Info products or schemes?

One thing I've noticed is a bunch of people often gravitate towards what I call "schemes" to make money online. Schemes might be a harsh word for it, but it sort of stuck with me through the years...

Let me explain...

What I call a scheme might be a method where you earn money through CPA offers and Craig's List. For example, you find people looking for auto financing, then send them a CPA offer on getting auto loans. That's an example of a scheme to me. There are a bazillion more like that in all areas of Internet Land.

I have interacted with lots of customers and people in this IM space, and I see many (especially newbies and intermediate marketers) looking for these "schemes" as a way to make money online.

I guess there's nothing wrong with that at all. I'm no one to judge at all, and I know some advanced marketers who make a fortune with these types of "schemes". And, I've seen plenty of newbies who make "some" money from these schemes too.

When I first started online, everyone was into Adsense. I knew people who made 60k+ per month with Adsense arbitrage. It was hot. Luckily for me, by the time I even looked at Adsense arbitrage way back then, it was dying fast.... and eventually crashed with the Google Slap!

Today, I still see lots of people chasing schemes. And they depend on some loophole, or some "scheme" that depends on other sites (like Craigs list, or CPA networks, or Google, etc) to make their money.

IMO, this causes many-many marketers to fail. The newbies fail because they are actively SEARCHING for these schemes, and more advanced marketers fail because they are dependant on the scheme --- until it crashes.

IMO, I would not bet the house payment on such schemes.

Instead, the folks I've met who make the most amount of $$ longterm, depend on something entirely different than schemes. Those folks who make the most money depend on the fundamentals of direct response marketing.

You see, even if the Interwebs exploded and never existed again, those who focused on mastering the fundamentals of direct response marketing would still be able to earn a solid living offline. through direct mail, or advertising, etc.

I'd bet my house payment on that every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I'm afraid that most people out there are too focused on schemes (those magic loophole buttons) instead of basics like:

-- copywriting and conversions
-- psychology of sales, human behavior and why people buy (triggers)
-- traffic and lead generation
-- list building and list mgmt
-- branding and positioning
-- product creation.

and more

If you are new to this business, then you are probably like most out there and are looking for a quick way to replace a job, or supplement income, etc... and if you were to follow my advice, you'd spend your quality time sharpening your skills in "direct response marketing" and limit your time chasing "schemes".

It's not that hard to create valuable products and market them.

~Eric
PS - Schemes are cool too (as gravy!)