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Missing opportunities?

by Michael Waters
11 replies
Some people say: Making money on the internet? Impossible. They falsely see no opportunity at all.

Others: Making money with blogging? Impossible. They see opportunity, but not with blogging.

You used to think: Method X would never work, but then you saw it work.

Then you said: I try Method Y. But that didn't work.
So you fine-tuned your experience to X works, Y doesn't.
But Y might work in a few years.

Now there is no problem in trying something that just requires some effort and no big amount of money like wordpress + affiliate.

But there is a problem in investing in tools that are said to make you money. Like ahrefs and junglescout and what not. Or renting expensive servers, because you think AI is the big thing and you needed gpus. Because then you can only try so much till you are out of money.

In other words, when you make certain investments, you cannot fail, it needs to work.

So how can you say that something is really never going to work without missing opportunities when each step costs money?
#missing #opportunities
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  • Profile picture of the author bonzo124
    You don't need any tools. If you can afford a host and a domain name, you will be fine. Just do the work. Do your research manually and write the content. Free plugins and tools are enough in the beginning. Some people make thousands per month without premium keyword tools and themes.
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  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    *** Rant Alert ***

    I have been in front of a computer for right at 40 years of my life at this point. I have been selling online for a better part of those 40 years, and selling "offline" for about 45 yrs. Needless to say I have developed a kick ton of skills and experience in that amount of time.

    One thing I learned early on... Money does not buy success... Throwing money at a problem only makes the problem worse ( financially ). I literally can not think of a single instance in my life where money saved the day.

    Tools are just that... tools. Understanding that there are a variety of tools, and a "right tool for the job" is HUGE. If everyone could take a moment in the next few days... walk into a hardware store and head to the tool section. I want you to look at hammers. Depending on the store you goto there will be a few different hammers or there maybe 10's or 20's of different hammers. They are all hammers, but each and every one is designed to do to be used for specific tasks... You dont want a 22oz framing hammer to drive a pin nailto hang a picture... and you dont want a small 8oz claw hammer to frame a house.

    Take a moment while you are there and go over to the section where the pneumatic nailers are... and again a wide variety of nail guns can be found. Pin Nailers, Finsish Nailers, Roofing Nailers, Siding Nailers, Framing Nailers etc etc Each one is used for a specific task.

    Ahrefs... a tool... a tool with a pretty narrow scope of use... and I am here to tell you with all of my years of experience, and providing SEO as a service... I do not use Ahrefs - there is literally absolutely NO reason to. All Ahref does is spit out data that is easily obtained by using Google Analytics. And if its not pulling data straight from Google its creating numbers from thin air ( guestimating at best ). It all sounds good and looks good - but more often than not it will lead you down a wrong path.

    All of that being said... once you understand whats going on without the use of Ahrefs, and then at some point when skill and experience have reached a level, and THEN you implement such a tool - it might then help vs impede.

    The GREATEST issue I see, and I see it over and over and over... is people deciding "oh I want to make money online" Then they start throwing money... I need a course on this, and this tool and that tool and the other - with not a lick of experience guiding the way.

    You dont need a $200 custom Titanium hammer to build a house - but in the hands of someone that has swung a $40 framing hammer for years... It become the right tool for the job - you know how to use it... you appreciate the balance and weight - it makes your job easier... without the years of experience you have wasted $140 because you dont know the difference... and if you are first starting out with top of the line stuff with no experience... My experience suggests you wont be using the hammer long anyways.

    The biggest error when starting... Is because some tool said so, picking a topic or niche that YOU personally have no interest OR experience in. Its right up there with getting a job you know you have no experience at... just because the pay is good.

    Talk to actual local business owners... NOT A ONE of them will tell you "Oh I started this business because I saw the money was good" so if the "Real World" is like THAT.. then why should be the Online World be any different?

    Why did someone like Charli D'Amelio get where she is today? She did what she liked / loved to do. Pick any... every person on ANY Social Media platform that is successful... not a single one of them started by doing something they thought would bring them money. The Paul Brothers, Mr Beast, Atwood,

    Success at anything - and pretty much everything, is built on a combination of EXPERIENCE and KNOWLEDGE. Without both or either, you have a foundation of nothing. If you are wanting to become an Amazon affiliate and sell products... Pick a product you have sitting in your house for the love of something... not some item that some tool you are not ready to use tells you will be a success - because you wont - you dont have Experience or Knowledge let alone both of them to leverage.

    The cold hard truth.... Experience and Knowledge take time... plain and simple. BUT you can speed up the process IF you start a online venture with something you already own / know. If YOU bought something, or learned something... chances are better than good there are 10's of thousands / if not millions of people just like you with the same interest or desire. THAT is a solid foundation.

    Its that little piece... your first effort... lessons learned, skills acquired, time spent joyously... that as you progress on your journey you can start to leverage a greater amount of experience and knowledge... start integrating courses and tools - you will have the foundation in place to understand what they do, and will have an appreciation for them.

    There is no such thing as done for you... or easy money... its a path... a journey... like everything in life. You don't get your first Xbox and the first game you ever play in your life being COD... and expect a win the first time you play the game. How is it, that that analogy is probably universally understood, but thinking starting a business is any different?
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Waters
      @savidge4 How can you say that something is really never going to work without missing opportunities when each step costs money?
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      • Profile picture of the author DABK
        I am having a hard time wrapping my head around your comment.


        Since when does every step cost money?


        And why should not steps cost money?


        You should not waste money, but many steps either cost no money or little money.


        You come up with an idea for selling t-shirts with particular designs/words on them.


        You create one such design on Canva or some other such free software (costs time but no money).


        You show it to your friends (in person and on FaceBook), gauge response. Cost time but no money.


        You ask those who said they like it to buy it for $7.97 (not the best test, they might buy just to humor you, their friend), but if a lot of them do, you have a reason to move to the next step. (Or you can skip this one and just move to the next one.)



        If the response is positive, you have to do a test that costs money, but not a lot.
        Make one T-shirt (costs money), take photos (does not cost money), create a FaceBook store (can be done for free or you pay someone), put up your t-shirt in your store (can be free), run ads (costs money, but not that much).



        You're supposed to do an accurate self-assessment. Take me, for instance. The past decade, I missed the opportunity of becoming a millionaire many times over via bitcoin.


        But have I? Lots of people did make good money this way.



        I missed to opportunity of selling thousands of Vizio tv sets. Lots of people make good money this way.


        I missed the opportunity of making lots of money from selling phone cases, diet pills, patio furniture. But have I?


        The point is: I could have embarked any and all projects related to the above. But at the cost of embarking on other projects. The projects I mentioned above, would not have made me the money they've made other people. I have no interest in them, feel no joy or pride in selling them. Whereas, the projects I did embark on interested me, I had knowledge about and liked gathering more, and, overall, made me money while making me not hate my days.


        People who have no knowledge and/or interest in what they're selling have a hard time keeping at it (unless they find some way to find something interested in the process of selling whatever item they're selling that bores them... Example: you might hate mortgages but you could be interested in helping people not get ripped off, so you might do well brokering mortgage loans.)



        You are, in theory, always missing opportunities.


        Silly example but it will clarify what I mean:
        When Tolstoy was writing War and Peace he was not doing anything else. He was, therefore, missing opportunities, and, theoretically, many.


        He was missing the opportunity of writing The Sad but Wonderful Life of DABK, for instance (Yes, I was around then, and he knew me well. And, had he not missed that opportunity, he'd be even more revered.)


        The point is to find opportunities where you have a better chance of succeeding (because, based on a proper self-assessment, you're able to put in the effort required for as long as it is required).



        Originally Posted by Michael Waters View Post

        @savidge4 How can you say that something is really never going to work without missing opportunities when each step costs money?
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Originally Posted by Michael Waters View Post

        @savidge4 How can you say that something is really never going to work without missing opportunities when each step costs money?
        So lets maybe better define this... are we talking starting out? are we talking a proven concept that has actually made sales.. are we talking about going at scale?

        I am pretty firm in my words here because of the words you used... If the effort is actually producing fruit IE creating income - we would not be discussing "Missing Opportunity", the language would be more "Striking while the irons hot" right?

        I am sure you have read the main forum a time or 2.. I would say what monthly at least... there is someone asking "I spent $1000 on ads and have not made a sale, what am I doing wrong?"

        Often times I really really want to reply "spending $1000 and figuring out THEN that its not working" - but I refrain.

        Watch any number of videos on YouTube about setting up Shopify stores... I find them painful to watch... spending $1000's on ad spend to figure out the product may not be the right one? That's not business... that's gambling.

        For beginners... I would suggest the path of financial least resistance. Building up a social presence costs nothing more than time... developing content to maybe get lucky and actually rank well on Google is nothing but time... Interacting on forums related to what you are selling and providing value to a community is again nothing but time.

        2 variables in life... Time and Money... if you don't have the time, you will need to spend money... and if you don't have money, you then need to invest time.

        I would suggest hurdles are self imposed... "I Cant" and "I Wont"... there is really no such thing ( for the most part ) as "I Cant" the reality is you CAN, you choose not to... meaning "You Wont" Ultimately the 2 choices in life is "I Can" and "I Wont" and then we apply the 2 variables in life from above... "I Can" and you are spending time.. "I Wont" and you are spending money.

        What happens if you dont have the money? there becomes only 1 option then.... "I Can" it is really that simple... this is the line that new skill sets are learned from.

        I cant build a website... but I do not have the funds to have one made for me... if you want it bad enough.... a couple few days on YouTube and muttering through building a wordpress site... you CAN.
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  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    Agree you dont need any special tools to be succesful .Today internet create many oportunities and you can be succesful with just a youtube channel for example
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    Atention : Not a quick rich scheme ,takes patience, consistency and some work also
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  • Profile picture of the author Jamell
    We should be learning through trial and error .Blogging is a good tool to use to build a tribe and establish yourself in the market .As long as we are patiently learning and working with intent the results will manifest themselves .
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  • Profile picture of the author Profit Traveler
    Banned
    Wanted a High Quality Mentor when I first started and it would have saved me time, effort, and wasted cash.

    Could not afford one. (of high quality and credible)

    Money Matters.

    Was just reading a couple guys that recently quit Meta to start a Crypto Venture and after a 200 Million round now valuated at a Billion. In 4 Months.
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crypt...002130842.html

    These types of case studies just keep us in the "possibilities" realm. Feet on the ground but imaginations unlimited.

    Now when you have no money or very little that is when you put on your creativity hat and make due and find a way to get where you do have money to invest.

    The problem of not having a mentor years ago how could you work around it?

    Ask that Mentor What YOU could do for him/her to grow their business. (Totally complimentary)

    If they have products perhaps promote them.

    Do you think a person would take time to help YOU help THEM?

    Pretty sure they would.

    Travis Sago made a successful brand out of BUM MARKETING.

    So there is always a way, we just have to improvise with what we have and alot of times we do not realize the assets we have in our arsenal.

    You could find someone who has the resources but not the know how and create a joint venture.

    No secret I am a huge fan of Jay Abraham who consults with companies and finds new and hidden income streams from within just from taking a good inside look at their company.

    It is not always going to be an orderly map to follow sometimes we have to blaze a new trail.

    For me Internet Marketing and Entrepreneurship are separate and the same.
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  • Profile picture of the author Klara Pelhe
    I don't really have that kind of opinion for anything, I don't think there are some businesses for which you can surely and with confidence say that they definitely won't work for anyone. I think that if someone really has some good idea and if that idea is developed and has some kind of a strategy behind it, there's no limitation to success. I wouldn't give up that easily if I had some good vision about starting some business just because someone might tell me that I didn't choose niche wisely, or that I entered in some area that is too competitive and oversaturated. Even if this was the case, everything can be turned out to make profit if we have enough will and patience to wait for good results to start showing.
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  • Profile picture of the author RodneyHatcher
    Hello, you can make money by making blogs. If you can't afford to buy a domain name for now. Then use a blogger site where you don't need to pay anything. I also use that site to share my blogs and with the help of that I am earning money and have bought my own domain. In starting it was hard but without struggle, you won't achieve anything. And if you need help writing your essay assignment then you can take help from Edubirdie essay writers and you can find reviews here which will help you a lot in trusting their essay writers. I am a school student and I also need their help to complete my essay assignments.
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  • Profile picture of the author UltraOne
    Hey Michael,

    Firstly, I must say an interesting topic. It took me 2 years to finally leave my corporate job and have the chance working with several projects just from a laptop.

    Though, I did enjoy some aspects in corporate life, that I had to create myself to give this healthy environment to be able to focus and to meet my clients expectations and work on exceeding these them. It helped me a lot that I am a self-motivated person, which I think it's very important when you start to work independently.

    I have created a thread on this earlier today under "I have great ideas, what to do with them?", apparently you cannot convince everyone that there are missing opportunities out there, I am not even talking about passive income, I am talking about - and in my case - doing what I was doing in corporate but instead of doing it for someone else, might as well use these skills and work directly with clients with no middle man. Some will see future in digital marketing, content moderator, drop shipping, or SMM.

    I am not into entrepreneurship at this stage of my life, but I should consider it once I reach a level of success that can speak for itself, maybe then people will realize there are missing opportunities.

    Just by commenting to this thread, I had the answers to my question: You really cannot convince everyone that there are missing opportunities!


    Regards,
    Adam
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