Sister wants in on IM

Tell your sister to payapl me the money, I'll invest her money for her.

Actually $2000 can get you some nice solo ad runs, if you have a nice funnel in place.

Its his sisters fault since she is taking the risk of investing money in something that may or may not work.

Ummm, actually NO, she does not....



I'll make it short and sweet...
Your sister is throwing her money down the drain and You are wasting your time....

I don't think you gave your sister a true picture of what IM is, how it works and how high the failure rate is....

I think before investing $2000, She should invest 2000 minutes to know what is her interest and how can she monetize it. She should first LEARN and then should remove the ''L''

Regards

"A proven program that works"??

Have you found one? That works 100% of the time? I haven't.

What do you know of the OP's skill set?

And the worst thing in this thread is y'all are thinking about this as a BUSINESS decision.

Have any of you ever brought family or friends into a financial undertaking?

And had it go bad?

Odds are the OP is going to lose that money. Let's get real.

No offense to anyone. Most projects lose money. Even those started by highly experienced and knowledgeable people. I mean, let's acknowledge that reality right now.

$2000 may SEEM like a lot of money.

The rush of a little short term confidence, possibly fueled by said dollop of money, may be coursing through someone's veins.

But this is NOT a business decision.

You newbies don't know and don't care because it's not YOUR family and your money and your life. Yeah, that's harsh but that's the truth. You haven't been through this kind of thing and think it's all sunshine and roses, and if you lose, well, who cares, no big deal.

It's not "no big deal" if you lose with friends or family. Not even if you just break even.

And again, people, let's face reality square on here and admit most of you have never made ANY money online. Zero.

So what magic change do you think is going to result from having someone's $2000 at your disposal?

All that will be is a short term, VERY short term, buffer giving you the feeling you're "doing something" as you expend those meager resources.

And then what.

The uncomfortable calls.

The questions.

"How's my money doing today?"

Again, if any of you had been in this situation, who are all enthusiastically shouting, "Go Team Go!"...you would be saying something very different.

Money to burn is NOT the solution.

if you can't make money with $0, you probably aren't going to magically start being able to make money with $2000.

I once went to work for a friend who begged me to take over a business he had just bought.

He had just gotten a new, good job and couldn't do both.

After awhile, the business was doing well but my friend wasn't fitting in at work.

He quit, came to the business, and you couldn't have two bosses there.

Unfortunately, we both belonged to some of the same organizations around town. A lot of the same people knew and respected us both.

You can't have two bosses.

And the fallout from this wrecked our friendship, and split the people in the organizations. It hurt both of us badly. I will never mix friends or family and financial dealings again.

OP, you are thinking only about the short term right now, and if things go well. I understand you want to "do something" and it does appear as if an opportunity is in front of you.

If you lose this money, or barely break even after a year, all you will have is a damaged family relationship. And it won't be just with your sister. It'll be with anyone who sides with your sister's opinion.

Do you really want to have to deal with all that?

Is it worth risking your family relationships?

For $2000?

The mindless enthusiasm of the newbies in this thread comes from the fact that THEY are desperate for money, and would do anything to be in your situation. They don't care about you. They don't care about your family and your relationships.

Even if your sister is fully prepared to lose this $2000, never see it again, and even if she flat-out tells you, "I don't care if you lose it," trust me, there will be unpleasant residual effects.

You will be tarred as "the brother who lost all her money" by SOMEONE in your family. And probably more than just one "someone."

Remember, you (and I, and everyone else) have no control over how other people react to things. News. Information. And everyone to whom it is whispered, "He lost her $2000 investment" is going to have a reaction. You won't be there to defend yourself.

"But I might make a profit!"

Yeah, right.

Let me tell you: if you really want to take her investment, wait until you have an ALREADY PROFITABLE operation going on. THEN invest her money because you know you can make money.

Right know you don't know a darn thing.

I can't say Don't Do It any more strongly.

True words are spoken here. I came back to this thread i've read a couple of days ago in order to find this perfect quote. Thanks @ZanyZebra

Hey, Magwood is on to something. I think she should try her hand with selling something online via ebay, fiverr or even craigslist..She would be more in control with selling her own stuff without you being much involved..Talk to her, find out her skill set or what things she have to sell and start her off by going that route because if you try to start her off with a site or blog, she would have to be dedicated and definitely have to put the time in and if she don't, kiss that money and your time goodbye..

I think you've found your solution.

There's your problem.

Everybody knows girls are not capable of IM.

Please forget the idea of 'spending a year learning IM'. And please make sure you pay close attention to this post.

Start a site now and work on it for a year, rather than get into 'learning IM'.

Create an asset right from the start and put all your effort into that.

If you commit to building a great website and learn all the skills needed to make it successful, you can really be somewhere financially stable in that time frame.

It's the best use of your time in Online Marketing. You should read the book Fast Track Millionaire. He built a lead generation site for limosine companies and made millions.


You have to pick something proven from the start. I'll blew thousands on poor themes and websites that didn't cut it. I could have just gone to the following site and picked up virtually fully functional websites in nearly every proven area you can think.

Dating, Social, Content authority sites, job sites, property sites, whatever you want to get into.


Go here and check out the different sites: Download 2700+ PHP Scripts - PHP Code | CodeCanyon

Here's one I just found, that's an RSS site, and will generate niche specific content automatically. RSS Auto Pilot - One Click Site Builder - PHP Scripts | CodeCanyon


Have your sister read Jason's beginner business guide on his blog. Those are the steps needed, but many never even figure them out. Pick the area you think is the best fit and hopefully have a real interest and passion in.

Then get started. And learn how to build your own thing as you go, sharpen and refine you're skills, better grow your site.


At least you will have focus and will be building a real asset instead of being adrift in a endless sea of low balling IM schemes like most people, trying to learn something generic like 'Internet Marketing'.

She has the right idea building a site. Following Jason's steps and then making the correct decision on what area to get into, you can get something set up and ready to start growing within the next week or so.

Then you can learn and invest in the things you need to make it grow. That absolute best thing you could do with your sisters investment is getting very clear on the right thing to get into and committing to that until you make a success of it, no matter how long it takes, or what barriers stand in the way.


When you've done your research, and you know with certainty that if you had 'such and such website up' just as you wanted it with the right number of users and the best ways to monetize, that it will make money because there is a big market there, then you should start investing money.

With Jason's course, and doing your research on Codecanyon, so you know all your options, and doing some competition analysis in your specific area of niche to know there is a gap in the market and demand there, you really do have a great chance of success.

Despite the (inevitable) flood of criticism received by your thread, the extent of which surprises even me, used to witnessing outpourings of "helpful" reality checks given to newcomers, your plan at this stage leaves little opportunity for further realistic criticism, since I think the genuinely helpful warnings have likely refined the approach you intend to take from here on out. Bringing family and friends into the business is indeed rife with pitfalls; concerted effort from your sister will indeed be fundamental to any success she might achieve; given your experience, any knowledge you impart to your sister will indeed require her to supplement it with further learning. When I look at the situation, though, and especially when I compare it to the rather lazy, misinformed, directionless, ill-conceived and lackluster plans and requests for guidance from some other newcomers, I see a distinct difference here. A distinct likelihood of your sister taking the right approach and, hand in hand with that, doing well in the bargain.

Parting advice, then. In two decades I've helped a handful of family members enter the business. The family know what I do and see the results of what I do. On one occasion I broached the subject and offered my assistance, since I felt it would be a great synergy for her real-world business (and it proved to be), but every other instance has been along the lines of a rather meek request: "Do you think I can get in on the action? Any chance you can get me started?" When I was younger I used to inwardly groan. Part of me felt insulted, since a lot of what I do can literally not be taught, imagination and creativity and certain abilities and all of their applications within the business were assigned to me from birth, and some areas that can be taught took me years of effort, sweat, late nights, working weekends, and expenditure to learn, and just giving them away or expecting a complete newcomer to even have the capacity to easily "get in on the action" with them was a ludicrous proposition to me, and quite an annoying one, too, since I felt it somewhat belittled what I did (it must be easy, after all, if a newbie can jump in, "get in on the action."). Another part was flattered, but not sufficiently flattered to furnish help. Back then I had the same kind of sardonic answer that Stephen King used to give when asked where he gets his ideas. Stevie would say (paraphrasing), "237 Main Street, Bangor. And when I buy two, I get the third for half price." My answer wasn't nearly as witty: (Depending on their profession) "As long as you teach me how to perform a triple heart bypass."

Then I grew up. And if you're still young, lucky swine you, let me give you some insight into the state of growing up: time alone has no impact; it's all about the elements that form the patchwork of time. You have children. You lose loved ones. You go through hard times. You learn to see dangers glittering on the horizon. These and a million and four other elements, these are the medals you receive that gravitate you into the ranks of the grownup. So, as a grownup, and getting requests for help, I began to see them in a different light and the sardonic pseudo-wit was all gone. I looked into faces and sometimes I would see casual, indifferent pleas to help, the kind I might give to my daughter when asking if she could show me how to kill a zombie in some video game, but sometimes, within those eyes, I'd see something that made me stop: need. And when I saw it, help was given.

I best get to the point of this laborious ramble. Some people need in. Need to get in on the action. Not everyone can get in - I'm a firm believer that IM is not for everyone, just like performing triple heart bypasses - but where there is even a glimmer of a chance, I would never turn down family, even at the cost of me screwing up and losing whatever love they might have had for me. So far I have a clean track record. But even if I didn't, it wouldn't stop me. I enjoy a good life from IM, and though not everyone is capable or even willing to put in the work for such a life, when I see "need," almost a look of drowning in the eyes, I'm reminded that I'm no longer the younger Tom. Reminded and quite appalled that his reaction would be anything short of this: "Tell you what. I don't know if I can help you. IM isn't for everyone. But I can try, and if you're willing to try harder than anything you've tried before, maybe both of our efforts will amount to something. Here's my email."

Craig. Do what you can for your sister. To hell with the risks. Just let her know that success is a mountain she needs to climb.

And it's a solitary climb.

- Tom

There is hard work, and then there is futile work.

Think about that for a moment....

I've received a lot of good advice on this thread and would request mods to close it if possible as the discussion has served it's purpose.

@kilgore, The reason why she's getting a new laptop + internet connection is to keep everything separate. If she registers new accounts on the same IP as mine then it will probably be problematic, many sites are really strict about duplicate accounts. Also so that all the domains, services she buys are legally in her name etc.
As for following the advice, she is going to put time, work hard and learn the basics, which is what the new lappy is for! Which is also the advice give by most users.
Glad you could have a chuckle at my minimum wage earnings
Hopefully it won't stay that way for long.

I've prefixed and suffixed all my replies with a "Thank You". I'm sorry if I still come across as unappreciative. Both of your suggestions were good but the business models you suggest are new to me. Really really really haven't got the time to start something new while managing my already existing projects and have her follow my lead into something that I know relatively little about.

@Tom, can't thank you enough for your "laborious ramble". I read your post multiple times. I'm glad the mods didn't close this thread otherwise I would've missed some great advice. You've managed to articulate what I'm going through quite well. I've certainly taken your advice on board.

This is probably a bit tacky but big thanks to everyone who's replied. I'll have her read the new posts.