Beware the ebook – money has to be earned
So I read a lot of other blogs about earning a living online, I suppose I’m just interested and can’t help myself. The problem is it can often get very frustrating just from the sheer amount of rubbish people talk. For instance I’ve been following this very popular internet marketing blog for a while (I’m not going to name it) and the guy who writes it has some serious talent. He writes very informed articles that get featured on top sites like seomoz etc and he has a feed count (number of people subscribed to his site) of over 20,000. So you could say he has quite a following and has become respected in the field. So after a while low and behold this blogger releases an eBook for his loyal readers to purchase and he claims it’s based on all his accumulated knowledge so far. Apparently it’s a proven method to make huge amounts of money with the net, and he has spent over a year developing it! So I buy the ebook partly out of curiosity and partly because as I mentioned I’m an information junkie that can’t be helped. Anyway I get this eBook and at first I think it’s a joke because it’s about 10 pages long and full of nothing but the most basic information. I.e. he had:
- 1 page on how to setup a website
- 2 pages on how to write content
- 2 pages on how to add a mailing list to your site
- 2 pages on how to sign up and add adsense
- 3 pages of other misc %$^%$ I couldn’t be bothered to read
I suppose the most shocking aspect was there was nothing you couldn’t find with about 2 minutes research on Google. What’s even scarier is that with 20,000 subscribers he probably made a fortune (I asked for a refund).
Ok so what’s my point here? Well believe it or not I’m thinking about doing my own eBook but I’m also thinking about giving it away for free! I know this sounds a little crazy but at the same time I don’t think I’m going to be giving away any mind blowing secrets in it, just solid info on how you can earn money online with some hard work and perseverance. Because it’s not a get rich quick scheme I don’t think I will have to oversell it with testimonials of random made up people who have made trillions from it.
The point I’m hoping to make with my ebook will be that in order to be successful online you have to be prepared to work and in many cases invest some money or time (which is also money). I’m really not interested in selling people the world only to deliver a 2 page pamphlet on what the internet is, life is too short to waste my own or other people’s time. What if instead of some sales pitch with a guy throwing monopoly money into the air while power sliding a Ferrari around Monte Carlo I gave you the truth about earning some legit money with just your computer and some time?
The other worry though is that people are going to think it’s not glamorous enough (because I have no Ferrari guy). I few common responses from people when they do find a realistic income stream:
- It’s not complex enough
- It’s too complex
- It’s in an area they are not familiar with
- They have to invest too much time
- They have to invest too much money
Are you starting to see why some bloggers sell the dream of instant success with no skills/knowledge and no investment of time/money? Reality is always harder to accept, I know from experience.
Another problem with the whole scenario is at what level are you going to teach people? For instance some people may already be knowledgeable about search engines/the internet and even some internet promotion but what about someone who doesn’t even know what a blog is? I’m thinking the only solution is to include everything, from the early stages of planning what your site is going to be about to in-depth promotion of your property around the web. Do I really have the time to write something that in-depth? Would a 100 page manual not just put off even more people?
A point I’m going to have to spell out loud and clear from the start of the book is that a reasonable amount of effort and also ingenuity are going to be required of anyone undertaking the method. I’m not giving away the farm here. The truth is earning money online isn’t an exact science and I’m by no means claiming I know it all, any method or idea I give away is not set in stone.
I can also see the investment of money being a big problem for some, especially when it comes to a recurring fee. For example your going to have to get proper web hosting and that’s going to cost you around £25 a month (any cheaper and it won’t be reliable). There’s other costs too which I’m sure many will not appreciate but the reality is if you’re not willing to invest a little money then you’re unlikely to be committed anyway.
So the only thing left for me really is to write the thing! Yes I have thought about outsourcing it to odesk in the hope that some marketing genius is willing to write it for £10 but I think offers could be slow! Still it could be an interesting project as they do say teaching something to someone else always re-enforces it into your own mind, although hopefully I’m not going to forget how to earn money at this stage. Anyway please stay tuned for either the eBook or the apology for not writing the eBook!