What Gurus Don't Tell You: The Importance of Ownership

Internet marketing gurus drive me crazy. They're all the same: they sit there behind their webcam in their luxurious homes telling how they were once so desperate for money and now have a fortune because of their miraculous "system," which they will share with you if you pay them enough money. You know that something's got to be working for them if their finances have improved too much, so you decide to give it a try. You wheedle down the price as much as possible by clicking the red x and then "stay on this page" several times and then make the purchase. The system is yours. You get it set up, plug it in, and... nothing happens. What is it that the gurus don't tell you?

The truth is, if they told you the one thing they all have in common then they would have nothing to sell to begin with. That is because the one thing that they all rely on is their brand--their stamp of ownership on their system. They're the admins. They're the boss, the founder, the guy in charge. And that's where it all comes from.

In most cases, you can't expect to make a cent from paid affiliate programs. People want to buy something new, something that they haven't seen before. You need a site, a system of your own to sell. And don't be cheap about it either. If you really want to keep people coming to you, help them out. Give them something they need, a handbook and step-by-step instructions on how to do something. A further secret: it doesn't even need to be about making money.

When I started out, I thought that the only way I was going to get anywhere in this industry was if I chose a major niche and capitalized on it. Entrepreneurship seemed the most logical because of the many affiliate opportunities available. One thing that Wealthy Affiliate taught me was that you don't need to go crowd chasing--a steady trickle is all you need to be successful in your industry. You could go with birdwatching or knitting or medieval weaponry. Chances are, you might be even more successful simply because you don't have as much competition as you would with a major niche. How do you profit on it? There are two good ways that I've discovered. One is through affiliate systems. You'd be surprised how many affiliate programs there are about anything under the sun--simply google your keyword + affiliate and you'll likely have several good choices to choose from. Depending on where you live, Amazon Associates is also a good option for pretty much any niche. It's easy to sign up and add whatever you want to your site. The other option is to display. I haven't made any money this way, but many people do and it is worth looking into. Every time anyone clicks on an ad they see on your site, you get paid.

Later I plan to report on a few options that can help you get started, but for now hopefully you're a step closer to making it work online.

Wealthy Affiliate: The Good, The Bad, and The Unfair

First, an update: looks like blogging take #3 isn't going to happen. Ugh. Maybe I should try PPC ads again?

I was messing around the other day and came across a program called "Wealthy Affiliate." It wasn't like other affiliate programs--instead of just trying to sell the same site you just joined, WA equips people to start their own home business based on anything they like. And a starter account is free.

How could I resist? I looked around the site and joined up, and in the next couple days had watched all ten of the starter videos. They were very well done. WA is built around a strong community atmosphere, and you can work alongside other people in your same position as you get step-by-step help setting up your own Wordpress website. I was loving it... and then the free lessons ended. They had covered basic setup of the website and everything was all set to happen, but then what? There were no instructions on where to go from there, other than to sign up for a premium account to learn just how to publicize your site and how to profit from it. Basically, you're just left with an empty shell of a website with an "about me" and a "privacy policy" page, with no traffic, no domain, and no profits. Ugh... foiled again.

I'm trying to patch it up and get it set up to actually make a profit, but it's hard without everything they had implied they would provide as needed. I can scope out the WA site to find conversations, but I can't ask questions without a premium account and I can't access any new "classrooms" to learn about a topic.

Yep, I feel pretty cheated. Google Adwords won't even accept the new site because it's using a subdomain, and I'm really reluctant to go back to Bidvertiser after what happened last time.

So for now I'm going to skulk back to paid surveys and article writing and keep my eyes peeled for something that could actually help. I'll keep you posted as to my results!