Bit of a strange one, anyone done this before?

I've never sought out a loan to fund my online ventures, however, I have used my credit card for some things--mostly domain names. Never have I spent $1000's via credit card though.

If your friend is going to borrow cash to get started, than a business plan is absolutely needed. How does he plan to pay back the loan if he doesn't even have cash now?

You shouldn't borrow money with the HOPE that you can profit and pay back the loan later. You need a solid plan in place to ensure that this takes place--otherwise you just shot yourself in the foot.

My two cents...

Unless he is already well versed in what it takes to make money online, borrowing that kind of money is just likely to be a big waste.

A domain name and hosting (and possibly an autoresponder) is all he should need - and that lot need not cost him more than about $25 to start with. Perhaps less.

Outsourcing SEO is a waste of time until he has already built something to require SEO, and until he has developed the skills himself to know if what he would be paying out for has any value.

Outsourcing IS a good way to build your business quickly, but it is also a very fast way to blow all your money for very little return if you don't have the experience to judge if your outsourcer is any good.

It sounds like your friend needs to study Internet marketing a whole lot more to know what he is getting in to - in particular to understand that there is no one thing called Internet marketing. The truth is that there are dozens of different ways to make money online - many of which are mutually exclusive - and a lot of which will not suit his personality.

It is very possible - and not really all that hard - to make a decent income online. Many of us do it. But you do need to know the basics first.

Jumping in to one method at random without asking yourself the basic question: 'can I sustain my interest in this' is probably one of the biggest reason why so many people fail. And when they fail they blame 'Internet marketing' not the specific strategy they chose or their own inability to succeed with that method.

Tell your friend to join the Warrior Forum and start reading. If he can, tell him to attend networking events where he can meet Internet marketers. Sarah Staar runs regular evening meetings and I run a regular lunch in London so the UK is well catered for. There are others in the UK and overseas as well so all he has to do is look in the WF events notices to find them.

Just don't tell a broke person to borrow money to chase a pipe dream. That way lies an even broker person and a lot of guilt riding on your head.

Martin

Some interesting points from the pair of you.

I somewhat thought the same thing initially. I was considering lending him a small amount of money personally, just 50 quid or something, so he can get a domain name, hosting, a little outsourcing etc, and if he's able to get himself a website on the first age of Google within a reasonable timeframe, perhaps then he can take the idea of borrowing money more seriously.

I think logically it makes sense, but I sure as hell don't want to encourage him into doing something that could put him in a lot of trouble.

Thanks for the opinions so far, keep 'em coming!

Internet Marketing a thing where nothing is for sure. U can lose all, and very fast.
I think you should never invest money in IM that you cant afford to lose

Hi Spope91

As with anything online there is only one thing that will make you successful and that is determination to succeed, I spent a lot of money on courses in my early days online and got nothing except a huge debt this was because there was no guidance and perhaps the dream that I was sold that you can push a button and boom the money flows in... stupid I know but so many people fall for this.

My point is this, if your friend is prepared to put the effort in and keep at it then any decent course will make it happen for them, I use different methods and some of them don't cost anything other than a bit of my time and they bring money in. I wouldn't advise on getting a loan though as it adds to the pressure and could easily bring on the failure quicker as he may expect results quickly

I'm very happy with the response this thread has gotten, I look forward to getting him online and reading through this, it should put him off the idea of borrowing money, but hopefully it doesn't put him off the idea of getting involved online!

Thanks everyone.

I really think that he should take the loan if he is that broke. I really think that you can not get by online by not paying for stuff like a domain name, email auto-responder, PAID marketing, monthly memberships to various products, etc.

Just tell him to start small. He doesn't want to spend too much money in his first few weeks and months. When he starts to see the money coming in, then he can increase his spending on places that he feels he needs to spend money on.

Also tell him to do a lot of personal development.

Taking a loan is the reason many small businesses fail. You start your business by owing your bank and all your initial income goes to ........... the bank! Obviously, if you have to rent premises or buy expensive equipment then there may be no way of avoiding taking a loan - but you'll need a solid business plan and a lot of background research into competition, market, etc.

The joy of IM is that it takes little money to start. Could you not host your friend's first site? That way, all he needs to buy is a domain name unless/until he starts to bring in some income.

Why does he need to outsource SEO? If he's just starting he should have time to learn that for himself, otherwise as with the bank, he is running just to keep up with his outgoing payments.

IM is a learning curve - one that can be started quite happily with a blogspot blog. Obviously that isn't a long term plan - but it gives you the opportunity to pick niche(s), do research and start writing, pick products to sell, write your own product, try PPC, or whatever you want to try with minimal outlay.

all the money i putted into IM is from my own profits online.

A newbie, borrowing money to spend on a business he's never been in before??
What could possibly go wrong? :rolleyes:




If he really wants to do it, tell him to only spend 30% of the initial amount on his first try.

Then when he fails at it, he can use the rest of the money to try again with the knowledge he acquired in his first venture.
(or if he's successful, he'll have the funds to be able to scale it up)

Hey if he has a plan written out then it could be a good idea.

Think about it. It takes $1 million dollars to open up a McDonald's franchise but people do it because they have a pre-written plan that has a solid possibility of success.

Just don't take a loan for $1,000 and then spend it on 20 info products.

Have your friend write out the plan he intends to follow as well as milestones and goals.

Do that first. And then go for the $1,000.

Here's a cliche saying that's relevant. A house is "built" before the first brick is laid.

Before a builder starts constructing a house, he definitely has a blueprint of what's to be done, what goes where, etc.

As long as your friend has that, then the $1,000 may very well be justified.

It says what he should do on your profile mate, 'Freelance Writing'. If he's that broke and he can't get a 'proper' job, and if he really wants to start up online, tell him to start freelancing, pay like $5/m on eLance or oDesk or something, try to get some projects,, and build up a bit of cash, then start getting the domains and hosting and aweber, etc, when he's got a bit of cash going spare. Personally I don't think BTF was the right purchase for him. That's for somebody who already has a website and wanst to optimize, it's not for brand new noobs.

Hope that helps mate, and feel free to drop me a line or add me on FaceBook anytime.

Cheers.

Stan Fields, The Blind Marketer.

Tell him NOT to take the loan. Tell him that if he doesn't know how to make money without money... it's still probably going to be hard for him to make money WITH money. Tell him to put to use the free marketing strategies that he learned in the Bring The Fresh course.

For the love of all things sacred, don't take out the loan! He's better off doing a couple days work to get the money. Seriously, the loan is the lazy way...and the lazy way is the fast way to the scrap heap!

I would recommend against it. I have done it (quit a job that was paying me 6 figures) and started with an Internet marketing course. I was burnt out with my day job and the endless hours at work hence the drastic decision but I did not make money immediately. I was caught up with the shiny object syndrome for a while and wasted quite a bit of time and money.

Unless your friend can give 100% to Bring The Fresh (I don't see that happening with a newbie) he's likely to fail for a while. Unless he has money saved up I cannot see this ending well for him/his family.

Spope91,

Instead of loaning your friend money, why not offer to trade him work for money. My hunch is your friend is going to have to write some content to get his project started. Have him write some articles for your own business purposes. Then pay him with money he commits to his domain. Since you are a writer you already know people get excited about the start up, but the follow through is when the enthusiasm wains. Have him test the waters writing for you, pay him for his domain and hosting and then let him run with it.

I started out saving money from my 9-5 and slowly bought myself into good licenses, setting up my online real estate and working the system. It's been almost two years now and I'm making 4-6k a month, which for a South African, isn't bad.

Later I wanted to branch out too quickly and 'made a loan' from my provident I had. Still owe that about 2k. Wouldn't suggest that. Allow yourself to grow into it. What you HAVE to learn you can't get from a book, manuals or even videos. You have to work, experience make mistakes and grow.

That's unfortunately how it goes.

One thing he needs is MOTIVATION and focus... Peter Garety's story now most knows, had nothing , totally broke and had to mortgage his wedding ring to join eben pagams course because 1) he was extremely motivated 2) because he believed eben and just focused on that and that was only 2+ years back, now he is among the biggest.... so motivation and focus and of course extremely hard work ethic.... are the keys...TO SUCCEED

Tell him not to take a loan out!

He doesn't need it!

I started years back using free websites and didn't even need hosting - in fact it amazes me when people say they need masses of money to get started.

You simply need a landing page that you can set up for free.

Sales copy that you can learn about here at the WF or if in doubt write a review of a product you have used.

A product or service to promote.

Nothing really changes no matter how much money you make.

Once you get a few sales you can re-invest for a domain name etc...

The HARD thing is doing the work!

Chris

No - he should not borrow money at this time - he should read postings in the Warrior Forum.

Also, he should subscribe to Martin Avis' Kickstart Today - a treasure chest of ideas and a great read.