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Really? –
Some things just totally blow my mind. Do you know how many people are looking online for a way to make money doing nothing? Doing nothing. Really? Do these folks truly expect to find a way to do this? What in the world gives ANYONE the impression that they can make money by doing NOTHING? Ok , other than having a rich relative….lol
Do Nothing. Make Money.
Alright, I’ll be honest. Yesterday I was a bit under the weather. Actually I was just plain worn out from a very busy Super Bowl weekend. I answered some email and then took the rest of the day off. I took a nap, watched TV, and just rested because apparently, my body was calling for it.
For ME, that was a “do nothing” day and yes, I still made money. But do people realize that there had to be a whole lot of something done before I could ever look towards a day of doing nothing and making money?
That is the great thing about working online. If you take the time and do a whole lot of something, there will come a day when you can do nothing and still make money. In fact, that is your goal, isn’t it? To end up with lots of web pages and campaigns out there on the internet that work FOR you down the road?
I know it sure was MY goal. Make money fast or overnight or quick was not a pressing issue for me. Sure, I’d have liked the money to come fast, but in the long run, I wanted these things to make money for me for a long time whether *I* worked or not.
The Reality
I think one the biggest mistakes I made with One Week Marketing was to offer it to anyone and everyone. Now, I know that is how it is supposed to be done, but it’s been a little hard for me.
You see, One Week Marketing is my “baby”. It’s not some old re-hashed system… it’s MY system. It’s very personal to me and I know it works.
Am I Afraid It Will Make MY Efforts Less Effective?
Oh heck no, I’m not afraid that allowing others to see the same techniques I use will make my efforts less effective. That is so not my “problem”.
My problem is the reality. Realistic stats ( the ol’ 80/20 rule) show that only 20% will actually DO anything with the information that is right in front of them. That means, for every 100 copies of the Action Plan that go out, only 20 people will even DO anything with it.
How sad is THAT?
Oh, but wait… it gets worse.
Out of those 20 people, only 20% of THEM will actually follow thru and find success with it. That means for every 100 copies, only 4 people will see real success with it and be on their way to making money doing nothing.
Four people out of every 100.
96 copies will grow cob webs on a computer hard drive somewhere in the world.
And to be perfectly honest, the more I am around this internet marketing world, I think the 80/20 rule I am using should be more like 95/5.
This breaks my heart.
Do they decide it’s too hard? Do they realize that it takes work and follow-thru…then give up – or worse yet, never even START?
Or is it simply because the majority of folks that search online for a way to make money, want to make that money by doing NOTHING?
Yes, I am ranting a little bit today, but it’s time I ask this question out loud:
What IS it that makes anyone feel entitled to a life making money doing nothing?
Your thoughts?
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I think that thing that scares people the most, and it did me are two things:
1 – The sheer volume of things you COULD do….where in the heck should I start?
2 – The actual DOING really is WORK!
I was one of those that read, and read and read and then READ some more.
Let me tell you folks, it is awfully fun to sell a Ninja motorcycle from an affiliate link (worth about $55) from some article I published in the parenting niche!
Do ONE thing today…it truly can’t hurt!
My family used to run a thrift shop, and you know what we got the most of? Exercise equipment and diet books. We had to stop taking them because we couldn’t sell them.
What does this have to do with your topic? Did you know know most of that exercise equipment came to us in like new condition?
Many people are looking for that great secret that will help them reach their goal (whatever it may be) but as soon as there is actual work involved they lose interest.
I am certainly one of these people, I just I had to stop buying things on impulse and sit on it for awhile.
I know I’ll buy your system as soon as finances allow, but it will not be impulse. I’ve thought it through this time 🙂
boshemias last blog post..Did the groundhog see his shadow? Why do we care?
Jennifer, I really enjoyed your post. There is so much truth to what you said and it goes across the board not just Internet Marketing.
As someone very new to Online Marketing, a single mom and have a business that’s offline. I feel intimidated and over whelmed most of the time by how much there is to learn to making money Online I know you understand this.
What I have found it everyone just offers a snippet of what to do Online. Honestly, yours as well. However, your One Week marketing Plan goes into much greater detail in an easy to follow way. Thank goodness for that or I would still be spinning circles. I have 5 lens up so far and just submitted my articles for them.
Eventually, one needs to expand…now what? Who do you trust and what products to bu????Whats the next best step? Does this make sense.
I don’t know about others but I need my hand held and encouragement. I am grateful to you for offering that.
Thanks Jennifer,
Deliese
Ahh, sorry to hear that . . . Possibly explains why I’ve been backing up your inbox with emails! LOL
Yeah, kinda sad when you look at who will “make the cut,” but that’s life . . . Wasn’t it during the Andrew Wee interview that you mentioned change not happening until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing? Heard that somewhere recently, anyway – likely from Robbins, if it wasn’t you. lol
I figure as long as it’s still reaching the people who are ready and who will take action, that’s all that really matters. Can only show people the way and all . . .
I still have to remind myself about the need to “do something” every once in a while. I’m in the glorious state right now of having an up-front payment on an upcoming copy project and waiting for them to send me what I asked for in order to get started, so I’ve made money and have yet to do anything in return, but I know that it’s going to be short-lived. 🙂
Oh well, just keep building things and one day all of this something will turn into doing nothing!
Chris
Chris Kellums last blog post..True Marketer Mindset – Adopt This Principle and Prosper
I too understand about fear of trying but as I have written before I keep running into problems with wordpress that I can’t figure out and the people at the wordpress site will not Help you if you have your hosting elsewhere. So I guess my rant is that I took the leap, I pulled out the credit card and bought the items you recommended and I am still really stuck with no good resources to help. So I am very discouraged. I have this unfinished niche site sitting here and really am at a loss. I have no problem grabing the bull by the balls I just need the right direction and encouragement. I am determined to stay home and make a living come hell or high water. I will never quit trying. I am just not a quitter. Wew, I think I said enough for now.
Sincerely, Bella
I think the saddest part of what you said is that as years progress more and more people have the do something for nothing, or the “entitlement attitude” as I like to call it.
A lot of people think they are owed soething or that they have been cheated out of soething and that is really scary. But on the flip side- that leaves more for those who are willing to put the effort forth.
Well personally – I’d love an easy life with no need to work for money (who wouldn’t?!). And if I won the lottery or got some other big windfall, I’d keep working on the things I enjoy (including some of my sites), but I wouldn’t care so much about making money from it all. So I can understand why people want that, and I must say, the desire for an easy (or at least easier) life a year or two or three down the road is a big part of what is motivating me to work so much on my web stuff right now. But as you say, it’s a shame that so many aren’t willing to put in the time to get their IM projects going in the first place, especially when this business offers a very real possibility of generating a lot of passive (or relatively passive!) income, as well as time freedom and all the other perks of being your own boss.
I suppose a lot of the time people look at the high profile IM-ers who post on forums, blogs etc, and are making several thousand a month or much more, and they think that’s the norm – not really understanding or accepting that it takes a lot of work (and often a lot of failures along the way) to get to that point. And all those hyped up products that promise that people can instantly have huge incomes on autopilot don’t help either (and that’s another problem – people buy one product after another, scatter their attention all over the place and can’t commit to just following one plan until it produces results – been there, done that!).
Some people probably feel overwhelmed by the learning curve too (especially those who don’t know the absolute basics – what’s a url, how do your write an article – that kind of thing), which I can understand, and some may become discouraged when their initial work doesn’t pay off. I know I’ve sometimes felt like – what if I’m putting in all this time & effort for nothing? And sometimes that’s a valid fear – because there are those who work hard but don’t manage to learn to pick good niches, or create pages that convert or whatever, and who don’t see any sales. My own first OWM campaign still hasn’t made any money – the second has, but I remember how discouraging it was for a bit not to see any results with the first. People are conditioned to expect a fast financial reward for their efforts (as in a job), so the prospect of working for weeks with nothing to show for it can be offputting too. Once those first few sales start to come in, it gets a lot easier to keep going, I think.
I think another thing is that some are just in this purely for the money, and if that doesn’t show up quickly, they lose interest. Whereas if you have a passion for your niche (or like learning about new niches), and you enjoy sharing your knowledge, and like creating sites, lenses & all the other stuff – then the whole process is enjoyable in itself. So you have motivation to continue even if you’re not getting many sales yet. But for those who only care about the end result, the rest is just a chore – and am often difficult, time-consuming, frustrating chore at that, if you’re just starting out.
Anyhow, that’s enough rambling from me! I guess that in the end, those that give up right out of the gate just don’t have a compelling enough reason to continue through the initial tough period. So they fall back into their fantasies of getting money for doing nothing, and either give up or go looking for the next product that promises easy riches : (
@Jen, there are two things that I would like to add:
1) Honestly… should you really care whether they succeed or not as long as you have done your best? I know this might sound harsh but you can’t drag people through this thing so don’t spend energy trying. It seems like you have the same problem that Garry has… don’t bother with the ones that don’t do. Rejoice for the ones that DO do!
2) I think that the “doing nothing” part is just the way our society has evolved. It is no different than people that think they can loose weight by eating some magical pill or go on some strange diet (It doesn’t work for Operah either so WAKE UP!!).
I think the problem is that the marketing train has been pumping our brains with “quick fix” solutions to everything and naturally we get into the habit of applying that to everything. I bet that is also one of the reasons that so many people get a divorce. They don’t work on their relationship one bit (except for the first 3 weeks).
Mikael Riecks last blog post..AKC Pet Insurance – Can You Trust Their HealthCare Plan?
Hi Jennifer!
I have to say that you are right… there are plenty of people who just don’t want to take action.
I actually went through the whole OWM plan twice, and then used it and your 6 step niche site to put together a plan that worked for me.
I was completely missing the “marketing” part of internet marketing. I was honestly more of a “internet put up a blog person” Since I’ve read One Week Marketing, I now have a marketing plan and checklist to use with my blogs. Thanks!
Heather
One thing I think has been left out and that is the FEAR factor.
I think a lot of people attempt internet marketing out of fear. Financial fear. either they lost their job or have too many bills. But they need money and they need it fast. Those are a lot of the people going for the get rich quick schemes.
Even with OWM, when they don’t see immediate sales, they give up because they can’t see the future for what’s is front of their faces – bills!
Does that make sense?
I think this is true of most products, Jennifer. However, with One Week Marketing, which I love, I was able to quickly adjust it to my learning pace. I spent the first week reading, the second week launching my first campaign, mistakes and all, just to see what it felt like, the third week launching my second campaign and again, learning and making mistakes. Now I am giving myself permission not to stress over it. If it takes me two weeks to do a campaign instead of one, that’s okay, and I find I am having much more fun with it. When I am more comfortable with the process, I will be faster, and will double up and catch up. All of that to say, I think most people are afraid to “do it wrong” and so do not try at all. By the end of 2009, I fully intend to be your star pupil! Thank you for an excellent guide that even this ol’ grandma can follow and learn! I am as excited about the plan today as I was on day one!
Jennifer,
I hear your frustration, and I understand. I agree there are a lot of people with entitlement problems, lack of work ethics, etc. I have a different take on this. I think people come to the table with a wide variety of abilities. I think that if you were to take a Meyers Brigg or Strong test (personality type tests) for yourself, some of the other big hitters in the online world like Dawaud Miracle and Courtney Tuttle, you’d find you have some interesting things in common…. You have intuition, and LOTS of it! This is a gift. And it’s a gift that is as obvious to you as the nose on you face, and, it’s a double edged sword. Those folks that are differently gifted do not see or understand the gift of intuition. You’d have to HAVE intuition to recoginze it!!! I know, I’ve taken those tests, and I am OFF THE CHART for intuition. Can I do calculus? Not if my life depended on it!!! Intuition just happens to be my biggest blessing. I’ve put it to good use, and I’m making money online. I just cracked up this week when I started getting hits on one of my info websites for a single word keyword that I thought was waaaay out of my reach. It’s google competition is over 13 million, and I wasn’t even trying for it, yet this week I popped up on page one of google, and started getting hits like crazy for it. It took intuition and faith to follow your lead, and it’s paying off. Thanks for giving my hunches a productive place to go!
Penny Goulds last blog post..Top Hotels Las Vegas
Y’all have left the most insightful and thought-provoking comments here… Thank you!
Excellent food for thought…. or….. food for a blog post!
lol!!
Jennifer
~PotPieGirl
Hello Jennifer
As always a great post….there is that dreaded 4 letter word again…..work!
We are NOT entitled to anything, we are blessed with the time to help others…..we are not even entitled to time….it too is a gift.
I think some of your readers are frustrated by the “Who do we trust factor” that Delise mentioned, and even more by the fact that internet marketing is not get it now marketing…
Lots of folks are facing life changing situations right now………looking for quick answer……without understanding that they will be in the same predicament if they do NOT take a long term view..
Everybody needs a buddy to give a helping hand up …..
Just my 2 cents!!
Hi Jennifer,
I agree with you. It is so easy to say you want to make the money but don’t put in the time you need. I was one of those, then I went to buying everything I could only to find a lot of missing info in each program. I am glad I stumbled upon your info. All’s I can say is finally I have the help I need, because I will not stop this time until I succeed.
Thanks for all of the help
Charlotte
Charlottes last blog post..Peanut Butter Rounds
It is great to know that, now you have reached in a stage that you can make money without doing anything. But people want to reach at this stage very easily and early. In short time,they want success with little or not so much work. Thats why they fail. Some of them really work hard, but they don’t have the required patience to wait for their success. I think this is the reason behind the low success ratio of “One Week Marketing”.
Hello Jennifer,
I understand your frustration very much. But –PLEASE DON’T STOP HELPING PEOPLE no matter how low the numbers are. 4 or 5 people is better than 0. I have purchased you OWM and I do intend to definately use it. My problem right now is a little difficulty still figuring our long-tail keywords for some reason. I am just about ready to start my first “Niche” project but I am worried it will fail because I am not sure if my keyword process it ok or not.
I am in my early 50’s and my kids are grown now and I work 12 hour days at a manufacturing plant so when I get home my bones and muscles and EVERYTHING ache so this is not how I want to spend my “golden” years – broke and tired. Your OWM plan is truly the best I have found and if people don’t use it, it is their loss. They must not be serious about making money online or something.
I can’t wait to enjoy quitting my job and making money doing nothing at home or where-ever. I am positive with your great advice it WILL happen.
To your continued success,
Debra Tollefson
@Debra, I’m not as good with words as Jennifer but I’ll give it a try anyway. The best thing you can do is just go with it. Fail, fail and fail some more!! Just expect to fail in your first 9 tries and number 10 will be your lucky number.
I know that we’re all taught to fear failure in school and that is the reason that most people are scared of doing anything. But ask yourself this: What is the worst thing that can happen if you don’t get the right the first time (or even the fifth time)?
You’ve spend a few hours and that is it!!
As long as you keep going and failing you will eventually get it right and it’ll give you what it is that you want it to give you.
Fail once and quit will only have had you waste your time and you would probably be better off not even getting started and go watch TV instead 🙂
We have all failed many times but we have kept going and that is why we now have the results to show you.
Mikaels last blog post..More Than Pet Insurance vs. Vet Insurance
Oh Mickael! What excellent advice and what a wonderful new way to look at my OWM efforts. I am working on # 2 and will just keep going until I hit 10, believing that along the way I will get it right…….You made my day!!!!! Thank you!
PS and I am sure Debra will appreciate it too! lol
Joan Adamss last blog post..Legally Blind Golfer
It seems great. I am subscribing now. Thanks for sharing a lovely information with us
I agree with you. It is so easy to say you want to make the money but don’t put in the time you need. I was one of those, then I went to buying everything I could only to find a lot of missing info in each program.
Really it is great posting and thanks for sharing it.
I am also going to subscribe. I love to get more info.
Hi PotPieGirl,
I really like this article it shares the sad truth about all the hype you see out there, about making money online.
It’s good to see somebody with a realistic plan, because there are real ways to make money online but they’re work not gimmicks!
Hi,It is one of the most informative post I have ever seen before. You have posted very fruitful tips for making money.Thanks for sharing such a nice post I glad to read this.Thanks again..
PotPieGirl (Is your name Jennifer?):
Yes, four out of 100 people who buy your course actually do something and apply it. Those four people probably had been trying to make money online for months and your course gave them the push.
So maybe 20 people out of 100 will apply what they learn from your course next year. I think it takes a long time for new knowledge principles to percolate–especially something so new as your internet principles.
What you know is not new to you and may be years old–but they are brand new to people who are brand new to internet marketing.
I can see how it would take a long time to believe it is even possible to make money online. It takes faith to do it, if you are brand new to IM.
What you are doing is valuble and I am glad you are pushing IM. You are giving me that extra push. Luckily for me I have been trying off and on for a year to make IM work. Now I have a new company and pushing alternative energy. I am trying to be part of a new industry to employ people. I am trying to become part of the new army of people to get U.S. off the Saudi Oil.
You are a breath of fresh air and I appreciate your work. My site is not up and running yet, but it will be in about a week.
Thank you again. Dave.
A week or two ago I found this site and have been reading along quietly. I felt I could leave my opening comment. Im not sure exactly what to say except that Ive enjoyed reading. Nice website. I shall keep coming back to this blog very often. I have also grabbed the feed to get any updates.
Jennifer,
I wanted to write you to THANK YOU! I purchased your OneWeekMarketing program I have to say that I was skeptical. Seriously, there are so many scams out there luring people in with the notion of making money online.
I must have read it 10 times, including the conversation with Nick. I’m on cloud 9 right now because I just made my first Clickbank sale! There’s actually $21.24 sitting in my Clickbank account right now! WOOT!
I’m over the moon and I’m so thankful for you and for your generous advice! There’s something to be said about making that first Clickbank sale…it really lit a fire under me!
Thank you again!!!
Julie