best book, in my opinion, for telling you how (step-by-step) to set up an internet-based business is Timothy Ferris's, "The Four Hour Work Week". I wish he had written it when I had started!
You can set one up in about two weeks. Come back then and let us know what you set up!
I would say, "Best of luck" but there isn't really any luck involved in it.
Best wishes,
Connor F
Great advice indeed Perry. You have to be an individual and not follow the herd. And you need to be passionate about what you are doing and the rest will fall into place – with the right attitude
My heart goes out to Gia.
My toes are dabbling in the world of online marketing, PPC and Adwords and I can't tell you the thrill of earning my first dollar!
Dollars continue to trickle in from here and there. Not millions!
But hey…something is better than nothing.
Of course, there is a question attached to my comment:)
If you're not Joe Vitale:)….but you've developed a niche for over a year with a website, blog and online communities and are earning minimal dollars for my efforts….where would you go from there after you've exhausted all of your amazing free advice:) I'm frozen and I can't get up:)
Cheers.
Mara
I appreciate your candor, and I don't doubt your words of advice. My struggle is with your very last comment: "Your success depends on you finding a NICHE that matches your passions and your expertise to a hungry crowd."
That is really a much bigger mouthful than it looks like. I know what my passions and expertise are, I've spent years defining, developing, and nurturing them. But finding in the various niches of my interests "a hungry crowd" who will pay for what they are hungry for — well, I've been very slow about discovering it, despite all my work with AdWords with numerous "best guides" I can find. (I have spent a good but of money learning that even when I follow directions, I'm likely still not following directions.)
I attended a seminar by we well-known internet marketing organization in CA and they were saying the same as you: find a niche and supply what is needed (much more, of course). But when I approached them about my particular interest, they all just stopped talking and looked at me. (I'm not kidding.) I don't know if they just didn't know anything about my area, or thought I was barking up a tree with no coons, but they would just stare.
Honestly, I don't think I have a coonless tree, but I've been out in the dark for quite awhile now, and I would really like to see a couple up there.
Undaunted, I will keep going. I'll take a look at the Livingston/Dean resource you suggested. Thanks.
Gary
P.S. I do have one insensitive question: If it really is so different from all the other stuff I've been buying, reading, and falling on my face with, why does it need to look, sound, and act so much like all the other stuff? Same profile, same price points, same P.S.'s, etc. My first inclination is to walk away. But I won't. Thanks again.
Any products that help other people make money are going to sell LOTS better than so-called "niche" products.
I have tried probably a dozen different niches and it is just 500x easier to sell products that help others make money (doesn't have to be online) than it is to sell niche products.
So telling people that the reason they're not making money online is because they're selling make money stuff is silly.
I'd suggest that the reason they're not making money is either a) the offer sucks or b) they get no traffic to their offers.
If you have a quality list and a quality offer you'll make money.
Life is a giant ponzi scheme. Just look at the top of the financial food chain, the fund managers like Bernie Madoff ripping people off, and the way the housing market is set up to be a game of musical chairs.
This is the world we live in, and pretending otherwise is a good way to end up giving up on making money with your own business.
Gary,
There is no law in the universe that says, just because you're interested in something means you can sell it.
I'm interested in all kinds of topics that would be marginal markets for niche products.
One thing I can tell you is, Glenn Livingston's survey method reliably identifies markets where there is interest and no profit.
My point is: Just because you're interested in making money doesn't mean that's the best market to sell to.
Yes Glenn and Terry's product has a similar sounding sales letter as hundreds of others, makes similar promises. Difference is, their stuff works. Most other peoples' don't. They're telling the truth. Most other people aren't.
Actually I think their product is substantially under-priced. It's got like 12 hours of content and if you know these guys, it's rock solid.
It's probably not as flamboyant and exciting to listen to as the Big Promoters.
But it WORKS.
I don't think the difference between the good stuff and the bad stuff is at all obvious at first. It takes a long time to develop that discernment.
To Anonymouse:
I could not disagree more with your statement that life is really just a ponzi scheme. It reminds me of that scene in the movie Wall Street (80's) where the guy says, "It's all just a big zero sum game!"
That was a LIE and it still is. One that takes many, many forms in the business world today. Fundamentally it's a lie that spits in the face of innovative, inventive people who solve problems.
The Bernie Madoffs of the world are NOT the producers. They are parasites that destroy what the producers create. Never, ever confuse the two. Don't even think of using him as your excuse for also being a parasite.
If my Definitive Guide to Google AdWords only worked for people who sell "how to make money stuff" then I would unquestionably be some kind of a fraud. Fact is, it works in thousands of different markets from doorknobs to industrial equipment, as the testimonials on my site attest.
You are right, those trying to sell make-money info are not succeeding because of the quality of their offer and their traffic. But if you want to have great traffic and great offers in this market, you've got to be in the top 1% skill set of all marketers or you won't make it.
On the other hand I know all kinds of non-money related markets where people are making a BUNDLE with decent if not world-class marketing skills – because their competition is clueless about direct marketing.
Perry Marshall
"There is no law in the universe that says, just because you're interested in something means you can sell it."
Well, of course you are right on this, just as there is no law that if you haven't made money in a niche, it must be a bad niche. (Both are fallacious, and neither of us made either point). I haven't made much money in a so-called good niche, let alone a bad one! So I think I'll go check out D&L and see if they can help me better identify what's good and bad. Sometimes it is not the niche that's the problem, or the guru's giving the advice: sometimes it is just thick-headedness, despite the best intentions and efforts of people like me. I obviously haven't "put it all together" yet.
Thanks for the reply and for all your work.
Gary
Thank you so much for the honest assessment of the Internet Marketing arena. I appreciate your candid discussion and have forwarded this article to a bunch of friends and business associates.
Gary,
Glenn's free material at http://www.livingstonreport.com is a great start for figuring out why some niches seem to pay and others not.
Perry
Not sure how to react to this post. My general feeling is I can't believe you wrote it. Then I realised you wrote it from a position of success so you can afford to give advice like this.
For those of us who have invested time and money in perfectly reasonable online opportunities it's actually quite depressing advice. It preys on fear of failure which Napoleon Hill says we should not do.
As for spending money on guru products I don't see that as a problem it's personal development as long as you buy the right books.
The key according to The Secret endorsed by Bob Proctor and many other successful people is to have a purpose, overcome your fears, learn to market which you can learn as a skill and have an automated system that sells 24/7.
The only problem I have had marketing is Adwords even after applying your principles in your Definitive Guide. Why? Because the learning curve is huge you for assume a $100 a day budget is within a home business owners reach. Well in many cases it isn't. Adwords is massively open to fraudulent clicks and has such limited copy space unless you are an expert copywriter you get a serious mismatch of leads and offer.
The most successful earner in my company who did earn a 6 figure sum in 12 months spends £3,000 on Adwords Mike Dillard says he spends $10,000 a month.
So actually the best advice I have given myself is ignore Adwords because it siphons off my bank account. Social media produces for better VFM and I only wish I had been taught the techniques I now know at the start.
I was a big fan but now I just end this comment confused why you would discourage so many aspiring internet marketers? My advice is never give up because what the mind can conceive of te mind can do.
@Perry and Glen.
Fantastic response!
The sad thing is that we live in a microwave society. We live in a "I want it now " system and a lot of folks are somehow conditioned to believe lies instead of the truth.
Another sad thing is that they don't come across folks like perry and glen until they must have wasted their life savings on these "make a million dollars over night " programs. That is very sad.
Call me cheap if you want. I actually have about 18 questions that I ask myself before I buy any of these courses online. Yes, 18.
And I make sure I am not in a hurry to make any purchase. I must be the one in absolute control else I am not buying. It has saved me bundles!
The very few products I have on my shelve, I don't regret buying them.
Here is something I received from Sean. I trust some folks will find it useful.
A car in an auditorium? I never heard that before. Actually I never attended those kind of events anyway
Here we go!
In the year 2003, I went to a presentation in Australia.
There were 450 people in the room. And two fancy cars (yes in the
room!) And then the speaker ran from the back of the room to the
front, amid thunderous applause.
=====================================================
Five days later, I was $10,000 poorer.
=====================================================
And none the wiser.
I'd been suckered by a get-rich-quick scheme.
If you're feeling a little superior at this point, I don't blame
you. But when I started out in business–and for a few years after
the starting point–I was quite concerned about getting enough
dollars in the bank. Actually, if someone promised me some crazy
scheme to improve my bank balance or customer acquisition rate, I
was more than likely to look their way.
Hard work was intoxicating. But sitting in the 'counting house'
counting money was frankly even more appealing. I frankly don't know
how much money and time I spent before I got wise. Or should I say
wiser.
=====================================================
The moment of wisdom came when I started recognising the red flags.
=====================================================
- I started avoiding anything 'instant.'
- I started avoiding anything that offered 'tsunamis of customers'
- I started avoiding anything that had fancy cars, surfboards,
planes, jets, boats.
- I started avoid anything with graphics of cheque books and bank
balances.
I realised I was trying to learn the tricks of the trade.
And the people who were teaching me (or trying to teach me those
tricks) were Ponzi schemers. They'd take my hard earned money, and
then get me to follow their methods. I would then have to turn
around and do the same lecherous activity.
=====================================================
And frankly it sickened me.
=====================================================
I realised I didn't want a big yacht. Or a jet. Or twenty thousand
X-Boxes.
I didn't want to surf on the waves all day. Or frolic in palm grove
coves.
=====================================================
What I wanted was far simpler
=====================================================
I wanted a decent life. I wanted to have time for myself. I wanted
to be able to drink my coffee in peace. Eat my lunch and dinner in
peace. I wanted to travel. I didn't want to be pushed around by
customers. I wanted to be paid in advance, and not have to beg for
my due. I wanted a few goodies like my MacBook Pro. And I wanted to
know that my future was getting more secure with every passing year.
Hard work didn't scare me. But I wanted to work fewer hours if
possible. And I wanted lots of time to just sit and do nothing but
read, or drink a Leffe Brune.
=====================================================
Of course things got didn't get better right away
=====================================================
In our first month at Psychotactics we earned just $28. I don't
think it got much better that year, but with every passing year, the
simple dream seemed to get momentum. And over the last seven years,
we've gotten to a stage where we'd do fine even if we took a year,
two years, even five years off. Of course this healthy state of
affairs gives you loads of time to think.
And in this time I'd get mad at the get-rich-quick merchants.
Until realisation dawned on me once again.
=====================================================
I realised that these people had a purpose in life.
=====================================================
They were simply doing the rest of us a favour. They were attracting
those who were interested in the short cuts. They were attracting
folks who instinctively know that you can't learn to play the piano
in three months, but believe that you can be a zillionaire in the
same amount of time.
=====================================================
They were attracting the Sean D'Souza of 2003.
=====================================================
I was that person.
I wanted the shortcut.
I wouldn't listen to common sense.
I wouldn't listen to those who promised me results based on hard
work.
Well, I would, but I'd try and see if there was somehow some easier
way.
=====================================================
And that's the role of the get-rich-quick merchants
=====================================================
Their job is to teach some of us that only hard work and dedication
will get us to where we want to be. And equally important, their job
is to keep taking the dollars away from people who never learn the
lesson.
=====================================================
They were actually doing me a favour, I realised
=====================================================
Because shortly after, I invested both time and money in education.
I bought from people who promised me nothing but hard work. People
who didn't promise the big boats, and the fancy surfboards, and all
the glitz. I carefully evaluated where I was going to spend my
money, and then spent a lot of it learning from these folks.
And things changed quite dramatically. The guidance made a
difference.
The hard work factor never changed, but I was achieving a lot more
in far few hours, and with far less effort. And getting paid in
advance (which is always a nice thing to have).
=====================================================
But something else was happening as well.
=====================================================
I was getting better clients thanks to the get-rich-quick merchants.
They were weeding out the people who simply wanted it easy. They were
weeding out those who got impatient because they tried something for
10 minutes and weren't getting results. They were weeding out all
those for whom hard work is like a disease.
By the time most of our clients get to Psychotactics, they've sowed
their wild Internet oats. Most, if not all our clients have gotten
over the get-rich-quick mentality. At our workshops we work with
people who are willing to put in the hard yards.
In the Cave, at 5000bc, we even have a 'Taking Action' section,
where people post their daily progress on a specific project, while
getting advice on how to move ahead. It's nice to finally be and
work with people who understand the value of continuous guided
momentum.
=====================================================
Hmmm…
=====================================================
So that creep in Australia did me good after all.
He gave me a $10,000 lesson. A lesson that I didn't understand
till many years after the incident.
So now when I see the get-rich merchants roll into town and promise
these gazillion dollar returns, I don't always smile. A grimace
still envelops my face.
=====================================================
But eventually I break into a smile.
=====================================================
And get back to work.
And to drinking my coffee in peace.
And playing with my MacBook Pro.
P.S. Since 2004, barring a year or two, we've always taken 3 months
off per year. Yes, three whole months. And we spend inordinate time
in the cafe. This got one waitress to ask me if I had a job. Or was
in between jobs. But this idea of the 'easy life' can be misleading.
When we work, we really give it our all. When we don't, we don't.
And it's something worth fighting for. The ability to be able to have
your coffee when you want, with whom you want, and where you want–
be it Auckland or Tokyo.
Warm regards,
Sean
ps: Wisdom key: Perry responded to an email,highlighting some experts in various areas of online business. Any one who is just starting out may want to start from there. It is that simple.
These guys will definately lead you aright IF YOU LISTEN.
Just like those passages in deut. 28. The "IF factor"
Hey Perry,
Great post!
I joined your news letter about 5 months ago and all i can say is that you are the one of the most honest Guru's on the internet today. Your information is the real deal ! …
My advice to new folks don't believe all the hype of peaple making millions on the internet.. It all a psychology tactic followed by preemptive strikes to get you, the customer to push the add to cart button and take out your credit card to buy their product. If you are new the internet signs up for Perry's new letter. The information you get from Perry will put you on the right track to getting your business on track
Heck, I know small business owners who spend 250k per year for Google online advertising and they don’t accept Visa, MC online only COD and they have no idea what Click Bank is? – They have gross sales of 1.5 mil plus a year…. So when Perry states that you have to be razor sharp .. you gotta focus on profitable niches ……Don’t be disappointed if you spent months on creating an e-book and it’s not raking in millions. The super affiliates and successful product owners use focused research. Testing niches with a very small investment up front, until they find a gusher. It’s allot like drilling for oil and looking for hotspots. Your research tells you that there are oil deposits out there, so the first step is to test, if it looks like a good producer or in our case a nitch with w/ good CTR and conversion rate you roll with it. Now the technique and system you initiate is key!
The super affiliates don’t make sales of 10k a day without spending spending 4k -5k in PPC . So when they show you their Click Bank account and total up 10k for a week they have spend at least 40% in advertising the products. The ones that are telling you that they are raking in 25k per day it’s because they have monetized their lead base with other JV’s. For the most part stay away from the “dream maker” ads nobody makes 6 figures in 7 days without having spent several years in the business and building strong long term relationships with other marketers.
That’s the real deal my friends.
Chris J,
Minute-Man, Boston
“Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again”
Hey! A piece on product creation. Sweet.
I do a bit of reading on marketing of course, and am a long time PM subscriber.
But I always notice that one lacking thing, a product. You can't market nothing. Or can you?
Nice to have a bit on product creation.
Hi Perry.
This column is notable in providing some excellent questions for self-inventory. The great need for this kind of advice is evidenced by the glowing responses above.
As a teaching tool, your column rates highly because there are enough examples to form a pattern that readers can follow. Bravo!
Your progression might hopefully move to incisive methods for reality checking of specializations identified. What will be needed as part of business planning is to determine some rough estimate of proficiency, and thus market penetration. That question is one on which precious little is written.
Your comments would be most appreciated on plans to devise cross-checking of quintiles of proficiency in the niche.
Cheers.
rkh
Perry and Glen so often have great nuggets of valuable information that are worth my time to read.
Some things I picked up on my journey of very hard knocks of creating and running a real business:
1. Traffic that does not convert is just ego building. SEO often generates this, the key is focus on convertible traffic. Most SEO firms will never use the word conversion.
2. Do A/B Testing of your landing pages to increase conversion. If your not doing this, start NOW.
3. Define the Drucker 3 Questions:
a. Who is your customer
b. What do they value
c. What can you provide of value to them
That is followed by how do you measure this…
4. Ask another Drucker Question – Are you doing the right work?
5. Ruthlessly use the 80/20 rule – Pareto principle in your business.
6. Have a business plan, the work of developing it will help tremendously. Even if your entire business changes (which it usually does), it still helps.
Sincerely,
Ray
The Street Smart SEO
Perry,
Great post.
I do think there is a fundamental thing missing from most online businesses that no one ever wants to address because it'll scare people off…
… it's skills. Many people don't have any.
The biz opp crowd's pitch is that everyone has something they're an expert at. I don't think it's true. Some people haven't bothered to learn anything.
They do the minimum possible to get by, and their the online business "get rich in 30 days" scheme is the ultimate manifestation of this "something for nothing" attitude.
And I'm not talking about degrees or certifications (though they might be helpful) but actually hard, tangible skills that you can write down on paper and exchange for money.
The plumber thing is a great example. Dude can fix pipes. Dude gets paid to fix pipes. If he works hard, dude can probably figure out how to sell his services (or system) online and make some money.
In the IM world, people confuse knowledge with skills. Knowing that the weight loss or money making markets are huge, doesn't mean squat. Knowing how to get 1000 visitors from StumbleUpon each day, doesn't mean anything when all you've got for sale is a PDF that no one wants.
The following dialogue from the movie, Napoleon Dynamite, is ridiculous, but also a great lesson for online marketers (just replace 'girls' with 'customers' so it makes sense.)
Napoleon Dynamite: Well, nobody's going to go out with *me*!
Pedro: Have you asked anybody yet?
Napoleon Dynamite: No, but who would? I don't even have any good skills.
Pedro: What do you mean?
Napoleon Dynamite: You know, like nunchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills… Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.
Perry, You give some great advice…
"If some endeavor you're pursuing has failed and failed and failed and is making you feel utterly sick on the inside, then STOP."
But what about the other side of the coin, where persistence pays off. I forget where I read it (maybe from you), but someone once said it’s like buried treasure that you know is there, you just don’t know how deep.
I personally have about six websites built over five years. Most make some form of money that is they are in the black. But I’m not making the profits I feel I should. I offer high quality products (if not superior products than all my competition). I have spent many hours and long nights working on these websites. But again, it falls short of being able to make a living from the websites.
My question is when do you know an endeavor is lost? Are you saying it is a matter of how you feel about it? Your comments said if your endeavor is making you sick stop. Are you implying that if you don’t have a good feeling about your websites, it time to let go? Are you saying if it stopped being a labor of love, then you need to stop? If that is not what you mean, than what is the benchmark? How can you make the determination when something isn’t working?
I consider myself a very good internet marketer and a very good website developer. I feel good about each of my websites. I’m excited every time I roll out enhancements, feeling sure that the traffic will begin to increase. But, as I said before, the payoff after each rollout doesn’t seem to match the effort involved.
Hey Perry,
Thanks a lot for the honest advise. It really helped in realigning my thinking for the future.
I always strive to offer quality contents to my subscribers through hours of research and dedication. I realised the most important thing in this business is BEING ONLINE and helping out other people in something that you are passionate about.
I will add more pedigree to my online passion now with your valuable advise.
Thanks again
Team Xbox 360 Problem Fix
Perry-
Your suggestions for identifying a person's special interests (what subjects do you have more than 5 books on, what groups have you ever belonged to, etc) was the best I've ever seen.
Your approach doesn't call so much for introspection as answering specific historical questions. I think that's much easier for most people to do. Perhaps it's even more valid.
Thanks for another great idea.
Joe
Hi Perry,
I'm six months old online and it's been interesting. My biggest challenge has been how to reconcile my 'offline' life with my 'online' life – and the fact that this was a challenge speaks volumes.
I mean, really, why would there be a difference? Why would I do something online that I would be embarrassed about offline – but this was my fear.
So, I haven't made much money online yet at all – but it's not for lack of activity. In fact I've never been so productive.
You see, I haven't been focusing on income earning activities – but on research, product development and learning.
While some people seem able to throw money at Google from the first day they start, I've been reserved – too aware that I don't understand enough about this world yet to recklessly launch in.
Sometimes I feel a slight twinge of guilt that I haven't 'make it online yet' – but this is just baggage from the stereotypical image we see.
In my offline world I'm a professional – but I'm not a marketer. So, why would I expect to become an 'internet marketer' overnight?
Online – offline – there is no difference – I am the same professional. So, my focus must be on building an 'online business' for which I use my 'newly forming internet marketing skills'.
In 6 months I've learned a lot – but the biggest thing I've learned is this: the only people who succeed – really succeed – are those who do all that is required. Not half of it. All of it.
You can't run an offline business without attending to all the parts of that business – it just wont work.
Everyone can take action – just like the start of a race. But only those who plan and prepare will have the necessary knowledge and skills to persist.
Keep up the good work. Your coaching program is one that I will do – it's just that I'm only going to pay for it out of money I earn online. Hopefully that'll be soon.
Warmly,
Nic Lucas
http://www/niclucas.com
Does anyone know of any credible studies showing how much money small entrepreneurs are earning on the Internet?
Does anyone have a reasonable guess of how many U.S. residents who are spending more than 15 hours a week at Internet businesses are earning revenue in different brackets — say, between $0 and $30,000 a year, $30,001 and $60,000 a year, $60,001 and $90,000 a year, $90,001 and $150,000, etc.
I assume there's a bell-shaped curve of normal distribution, and I'm curious to know more about how it's shaped.
It might be possible to make some reasonable assumptions by studying the amount of money various web sites spend on Google AdWords. It's probably a good bet that people who spend $150,000 a year on AdWords are bringing in at least twice that amount in gross revenue.
Can anyone help carry this thinking any further?
Thanks.
–Scott Silverback
http://www.thissellinglife.com
Andrew:
I didn't suddenly start telling the truth after I became successful. In the present, I could make a lot more money selling feel-good biz-opp stuff. But I wouldn't feel good about it.
I have NO problem with people spending money on guru products. I've easily spent over $100k on such things myself. I totally believe in personal development. I just have a problem with teaching people to make money by teaching them to sell other people information on how to make money. In whatever form it takes, that's a pyramid scheme. When I was in MLM 10+ years ago I learned that the hard way. Further thoughts at
http://www.perrymarshall.com/adwords/renaissance/mlm/
Sean:
Thanks for the great post!
Dan:
If something's a labor of love then it's a labor of love; do it to your heart's content.
If it's supposed to pay, then you have some kind of benchmark for what's success or failure for you.
You're sounding a little disappointed with the results you're getting. Maybe you just might give yourself permission to take yourself off of some hook and move in a different direction.
Don't pressure yourself. Just open yourself up to a new direction.
Scott:
I'd be surprised if this kind of information is available in a survey anywhere.
A key to understanding what's out there is this:
The distribution of such things is described by a branch of math called "power laws", which essentially says that for every 1 site selling $10 million a year, there are 10 sites selling $1 million a year and 100 sites selling $100K per year and 1000 sites selling $10K per year and so on, all the way to the millions of guys who're blogging for 12 cents an hour or for free.
A bell curve will reflect this but not in an obvious way. A bell curve will emphasize that the average commercial website makes $100 per month (that would be my own wild-ass guess by the way) but it doesn't highlight where the action is – which is the few that generate the big results, at the very far right end of the curve.
I hope to release a product later this year on 80/20 which will shed more light on a lot of this.
Perry
Hey Perry,
Just a note of appreciation for posting the letter to Anita.
I spent thirty-five minutes filling in all the categories. I'm amazed at all the things that came up – I had several "Oh, yeah, I forgot about how much I love _____" moments.
Liane
First, thank you very much for the well written and very interesting topic in your post. Your integrity and professional presence shows through.
I have also greatly appreciated the various comments to your post, all appear constructive view points as they give further insight.
Comming from a very broad ranged background(I'm a salty type)I did a thorough inventory of myself. However, I seemed to land up none-the- wiser in niche, although, a need to spread work over a number of programa or ventures was indicated from the vageries of bthis market.
My enquiries into a professional evaluation of my background and interests, yielded little or none or I was told it cold be expensive. Perhaps, if you know where I could get such assistasnce or guidance, this would be appreciated.
As some of my background lies in the 'handy man' area. I was particularly interested in your comments in this direction and the advises or suggestions given. However, I have a more academic side and my aspirations are for just above a reasonable income replacement level. I am still reviewing my passion direction.
I certainly respected your 'dose of reality'. Thanks !
Regards = Roy
Hi Perry
Ive been looking over your material for well over a couple of weeks. I came across your name browsing through forums. Im no newcomer to the internet, Ive been running websites for over 10 years (though websites are just a marketing tool amongst others for the time being for me), and I have also followed much more expensive programs, like personal development live seminars which have cost me much more than your course but Im looking for something new to do. Your A-Z product looks very good, infact almost too good, I dont get how you can offer a money back guarantee if you are not satisfied, you must get ripped off all the time? Anyway this is not my biggest reservation, its more :
- although on the forums you seem to be spoke of highly with regard to your definitive guide but I cant find any feedback in any other forums from people who've bought this product
- why buy the A-Z product and not the definitive guide for someone like me (Ive been doing adwords for 2 years), apart from the obvious response, that the definitive guide only advises on adwords
I do hope this message gets posted.
best regards
Lloyd
Lloyd,
The A-Z product is brand new, as of less than two weeks ago. That's why there's not a huge pool of testimonials and forum comments.
The A-Z product does not go into the depth of how to do AdWords that the Definitive Guide does. It's Big Picture A-Z, not A-Z on every nuance.
I offer money back guarantees on almost everything. There is a 5% of the population out there that shamelessly rips us off, but most people are thankfully more honest than that.
Perry Marshall
Well I guess making over a million online selling "make money stuff" puts me in the top 1%?
With people stealing billions of dollars there have to be a lot of people in on the scheme. Maybe life isn't a ponzi scheme but the stock market sure is.
Perry,
Your free advice is better than the information others charge for.
First, find what it is that you love to do. THEN go about trying to make money at it. Otherwise, you will not put in the time and practice to get good at it.
By the way, I have seen a guy make a lot of money online selling bird cages. Talk about a small niche where you can make a fortune…
Paul
Eat Well. Live Well.
PurpleGreenPops.com
Wow…as someone who has done career coaching since 1998…what GREAT and excellent advice Perry. Great insight…so true..it's about authentic power, energy translated through geniune interests. That combination will attract those who need/desire what you're offering.
Your family members…are lucky to have you!
Kudows to Perry the Sage!
JoAnn Corley
JoAnn,
About 15 years ago I went to this little retreat that someone at my church put together. The church was Willow Creek and Willow has always been admired for their ability to get lots of volunteers pulling together. It really is an incredible place.
Christian teaching has always been that different people have different gifts and must work together for a healthy church; it's been a core belief for 2000 years. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, for example.
So at this retreat we spent a whole weekend digging into this, with the help of material from http://www.sima.co.uk and their Motivated Abilities profile.
Very powerful stuff. Out of this came all kinds of personal stories of my own that indicated what kinds of things I should be doing in my life.
One of those stories, for example, was me winning a writing competition in 6th grade. Something I'd almost completely forgotten about.
Many of the skills that came up in that profile were skills I was NOT using at the time. I was drinking "Biz-Op" Koolaid (the same variety of thing that inspired this whole blog post in the first place) and I chose to happily ignore the wisdom that I had gained from the retreat.
Instead, I chose Napoleon Hill's mantra, "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." (Something I do not believe to be true today.) I continued to charge windmills on my Don Quixote mission.
Fast forward about 3-4 years, I am MISERABLE. I've just gotten demoted in my job, we're going deeper in debt at a frightening pace, none of my business efforts are working out and I am at the end of myself. I'm looking for a different job and I'm exasperated trying to figure out what I should even attempt to do.
It's at this point that I go back and get out that manual from the retreat. I start re-reading those stories and looking at the assessments.
I take it real seriously and begin to make a careful inventory of myself and my gifts and what the right career for me might really look like. It's something that would incorporate writing, specific technical skills, and not selling commodity items but expertise.
I get real clear on this and start to only consider opportunities that take advantage of these skills.
A big symptom of my problem had been: My strongest skills were often considered liabilities. For example in my sales job, my boss would repeatedly badger me to stop "solving problems" (as an engineer) and "just go sell something." In my turn-key biz-op endeavors, creativity was proclaimed to be a liability. In both places I wasn't supposed to be writing anything; I was supposed to get on the phone and go see people.
Six months later I do find a job that fits all these criteria – the technical expertise, the writing and marketing skills, the consultative approach to selling – and my career lurches forward in a very gratifying way. Even though what I do now is considerably different it still uses those same skills. I doubt this will change much through the course of my life.
That is a lesson I NEVER forgot. And the self-inventory I have here is pretty much the same thing I did years ago, that got me un-stuck. So yes this really does work, and yes, I learned it the hard way.
Perry Marshall
Perry-
I just noticed this post. i hope you rewrote it somewhere else, instead of it being buried on this blog. it's important, encouraging information. glad i saw it today.
i'm now on my 4rth niche site – just started today. first one i already mourned and put to rest. second is first page in google for my main keyword telescope binoculars after one month, and the third is on the third page and climbing. No sales yet, but I have good suppliers (dropshipping from the manufacturer) and once the ranking comes, traffic will follow, and so will, G-d willing, sales.
Thanks for your inspiration,
Ted
Perry,
What if you're "good" at a bunch of things but:
a) not "great" at any of them and
b) not excited by any of them?
Norio,
(a) is kind of a problem. I for one endorse getting really, really good at SOMETHING.
(b) is a bigger problem. All I can say is, somehow, somewhere you oughtta be able to find something that's exciting and inspiring. If you can't, you've been under too much stress lately and you need to create some space where your passions have a chance to come back. Then go back to (a).
Perry Marshall
This certainly made me think although with time/money running out and the only big money having been made in the 'make money' niche I'm still looking at what else I can drag from that market until I get the 'other' niches working as they should.
I keep saying to my wife that there's a link missing and I just can't put my finger on it.
I've made a ton of money off and on over the years but the off lights are stuck on at the moment.
Adwords hasn't been kind to me recently and I'm wondering if it has just got that much harder that I've fallen behind the 8 ball.
Perry,
Thank you. Great advice.
When I read Gia's email to you I wanted to yell, "Lady, start out by deleting all 5000 of those emails!" She sounds like someone who needs a week on a beach and a mind-clearing session. She will never be able to be prodcutive under such disallusion and stress. Poor thing.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Kirk
thanks for the inventory and for the kick in the butt.
Perry,
I think it's important to reinforce that even IF you have a good grasp of direct marketing, AND you have a great niche (I have both), building a solid internet business takes TIME and WORK.
It also takes MONEY, because the systems, testing and set-up to do things properly cost plenty, and if you sell anything but information, developing your products probably costs plenty of money too.
One of the worst aspects of internet hype is that it sets up false expectations. (The cardinal sin that Tim Ferriss committed in his book, the 4 Hour Work Week.)
Entrepreneurs should not feel stupid or hopeless if their business does not take off overnight.
Since I run a business making a niche product as well another one writing direct sales copy, I know what things looks like on both sides of the fence.
That's why I tell all my copywriting clients the following, "Yes, great copy and effective marketing systems will drive growth. But don't expect any one technique to solve every business problem you have. Miracles sell books, but good, steady sales power the vast majority of small and mid-sized businesses."
Thanks Perry
I think you're right, I've been under too much stress lately. I'm working on a sale of one of my sites now which will free up some time for me to re-discover what I love.
Thanks again!
I think the advice to "stop" is great…but should be coupled with the advice to listen.
My first business I was hustling so hard, trying to jam it down the market's throat, that I couldn't hear it talking to me. After I got heart-sick and frustrated, I did stop. When I got quiet, I heard it saying something to me I couldn't believe…
What I knew and was trying to sell to one market, was more useful and easier to sell in another.
I'm not getting rich, but I've made $25k in the last 4 months and even in those moments when I'm praying desperately for more, I feel GREAT that I've been able to connect with and sell something I created.
So if you decide to stop, go back to your market. Ask them why they're not buying. Then ask yourself, "Who else could use this that I've been ignoring?"
And give yourself a break…you are good enough, just keep throwing.
Perry,
Thank you so much for this post. I bought your book years ago while chasing the Adwords dream not really knowing what I was chasing or why I was after it.
Fast forward 4 years. My marketing is right on, my adwords skills allow me to test a market and get in/out within 5 days. A lot of this skill set I credit to you, thanks!
When I inventoried my skills, likes/dislikes etc. I found similar traits as you (an engineer, data tweaker, closet marketer, etc.) Your posts continue to reinforce my decision that I am on the right track.
Thank you again and blessings, K
My dad and I have been trying for about 4 years now to be successfully self-employed, with little or no success. This one blog post alone contains more useful information than all the ebooks and blogs I've read over the past few years, and just may be the jumpstart we need to finally find a successful niche. Thanks, Perry.
Hi Perry
You are so right about 'just showing up' if you are in the household services. Here in the UK, I can call the numbers of 6 joiners/brickies/plumbers from the yellow pages or local paper …
One will ring unanswered, two will be out (ansaphones take a message but they never call back) three will take your address and one will actually turn up
As an aside, what would you say to those legions of intelligent, well read, well educated people who believe organised religion is Kool Aid?
Dave Shillito:
There is a brilliant, fascinating book called "The True Believer: Thoughts on the nature of Mass Movements" by Eric Hoffer. This book is a must for advanced marketers and really anyone who is intensely interested in the inner workings of what makes human beings tick. It is a highly accurate, deeply cynical look at why people devote their very lives to causes, movements and organizations.
Mr. Hoffer de-constructs religious and political systems and the motivations behind them with deadly accuracy. The deep insecurities and dissatisfactions that all humans have; the various characters that come together to build a religious movement and the itches that it scratches.
In the end, Mr. Hoffer throws up his hands and basically asks, "Why is humanity such a senseless mess? This is HOW it is, but WHY? I have no idea. It makes no sense." He is some sort of atheist or agnostic who ultimately finds no ultimate answers in any of this. He ends the book with all questions and no answers and interestingly, mentions that the first people to master this art of organized religion were the Jews.
I read this book and I came to a different conclusion. At least in broad strokes, it all DOES make sense to me. People feel the world is broken because…. it IS broken. We feel driven to commit ourselves to greater causes and forces because… greater causes and forces DO exist. We yearn for something outside of ourselves because… we are made to yearn for that.
If you are thirsty it doesn't prove that water exists, but to suspect that there might be water somewhere that will quench your thirst – that is a pretty reasonable suspicion to have.
Religion and spirituality addresses this need because the need is real. A non-spiritual answer to a spiritual hunger will never satisfy. That is why atheists (the likes of Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett come to mind) are perpetually angry and dissatisfied in spite of the fact that they claim to have de-constructed the illusions and have all the answers. The real reason they are angry is because their hunger still is not satisfied. Claiming that your hunger is an illusion does not make the hunger go away.
To bring this full circle, what is often going on with the "pink koolaid" that I refer to in this blog post is this:
People believe that if they satisfy their financial hunger, if they quench their thirst for business success, that the Real Itch will finally be scratched. The "Real Itch" is our incompleteness. It is underneath the superficial financial ambitions. It is EASILY EXPLOITED and it is what drives us to do crazy, insane things, to drink whatever flavor of pink koolaid, to believe in all manner of false saviors and messiahs who really are just like the Wizard of Oz: They are all nothing more than "a man behind the curtain."
Only you can find your true path in business and in life. The hunger you have is not merely in your imagination. It's there for a reason and only God can satisfy your inner hunger.
Perry Marshall
Hi, I'm in this for a last few months. It's peculiar that I have found your site only a few days ago.
I'm info overloaded and I'm slowly starting to figure out it myself. I mean that all these guys who bombard my email box everyday with all these bright offers are,.. Well they are who they are trying to make money themselves.
It usually is like that. Somebody suceeded a bit selling somthing and now they try to teach everybody else.
I do not have problem with that as long as they make a real money themselves. But that is just not so. They only try to make money by teaching how to make money. It usually take a while before person buying all these instant system figure it out. Although most of us will not, anyway. we are too busy running after instant gratification.
Now, I myself invested a lot of time reading ebooks, articles, listening to audios, absorbing all advice.
The way it looks is that little guys can make money in their niche, but they need to commit and stop running around after instant profit.
I have to admit that I am guilty myself because I haven't exploited it though yet.
Why, because I'm interested in business itself. I got hook up with all these opportunities coming with a good marketing. I found this website wile exploring Jay Abraham resources. I guess I'm too much into learning, studding and too little into actually applying, taking action.
Anyway, the solution is pretty easy:
1. Choose your niche.
2. Then focus and commit.
Niche marketing is just one thing one can do on the Internet. But it is the best a little guy can do.
Perry,
I've been following your writings with a great interest although I am not a internet marketer or heavily interested in Adwords techniques. For example, your email about entrepreneurs and honor was simply brilliant. I even have part of your other email posted at my office wall. You should expand your message and audience beyond your customer circle…
Your last post here about peoples "incompleteness" and "inner hunger" got me really intriqued. These are things that are not exactly in the Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs unless one counts them as "self-actualization" need. I believe what you wrote is very, very, true for certain ambitious and very driven people, if not all.
How does GOD fill the "inner hunger" of people? And how does one find his or hers true path in business and life if it is not through religion? (I'm not deeply religious, by the way).
Keep up the great work. I'm becoming a huge admirer of your writings.
Miki,
The "Culture of Honor" email was inspired by Paul Manwaring's Culture of Honor seminar, which is based on the following foundational belief: All human beings are created in the image of God and are deeply loved by God. Therefore all people should be honored and respected. That businesses and organizations flourish in an environment that honors the intrinsic worth of their people.
People want to know if they're worthwhile. We wonder if we are really valuable, truly important. I think women especially struggle with the question Am I lovely? Am I worth fighting for? Men especially struggle with the question Do I have what it takes? And in particular we strive to feel worthy of honor.
Ultimately I do not think the answers to these questions can come from the ever-shifting judgments of other people. They must come from an intrinsic knowing of who we are at our core. This is only answered in knowing where we came from and why.
There is a good reason why the U.S. Declaration of Independence asserts, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Human rights is not a matter of arbitrary political vote. Rather it is a fact based on the reality of a Divine Creator and Lawgiver. All human beings are intrinsically worthwhile and honorable.
I read a fascinating book called "Man's Search For Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. Highly recommended. Frankl tells the story of living in a concentration camp and surviving the Holocaust and seeing his fellow prisoners respond to such crushing circumstances in one of two ways:
They were either reduced to groveling animals and were destroyed by the experience; or else they transcended the horror of the experience and became even more dignified, more caring, less selfish, more brotherly. The prison guards could destroy their bodies but could not destroy their souls.
As I read his first-hand account of this horror, I had a giant epiphany:
Maslow got it backwards.
Maslow put spirituality at the top of the pyramid; he saw it as a sort of luxury that people might aspire to once their baser physical desires were satisfied.
Nope. Spirituality is at the bottom of the pyramid. It's not an option, it's the foundation. If we haven't cultivated it, then when push comes to shove, it crumbles and we do become animals.
If we have cultivated our spiritual essence, then when everything is stripped away we do not become animals, we become spirits in a material world. We are able to set aside even our deepest, rawest hungers and share our one bowl of porridge that day with a friend who is ill in that miserable concentration camp. Our values transcend our circumstances.
How does God fill this void? I think of John chapter 15, where Jesus said:
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."
Hi Perry
I’ve been following your blog now for a couple of months, and have been taking your advice acquiring and reading several of your quoted books, Claude Hopkins Scientific Marketing classic, Howie Jacobsons Adwords for Dummies and another one on marketing psychology you recommended in one of your MP3s, which i have yet to read, I d already read the 80/20 book by Koch.
I posted a comment on this blog a while back and I must say I was massively impressed that you responded to it (I don’t expect you to respond to all my ramblings). In fact I’m curious how you seem to be so omnipresent – do you sleep at night?
But seriously what would be really interesting for us guys is « a day in the life of » to get an idea of how you manage to fit in all that you do, and live a balanced life, you've got a wife (I think) and kids like me, how do you do it? Could this be other people who write the stuff for you? Be honest Perry – you are very good at this!
Now what is really bizarre, well there are several things. Firstly I just never, generally, do posts on blogs, this is about the third time ever in my life (I’m the same age as you by the way, nearly the same birthday plus 2 years!) , and here I am doing it again?
Why, well its fascinating what you say, sometimes what the others say, but above all the info I get from you does seem to read very true. Now the second bizarre thing is that I came across you before because obviously I was interested in learning how to successfully market on the internet, which is still the case (my situation is a bit unusual, Im a brit living and working in France).
But I have another even stronger interest/passion and that is one of « spirituality » which I have been studying now for about 3 or 4 years fairly intensely, and when I came back to your blog, what are you talking about – spirituality! If I’m saying all this my aim here I suppose is to help and guide other people.
Because I think all this stuff fits in, and I must stress I am in no way a religious person, I do not go church or adhere to any kind of organized religion of any sort. My religion is my business! So initially I was very interested by success, making a buck, people like Anthony Robbins, Jack Canfield, then I came across Eckhart Tolle and Wayne Dwyer (particularly his book « there is a spiritual solution to every problem » and Louise Hays books. As someone recently reminded me, « Jesus never said you have to be poor », look how well John Templeton did.
Anyway, I’m straying from my point, which is this : your work and writings has spiritual integrity, in a word ‘truth’ which is just so refreshing. So there’s a pat on the back for you, but you already seem to get plenty of this. What I would really like to see is more of this.
You’re giving it me on the internet side, and Im also exploring what your colleagues e.g. Glen Livingston have to say. But I’ve surfed around the internet a fair bit over the last few months and it’s hard to find in other areas. So if anybody has any tips Im all ears.
Lloyd,
I guess I respond to blog posts that I think are especially interesting. Not that they're necessarily on-topic :^>
Balanced life: I'm not sure anyone could accuse me of pulling that off but I do stay sane. I take Sundays off, I try not to even open my computer, cuz it's a tar-baby. I spend a reasonable amount of time with my wife and kids and I have friends and people I have beers with and all that.
Spirituality stuff: I have a very definite center core built around this and it permeates everything I do. Unlike Pilate who tried Jesus and said "What is truth, anyway?" I believe that truth exists in all realms and that it is discoverable. The best single place on my site where I talk about my spiritual views is http://www.perrymarshall.com/articles/perry-marshall-interview/ – my interview with Ralph Zuranski. There's also some interesting little articles tucked away in the /articles/religion section on the site.
I have a couple of sites http://www.coffeehousetheology.com and http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com which also have a fair amount of articles, MP3's, interviews. If you do a Google search of those sites there's quite a bit of stuff you can mine there. I am keenly interested in not just marketing and business but also science, theology, engineering, music, philosophy and culture. And how all of those things tie together. These things are not separate disciplines because we live in one single integrated world. I believe that all things are connected.
As of the last 2-3 years I've also developed a keen interest in inner belief systems and "head stuff." Most personal development and self-help people would assume that to mean financial and prosperity consciousness and stuff like that. Yes, I'm interested in those things but it goes much deeper and wider. It crosses into "therapy" and "inner healing" and has to do with our core inner beliefs – what we *really* believe about ourselves and our relationships with others. The assumptions that are so hidden that even we ourselves are not aware. Stuff we took in from our parents and families that we were too young to question. Our ability to give and receive love. The things that make us angry. The irrational fears we have.
I have spent a lot of time on such things, particularly because my mid-life stuff swung around and smacked me HARD about 2 years ago. Some brain cell announced "OK Perry it's time to shut down for repairs" and when that happens you don't have much of a choice. I'm hopefully wiser as a result.
Too-short summary of my findings: The most useful, simple, self-therapy technique I've ever mastered is item #19 in http://www.perrymarshall.com/25-random-things/ which I learned from Abby Rohrer. Much more powerful than it looks, believe me, and produces very surprising answers sometimes. I've also gotten quite a bit of benefit from Theophostic Prayer. NLP is quite useful though it is complicated; most people make it even more complicated; and I suspect that most people who use it for therapy never get down to core beliefs, but merely install mental band-aids that achieve some desired behavior. Same comment for therapy and therapists in general. Most accomplish little and most people stay stuck. I also like Byron Katie's method (www.thework.com) especially for its simplicity. Bryan Todd loves PJ Eby's "Mindhacking" which is kind of like Bryan's exploration of the same thing.
I think that people CAN heal from abuse, compulsions, addictions, crippling beliefs, bad parenting, mid life crises and bad relationships. But it takes focus and determination and above all, brutal honesty with oneself – both in what you say to yourself and in what you are willing to HEAR from yourself.
Until you get down to the core of what you really believe, you can't change your beliefs much less your behavior.
I write the vast majority of my "stuff." Bryan writes most of the material in the AdWords books; Joshua Boswell and John Fancher write some of my copy. I write 100% of my Perry Marshall Marketing Letter (snail mail for Renaissance Club members, it's truly my art, my "baby"), and I write most of my emails and my blog posts. Writing is my #1 zone and I delegate a lot of things to make room so I can do it. It used to take me an hour to write 2 paragraphs, now it takes 5 minutes. Take your best skill now and hone it for the next 5 years with reckless abandon and people will marvel at you too.
Thanks for your interesting question!
Perry
Hey Perry
Well that’s given me plenty of food for thought! Sorry about being a bit off topic (we both are I think), I really don’t want to pollute this blog with worthless meanderings. But this stuff IS the big question, and so its pertinent to followers of this blog, because if you can get a good understanding of all this then you can make a **** load of money and be successful, which is kind of what we all dream about? The mistake is to think that this is the be all and end all, its not. You can have all the money and success and still be a misery guts. You have to enjoy it, have passion for what you are doing, enjoy the journey, live for the moment. If I’m on this blog it’s because I too am fascinated by all the possibilities that the internet offers, and I am also trying to figure out which avenue to take. Ill go away now, delve into the material you cited and figure on a bit more!
Hi Perry,
Just read the "Urgent question from a marketer who's just starting out…." and followed up with the pink-koolaid post. I really appreciate the honesty in your responses.
My question and I didn't see it addressed in either of the above posts is: what do you do if you find your true passion or calling in life and discover there's no money in it?
I believe one of the first steps any marketer should take is determine how much money other folks are making in the same market before investing your own money on a marketing campaign.
Thanks for all your information!
Steve,
There are MANY markets and passions where there is no money. Just because you're interested in something doesn't mean it has the potential to be profitable. 30 second, over-simplified sanity check: How many Google advertisers? I just typed in "sociology" and there were zero. Not promising. "Drumming" – 6 advertisers and 5-10 cent clicks; hardly any better. On the other hand, a market that's $1-10 per click and 50+ advertisers means there's lots of money to be had by a shrewd marketer.
Perry
Hi Perry and Glenn
This has been a great lesson in personal development. You need that as a sole Internet Marketer working from home. I work only part time, – yet, and hope, no plan
, that this will continue even when I leave the corporate world.
Mindset is the keyword. Ask yourself if you know yourself, and you most often get a yes or yes certainly, but it is when facing obstacles greater than before or lofty goals set by yourself, you can test if the "yes" was right. I have been there (testing), and I use this experience to make an income in my own business. This is the first step on the ladder.
The next step is to teach others do the same work. It do take time to change your inner voice and to make it louder than the ones you surround your self with.
Seminars is a great place to start, but on the long run you have to have a blogpost like this, or a (virtual?) office shared by several
likeminded infopreneurs.
Skills can be learned. Someone above mentioned it was difficult to break even. You can level out flaws. It costs a lot of sweat. If you focus on your strength it is much easier, and you can reach the top. Not my strengths or Perrys strength, – your own!
It leads back your post Perry, where you ask the readers to list all that have been achieved or focused on since the early years.
I am about half way through your Definitive Guide determined to go to the next level either it be learning an experience or earning a living. You and Glenn are lighthouses on that path and not just for your marketing skills.
Marie
Copenhagen, Denmark
Great article. Very informative. I am wondering how do you narrow down your niche. I know you explained it earlier but, I am interested in so much and the things I think I am good at I would not know how to monetize. Like I love to negotiate prices for things. And have even thought of a website to get people that want to buy the same thing let's say a computer if I could get 5 people to buy then go to the supplier and negotiate a better price since there would be 5 purchased instead of 1. But I would not know if that is already being done or how to go about doing it.
I also love finding or researching the best of anything like I needed a bed 3 years ago. I went to every mattress store within the 100 mile radius and looked at and tried out the mattresses until I found the perfect one. Even my husband still comments how comfortable our bed is. But it took a long time and it consumed me. We needed a lawn mower and so did my mother-in-law so again I called and visited every lawn mower place within 100 miles and learned all about mowers and negotiated a very good price because we bought 2 riding mowers at the same time. And we did it at the end of season for lawn mowers.
I also love to research things and tell people about them.
I thought about doing a website on Love. How to love and what love really means. Birthday ideas for men to give to their wives, etc. And relate it to scripture out of the Bible.
Then I wanted to be a writer of Christian Romance. Maybe relate it too real life similar to the Fire Proof movie. But I did not think that would make money since most authors work full time elsewhere.
But then I am still confused on what really makes me happy. I am good at telling other people what they would be good at – just not myself. I do not have any real hobbies other than reading and I can not seem to find the time for that.
I am a stay at home mom and I home school my kids. So my question again how do I narrow it down or really focus on what I am passionate about? I have struggled for 5 years now and still do not know.
Thanks for your time and your great information. It has motivated me again I just do not know what else to do.
Confused,
Rosemary
Hi Christine,
You mention that you like to share your personal stories and have been told you have a gift of writing. You might find that today.com provides an outlet for your stories, as it does mine.
http://grandmastreasures.today.com/2009/05/18/strong-man/
Perry-
What inspired truth you write! The sad state of this "Internet Marketing" niche is very real. I loved the comment earlier where the person weeds out who to listen to by running from the money and Lamborghini graphics… What a sham–
And these tactics are taught to new wanna-bes as the way to do it!
I try to encourage new people to "think like a marketer instead of a mark" and LEARN from the graphics, text, hypnotic wording, urgency, fear tactics, etc instead of falling for them.
Marketing to marketers about marketing is really a specialty, and dominated by the very best. I understand why so many new people take this path:
1. They are told to by the courses and products they buy… (sell THIS product today and have an instant business!)
2. They are moved to as they battle their way through all the endless information and tricks a newbie faces, innocently hoping to make a difference in the madness-
3. They are drawn to the "easy"concept being pushed about reselling, affiliate marketing, PLR…
Whatever it is, it is truly unfortunate that those who know next to nothing about making money online are now trying to tell everyone else how to do it. This is a large part of the problem in your inbox— the truly adventurous and action takers get an autoresponder set up and a 'minisite' and start trying to build a list with Giveaways (a whole other problem).
There is wisdom on this page. Marketing is marketing, online or off. This is not easy. This is work. Anyone saying otherwise is blatantly lying to you and you should opt out immediately! Find two to five marketers who you resonate with, and listen to what they say.
Action is the single shortcut to building a successful business, and if you are following fifteen gurus and buying four ebooks a month, you are kidding yourself. And killing your chances.
Find one system that seems like something you can do, and then DO IT. As you progress, you will discover what things you need to know and THEN you can go out and learn those things. When you need them.
Building a business is building a BUSINESS. We tend to forget that when we see money falling from the sky and yachts and mansions and words like "riches on auto-pilot" and crap like that…
Thanks for laying it out, Perry– from one Chicagoan to another: you are the best!
Keith deBolt
Sometimes you can have a passion for something that is very profitable in a land-based business, but over the internet, it requires specialized marketing skills that are not required off the internet. It's not really the same thing. Traffic is key in both circumstances, however, over the net, you have to maneuver through a particularly saturated and somewhat jaded crowd. If you have something wonderful and unique to offer the folks, I'm sure people will respond, but first, people have to know you are there. Now, if the teaching pundits want to zero in on exactly what the newbies really need, they will focus on just that.
Hey Perry,
I'm a big fan! I missed you when you were in Dublin Recently! I was gutted I did… But I'll be in Chicago in the next few months and I might call in to say hello!
I bought your adwords book last year and got a lot of value out of it!!
Thanks for all the value you offer!
Sean
Perry,
Always great advice! Don't drink too much kool-aid!
Drayton
Perry – Besides the obvious, being able to make money, how does someone know that they know all they can about basic direct marketing principles? What would a checklist look like?
Hi Perry,
This post really got to me. You see, I am at the cross road…do I continue or let it go. The past (7) months I have poured my heart and soul into writing an eBook about online dating and creating a website to market it. It is my true passion for two reasons 1) I met and married my husband after years spent on online dating sites 2)I was a confirmed serial dater up until the age of 45. It is a subject I have a lot of experience with and enjoy.
I was laid off in January '09 from a company I worked for 12 years. This, it seemed to me, was a good time to do something that I felt real PASSION for. I get up at 7am daily and work on the stie, content, SEO, until 11pm with a few breaks for exercise and food. It doesn't feel like work – I love it.
I have read many books, including yours, and put into practice all that I have read. In two weeks I will be attending a Google Adwords training seminar.
I couldn't be more proud of my creation however, it is not going to replace (financially) my full time job, as hoped.
With the help of books and analytics I believe the issue is landing page content. I commissioned an experienced, professional content writer to re-write all of my landing pages and afterward plan to start-up an intensive PPC campaign.
If this doesn't work…would you say it's time to "drop it entirely and find something else"?
I'm not a quitter but it is starting to get to me…not reaching my goals.
Thanks,
Dawn
Dawn,
I think that just selling an e-book won't cut the mustard, especially in a market that's as thick with competition as yours. To get full economic benefit you probably need coaching & consulting programs and live events.
Might not be a bad idea to niche yourself to some under-served segment of that market.
You MUST have a USP that is clearly identifiable, otherwise you're roadkill. See http://www.perrymarshall.com/usp
I hope this helps!
Perry
Thanks Perry,
I have 10 other "relationship" eBook on my website as well as 20 online dating sites, all that I am an affilate for.
Thanks for you advice and I will work on the USP as you suggested.
Dawn
I wouldn't recommend someone stay away from any market, that is not simply the best advice.
Even though going into the Internet Marketing niche requires a lot of knowledge to earn money, it is also true that this niche is huge, so the total money that exists behind this market is extremely huge. Putting myself as an example: I decided several years ago to market the most competitive products in the english market because there is much more room to be creative, even though english is not my mother language (I don't write the content myself).
I have some spanish websites that do well selling hosting and Internet marketing advice, but there is much more things to do in english than in spanish.
So, the winning advice is this: Pick a huge and profitable market but (and I see it now very clear after several years) you should go for a market size that you could dominate within your testing budget, and the "testing budget" is very important, because you don't know if the market is profitable or not.
For example: you could take a budget of $100, but you have to target a keyword typically with
fewer than 2,000 searches a month (or less if you are a newbie) and it will take a lot of days to see clicks, even more time to get 1 sale, but you should target hundreds or thousands of this type of keywords, if your total budget is low, it will take a lot of time, but is a surefire way to success even if you are going after the toughtest markets in the world.
It helps if you guess right most of the time with your keywords, but you need to know some things about market research for this or you will be able to learn this by yourself with your testing after some time.
The problem is that it takes a LOT of work and a lot of time to see results, but is the only way if you have a very low budget. This doesn't seem attractive at all and people prefer to believe lies, instead of the truth.
I found that Adwords is better when used in new markets that you could find in gigantic markets. Then Adwords is easy and even a moron could be profitable with it and if you apply Perry's advice you will be indestructible for some time (competition will ruin your business at some point, but you could enjoy some profitable years).
Perry,
Late to this gem of yours, but you're entirely right.
In fact, a startling fact is most of the IM "Make Money Online" Gurus actually had other businesses they were successful in FIRST, BEFORE becoming teachers in IM.
It's about business ownership and development, not about "making money online" IMHO.
Joseph Ratliff
Joseph,
Yes, exactly. I can think of few exceptions. When you have a real success story under your belt from some previous business you have a MUCH better story to tell if you want to become a guru.
Amen to that Perry
I had 2 successful offline businesses before I started consulting for anyone using the Internet…you gotta earn the stripes before passing rank
I have always respected your clear and concise insights Perry. You're a great teacher yourself.
Hi Perry, thank you for this great and candid advice. I have been around internet business for 5 years now. But only recently got into sharing how I made a few bucks just to help friends and acquaintances on their own.
I couldn't agree more with the way you gave those points and to do list.
I am still looking to make my earning reach the 5 figures a month level. Your thoughts are always like a fresh dew among the smog of pollution.
Thanks and more power!
nice advice perry. do what it is you love, is how my mom used to put it.
i used to be able to ignore her sage advice by convincing myself, "the market's too small for that here", or some other excuse for not putting myself out there.
the "interwebs" changed everything.
they are such a great low-cost, wide distribution, channel (esp for things that can be delivered cheaply) it enables almost anyone to find a market for "what it is you love" — no matter how nichey.
r8r
Great stuff, Perry.
Looking forward to the Difinitive Guide 2010.
Before I read this post I was confused about what niche to pursue because I've accumulated experience in several different niches throughout my career. Your advice to Anita made it crystal clear which direction would be the path of least resistance. Thank you for continuing to deliver exceptional value, Perry.