The other day I made a post about affiliate marketing and got this comment on my blog, from a beginner named Layne:
“I like the way you explain things Perry, but as a newbie I gotta admit: from where I’m sitting, it seems that the only way to be successful in any of this is to be a part of the “clicks” that are already formed when it comes to affiliate marketing. You guys all promote one another’s products, seminars, books, etc. It’s like the ole boys club – and the rest of us aren’t even invited.
I replied:
Layne, If you’re a newbie, you shouldn’t touch “how to make $ on the internet” or “selling marketing tools and advice to others” with a 10 foot pole. It’s a game for A-players only. And yes, it is a clique. Frankly anybody who tells you it’s a fast way to money is pulling the wool over your eyes. It’s a job for Ninjas.
All the more reason why you shouldn’t bloody your nose trying to break in. Please see http://www.perrymarshall.com/pink-koolaid
~~~
COMMENT: Seriously, if I only had a dollar for every person who doesn’t know how to make money yet, but is trying to make money by teaching people how to make money.
Now I’m not putting anybody down, I myself spent YEARS trying to do that. Also, I could get a lot of dollars from those people but I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. 99.5% of those people come back in body bags. Their chance of success is 1/10th as good as it would be doing almost anything else.
But anyway, here’s the thing:
At long last I figured out that what I needed to do was master DIRECT MARKETING – master the marketing of *something*. Once I did that, my career took off in a most gratifying way.
At the time, my main gig was selling computer cards and software for an industrial company.
Let me tell you something about industrial companies and restaurants and flower shops and pretty much EVERY company that’s not in the business of selling marketing advice:
Almost ALL of them are bad marketers.
And:
In the land of the blind, the man with one eye gets to be king.
My advice to newbies is:
Find a ‘land of the blind’ where you can become king.
Odds are you can do this right where you are, in whatever business you’re in. If you work at a company that teaches people how to make Persian Rugs, that company’s marketing is probably lousy. It probably won’t take much to “whup up” on your competitors.
In all honesty it’s not all that hard to make a six figure income if you follow that plan.
If you’re a little lost or trying to figure out what niche to go into, read this classic blog post – one of the most popular in the history of my website:
http://www.perrymarshall.com/pink-koolaid
Perry Marshall
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
7 Comments on “How to [NOT] Make Money on the Internet”
Thank you thank you so much for confirming what I knew in my heart all along. It is NOT those 500 point red fonts and “who else wants to make phony bologney money” phrases, that sells.
It’s being real.
Thanks for being that confirming voice of reason in a sea of greedy Scheisters.
Love you brother,
Sue
Thank you.
Rishi Pathani
I can understand where Layne is coming from, some years back I started a new business and was looking for a way to promote it and I came accross Perry’s Google Guide and to say I spent a fortune on Google and other affiliates would be mild. I just couldnt cope with the cost and the information overlaod and I had picked a business that was hugely competitive and I thought no way was this going to work. I had a gazillion keywords because of the market and got totally confused.
I stoped and left it completley until now. I have a friend back in Ireland who I lent money to as his business was taking a hammering and as Perry says people that make the product a lot of the time have not got a clue how to market, this is the truth. He has a very Niche market that he sells to and I will always remember Perry saying this “find the Nugget”.
Well I started Google Adwords again and still remembered what Perry had taught me from 2 years ago. 2 weeks in to it he is getting 5 leads a week at an average sale of £250 I am getting keywords for 4 cent and paying no more than 50 cent total budget is $10 a day and still get change.
All I can say Perry is you were right Niche Market and they are out there.
PS Thanks Perry… You just saved his business
Layne does not realize that he has inadvertently described a beautiful USP that he could cultivate and become exactly what he claims he cannot do.
He could market himself as the outsider. He would instantly stand-out and since getting noticed is half the battle…(you get my point).
Layne could even develop a list for free. Layne should read Ken McCarthy’s epiphany about tweeter or facebook. And of course Perry’s pink koolaid post.
Thank you for reminding me it’s ok to just make ONE dollar and that I’m not a failure if I don’t make $5k+ per month right away. There is a lot of psychology involved with entrepreneurship or over achievers. Keeping it simple always helps me to focus.
Hi Perry,
In your comment about not getting into the “how to make money” market as it’s not for newbies, I get it. However, my problem is my expertise is in a field that is weighted down with skepticism. Weight loss.
I’m trying to stay in areas I know well, before I go into areas I just have a lot of interest in So I’m starting with weight loss: http://www.real-easy-weight-loss.org
I’ve studied copywriting from Gary Halbert, Gary Bencivenga, Joe Sugarman and of course all the classics (Claude Hopkins, Robert Collier, Victor Schwab…etc)…but it seems like you still have to have a decent budget to get started (testing)…
By the way, I’m reading your 2010 Definitive Guide To Adwords” right now…and I have a comment about that: with all the links to the “you should read this too” stuff, with my personality type (wanting to do all the teacher says, so as not to miss anything and to try and ensure a profitable result) I find myself unable to afford all you “suggest” to read. I know you make money from the affiliate links to those products and I believe you truly recommend them, I just wish you could write a special guide for those who don’t have a $5000 monthly budget to get started.
You’re in a super competitive niche and the best thing you can do is further niche yourself to some under-served market segment. Weight loss for accountants, for instance.
Yes, in that market I don’t know any other way to enter than to have a reasonably sized budget.
#1 priority: Make ONE dollar. Then scale up.