I Was Lied To...Big Time

[Steven Wagenheim]

When I first started my journey, trying to make a living online, I was lied to...big
time.

I can't really count all the lies...there were so many of them.

Let's see. There was this one.

"Free advertising doesn't work"

Well, Bum Marketing blew that idea all to hell. And please let's not start
the "time is money thing". Yes, I know your time is money. When I say free,
I mean spending your hard earned cash...in many cases, something people
just don't have. Sure, when you make some money and have some to spend,
spend what you can WISELY to try to free up your time.

But the mantra that "free advertising doesn't work" is ludicrous.

And not only with Bum Marketing, but also with safelists, traffic exchanges,
message boards and FFA sites.

They all work if you know what you're doing.

Here's another lie I was told:

"You can't sell anything unless you have a professionally made website"

Bull cookies.

I blew that myth out of the water with my very first product that had a
freakin cheesy stop sign at the top of the sales page.

I used 12 point ariel font for the main text because I didn't know any
better.

Headline?

What the hell was that? Heck if I knew. My stop sign was my headline.

Guess what?

I sold 200 copies a month of that sucker for a full year. It's what put me
on the map.

Here's another lie I was told:

"You'll never make money starting out in the make money niche".

Blew that one to hell too. Is it hard? Sure it is. It took me 3 years of
affiliate marketing to finally have enough credibility to make my first
product and break $40,000. It took me 4 years to break 100K a year. It
wasn't easy, but I did it, in spite of all the people telling me I was wasting
my time.


Here's another big lie I was told:

"You need professionally made graphics to sell your ebook"

My first ecover was made with one of those automated tools. You know
the ones I'm talking about. The edges were not smooth and they looked
like crap.

Oh, by the way...these covers sold my product that sold 200 copies a
month.

Okay, I could keep going but I think you get the point.

Stop buying into all the doom and gloom. You don't need to be super Joe
Cool with a million dollar website to make money online. All you need is
a product that fulfills a need and put it in front of a hungry market.

Will a slick looking site and $15,000 sales copy improve your sales? Sure it
will. But you don't have to start off there. You can make a nice income
without the fancy look and without spending a fortune on pay per click
if you just have a product that people want.

So stop waiting to save enough for Michel Fortin or my good friend Andrew
Cavanagh to do your sales copy for you.

Go make something people want and get it in front of them.

There are tons of cheap and even free ways to do it.

[lazavas]

good stuff yet again!

[Neil Morgan]

Hi Steve

Good post, as usual.

The sooner that new people realise that most 'facts' are not facts but simply opinions, the better.

The best [insert service here] is...

The only way to do it is...

You'll get the highest sales if you...

It's everywhere.

Cheers,

Neil

[geomat]

Steven -

I'd agree to a point but it does become progressively harder.

For instance, let's say you have discovered a great niche market selling widgets on the corner of the street. Others notice you are making a killing and start to do the same. Before long you have 1,000 people selling the same widget in the same way.
Then 10,0000 …

At this point no matter how much marketing or staying positive will help. Sure there are ways and means of staying a step ahead but it will be a lot harder than when your first started.

Point is any business or technique can quickly become saturated particularly when the barrier to entry is just $49.95.

Like in any business check the life cycle of the opportunity if has moved into the decline stage stay away. Look for the opp that is still in the growth stage. Better still break new ground.

[Ken Preuss]

Interesting post. If you think about it the idea of truth itself is a myth.

Consider that my truth and your truth and his truth and her truth are all valid.

One of my favorite myths:

It's hard to make money starting out in a make money niche (real estate, internet, etc.).

I blew that one all to hell and many others I know have done the same. Why? We decided it wasn't "true".

Bottom line, we create our own truths.

Ken

[aboutalhah]

You are right Steven, some (just that I don't want to say all of them) of my sites are ugly, but they make money as well.

I remember reading one of John Rease's articles where he said "make money with your crap". It's crazy, but I made a lot of money with my "crap"... that I always improve after time.

Franck.

[tommygadget]

Well I hope the inverse is not true, ie. I spent a LOT of time to make sure my new site had great graphics (thanks Karl), a headline, and nice ebook covers. Hopefully, that will not doom the site to failure

TomG.

[naruq]

Thanks for the insight Steven!

[lexilexi]

Love it Steven!

Another classic example was the old Double Your Dating squeeze page. No graphics. Just a plain old red headline and black text on a white background.

The goal is to capture people's imagination - and there are countless ways to get there.

[mookinman]

It's true. My first campaign was using adwords... They make it look so easy - but it's actually a quick way to lose lots of money if you don't know what you're doing.

So now I only use free methods.

[Amy Bass]

Great post! I was told all those same lies, but like you, I never listened to them.

[reapr]

Another great post Steve ...

I agree with all said ...

Yes free advertising works great when you find the popular 'fishing holes'.

I still laugh to the bank when I hear that there is no money in the make money niche. For those who believe it just means one less competitor. Probably said by a failed marketer in that niche or someone that does not know how to target the niche with proper keyword research. Plenty of customers and traffic if you can think outside of the box.

Need a professionally made website ... wordpress works great my graphics if I have any are not that great. Most of my sites look like white pages in a binder. Conversions would make some professionally designed website owners envious. I should probably look into it though because I know if done well it can help.

eBook covers I just don't use em' much. A well written ad can do better than any eBook cover .... at least a split test determined in my case.

[Cash Blasters Online]

Hey you're putting up some great posts all day today....keep going !!

[Leanne King]

Thanks for this post Steve. It's also a timely reminder that we don't really need to buy all the bright, shiny tools that clog up the hard drive. Newbies are often told that they "need" this tool or that if they are going to advance their business. They spend all their money on new tools and all their time trying to get them to work. For your method it looks like very few tools were involved in the creation of your success.

Leanne

[Black Hat Cat]

Originally Posted by reapr

Another great post Steve ...


I still laugh to the bank when I hear that there is no money in the make money niche. For those who believe it just means one less competitor. Probably said by a failed marketer in that niche or someone that does not know how to target the niche with proper keyword research.

You mean those failed marketers like Frank Kern, John Reese, Yanik Silver, etc, etc? Never heard anyone say there was NO money in the make money niche, but those guys and plenty of other successful marketers have said at one time or another that it's difficult to make money in the make-money niche, and that it's easier in other less competitive niches. They're right. That doesn't mean it's impossible. It's not impossible to win the lottery, but that doesn't mean there aren't easier, better ways to make a living.

Here's another lie I was told:

"You'll never make money starting out in the make money niche".

Blew that one to hell too. Is it hard? Sure it is. It took me 3 years of
affiliate marketing to finally have enough credibility to make my first
product and break $40,000. It took me 4 years to break 100K a year. It
wasn't easy, but I did it, in spite of all the people telling me I was wasting
my time.

Good job! I mean, sure, it took you two years longer to get to $100,000 a year than it had to because you ignored sound advice, costing you $200,000 in lost earnings, but whose counting?

Yeah, you really showed them....

[Maria Gudelis]

Awesome again Steve - love all the Bull Cookies comments you make!

Tis so true - thus the beauty of the warrior forum - I've bought $17 WSO's that have outshone the $x,xxx products!

Thanks for the great positive keep it going posts!!!!

[Be4Success]

As a new Warrior, thanks for insight! I'll be sure to keep it in mind as I journey into the world of online money making. Thanks again.

[alexei_aus]

its really the matter of doing something, rather then just listening

[AndrewCavanagh]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

So stop waiting to save enough for Michel Fortin or my good friend Andrew
Cavanagh to do your sales copy for you.

Go make something people want and get it in front of them.

There are tons of cheap and even free ways to do it.

Yes you'll be waiting a LONG time because generally speaking I'm no longer for hire (unless you do a ton of sucking up and pay some pretty wild fees) and while Michel will happily get one of his lower charging staff to write copy for you he's not doing a whole lot of copy for under $10,000+ a sales letter either.

Steve is so right with this post and his experience should be a great lesson to the people on this forum.

The biggest point you should take from it if you're new is that he made very little income for quite some time BUT HE KEPT TAKING ACTION.

That's the step most internet marketers seem to miss.

You have to take action if you want to make money.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[Lindsay Brynn]

Thanks Steven. It is always rare to find someone so inspirational and positive.