Do you really need a program or guide to succeed in IM?

20 replies
IMHO, i don't see any need for any guide to be successful in Internet Marketing.
It's a simple concept. You create a site of value. You get traffic. You bring in targeted visitors who are interested in your content/niche, and you try to sell them the related products via your articles/content.

I don't understand the need for a thousand articles for this simple concept. I think most of the people here would benefit more by taking programming/web design/SEO classses that would enable them to become independent in this business without any program.

I, for one, never learn anything much about IM or Affiliate marketing. I do have a passion for making websites since i was young, (Starting from celebrity fan sites(lot of fun during that time) to something more business-goal oriented.
Once you have created something of value, it's a piece of cake to integrate affiliate/Internet Marketing into any niche of sites to make more money, since there's virtually every product available for any niche of sites.

YOu wouldn't call Yahoo, Google, Myspace, Facebook an IM sites, but virtually all these sites use affiliates as part of their revenue anyway.

Do you agree?
#guide #program #succeed
  • Profile picture of the author Social Experts
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    • Profile picture of the author kchui1028
      Originally Posted by The Freshmaker View Post

      I agree entirely. I know more people that have learnt nothing and wasted their money from coarse's that people that have made a good income from it.
      Agreed. One should always look for what his passion is, whether it be finance, Healthcare, Gossip, Technology, etc. Create a site of what you're passionate in, rather than where the money is. That way, you will be less likely to give up even if you make very little $$ at the beginning, at least you'd be creating something of value to you and other people. It just seems stupid to have 50 different sites with 1/2 pages in each one, or just a landing page. It creates a lot of junk sites on the internet.
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  • Profile picture of the author actionplanbiz
    you can either have it accidentally happen or you can plan and make it happen. but out of the 2 planning has a higher probability. but both do work
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  • Profile picture of the author Social Experts
    Yup! I was trying lots of different methods that were meant to make money but didn't work. But then I started a basketball website which is my passion and everything fell into place
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    Chill.

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  • Profile picture of the author tyroneshum
    Learning from such courses isn't bad at all for the reason that how if you know nothing? Will you come up with a successful website of your passion straightaway and instantly make money from it? The answer will probably be no because before you even have the chance to explore your capability online, there are a lot of competitors out there challenging you as possible and thus seeking help from 1-3 effective courses or tools for you wouldn't be an issue.

    At the end of the day, the issue will lie if you're going to purchase all prominent and expensive courses, ebooks, etc and then you still end up with nothing. In simpler means, it's depending on how you manage both knowledge, experience and passion to create your own business and succeed in it. You have to maintain focus, continue learning and take action - life in the Internet could be as real and competitive with real life so you have to have these "shields of knowledge" given by experts to help you do the job.
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  • Profile picture of the author DrGUID
    I've never bought a course, but then I've never made richjerk type money!

    I am lucky I have a web related job. For newbies the learning curve is steep, so I guess something to get them started could help.

    Trouble is, none of these "incredible money making techniques" have worked for me. Like for example I saw someone on hubpages raving about vast amounts of cash made from shetoldme, yet I've only ever had one referal from that stupid site!
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  • Profile picture of the author Social Experts
    It's better to read on forums because then you learn all areas of IM and that way you can gain more knowledge than any ebook can teach you.
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    Chill.

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    • Profile picture of the author Dalton Dewar
      I agree but in many case what the forum gives you is bits and pieces and does give you the big picture. Therefore having someone layout a road map of how IM works will certainly decrease your learning curve.
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  • Profile picture of the author tecHead
    Originally Posted by kchui1028 View Post

    IMHO, i don't see any need for any guide to be successful in Internet Marketing.
    It's a simple concept. You create a site of value. You get traffic. You bring in targeted visitors who are interested in your content/niche, and you try to sell them the related products via your articles/content.

    I don't understand the need for a thousand articles for this simple concept. I think most of the people here would benefit more by taking programming/web design/SEO classses that would enable them to become independent in this business without any program.

    I, for one, never learn anything much about IM or Affiliate marketing. I do have a passion for making websites since i was young, (Starting from celebrity fan sites(lot of fun during that time) to something more business-goal oriented.
    Once you have created something of value, it's a piece of cake to integrate affiliate/Internet Marketing into any niche of sites to make more money, since there's virtually every product available for any niche of sites.

    YOu wouldn't call Yahoo, Google, Myspace, Facebook an IM sites, but virtually all these sites use affiliates as part of their revenue anyway.

    Do you agree?
    I agree that you feel there is no need for a guide for you; and more than likely many of who would be a part of your constituency. Yet, I disagree with the blanket statement that this applies to "everyone".

    Each person is going to have their own level of understanding of each of the things you listed above...
    - creating a site.... how?
    - getting traffic.... how?
    - sifting through that traffic for 'targeted' visitors..... how?
    - sell those visitors.... how? how? how?

    The idea of the collective is what fuels 'any' community minded endeavor; creator, marketer, merchant, consumer, support... this is a community. The collective feeds off itself by way of each element IN the collective. If it were as simple as you've broken it down, then there would be ONE type of website that sold to everybody.

    Microsoft tried it and then Google kicked them in the nuts. Google tried, (they're still trying), that and then they got punched in the face by Facebook and now publicly admit fear. PFFT, the Romans tried it and look what happened to them!

    Yes, finding and diving into what you're passionate about does make things easier for the collective mind, on a whole. Yet, some of us would rather dig deeper than that; which is why there will always be a 'need' for a 'guide'. Without structured guides all we're left with is limits and chaos.

    IMHO, of course
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  • Profile picture of the author Lou Diamond
    Hello,
    I disagree, if you are not willing to learn from someone that has gotten it right why would you try to make a mistake until you get it right yourself.
    I may not follow a course or ebook 100 percent but I am sure to get something useful out of it one way or another.
    My motto is to learn from others mistakes.
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  • Profile picture of the author MelMAC
    I think courses and e-books have their place in explaining the ropes to a complete newbie or maybe some cool new IM method. The deal is if the method really works, it won't be cool or new for long. Everybody will be doing it and it will be common knowledge.

    That said, the problem is that everybody and their daddy is trying to make money off newbies and sell them stuff. It's overwhelming and very hard to separate the gold from the dross.

    Forums are good for listening to the buzz and trying to separate what's good or not. Remember, you only need one or two...then get started implementing something! Spend your money on outsourcing instead (and why buy an instruction manual on it, sign up somewhere and figure it out yourself).

    As an aside: I get a lot of mileage off Frank Kern, although his prices are ridiculous--but they must work for him 'cause some folks pay them.

    Jimmy Brown gives the basics to newbies in a straight and clear manner and gets you started! He also has reasonable prices.

    Buying a whole lot of stuff instead of implementing something and learning from your own successes and failures basically just makes other folks money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave d
    First lets be clear there is a difference in buying a buying a guide and buying up every get rich quick ebook that is presented to you. All information within guides can be got freely from the internet but how much time do you want to spend gathering it, because the more time you waste the less you earn. The same goes for trial and error. You could learn everything yourself but it could get costly eg PPC.

    There are some very successful people out there that have spent a lot of time and money testing various sales funnels and systems and have put this information together in the form of a course or guide and this can literally save you money and time if you use thier findings correctly, even more so if they offer support.

    So do you need a guide to be successful in Internet Marketing. Well that depends on how fast you want to make money.
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  • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
    I was making my living online for 6 years before I even discovered the IM/Ebook seller community. I think sometimes not having a guide is better, as you approach with your own angle, not the cookie cutter version designed to appeal to people buying ebooks.

    I still get the best insights from just surfing the web and seeing what other people are doing and then trying to reverse engineer it.
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    • Profile picture of the author unclepennybags
      You are absolutely right, it is that simple. However I personally found that eBooks and training programs help me out.

      Even after getting success I still enjoy reading them not just because I can easily afford them now but because they do help. Everybody has their own path to success and therefore spreads different ideas.
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    • Profile picture of the author jordan08
      I see both sides.

      Either way you are going to invest.

      You will invest money to purchase the courses/ebooks and there is no guarantee that the info you just bought will help you in any way, shape, or form.

      You will invest time prowling through forums. Again, there is no way to guarantee the info you just read (i.e. earnings proof and the like) is true.

      I have found, for me, a combo of the above two has gotten me the info I need to navigate this IM jungle.

      Just my 2 cents.

      Ayesha
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      • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
        Originally Posted by jordan08 View Post

        I see both sides.

        Either way you are going to invest.

        You will invest money to purchase the courses/ebooks and there is no guarantee that the info you just bought will help you in any way, shape, or form.

        You will invest time prowling through forums. Again, there is no way to guarantee the info you just read (i.e. earnings proof and the like) is true.

        I have found, for me, a combo of the above two has gotten me the info I need to navigate this IM jungle.

        Just my 2 cents.

        Ayesha
        Second hand information has it's place and is useful, but if you base your effort solely on second hand information then you are going in blind. Make sure you look at what other people are doing and study them. Then try to work out how you can strategically position yourself against them.
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by kchui1028 View Post

    I think most of the people here would benefit more by taking programming/web design/SEO classses
    There is a single feature of humanity which is almost exclusively determinant of success in technical fields like these.

    It's the ability to develop what is called a generative mental model.

    Like I say, imagine a file folder. And you go, okay.

    And I say, there's a bunch of papers in that folder. And you go, okay.

    And I say, there's another folder in that folder. And you go, okay.

    And I say, that's how your hard drive works. It's like a folder, and inside that folder there are papers - your files - and other folders.

    And if you can develop a generative mental model, you say "ahh, I see." Because it is immediately evident to you that any folder can contain both files and other folders, and therefore that the folder inside this folder may also contain files and other folders - and so forth.

    But if you can't, you say "Wait, I have a bunch of folders on my hard drive. And I have folders inside of folders inside of folders. And what folder is my hard drive in?" - because your brain doesn't build a GMM. There's some difference in the way your brain works, chemically or structurally or maybe just experientially, that means you don't do this. Ever.

    And when you have this kind of brain, the world is not a series of patterns to you, it's a bunch of unique and individual experiences that have no relation to one another. So you need a completely new article on each and every thing, because you don't see the parallels and similarities.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emily Meeks
    As Ayesha said, there are two sides to this.

    First off, good on you for not continually browsing the many How-To products out there and continuing your own thing. I don't think you'll have too many problems with distractions. Now, many of these guides *can* help you out - but only if 1.) they are good (which is subjective - most have a grain of truth, but they are only as good as the user) and 2.) you apply what you learn. Hunt for these guides all day, and you won't get anything done.

    Now, say there's a specific area you want to learn more about... site-flipping. I've never flipped a site before, but maybe I'd like to learn in future. A few seasoned Warriors around here have guides on site-flipping, so maybe one day I'll seek them out should I try my hand at site-flipping. If you want to learn something very specific (as opposed to jumping around between business models), it's okay to ask for help.
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    • Profile picture of the author kchui1028
      Originally Posted by moneysoapbox View Post

      Now, say there's a specific area you want to learn more about... site-flipping. I've never flipped a site before, but maybe I'd like to learn in future. A few seasoned Warriors around here have guides on site-flipping, so maybe one day I'll seek them out should I try my hand at site-flipping..
      i suppose if you have a specific area in IM you want get into, a guide would probably get you there much quicker than searching for info across the internet.
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      • Profile picture of the author zerofill
        The biggest problem a person has when they go to learn anything new like programming, marketing, graphic design, becoming a mechanic...That never had any experience prior to saying "Let's do this.." is the terminology... and CDarklock's explanation there is a good example...

        A person doesn't really know what their hard drive is...so do they understand that a windows based PC when defragging reorganizes files and folders? No they don't because they don't know what defragging is, let alone why they are defragging and what they are defragging.

        I used to own a retail computer shop... You know what drove me nuts? I can't count how many people brought in their tower to be fixed and called it a CPU... The whole computer was the CPU to them. So first off if they ever wanted to know how to build one their self...it would dramatically speed up the process if someone had one laying on a table in pieces and went through each part...what it was called...what it's job was. When something went wrong with windows the computer itself was broken...they couldn't differentiate the difference between the actual hardware that made up a computer and the operating system.

        Terminology is something that if you can learn and understand even the simplest definition of a term...will greatly increase the learning speed.

        And yes learning the definition of a term can lead to learning the definition of a term used to define the main term hehe...

        So is trying to do it yourself with no clue always a good thing? No it isn't...unless you have loads of time.

        I mean I have been using computers since the commodore vic 20... and programming for years even though the last couple I have basically quit programming. But it used to amaze me to find over the last few years that their are tons of programmers out there that know how to write code and write it well but have no real understanding of how a computer works...so even though they understand the language their applications run like crap because they had no understanding of how the computer itself would handle it. Old coders will know exactly what I mean...

        Anyway that is a little off track...but people in general... a lot of them can not take failure and quit easily so in attempt to limit the possibility of failure they want to try and learn from someone who made a bunch of the mistakes so they don't have to. Nothing wrong with that. I have noticed a growing trend of self helplessness though... Where without each and every step laid out for them they can't envision how to do anything on their own. Even if they can they are scared to try to without someone saying..."it's ok...go ahead." These people I don't have a lot of hope for. But some surprise me....

        I like to help the people that go out and dig for info and then come back and say I found this this and this out looking around...do you think this info is correct? Those people I love to help out because they took some kind of initiative and tried to help themselves...before expecting it to all be spoon fed. Those people kick ass later in IM...and most aspects of their life...

        But to get back to the point here...some people need a guide or a program...

        Hell I use several programs... But I have a long track record of trial and error as far as Internet Marketing goes...that spanned for years... That I see people who get help and find the right guide to read or person to help them just explode right away without all I went through with trial and error.

        I just wish more people would try and find some answers themselves...rather than expect the answer to be given to them then explain all the terminology that goes along with that answer and the initial dumb down explanations you have to give to get them to visualize it in a way that it makes sense first. because information you search for yourself...you retain. But when you are new it is hard to determine what is the right info and what is the wrong info...So you still need people to ask.

        I will try and test what is right and what is wrong first but many people can't do that. The average person gets up, gets the kids ready for school, drops them off or gets them on the bus, gets dressed, goes to work, comes home, cleans, make dinner, cleans, goes to bed... So some people don't really have the hours and hours to play around testing things. So a program that speeds this up or a guide that helps them at least get a grasp on things can be like finding some type of sanity...

        I think that many of us that have been online for years, or programmed for years, or built computer systems for years, or have been marketing online for years...forget what it was like to be totally new to this. I know I forget what it was like... So we are like.."How can you not know this already?" but why would they if they have never done anything like it before...it doesn't mean they are dumb. I have talked to plenty of people that I even consider more intelligent than myself but they can't grasp anything Internet Marketing related. I have a buddy of mine that spent probably 10 years in school for various things and knows everything about nuclear power...but talk to him about marketing and I am speaking in a foreign language. If he knew the terminology and concepts prior though he would kill at it.

        So I see nothing wrong with people using programs or guides... We have to start understanding all people don't live the same lives or have the same desires we have or have the same things that drive them or have the same background we have.

        EDIT: and yes I have been known to babble.
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  • Profile picture of the author shoeb000
    Well, i agree partly and partly i guess there is BIG need of Internet marketing articles and guides and programs.
    Reason is very simple, I remember those days, when internet was new to me, at that time i was also in love with making websites, but that time i didnt had anything to make a site for.
    Those day i used to think, like i need some business or something for which i should make a personal website.

    But after reading Internet marketing article, i came to know that lot of websites have been made purely for profit making and earning some decent amount of revenues.
    These days we select niche which is most paying, or we make a site which is revolving around a particular high commision revenue product, because we know Internet marketing concept.

    Even today crores of people dont know how to earn DECENT AMOUNT of money from their website which is set up since long and they are getting some traffic.
    Internet marketing has stuff for everybody, from a newbie to a pro.
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