Mind the gap. Is education required for success online?

Andy, I realize that you're in the UK, so maybe your educational system is
better there, but here in the US, at least where I went to school, I wasn't
at all prepared to make a living online.

Even with a degree in finance and marketing, I struggled terribly when I
first started.

I honestly do not believe that I learned anything practical in my 4 years of
college. Only my education after that, tech schools for computers and
web design, helped me at least a little with being able to use a PC, and
even at that, I'm no whiz.

I think the only education that's really going to help you with an online
business is on the job training.

In other words...just get out there and do it.

That's interesting. I thought the CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketers) were all over the world.

To be honest, I've always been a big reader and I think I've learned much more from my own studies than any teacher ever taught me, but I also use coaches and mentors now so their insights bring a lot more business clarity to me than any course I could take.

Ok here it goes.

I'm 21. Grew up in South Central Los Angeles
Go rent the movies "Boys N The Hood", "Menace 2 Society",
or "South Central" and it will give you an idea of where
I come from.

In reference to america there is "Poor". Like the people who
may live below the poverty line, but still buy Jordans, clothes,
and have a nice stock in the fridge.

Then there is Dirt Poor. That's where you live in a section 8
apartment with maggots, roaches, and rats. Where your
fridge is empty and you survive off of Honey Toast and Water.
Where you go to school with holes in your shoes and your grandma
puts newspaper in it. Where it rains and you have to put on
big black trash bags because you don't ahve a coat. When you
come home plenty of times and there was no lights so
you have to light candles. to even get around the house at night.

We fell in the "dirt poor" category.

I went to one of the worst high schools in Los Angeles
so education was pretty much a joke.

I graduated with a 1.8 GPA and never took the SAT's
so college was pretty much out of the question.

One of my friends I hung out with everyday in school (the only one
who actually did good in school and got accepted to college)
was murdered by gunfire.

That was then..

Today

I'm typing this from a hotel where I am staying until
my new apartment in West Hollywood is ready.

I've GIVEN away more money this month to homeless people,
waitors, etc... then what most people make in a month.

I'm about to go to a restuarant with a friend of mine
and going to bless whoever waits on me with a $100
tip.

This lifestyle is all thanks to IM!

Anyone who thinks you need college or any other formal
education to follow your dreams and succeed online don't
know what they are talking about.

The important thing is self educate. My advice for anyone
coming from a similiar situation is to first begin with studying
the mind and why you are who you are.

Then discover who you want to be. Then take steps to
change into that person.

Get rid of self limiting beliefs - AND STOP LIVING YOUR LIFE
BY OTHER PEOPLES VALUES. If you personally don't feel the
rules and regulations of a religon you forced in as a kid, get
the hell out.

Also start to study laws of attraction, and manifesting
desires.

Also start studying marketing, salesmanship, and business building.

Just cuz you don't go to college doesn't mean you
don't have alot of reading and work to do. LOL.

Bottom line: If you don't go to college you should
be living in your local Book Store.



Daniel The God

Andy, I love this post. Education is not a ticket to making money on line. Understanding the internet and learning the ropes is probably all the education you need on the subject of IM and you certainly get that kind of education in this forum. But many will disagree with this view.

Graduated somewhere close to the bottom of my high school class. It's not that I wasn't smart enough. I just wasn't really motivated so didn't try anywhere near as hard as I could have.

Dropped out of college after several weeks to go on tour with a band. I was there to study music and these guys were offering to pay me to play now. I bailed on college and toured the country playing bass for two years.

My education today consists of reading voraciously. I read all sorts of books regarding personal development, business management, marketing, advertising, etc...

I attend a variety of seminars throughout the year and make use of forums like this one.

I tell folks I have a degree from UHK (University of Hard Knocks).

And Daniel ... Well Done!

Took about 2 years of mechanical engineering at a decent school, wasn't what I was interested in, and jumped online.

Never looked back

Ok guys.

So what would your advice be to someone starting out in IM that is wondering whether they've got the education to be successful?

Wise words Mike - I happen to agree completely. I've seen so many people think that making money and creating a successful business are the same thing. Thanks for sharing.

I went to one of the worst schools in our city (during what would seem to be it's 'golden' era - apparently it's even worse now!). It was so bad that for the last year, I pretty much stopped going at all, turning up only for the final few weeks to do my exams. I just about scraped through these with average results, but I don't think I'd have cared much if I'd failed the lot of them. The school hadn't exactly drummed the 'plan for your future' message into us, having been too preoccupied with creating ineffective plans of their own to prevent the pupils from embedding bricks in each other's heads (this was a UK comprehensive school in 1980).

I've always loved reading, though, and my eyes just seem to find the nearest word automatically - on signposts, labels, everywhere. I didn't have much interest in fiction once I got to about nine or ten, but I enjoy biographies and have a real weakness for 'How To...' books. We lived in the next street to a library for four years, and I think I'd read every non-fiction book in there by the time we left. 'Chick-lit' isn't me at all - I'm such a sad case that I once took my motherboard manual away with me to read on holiday.

I didn't see a computer until I was twenty-four (Amstrad CPC464, for those with long memories ). My first husband bought it using a tax rebate, took it out of the box and said to me 'You needn't bother with this - you'll never understand it. I cherish that comment now. He was a bully in every sense of the word, so once he'd given up on the computer and consigned it back to it's box, I didn't dare go near it until he was at work, carefully packing it away again before he came home. Inside the box with it was a manual full of my favourite things - words. Only these were unlike words I'd ever seen before - 'GOTO', 'ELSEIF' and 'GOSUB'. New words! Heavenly. I spent hours every day stringing them together in ways that would get them (bordering on!) doing something useful.

By the time I got shot of my first husband, I had two kids aged one and two. Childcare costs were high, and I was far from keen on the idea of leaving them with anyone else anyway. I sank most of what little money I had into a sewing machine, and decided I'd become a dressmaker. I must have been pretty desperate, because my sewing skills were dire.

When I wound things up six years later, I could truthfully call myself good at the job, but more importantly, the experience taught me as much about running a business as it did about sewing. It's probably because of this that I approached internet marketing in 'running a business' mode when I discovered it, and recognised most of the wild claims for what they were. I suppose I just saw 'Make Millions Stitching PVC Skirts For Transvestites - In Just Thirty Days!'

These days, my uneducated self is doing pretty well. Not only do I get to sit in front of a computer and get paid for playing with words all day, unlike that first computer it has an internet connection and is hooked up to all the words in the world (well, most of them. I amaze easily!). I'm not making millions, but me and mine want for nothing as a result of what I do, and even with a 'realistic' head on, there are still limitless possibilities and opportunities.

I don't believe that a formal education is necessary for success online, but I do believe that an almost endless appetite for learning is. No one should be out there wondering if they've got the education to succeed online. With a little persistence and the acknowledgement that there's going to be some degree of learning curve, everything you need to know is available via that amazing screen in front of you.

Or more briefly, 'Don't despair over a lack of education, rejoice at the existence of the Warrior Forum!'

*Applauds Daniel for his achievements, and raves over Andy's 'setback' sig.

No formal education required.

What you do need is a willingness to try different stuff. If what you try doesn't work you try more stuff.

It is the people that keep trying out new stuff that are the ones who succeed in this business. So no you don't need a formal education what you need is to keep trying new things until something sticks.

Terry