What FREE Really Means In This Business...

by Nick Brighton

Posted: 13 years ago 14 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

FREE means...

1. The traffic will come, but not for months at first

2. The sales will get made, but way less frequently that the other guy who hired a copywriter

3. Your website will get made, but with sub-par design and thin content, until you have time to learn and catch up

4. Your business will grow, but not as fast as you grow old

Sometimes, free is a false economy. If you insist on doing everything for free, then don't complain when things don't work out too quickly, or too well, for many years.

Instead, stick to something you're good at, master it, then use that as leverage to fund the things you're not so good at.

Trust me, after a few years of failure and now a successful IM business under my belt, this is one the biggest pieces of advice I can give rookies out there today.

I hope it helps.

P.S - If you can't justify investing in your business, then you have to question whether you're really in business at all. I mean, if you're not sure that you'll make the money back, then why would you waste all your time and energy OR money?

It doesn't make sense.

#business #free #means

dezchamps 13 years ago

So, the cliches are true ..
"You get what you pay for "
and

"It takes money to make money" <maybe we should add the word "Fast" to this one.
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jazbo 13 years ago

But, but, you mean I can't become a millionaire in a week with no skills or investment???
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- schttrj 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by jazbo
  
  But, but, you mean I can't become a millionaire in a week with no skills or investment???
  
  Ha ha! Nice one...well, I love to hear the stories on the internet such as "11-year old kid becomes a millionaire, with NO internet at home".
  
  In the end, reality matters!
  
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  Nick Brighton 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by jazbo
  
  But, but, you mean I can't become a millionaire in a week with no skills or investment???
  
  Well, sorry, you'll have to pay for $7 hosting. Guess that ruins your plans, huh?
  
  $7 for hosting... and $150 for some articles. Screw that, I'm going back to the office job.
  
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  Will-I-Am 13 years ago
  
  In the beginning, expectations are unreal.
  
  Originally Posted by schttrj
  
  In the end, reality matters!
  
  Will
  
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- goindeep 13 years ago
  
  Very true.
  
  You can be a bum marketer and make some money, but in the end you will need backlinks, ppc, articles, social media marketing, press releases, site design, site programming, upgrades, consultation, yada yada yada.
  
  This all costs money.
  
  The perfect example is one of my good friends. He has quit his job to start an exommerce web store seeing as he ran the sales and marketing for his now competitor and former work. Only thing is that he had a massive budget before and now he is trying to do everything on his own and it just doesnt work.
  
  You need to be the General. The commander.
  
  General's dont go out and fight the battles. They sit in a tent atop a mountain planning and executing moves, while lieutenant's pass the strategy onto the officers who go out along with their team of grunts and fight the war.
  
  You need to sit back, do what your good at and give instructions to your team who are PAID well and then let them do their job.
  
  Use the building of a house as the perfect analogy. No handyman i know in todays modern age can build a home fatser and better in less time then an army of builders men. You might be able to do the framework, but the plumbing and electrical will either stop you or slow you down.
  
  Dont be a tight wad. Fork out a little moola and get the job done properly.
  
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- ShaneM686 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by jazbo
  
  But, but, you mean I can't become a millionaire in a week with no skills or investment???
  
  Exactly, so many people are looking for the 'easy' button around here....
  
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Nick Brighton 13 years ago

That's the thing... most people think they're doing themselves a favour. They say "I know, I'm a tightwad, but it's just the way I am."

Well guess what... it's not about being tight, or lazy. You can be tight and lazy and still invest. In fact, most investors have to be tight and lazy, otherwise they would lose money or try and do it themselves.

But when you don't invest, you're just hurting yourself badly. It's not the 90's anymore. Making money online requires lots of moving parts... and you can't possibly do them all, alone... especially not for free.
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Casper C 13 years ago

I'm hearing you Nick. Hiring a copywriter was the best investment I ever made.

My transition from web designer to Internet marketer meant I had a lot of the technical skills for getting started, but I always lacked experience in being a sales person.

It's good to focus on what you do best, and what you enjoy the most. The rest can be hired out.
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- Chris The Traffic Blogger 13 years ago
  
  So freaking true.
  
  Not paying money I went from 1 subscriber to 2000 in a year and a half. Paying money I went from 2000 to 10,000 in 6 months.
  
  That's the difference money makes. Here's another example:
  
  Not paying money I made 40k in a year.
  
  Paying money I will break 100k hopefully in a year.
  
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  James Clark 13 years ago
  
  Funny, When I was a little boy my father taught me don't be so quick to jump at something just because its FREE. Now after all these years I finally know what he meant. Maybe I'm just a little slow out of the hut(LOL). Perfect advice.
  
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LauraJames 13 years ago

As the owner of my own business, my staff and I sometimes deal with trying to help clients understand the value of spending the dollars necessary to ensure their project is done properly and professionally.
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CraigRC 13 years ago

Well said Nick.

Most of the time "Free" is worth exactly what you paid for it...

And you can add "Cheap" in there too. All those IMer "$4 articles" just gave EZA's ownership a 40% gross $$$ cut, overnight.

You get what you pay for.
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iking5789 13 years ago

I agree but I think that you should start off with something and if you have option to try it our for free do that first to get in some hard work and to allow yourself to become determined to see if it really worth investing in, and then take the step to do so.
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