All You Do Is Sit In front Of The Computer Playing All Day

[pheonix44]

How many of us have had someone say this to us at some point or another? For some strange reason whenever I'm sitting in front of my computer doing work people seem to think I'm just playing around.

They seem to believe that I'm participating in some kind of get rich quick scheme or something. Whenever I try to explain to them this is a real business and it requires real time and effort they seem to laugh.

I've even had family members get upset when they saw I was making money. They wanted me to show them some kind of secret that I just didn't have. I went through years and years of not making a dime on the Internet. It was only until recently I even discovered the warrior forum.

It irritates me to no end when people try to interfere with my work because they believe that I'm playing around. Do any of you ever suffer from the same thing at home? If you do how do you handle those people who don't seem to take your work seriously?

[CurtisN]

Why do you care what they think? Just smile and listen to the music.

[tommen]

Making money on the internet is familiar to you, not necessarily to other people.They don´t simply understand that it is possible to make money online.I have bumped into this as well and it took me a looooooong time to get them to realize what I do for a living.If it bothers you, just ignore them

[DanielleS]

*sigh. The all-too-familiar mating call of the wild pessimist. Every time you hear something like that, go stand in the mirror and tell yourself 7 positive things about yourself and your business. Then go back to work.

Smile like you do have some secret, nod, and trudge on. You can't change people.

Dani

[steveweber]

If the other people you are talking about is your spouse, I've always said that one of most important steps for online marketing success is to get your spouse on board with it. Otherwise, all the stress and negativity involved really puts a damper on your work efficiency and creativity. There is nothing worse than having to "sneak time" to do your online work.

[Peggy Baron]

My teenagers assume I'm playing video games or I'm on Facebook... because that's what they do when they're on the computer.

[jwlnewsome]

Hi,
I get this all the time, what makes it worse is that it mainly comes from the people closest to me. I work on computers all day so when I go home an crank up the laptop, to make some extra cash, so one day I can give up the day job, all I get is "Playing on the Internet again". Well I'll be the one laughing when I see all them still in the rat race and I'm staying at home "Playing on the Internet". He who laughs last laughs longest. Just ignor and keep on laughing.

[Imran Naseem]

Well make sure you regularly go to the gym or at least look after your health. Sometimes sitting all day in front of the computer can be a strain on your eyes and your back.

[Scott Ames]

That's why an office outside the home is important for anyone really serious. There is a physical break between home and office and when you are gone, you are "working".

It is nice to have a zero commute but family often do not see the difference between playing a game and writing an article. To them you are playing on the computer again.

Ever try to record a Camtasia session only to have "Honey! Can you go get milk for the baby" imprinted on the audio?

[Zeus66]

Move your computer and desk to a private location with a door you can shut. Either lock it or put up a 'Do Not Disturb' sign when you're working. I don't allow interruptions unless there's an emergency. Those around you will get the message when you show them by your actions that what you're doing is serious.

John

[Scott Ames]

Originally Posted by Zeus66

Move your computer and desk to a private location with a door you can shut. Either lock it or put up a 'Do Not Disturb' sign when you're working. I don't allow interruptions unless there's an emergency. Those around you will get the message when you show them by your actions that what you're doing is serious.

John

Spot on as my British friends would say.

[Jason Stepp]

Originally Posted by steveweber

If the other people you are talking about is your spouse, I've always said that one of most important steps for online marketing success is to get your spouse on board with it. Otherwise, all the stress and negativity involved really puts a damper on your work efficiency and creativity. There is nothing worse than having to "sneak time" to do your online work.

Hmm... That could be a good idea for a product/report.


"How to Improve Your Efficiency and Creativity by Involving Your Spouse In Your Internet Marketing Business"

I'm single, so I don't really have use for this kind of information, but I'm sure a lot of people would find it useful.

I've seen quite a few posts on just about all of the forums asking how to explain what we do to our family without confusing them.

[Scott Ames]

Here is a good article:


How To Minimize Interruptions When You Work At Home

[Zeus66]

Scott, I was cracking up after seeing your reply a minute before mine, when we both said essentially the same thing. That happens more and more here at ye olde WF.

[1960Texan]

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

That's why an office outside the home is important for anyone really serious. There is a physical break between home and office and when you are gone, you are "working".

It is nice to have a zero commute but family often do not see the difference between playing a game and writing an article. To them you are playing on the computer again.

Ever try to record a Camtasia session only to have "Honey! Can you go get milk for the baby" imprinted on the audio?

The outside office is probably the biggest hurdle for most people starting out in IM. If you can't swing rent for an office, try doing a swap with someone (build them a website, help their existing site rank higher, etc.).

[anu_smart]

Aizen

Avery good idea ineed

Just close your years to unwanted talks and open your minds further more to explore the rich potentials of The Internet

[Alex Williams]

Oh, if someone would try to tell this to me, I would think and probably tell those guys that at least I do not watch TV as much as they do. Just think about it - people spend countless hours watching TV, funny videos, etc, and this does not make them any money

[Chrissy Allen]

Hey,

Oh This sounds so familiar.

I just say.... You like shopping and watching TV
I like making money online.

Its as simple as that !

Thanks

Chunkynuts

I used to have some clients that was cheap and did not want to pay for anything tell me this.. "All you do is sit in front of a computer, it can't be that much hard work" .. LOL Yeah right.. website development is one of the most stressful jobs you can have online.

James

[ktmurf]

I haven't even told anyone that I'm into IM, other than my girlfriend, and this is the type of ridicule (OP) that kept me from letting the world know. She's very supportive though. I got her involved by being my proofer, she's also very clever when it comes to forum marketing. She just gabs away in several of the forums that she already went to and just added a link in her sig. She never discusses the websites or anything, they're just there.

To be fair though, I bet we all know someone who has started up their own thing and bugged the hell out of everyone they know trying to drum up business. it just doesn't work like that, I'm afraid.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by pheonix44

For some strange reason whenever I'm sitting in front of my computer doing work people seem to think I'm just playing around.

Ohhhh yeah. I kept having to explain the difference between "work from home" and "home from work."

[Daniel E Taylor]

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

That's why an office outside the home is important for anyone really serious. There is a physical break between home and office and when you are gone, you are "working".

It is nice to have a zero commute but family often do not see the difference between playing a game and writing an article. To them you are playing on the computer again.

Ever try to record a Camtasia session only to have "Honey! Can you go get milk for the baby" imprinted on the audio?

I don't have a office outside my home.

But my office is not connected to my house. It's built onto
the garage.

And I can tell you working on your "Couch" and working
in an "office environment" is completely different.

If you can't afford an office, you need to dedicate a bedroom,
or somewhere to strictly your workplace.

IT will do wonders for your productivity,
Daniel

[AidanKay]

The best thing I believe, at least for me, is to 'give in' and say that I'm just playing games. Pride can go on the backburner.

What does it matter what they think of me? If I'm making money, I'm making money.

-Aidan.

[ucheboy]

This is my exact daily experience with people around me. They usually feel that I'm being lazy sitting in front of computer evryday.

I don't really care anyway.

I had a similar situation. The replies in this thread helped me a lot:

Friends ask me about "Internet Marketing" & when they can't understand they are no longer friends :(

[Ross Vegas]

I understand that...

When I setup an office and stopped working at home as much the Mrs. pretty much accepted that I'm actually doing serious work. But when I decide to stay home and work there, she still assumes I lay about all day and do nothing and gets jealous/mad/bugs me with errands.

I think people are trained to think computers at the office do work, and at home they do fun stuff. That's because it's the experience they have always had.

Lately, I have an assistant working for me full time and people think it's the coolest thing in the world.

Ironically, I also spend less time now "sitting in front of the computer" and when I am there it's usually messaging my assistant and I can just say..oh i'm just telling my assistant what to do today. I actually get more time to do nothing, and more credibility. WIN - WIN

[Rod Cortez]

Originally Posted by pheonix44

.............It irritates me to no end when people try to interfere with my work because they believe that I'm playing around. Do any of you ever suffer from the same thing at home? If you do how do you handle those people who don't seem to take your work seriously?

I stopped getting irritated a long time ago and over the years have surrounded myself with people who "get it". This has meant having to drop certain "friends" from my life and getting new ones. I also spend less time with certain family members. Luckily it's a small percentage.

The thing is, I DO play around a lot because I now have the time and money to do so. I take a minimum of 2 months of vacation away from work every year. I think the issue I deal with isn't that I'm playing around too much, it's just that some people are still asking me when I plan on "working" again. LoL

Most people haven't a clue what I do.

RoD

[Laura B]

Yup, hubby's still waiting for me to get a "real" job. Sometimes I think I should just go downtown and check groceries for $8.00 an hour and then see what he says when we can no longer afford to buy gas.

[patselby]

I find that people just assume that they can call or drop by; just because you are at home. I don't answer the phone if I am busy which upsets one of my friends and she asks me if I heard the phone. I am honest and tell her that I am concentrating; stopping what I am doing is not an option. Most people don't know what I do and I don't tell them.

[pheonix44]

Ever try to record a Camtasia session only to have "Honey! Can you go get milk for the baby" imprinted on the audio?

I just had to laugh at this one. What about if you are using DNS?

[Victor.L]

Originally Posted by pheonix44

How many of us have had someone say this to us at some point or another? For some strange reason whenever I'm sitting in front of my computer doing work people seem to think I'm just playing around.

They seem to believe that I'm participating in some kind of get rich quick scheme or something. Whenever I try to explain to them this is a real business and it requires real time and effort they seem to laugh.

I've even had family members get upset when they saw I was making money. They wanted me to show them some kind of secret that I just didn't have. I went through years and years of not making a dime on the Internet. It was only until recently I even discovered the warrior forum.

It irritates me to no end when people try to interfere with my work because they believe that I'm playing around. Do any of you ever suffer from the same thing at home? If you do how do you handle those people who don't seem to take your work seriously?

I suffer the exact same thing here as multiple IMers do.
My parents never approved of this and think paypal is ''fake money''.

When I want to convince someone that I am doing real work, I just take out a check I have ( which I photocopied beforehand ) and say here's the money I got from GOOGLE. I mean who doesn't know Big ol' G?

That just about shuts anyone's yap.

[halibuth]

I used to be one who parties all the time, and now that I spend most of my time in front of my computer, my bestfriend started calling be a nerd.

I don't mind at all

[FriendlyRob]

I got that a lot from my wife before I started earning an income. Now she wants to know what she can do to help.

[Mike Anthony]

Well I don't have the exact problem since everyone around me more or less knows I make money now but the problem I had was that everyone thinks you are the one they can call to do something every day for them because they are busy at work.


Ummmm......I'm not?

Answer: yes but its not the same.

Me: You are right You can take sick days and vacation time and someone else will cover your work.

Used to be real bad but not anymore. Thanks God.

[Adway]

The majority of people today, although they are getting more involved in online activities, are still not aware of a world where you can profit from the internet.

They see Myspace or Facebook as the means to socialize, but don't sit down and question how rich the people behind these websites are.

People are used to the office job for actual ground based companies, or hard labor jobs. For most people, if you tell them I'm going to make something of myself with my "brain", instead of going out and lifting cement, they would think, oh okay, you are going to go to college and get a degree, work in a bank, become a doctor, etc...

Making money online, as big as it is today, and as much competition there is in every freaking niche (;p), is still very small, and thank god for that. Could you imagine what would happen it it went main stream

So how do you get around it?

Tell them you are freelancing online. IF you don't feel comfortable telling them, I'm trying to get myself going by establishing online busiensses, tell them you are a freelance writer, or website developer, working through million dollar businesses like Guru.com, etc.. Or simply tell them, I am an affiliate marketer who promotes products in hot niches today, and have contracted with 4 big time companies. Give them the names, and let them ponder.

In any case, you have to understand that you are online, trying to make money. You should not care about what others think because in time if you are moving in the right direction, you will have your own office, start getting checks in and out, getting your bank account balance higher and higher, and the people around you will start to respect it. They will then see that you are not playing games online and you are doing something legit that requires just as much expertise as a office job does if not ten times as much.

[Tinkerbell]

Sitting at my computer playing all day long, every day, day in and day out. Yep. I've heard this many, many times over the years.

It was only a few years ago when my dad, who'd noticed we were somehow managing to eat although my husband's check wasn't so good, noticed the babies had diapers when hubby hadn't brought in much at all, noticed somehow money stretched from one week into two, told my husband he should leave me alone about spending so much time on the computer because I was working and making some money.

(It wasn't a lot, mind you, but some. Kept shoes on some of the kiddos feet and food on the table some when we thought we were going to have to starve.)

Still, it was last year before my husband finally realized I must have talent at *something* because I was managing to bring in a wee bit of cash here and there at just the right times to supplement what he made working a full-time job.

Now when someone says I'm playing on the computer, I say, "Yeah, and you need to leave me alone if you wanna eat next week."

Tina

[pheonix44]

If the other people you are talking about is your spouse, I've always said that one of most important steps for online marketing success is to get your spouse on board with it. Otherwise, all the stress and negativity involved really puts a damper on your work efficiency and creativity. There is nothing worse than having to "sneak time" to do your online work.

I used to have this problem when I was living with my younger sister. She never quite took me seriously. Now she wonders how I manage to pay the rent where I'm living now and wants me to show her.

[Traffic_Is_King]

Just show them your online checks! That should cut out any background noise.

[Ray Erdmann]

Originally Posted by jwlnewsome

"...He who laughs last laughs longest...

And here I thought the quote was:

"He who laughs last...didn't get the joke!"

But seriously...if all someone has when they're around you is negativity, then either:

A. Spend less time w/that person
B. Spend time w/that person when you're NOT on the computer

Worse case scenario, you can always just laugh on the inside knowing that you're doing what is needed to quit the day job while those closest to you will have to keep working until probably past the time of retirement...

[talewins]

What I do works so it must be one part of an answer.
My spouse and I share an office. We put up corner desks, desks that face a corner. So she is in here with her "farm" and other goodies while I'm over here slaving away. About once a month or once a quarter I ask if she will do some simple task for me. Suddenly she doesn't even know one end of the keyboard from the other. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I come right out and ask her, "If you can't do this how on earth do you ever get online?"
Then there was the time she actually helped and every day I looked forward to her doing that task only to discover it was the week to ..... and she just couldn't work. It's funny now how many weeks that dragged on.

[bazzais]

Before I started earning any money it was hard to call what I did 'work' and justify the time I spent at the PC to friends and family as there was no financial gain from it. But it was those time I think that I worked the hardest. That said the learning curve is still steep after 9 years online but the learning curve when I first started was massive and looking back was quite hard work.

Luckily now my friends dont really ask in all honesty as the answer I give just bores them in 5 seconds.

Its interesting that like the OP I did have a few friends and relatives that saw the money coming in and though that I had some kind of secret and were dying for me to show them. To this day I have yet to find anyone who is prepared to put in the time, effort and learning to even make a small bit of cash. I have given them webspace, ideas, domains leaving them only the constant content writing and the waiting game to do. Non of them make it past 3 days of writing content and coming up with ideas and keeping motivated. - They never ask me again what I do.

Ta

Baz

[tmitchison]

I have not made enough to justify the time Ive invested (yet, quote me on that) so when I am under ridicule I just have to take it like a champ, and pretend like I dont feel like a douchebag.

[Intrepreneur]

Let them speculate while watching your income grow. Understand the reason they don't get it is because they don't see being online the same way as we do. It only takes a three words to confuse most computer users. "Make money online". It's funny how it confuses people when it's so damn obvious and is all around them but it's common so their not alone in their thinking. Maybe even just laught at their inability to understand that "making money online" isn't a fantasy or magic but a serious way of making money.

[Kevin Regier]

I love setting in front of the computer all day.

Kevin

[cypherslock]

Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet

I used to have some clients that was cheap and did not want to pay for anything tell me this.. "All you do is sit in front of a computer, it can't be that much hard work" .. LOL Yeah right.. website development is one of the most stressful jobs you can have online.

James

I hear that! The worst is when a client wants you to rip off another site. Or when (after repeatedly telling them you NEED to have fresh content to put up so Google will start liking you...and of course they don't give you anything) they bitch after a week about not being on page 1.

[Wham]

yeah i get that

i see people posting on yahoo answers occasionally asking how to make money online, and their is always a response from someone saying you can't make money on the internet and to get a job.

people are stupid.

how is there no money to be made when the internet connects hundreds of millions of people.

its more realistic that you'd get rich online then doing anything else.

no i dont make a lot of money yet, and sure sometimes i feel like its pointless to try, but then thatd just put me with the other 90% of people who try and fail. The more you learn about the facts about making money online the more realistic it becomes. Like you said, when people think about making money online they only think about get rich scam programs, but no one ever sees the legitimate side of it.

[workson]

The proof is in the pudding, explain what you're doing by showing results (earnings) if you have to respond at all. Personally, I don't have to answer to anyone about MY JOB, those questions should be used as motivation to keep your focus.

[pheonix44]

I hear that! The worst is when a client wants you to rip off another site. Or when (after repeatedly telling them you NEED to have fresh content to put up so Google will start liking you...and of course they don't give you anything) they bitch after a week about not being on page 1

Expecting things to happen to quickly is something my family expects when they see I'm making money. It irritates me to no end.

[TheDebtEliminator]

Hello Robin,

I have had family inquire about IM usually at the holiday time of the year.

Offering income figures can be a mistake, as it may startup the green eyed monster or endless questions about .. “Can You do the same for me?”

What I say is that it is a hard road that takes time ... if your are not willing to invest your time daily and some money, then you will not succeed.

I give them direction and answer questions, but they are better off trying things their own way. Just limit the times per day (and time used) that they can contact you

All the Best

[rapidscc]

When I started researching how to make money online, it took me a year without making anything. I was lucky to have a few offline accounting system clients that took care of my basic needs, like rent and a few house utility bills (phone, internet) but nothing much.

It came to a point when I had a confrontation with my better half where she said straight to my face that if there's only a greener pasture elsewhere she would have jumped ship already..but I never stopped believing, In myself, in what I can do, and what I can provide.

Funny because during that time I would even help for free those who needed some assistance even though all the while I wasn't making anything online. I think it actually made me stronger and developed some sense of strength and character..

Today everything is different. I'm very much treated as man of the house..I'm the king again of my own household. Even if I'm just sitting here and writing the whole day, I still bring in the bacon...with the cake..ice cream..and a lot more things

I can still remember what my older brother told me. "Save your money! if you don't have some, the whole world hates you, even yourself."

That's not the whole truth, but there's some in it..

All the best,

Omar