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Selling shovels and picks to the gold miners

by highhopes
12 replies
Gold was discovered in California in of 1848. By May of 1848 reports were stating there is more gold in them there hills that all the people in California could take out in fifty years." A man called Samuel Brannan opened his small store at John Sutter's Fort, right in the heart of the gold rush. Brannan took a little gold and traveled back to San Francisco. He stepped off the train and proceeded to tell the crowds he encountereds, "Gold! Gold! Gold! By the middle of June, three quarters of the male population had left town for the gold mines near Sutter's Fort.

Samuel Brannan never looked for gold, but selling shovels, picks and supplies to miners made him California's first millionaire.

Did all the miners become rich and find their "pot of gold?" Not a chance. Most of them wasted time and meager resources only to return to their original homes, poor and discouraged.



I have an offline business and ventured into a hobby online little venture and have purchased shovels and picks to get better results in the search engine pages, seo and ppc. ( wont be giving up the offline business at this rate)

In my time here i can see a lot of shovel and pick sellers and they are doing very well.

Moreover, i think this business of selling the equipment to the internet marketers is much more profitable than say finding a "niche" market like millions of people out there, niche this niche that, sub-niche of another niche, rebranding that niche if too many are selling the same or similar products.

This is my observation in a short time online. When i see the newbies questions in the forums, " how can i make money online", i feel my toes curling up in my boots.

It is becoming cringe worthy...however my statements are made to be knocked down and would welcome good honest appaisals of people doing well without selling shovels and picks to the newbie gold miners!
I HAVE NOTICED THE FULL TIMERS ARE THE ONES, SELLING THE SEO,MARKETING SKILLS, ARTICLE WRITING, BACKLINK SERVICES, SOFTWARE, WEBSITE TEMPLATES, SELLING COURSES.
COULD i FIND ONE SELLING A PRODUCT?
#gold #miners #picks #selling #shovels
  • Profile picture of the author Gene Pimentel
    Well now you've found one - pleased to meet you
    I've been in the trenches selling domain names for over a decade and still do to this day. It's extremely lucrative. I also sell the "picks and shovels" to help others do the same.

    There are many others doing the same, although I agree thee is an abundance of marketers just selling the tools. Nothing wrong with that, unless the tools have not been tested.
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    • Profile picture of the author highhopes
      Wow, well done Gene, one gold miner has struck a rich seam!

      Originally Posted by Gene Pimentel View Post

      Well now you've found one - pleased to meet you
      I've been in the trenches selling domain names for over a decade and still do to this day. It's extremely lucrative. I also sell the "picks and shovels" to help others do the same.

      There are many others doing the same, although I agree thee is an abundance of marketers just selling the tools. Nothing wrong with that, unless the tools have not been tested.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        Your opening story line seems to be the story
        told by Robert G. Allen in the "Multiple Streams
        of Internet Income" fame.
        Actually it's a very old analogy that has been used for many years in sales training offline. Allen certainly didn't invent the analogy nor would he claim to.

        Then there is the other category the OP noticed - someone PRODUCES those picks and shovels by manufacturing them.
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  • Profile picture of the author GoingSomewhere
    Your opening story line seems to be the story
    told by Robert G. Allen in the "Multiple Streams
    of Internet Income" fame.

    It all depends on your mindset in your business
    whether you are selling picks and shovel or the
    actual products and services.

    You can be successful with anything. Many companies
    liquidate and get taken over by new managers. With
    good and brand new management team, failed comapnies
    turn to profitability.
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    Passive Income Tutor -Learn & Master How to Make Money Online for Free | Internet Marketing Tips
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  • Profile picture of the author Shane N
    Everything is a shovel or a pick in some way or another. For instance, I sell a course that teaches people how to play guitar (I wrote the course myself) and I do very well with it.

    So, in effect, I am selling the "shovel" to those who want to learn the guitar, but not necessarily to make money or make money online...

    Best,
    Shane
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Originally Posted by highhopes View Post


    I HAVE NOTICED THE FULL TIMERS ARE THE ONES, SELLING THE SEO,MARKETING SKILLS, ARTICLE WRITING, BACKLINK SERVICES, SOFTWARE, WEBSITE TEMPLATES, SELLING COURSES.
    COULD i FIND ONE SELLING A PRODUCT?
    My main revenue comes from a software product aimed at big businesses. I sell IM related products and services to pay back to people behind me on the same path.

    It's easy to criticize other people when you don't know their motivation, but you're right that there are people selling IM stuff as their main income and not actually making money doing anything else - but who's to judge whether that's wrong if the people buying their stuff are happy with what they get?

    I get people PMing me all the time asking for reviews of their latest "make money from the WF products", so the members here are also doing the same thing you're criticizing.

    It's not just Gurus - everyone's at it.

    Rather than get bitter about it - just do your own thing and ignore the things other people do which don't float your boat.

    Andy
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    nothing to see here.

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    • Profile picture of the author la dominatrix
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post


      Rather than get bitter about it - just do your own thing and ignore the things other people do which don't float your boat.

      Andy

      Good advice but then it is always useful in my experience to have multiple streams of income.
      La dominatrix
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    • Profile picture of the author highhopes
      You miss understand, firstly this is`nt bitterness or criticism, but purely an observation to what i have witnessed and would invite you all to give examples of other forms of earning a living besides "selling the picks and shovels". you see Andy, this is only something i have been very aware of over the last 12 months scrolling through the warrior and other forums, the same theme is repeated over and over with very few examples of straight forward success in selling niche products.
      So please dont view this thread as a personal undermining of the subject in question, but as a good and honest out in the open debate about the I.M.

      As I look at the top I.M. Gurus, sales of trafiic secrets this and that such as; John Reese, Frank Kern,Jeff Walker,John Carlton,Eben Pagan,Jim Edwards,David Garfinkle,Derek Ghel, etc, etc. It`s all about selling the means to get trafiic and or software.

      If I am missing something can you name one worldwide marketeer who has highlighted `A` product he has identified in a niche and gone on to make a lot of money there?

      I do enjoy this part time business myself online and am willing to learn as i go along...i think it is a fun place to be and have got a lot of information starting fro scratch.



      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      My main revenue comes from a software product aimed at big businesses. I sell IM related products and services to pay back to people behind me on the same path.

      It's easy to criticize other people when you don't know their motivation, but you're right that there are people selling IM stuff as their main income and not actually making money doing anything else - but who's to judge whether that's wrong if the people buying their stuff are happy with what they get?

      I get people PMing me all the time asking for reviews of their latest "make money from the WF products", so the members here are also doing the same thing you're criticizing.

      It's not just Gurus - everyone's at it.

      Rather than get bitter about it - just do your own thing and ignore the things other people do which don't float your boat.

      Andy
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by highhopes View Post

        You miss understand, firstly this is`nt bitterness or criticism, but purely an observation to what i have witnessed and would invite you all to give examples of other forms of earning a living besides "selling the picks and shovels".

        If I am missing something can you name one worldwide marketeer who has highlighted `A` product he has identified in a niche and gone on to make a lot of money there?
        Ok - sorry, maybe your post came across as an attack on people and suggesting that none of us who sell IM products do anything else.

        I'm not sure what qualifies as a 'worldwide marketeer', but there are many people doing what you're talking about - that are not called IMers.

        My main software product is for big businesses to manage large projects in a way that was never done before. My brother spotted the opportunity after spending a year having to implement similar things manually, so we formed a company and created a software product to solve the problem. It's MUCH higher ticket than IM products.

        The fact that I like IM and helping people is the only reason I call myself an IMer. I don't usually talk about my software product because it's not in the IM niche.

        So what does that mean?

        I'm not sure what your point is. It seemed like you're generalizing that no-one makes money selling anything but picks and shovels but I'm sure you know that's not the case - so are you just referring to specific people? if so - what's the point in that?

        Sure there are people who only make their money selling shovels to gold diggers - but that doesn't define what YOUR options are - or anyone elses.

        If you're getting an email inbox full of offers you don't like - just unsubscribe.

        It's easy to avoid all that stuff and still find good people to work with.

        That's the beauty of IM - you can do it in whatever way suits you.

        Andy
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        nothing to see here.

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        • Profile picture of the author highhopes
          Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post


          I'm not sure what your point is. It seemed like you're generalizing that no-one makes money selling anything but picks and shovels but I'm sure you know that's not the case - so are you just referring to specific people? if so - what's the point in that?

          Andy
          It`s the weight of balance found in places like this forum andy, mostly are selling the aids for newbies and senior members alike, that i have witnessed who seem to be placing order after order from say $17 up to $1000 for products and courses.
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          • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
            Yes, many of my coaching clients have spent many thousands on crap and lies before coming to me for help.

            There are people launching products as we speak where they've paid random people on Elance to pretend to be their successful affiliates.

            And you know they'll get gullible launch partners onboard who just don't realise it's all lies and they'll all make great money from the unsuspecting newbies who think it's all real.

            That seems to be the dark underbelly of IM.
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            • Profile picture of the author highhopes
              Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

              Yes, many of my coaching clients have spent many thousands on crap and lies before coming to me for help.

              There are people launching products as we speak where they've paid random people on Elance to pretend to be their successful affiliates.

              And you know they'll get gullible launch partners onboard who just don't realise it's all lies and they'll all make great money from the unsuspecting newbies who think it's all real.

              That seems to be the dark underbelly of IM.
              Your approach to this course system looks unique Andy I must admit...far better to pay the mentor for a good solid supportive course where you know you can pick the phone up for direct help....point taken....yes the other side of it is what I suspected.
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