I can't even give some people money.

83 replies
Hi Warriors,

I ran a competition over the last few days.

It was very simple - I was just feeling generous and decided to give $100 away.

As I usually do, I thought I'd make it easy for anyone to get so that someone who may be struggling and could use $100 to get themselves started could get it without really needing to do much for it.

So I ran a competition on my blog asking people simply to look around for information about 'curation' and then post their thoughts.

Simple enough. I already did a 'starter for 10' post with a few links to other sources in, so I thought this was about the easiest $100 anyone could get.

The response - a handful of responses.

It was fellow warrior Mani that won it in the end simply because he didn't have much competition to beat so it was a no brainer.

I was really hoping that some people who didn't know what curation was might take the opportunity to do a quick Google, check out some sites and then post what they'd learned.

Considering how many people come here saying they desperately need or want money - but then when I'm literally giving it away they don't bother - I'm literally shocked.

It seems that it's harder to give money away than to sell products these days.

I was at the UK 'London Lunch' IMer networking event on Friday and I was reminded again by Martin Avis that 8 months ago I went along and told them about my new book and that silver was waaaay undervalued and recommended if they were looking for a good way to make money that they should consider it.

At this lunch the price of silver is over 50% higher than when I told them that.

Guess how many people took my advice and bought silver.

None!!!

Even Martin hadn't bought any and he's a clever guy.

It seems that sometimes you can't give people opportunities on a silver plate (pun intended) and people are struggling so much that they literally won't take free money now - they've been trained that they have to 'work hard' to make money and they're determined to make that their reality.

Now - this $100 was literally just me looking to give it away to someone who needed it and giving it a useful and IM context, but if you're struggling - step back and take a look around you. There may be opportunities that you're missing just because you haven't been looking or believing they're there.

Andy
#give #money #people
  • Profile picture of the author jj_jon
    Curation is a word that I heard for the first time today, on this forum in fact. So I need to learn what that is all about. Luckily I don't need to learn about silver. It's very comforting to have maples stashed

    Kate
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  • Profile picture of the author CAPTCHAbiz
    Hi Andy,

    These days it's difficult to believe the promises as many newbie got burnt in there past. However i really appreciate your honesty and give away, at some places $100 is lot. Also, there may be possibility that there weren't enough eyeballs to catch your offering?
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    • Profile picture of the author theory expert
      Banned
      Originally Posted by carsonrathi View Post

      Hi Andy,

      These days it's difficult to believe the promises as many newbie got burnt in there past.
      This is probably the truth....
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  • Profile picture of the author TimG
    Andy,
    That's absolutely insane....I'd say I'm really suprised by that but honestly if you take a look at all the products being sold that can make a difference in a person's life and then analyze the people that buy them the consensus is always the same - only a small percentage actually ever do anything with the information they learned.

    We hear and see a lot of talk about niche research, keyword research, different forms of marketing..etc, but at the end of the day it means nothing if someone is not willing to take action.

    Congrats to Dr. Mani for seeing the opportunity and getting it done.

    Respectfully,
    Tim
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  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    I think your contest failed because it's boring and you probably didn't get enough traffic to your blog. Instead of complaining about how you can't give away money and blaming others, look at what happened that you can control. Where did it go wrong? How much promotion of the contest did you do? Was it just a link in your sig that you have now? I don't know enough about what you did, but you know all the details and a good marketer examines why things went the way they did and fixes them.

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    • Profile picture of the author TrekkieGrrrl
      That is a shame.

      I'll be honest - I saw the contest, then put it aside and said I would enter it later.

      Then it slipped my mind. (<<<<< This is me, looking very embarrassed.)

      I won't procrastinate next time.
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      • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
        Andy,

        Apologies.

        It was right after the two big threads here about the topic and I was suffering from "Curation Overload Fatigue" - I took a week off from looking at anything related to it


        PPC Coach,

        Apart from his sig file here, Andy sent an email to his list.

        But you're right, we Brit marketers are generally really boring (apart from the ones lording it over Clickbank with overhyped crap).

        "I'd like to help you by giving away $100 - just do a bit of research and post something helpful in the comments."


        Research?
        Writing something useful for other people?
        For a paltry $100?

        Yawn!


        It's gotta have sizzle!!!!


        I'm not gonna give you $10!!

        I'm not gonna give you $50!!

        I'm gonna go the whole hog and give away $100 smackeroos!!


        My friends tell me I'm crazy to do this so hurry up and post before I cave in to their pressure and withdraw this offer - it could disappear any second!!!

        All you have to is scrape some content containing the word "curation" from the net and copy and paste it on my blog.

        If that's too difficult, just do a bit of Fiverr Abitrage. Pay somebody 5 bucks to do the work for you and you still make a profit of $95!!


        Martin
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by PPC-Coach View Post

      I think your contest failed because it's boring and you probably didn't get enough traffic to your blog. Instead of complaining about how you can't give away money and blaming others, look at what happened that you can control. Where did it go wrong? How much promotion of the contest did you do? Was it just a link in your sig that you have now? I don't know enough about what you did, but you know all the details and a good marketer examines why things went the way they did and fixes them.

      Sorry for my boring approach but I think you misunderstand. I didn't come here to complain and blame other people for the 'failed' promotion.

      It wasn't a promotion - it was just me saying I want to give someone some money and an easy way for them to do it.

      My first thought was just to say "there's $100 for the first person to claim it" but then I figured it made more sense to have people learn something about a subject that was recently getting focus here, so I thought that it was just an extra way to get people to help themselves AND get a free $100.

      I don't consider only a few people responding a failure as I had no objective but to give away some money - it wasn't some cheap blog promotion strategy - it really was just me wanting to brighten up someones day.

      But I was surprised that considering how simple I made it for anyone to effectively put their hand up to claim it that more people didn't bother.

      I've done the same thing here quite a few times over the years and there's usually much more response so I guess I should just do that next time rather than making it difficult by putting it on my blog.

      One thing I am sure of - I won't be hyping it up or running around the internet pimping a giveaway. That would turn it into something different. Maybe that just makes me boring, and it's true that I've never invited 100's of IMers to my birthday or anything like that so perhaps I should brand myself as "the boring marketer" - it's the way I roll

      Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike McAleer
    It does make sense that people would want to work to make money but the vibe they are giving out is that they don't want to work so it is confusing.
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Hmmm I would have taken you up on this offer if I knew this existed! I didn't know, and STILL don't know what curation means.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    There is a fatal flaw in your reasoning, Andy.

    First, let's go to either the WSO section or maybe Clickbank's e-marketing category. What are the highest ranking products (most views, highest gravity, etc.)? First, look at the CB Marketplace for the titles or headlines used for top products...

    Get Fb Ads Free

    Auto Click Profits

    Free Money Formula Software System

    Free Mass Traffic

    Autopilot Income Machines

    Make money In The Next Hour By Getting Unlimited Paid Ads Free

    A thread of commonality? Of course. Free. Autopilot. Auto-(Anything). Make Money Fast. But nowhere will you find anything like: If you are willing to work hard and apply the model I give you, you can set up a genuine, substantial business.

    If you suggest that the product requires 1. Work, 2. Time, or 3. Thinking... you will lose 99.99% of the visitors to the sales page. And of those three items "Thinking" is the real stopper.

    People often state that the number one thing the average person fears most is public speaking. Not even close to being true. The number on thing the average person fears is "thinking". The thought of sitting in a darkened room, with no music, no television, no distractions... and simply thinking scares the begeebers out of the average person.

    The vast majority of people opt to let their schools, their politicians, their churches, their unions, their bureaucratic organizations to do their thinking for them. These organizations become de facto proxy thinkers for great segments of society because these segments either don't know how to think or because they are scared by the process because they have never mastered it.

    Back to your conundrum, Andy. You broke the prime directive of marketing... you asked your readers to do some THINKING. Most are unable or unwilling to do that. Even though you were giving away a generous prize, it matters not. The average person operates in a non-conscious state (not to be confused with an unconscious state) 98% of their lives. Really!

    You have asked your readers to leave that non-conscious state and enter the world of "awareness" and you scared the sh*t out of them by making that request Andy.

    I know, I know... most people will look at my Avatar, see my long hair and mistakenly believe I must be smoking dope and writing this post under the influence--or I'm living in a strange world of altered reality. Smoking dope?--not gunna happen. Living in a world of altered reality? Actually I'm living in a world of "awareness" governed by logic, reason, and inference. It can be a scary place for those who have never been there before. No proxy thinking going on here.

    Andy, you would have got more takers if you offered to pull one of their wisdom teeth with a corkscrew than by asking them to do some original thinking of their own. --Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post


      Andy, you would have got more takers if you offered to pull one of their wisdom teeth with a corkscrew than by asking them to do some original thinking of their own. --Mike
      Now that's funny.

      Seriously though - I get your point and I guess part of me wanted them to take some sort of action just to convince themselves they deserved the money - but I probably went to far asking for their thoughts. I'm sure it I just put up a tick box that said "click me if you want free money" more people would have clicked it, but I guess that would feel like it was then only about the money and I actually hoped that putting up $100 would give people a reason to go and learn something and think about it enough to be able to make some sort of post.

      Maybe I'm mixing up my intentions and when it comes to giving away money I should just make it so simple no-one can talk themselves out of it.

      I guess it just seems a shame that with all the opportunities around there are people turning away free money and then struggling for months saying they want to make $100 online but thinking they need to work hard for it.

      You see it all the time here - "there's no such thing as easy money" or "no-one is REALLY gonna give you anything valuable" and I suppose some people really must believe that rubbish and just not believe anything different no matter how obvious it is.

      So it looks like the 'fear of failure' people talk about is more like 'fear of disappointment' and takes many forms.
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    • Profile picture of the author Gail_Curran
      I think you're completely missing the point. If I needed $100 I sure wouldn't enter a competition to get it. Why bother? I won't win. I'm never the best. My response will never even get acknowledged, let alone rewarded. Certainly not when there are many smarter and more articulate people around, as there always are.

      Sure, it would be nice to learn more about curation. But if I need $100 I can't afford to get distracted by the next shiny object, which is all "curation" is right now. In a week, or a month, maybe the term would have more meaning and significance for me. But right this minute, if I need $100, my time is better spent doing work for clients that will actually bring in real cash. Why would I use that time to fill up your blog? How is that going to pay the bills today?

      A unwillingness to "think" or "work" has nothing to do with it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by Gail_Curran View Post

        I think you're completely missing the point. If I needed $100 I sure wouldn't enter a competition to get it. Why bother? I won't win. I'm never the best. My response will never even get acknowledged, let alone rewarded. Certainly not when there are many smarter and more articulate people around, as there always are.

        A unwillingness to "think" or "work" has nothing to do with it.
        That's where you would be wrong then.....

        I personally responded and thanked every person who made a post and I genuinely wasn't looking for the 'most intelligent' post or anything like that - for exactly that reason - it wasn't about that. I just wanted to give someone the money. It was about giving the money away - not the relative quality of their post.

        Mani posted several times and made it easy to award it to him.

        That's like saying "I'm not going to start an online business - or ever be successful - there are too many other people around who could do it better so why waste my time?" you'd never do anything thinking like that.
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      • Profile picture of the author Black Hat Cat
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Gail_Curran View Post

        I think you're completely missing the point. If I needed $100 I sure wouldn't enter a competition to get it. Why bother? I won't win. I'm never the best. My response will never even get acknowledged, let alone rewarded. Certainly not when there are many smarter and more articulate people around, as there always are.

        Sure, it would be nice to learn more about curation. But if I need $100 I can't afford to get distracted by the next shiny object, which is all "curation" is right now. In a week, or a month, maybe the term would have more meaning and significance for me. But right this minute, if I need $100, my time is better spent doing work for clients that will actually bring in real cash. Why would I use that time to fill up your blog? How is that going to pay the bills today?

        A unwillingness to "think" or "work" has nothing to do with it.
        And that's probably the main reason people didn't participate. It was a contest to maybe win $100, not a guarantee of $100.
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        • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
          Originally Posted by Black Hat Cat View Post

          And that's probably the main reason people didn't participate. It was a contest to maybe win $100, not a guarantee of $100.
          Wow. If I thought like that and didn't want to bother if I thought there wasn't much chance I'd just go back to the blog just before the end - I'd have seen only a few responses and thought it was worth a go.

          The reality was - I didn't have much choice because there were so few posts.
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          • Profile picture of the author Robert Puddy
            Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

            Wow. If I thought like that and didn't want to bother if I thought there wasn't much chance I'd just go back to the blog just before the end - I'd have seen only a few responses and thought it was worth a go.

            The reality was - I didn't have much choice because there were so few posts.

            Same thing if i send out an email telling them where to go dig up gold bars in their back yard no one will go look

            BUT... If I sell them the map to go find their gold bars they will buy it with relish

            PS: One day (hopefully soon) you will learn no one thinks like you Andy...They are always looking for the angle. Thats why selling them the hook (handle) is so successful
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            • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
              Originally Posted by Robert Puddy View Post

              PS: One day (hopefully soon) you will learn no one thinks like you Andy...They are always looking for the angle. Thats why selling them the hook (handle) is so successful
              I think I'm finally getting there Bob.

              I know most people don't think like me, I guess I'm just always hoping for the best in people rather than just dealing with the reality, and to be an effective marketer you need to be comfortable with that difference and leverage it in your communications. I've never really been keen to do that as I want people to be different - but I'm getting to the point where I think I either need to get out of marketing or change my thinking to do it effectively.

              It's never really been about the money for me so I guess I felt like that was some sort of compromise rather than just the nature of things.

              The same with teaching and the whole 'coaching' thing. I know there are a lot of people less experienced than me charging a lot of money to tell people what they want to hear and everyone seems to be ok with that but I've resisted doing it because I only wanted to work with people who understood 'my version' of what it means.

              Andy
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              • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
                Hi Andy,

                I have to admit I'm one of the guilty as charged ones. I went to the blog too, I like it by the way, I thought about posting but realised I was not really a hundred percent how Curation in IM worked.

                So I went and bought "Curation Nation", I know a lot more now but I haven't finished it yet...

                ...and now the competition's over.

                Run it again now Andy and see if you get a better response?

                Test everything Andy :p
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    • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
      This is where IM gets brutal.

      I've noticed that there are ALOT of people selling products, or flipping websites, with "Autopilot" tagged on to the end.

      The kicker is that some, well, just aren't.

      Of course, people do this because it works....of course, we could have an ethical discussion now to no end.

      Things are rarely "autopilot"....for the purpose of conversation, has anyone here purchased something said to be "autopilot", whether a site or a product, and they were able to earn thousands a month with little to no work?

      Or maybe I have a skewed idea of what exactly "autopilot" means?


      Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

      There is a fatal flaw in your reasoning, Andy.

      First, let's go to either the WSO section or maybe Clickbank's e-marketing category. What are the highest ranking products (most views, highest gravity, etc.)? First, look at the CB Marketplace for the titles or headlines used for top products...

      Get Fb Ads Free

      Auto Click Profits

      Free Money Formula Software System

      Free Mass Traffic

      Autopilot Income Machines

      Make money In The Next Hour By Getting Unlimited Paid Ads Free

      A thread of commonality? Of course. Free. Autopilot. Auto-(Anything). Make Money Fast. But nowhere will you find anything like: If you are willing to work hard and apply the model I give you, you can set up a genuine, substantial business.

      If you suggest that the product requires 1. Work, 2. Time, or 3. Thinking... you will lose 99.99% of the visitors to the sales page. And of those three items "Thinking" is the real stopper.

      People often state that the number one thing the average person fears most is public speaking. Not even close to being true. The number on thing the average person fears is "thinking". The thought of sitting in a darkened room, with no music, no television, no distractions... and simply thinking scares the begeebers out of the average person.

      The vast majority of people opt to let their schools, their politicians, their churches, their unions, their bureaucratic organizations to do their thinking for them. These organizations become de facto proxy thinkers for great segments of society because these segments either don't know how to think or because they are scared by the process because they have never mastered it.

      Back to your conundrum, Andy. You broke the prime directive of marketing... you asked your readers to do some THINKING. Most are unable or unwilling to do that. Even though you were giving away a generous prize, it matters not. The average person operates in a non-conscious state (not to be confused with an unconscious state) 98% of their lives. Really!

      You have asked your readers to leave that non-conscious state and enter the world of "awareness" and you scared the sh*t out of them by making that request Andy.

      I know, I know... most people will look at my Avatar, see my long hair and mistakenly believe I must be smoking dope and writing this post under the influence--or I'm living in a strange world of altered reality. Smoking dope?--not gunna happen. Living in a world of altered reality? Actually I'm living in a world of "awareness" governed by logic, reason, and inference. It can be a scary place for those who have never been there before. No proxy thinking going on here.

      Andy, you would have got more takers if you offered to pull one of their wisdom teeth with a corkscrew than by asking them to do some original thinking of their own. --Mike
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      • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
        Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

        Or maybe I have a skewed idea of what exactly "autopilot" means?
        Actually, 'autopilot' is a steering mechanism that allows a pilot or a boat captain to maintain course without the drudgery of having to man the wheel or stick.

        But notice in the real world it is a device for 'maintaining a course' and not a way to simply bypass the necessary steps to get from point 'A' to point 'B'.

        However, in dreamland, 'autopilot' is defined as a way to get what you want, or get to where you want to be, in a virtual hands off situation.

        And folks wonder why they end up on the rocks trying to make that delusion work.

        ~Bill
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      • Profile picture of the author Hanz
        Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

        This is where IM gets brutal.

        I've noticed that there are ALOT of people selling products, or flipping websites, with "Autopilot" tagged on to the end.

        The kicker is that some, well, just aren't.

        Of course, people do this because it works....of course, we could have an ethical discussion now to no end.

        Things are rarely "autopilot"....for the purpose of conversation, has anyone here purchased something said to be "autopilot", whether a site or a product, and they were able to earn thousands a month with little to no work?

        Or maybe I have a skewed idea of what exactly "autopilot" means?
        Well...autopilot works with Adsense sites. It's the planning and development of the site that takes the most amount of work. But when the site is established and solid in the rankings after about a year or longer (and after a ton of SEO), it does become 'autopilot'. Those are the autopilot sites which people pay a good chunk for. But again, somebody has to do the hard work of making it 'autopilot'. LOL!
        I've done a few myself but not everything is a winner. People usually quit when they don't see great results.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

      There is a fatal flaw in your reasoning, Andy.

      First, let's go to either the WSO section or maybe Clickbank's e-marketing category. What are the highest ranking products (most views, highest gravity, etc.)? First, look at the CB Marketplace for the titles or headlines used for top products...

      Get Fb Ads Free

      Auto Click Profits

      Free Money Formula Software System

      Free Mass Traffic

      Autopilot Income Machines

      Make money In The Next Hour By Getting Unlimited Paid Ads Free

      A thread of commonality? Of course. Free. Autopilot. Auto-(Anything). Make Money Fast. But nowhere will you find anything like: If you are willing to work hard and apply the model I give you, you can set up a genuine, substantial business.

      If you suggest that the product requires 1. Work, 2. Time, or 3. Thinking... you will lose 99.99% of the visitors to the sales page. And of those three items "Thinking" is the real stopper.

      People often state that the number one thing the average person fears most is public speaking. Not even close to being true. The number on thing the average person fears is "thinking". The thought of sitting in a darkened room, with no music, no television, no distractions... and simply thinking scares the begeebers out of the average person.

      The vast majority of people opt to let their schools, their politicians, their churches, their unions, their bureaucratic organizations to do their thinking for them. These organizations become de facto proxy thinkers for great segments of society because these segments either don't know how to think or because they are scared by the process because they have never mastered it.

      Back to your conundrum, Andy. You broke the prime directive of marketing... you asked your readers to do some THINKING. Most are unable or unwilling to do that. Even though you were giving away a generous prize, it matters not. The average person operates in a non-conscious state (not to be confused with an unconscious state) 98% of their lives. Really!

      You have asked your readers to leave that non-conscious state and enter the world of "awareness" and you scared the sh*t out of them by making that request Andy.

      I know, I know... most people will look at my Avatar, see my long hair and mistakenly believe I must be smoking dope and writing this post under the influence--or I'm living in a strange world of altered reality. Smoking dope?--not gunna happen. Living in a world of altered reality? Actually I'm living in a world of "awareness" governed by logic, reason, and inference. It can be a scary place for those who have never been there before. No proxy thinking going on here.

      Andy, you would have got more takers if you offered to pull one of their wisdom teeth with a corkscrew than by asking them to do some original thinking of their own. --Mike
      Mike, I think you hit the nail on the head there. People in general have become immune to the word "free", and tend to take it with a grain of salt these days. Their reasoning is that there's always some 'catch' or deception occurring, and as a result they've become blind to genuine offers even when they encounter them.

      These days, you might even have a hard time throwing money onto the street and getting people to pick it up - they might think you're a drug dealer with tainted/marked bills who is doing something suspicious.

      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author ShellyJo
    There's a psychological reason that people don't take advantage of opportunities that are presented to them. This video might explain the reasons behind it: youtube.com/watch?v=ZsN8FUV9nS4

    Personally, I liked the video.

    ---

    Curation is an "action" word. It's the "act" of maintaining or caring for a collection. Usually in reference to art or historical items. But, it can refer to anyone who collects and maintains that collection.

    The act of collecting in reference to the internet can be just about anything. Some people collect ebooks (name any subject). Some people collect "how to make money" products AND software. This is how we acquire information overload...

    I've done my share of collecting to the detriment of "taking action". For the last few months I've been systematically taking some irons out of the fire and turning my focus to COMPLETING one project at a time. The hardest part is deciding which project takes precedence. LOL. Deciding is the hardest part of doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author ShellyJo
    The real joy of entering a contest is the "act" of doing it. The prize isn't the true gift you receive. The knowledge that you did something beyond your comfort zone is the real prize.

    In January I entered a national contest that I have little "real" hope of winning. It wasn't the prize money that made me enter. It was the need to push past my comfort zone and confront my fears... and now I have bragging rights because I dared to enter it.

    Also, entering a simple contest can be a great way to take a break from the norm and have a little fun. We all need a break now and then.

    BTW: I wasn't aware of the contest. But I did learn something new by posting here today... I finally found the "thanks" button. Been looking all over for that one. LOL.
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by ShellyJo View Post

      The real joy of entering a contest is the "act" of doing it. The prize isn't the true gift you receive. The knowledge that you did something beyond your comfort zone is the real prize.
      .
      Maybe next time I won't call it a competition and I won't require anyone to think - I'll just come here and give it away and save all the confusion.
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      • Profile picture of the author ShellyJo
        Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

        Maybe next time I won't call it a competition and I won't require anyone to think - I'll just come here and give it away and save all the confusion.
        Don't let their negative comments jade you. They're not the type of participants you wanted any way. You wanted "willing" participants. That's what makes it fun. Unwilling mindless zombies would have sucked the joy out of your generosity.

        BTW: Yes, I would accept. lol.

        Seriously though, I stumbled on your thread because I was wanting to post a question of my own. Guess I had better get it done.
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    • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
      Originally Posted by ShellyJo View Post

      The real joy of entering a contest is the "act" of doing it. The prize isn't the true gift you receive. The knowledge that you did something beyond your comfort zone is the real prize.

      In January I entered a national contest that I have little "real" hope of winning. It wasn't the prize money that made me enter. It was the need to push past my comfort zone and confront my fears... and now I have bragging rights because I dared to enter it.

      Also, entering a simple contest can be a great way to take a break from the norm and have a little fun. We all need a break now and then.

      BTW: I wasn't aware of the contest. But I did learn something new by posting here today... I finally found the "thanks" button. Been looking all over for that one. LOL.
      now here's someone with the right attitude! Thanks for posting what I was thinking after reading a couple of the negative posts in this thread.

      Andy, I missed the contest too...and I would have entered, just for the fun of it...
      please don't change! You're a real gem
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  • Profile picture of the author Murt@gh
    Well Andy, first off it is nice of you to host a contest like that, it keeps things interesting and helps those that need it. It is a shame I missed it, I would have joined in most definately.

    Who wouldn't join in for a chance to win such easy money, that is always welcomed. It also makes me want to question these people that are apparently so 'hungry' for their money. I have friends that talk about money none stop and all the things they want, it is always the same old story, but if you tell them to take action, then that is asking too much.

    I think some of the comments above sound a bit negative, it is a great thing for you to do. No one asked you to give away your money, and personally Andy, if you have to beg and plead them to give it a go then they really don't deserve it. Don't be put off doing future things like this as I know there are people who really do appreciate it.

    In regards to Black Hat Cat's comment, when is there ever a real guarantee in making money? It is not like Andy was asking for people to run down the street naked anyway, although maybe next time he might just do that. :p

    Regards,
    Ross.
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  • Profile picture of the author monsterrager
    silver could still go higher i guess but how much higher after this last big rise? It makes me kinda leary about buying any now.
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    • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
      I visited your blog and thought about posting.

      I think one of the reasons you didn't get the response you expected is because you were asking people to go out of their comfort zone.

      Talk about something they're not comfortable with.

      If it was some other topic I'm knowledgeable about, I can guarantee you I would have posted.

      But curation is not something I have a deep understanding of.

      Therefore you were asking me to go out of my comfort zone, therefore I didn't post.

      That's the honest reason I didn't post.

      $100 isn't enough money to get me out of my comfort zone
      Signature
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      • Profile picture of the author Brendan Mace
        man... I agree with your post. But I looked all over the net for what the heck that term even means, and I couldn't find anyone clearly explain what it means. For a hundred dollars, I'd like to think I would have made a bigger effort though
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      • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
        But...if people aren't willing to go "out of their comfort zone" for $100, are they really cut for IM? I don't know...IM has required me to go "out of my comfort zone on many many occasions"...

        Perhaps, next time, some kind of social proof of interaction and contributions could have been built up by directly PM'ing a handful of people asking them to contribute before announcing?

        Originally Posted by oneplusone View Post

        I visited your blog and thought about posting.

        I think one of the reasons you didn't get the response you expected is because you were asking people to go out of their comfort zone.

        Talk about something they're not comfortable with.

        If it was some other topic I'm knowledgeable about, I can guarantee you I would have posted.

        But curation is not something I have a deep understanding of.

        Therefore you were asking me to go out of my comfort zone, therefore I didn't post.

        That's the honest reason I didn't post.

        $100 isn't enough money to get me out of my comfort zone
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        • Profile picture of the author joymarino
          Interesting... the term "comfort zone" has been mentioned a lot and has made me want to chime in. My friend, Khama Anku (life coach), once told me that the "comfort zone" is actually the farthest from that. It is the zone that we keep ourselves in because we fear what is just outside of it, even if it is a solution to out problems. People will do more to avoid pain than to pursue pleasure.

          It seems that is the problem, the generational curse, that plagues the world. It's not the economy, wars, etc. Those are a by-product of someone staying in their "comfort zone" at one point, and making others believe they should take up camp there too. If every person were to continually expand their "comfort zone" beyond the limits they have set for themselves (or let others convince them they should set) the zone would gradually expand as well. That's what will change the world. And, that is what entrepreneurship is ALL about!

          Okay, I'll step down off my soap box...I just felt it and had to share it. Take it or leave it.
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        • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
          Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

          But...if people aren't willing to go "out of their comfort zone" for $100, are they really cut for IM? I don't know...IM has required me to go "out of my comfort zone on many many occasions"...
          The thing about the $100 prize is that it wasn't guaranteed; if Andy had guaranteed anyone who participated even $5 there would have been far more people taking part I believe.

          Perhaps, next time, some kind of social proof of interaction and contributions could have been built up by directly PM'ing a handful of people asking them to contribute before announcing?
          Possibly ... although I'm sure if Andy really wanted to promote it aggressively he could have done - but I think he chose not to.
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by monsterrager View Post

      silver could still go higher i guess but how much higher after this last big rise? It makes me kinda leary about buying any now.
      I'm still buying. I had a shipment arrive today. It's true that if you're looking to flip silver short term then you may not get the same opportunity that recent months have brought - but it's still undervalued and the dynamics driving the price up are mostly all the same so long term it's still a very sound investment and has massive potential upside.

      Andy
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      • Profile picture of the author TrekkieGrrrl
        Andy -

        I think you are looking at this the wrong way.

        Some people may not want to enter a contest like that because there is no guarantee that you're going to win. That's true.

        But, for me, that wasn't the reason.

        I was working on a new site and I had to have content, an autoresponder series, my free product to give away to my list, my paid product, etc. - all done by a certain date.

        I would have loved to have entered the contest simply because I enjoy doing that kind of thing I like research - but I had to put it on the back burner because I had other business that I had to get done.

        Maybe next time.

        (Or maybe this is just a wake-up call that I need to start doing more outsourcing. )
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  • Andy,

    There's a few things you are forgotting... but I'm sure you are aware of...

    While some people here do know who you are, the majority don't. Probably the same for the silver luncheon. So while you may have sound advice, no one knows who you are, and your credibility. (There have been many other people that have done similar things, but actually pay up, i.e., scams).

    Secondly, it's also the traffic/headlines/copy/etc. I haven't seen your post, so can't comment on it exactly, but if the competition was buried in the post, many people may have simply not seen it.

    As for silver, I wouldn't buy or sell it simply because you told me I should. If however, you had some rational reasons for it, and could back it up, and I was in the market for buying silver, I would listen to what you have to say, do my own research, see if what you said made sense, and go from there.

    So it's not that people 'don't' want money -- its that they don't know who you are, and probably didn't see what you had to offer.

    John

    Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

    Hi Warriors,

    I ran a competition over the last few days.

    It was very simple - I was just feeling generous and decided to give $100 away.

    As I usually do, I thought I'd make it easy for anyone to get so that someone who may be struggling and could use $100 to get themselves started could get it without really needing to do much for it.

    So I ran a competition on my blog asking people simply to look around for information about 'curation' and then post their thoughts.

    Simple enough. I already did a 'starter for 10' post with a few links to other sources in, so I thought this was about the easiest $100 anyone could get.

    The response - a handful of responses.

    It was fellow warrior Mani that won it in the end simply because he didn't have much competition to beat so it was a no brainer.

    I was really hoping that some people who didn't know what curation was might take the opportunity to do a quick Google, check out some sites and then post what they'd learned.

    Considering how many people come here saying they desperately need or want money - but then when I'm literally giving it away they don't bother - I'm literally shocked.

    It seems that it's harder to give money away than to sell products these days.

    I was at the UK 'London Lunch' IMer networking event on Friday and I was reminded again by Martin Avis that 8 months ago I went along and told them about my new book and that silver was waaaay undervalued and recommended if they were looking for a good way to make money that they should consider it.

    At this lunch the price of silver is over 50% higher than when I told them that.

    Guess how many people took my advice and bought silver.

    None!!!

    Even Martin hadn't bought any and he's a clever guy.

    It seems that sometimes you can't give people opportunities on a silver plate (pun intended) and people are struggling so much that they literally won't take free money now - they've been trained that they have to 'work hard' to make money and they're determined to make that their reality.

    Now - this $100 was literally just me looking to give it away to someone who needed it and giving it a useful and IM context, but if you're struggling - step back and take a look around you. There may be opportunities that you're missing just because you haven't been looking or believing they're there.

    Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
    Well Andy.... I feel your frustration. You can't fight human psychology. It sucks, but it's how we're wired. The most successful people I know put up a fight against their own wiring. And if we could all do it, I think we'd all be successful. It's truly the mindset and mindgame that's holding everyone back who's failing, whether they believe that in their mind or not.
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    • Profile picture of the author drmani
      Thanks, Andy. I've sent you a PM.

      There may be opportunities that you're missing just because you haven't been looking or believing they're there.
      It's a mindset I'm seeing often, too, Andy - of wanting 'security' and
      'guarantees' before being willing to 'Poke the Box' (the title of Seth
      Godin's new ebook which everyone needs to read, imho.

      Whatever happened to trying out stuff just for fun?

      This particular contest came after a day when I 'invested/wasted' 4 hours
      researching and updating my knowledge about content curation. I literally
      spent all day reading and learning. This was AFTER I've been a content
      marketer for 15 YEARS, and learned about curation (earlier called 'News
      Mastering') first in 2003.

      Sharing the fruits of that research was of value to me, as it helped
      distill the lessons from a lot of reading the previous day. The $100
      is just icing on the cake (and that it will go to charity is a nice
      thing, too).

      BUT... I didn't know Andy was going to offer $100 when I studied all day
      about content curation. And I didn't know Andy was going to send ME
      the money when I shared my post on his blog!

      The mindset I'm trying to spotlight is that willingness to just go try
      something.
      For fun. With no assurances that anything will come of it.

      No, it's NOT an excuse to waste all day "doing stuff". Posting on forums,
      from one perspective, can fall into that category - but from another,
      be different. The ROI from sharing stuff here is hard to measure, but
      it's there - if you get it right.

      It's the same with sharing anywhere. In any way.

      Go, start giving from your vast store of knowledge, experience and
      insight.

      Take low-risk chances. Try out new stuff. Like the tag line/sub-title
      of "Poke the Box" asks:

      "When Was The LAST Time You Did Something For The FIRST Time?"

      If your answer was not "Today", read 'Poke the Box' - and start taking
      action

      I think your contest failed because it's boring and you probably didn't get enough traffic to your blog. Instead of complaining about how you can't give away money and blaming others, look at what happened that you can control. Where did it go wrong?
      No, no, don't listen to this, Andy. I *love* these contests just the
      way they are

      But seriously... this was NOT a "marketing failure" (as the link to
      Andy's blog was prominently visible AND mentioned IN CONTEXT of a
      discussion about content curation - which ALREADY had around 70
      people posting to)... it was more of a "guarantee failure", in that
      there was no assured ROI on the time/effort/energy invested into
      sharing knowledge.

      That's why good teachers are rare.

      Most others want to be compensated for their effort AND in proportion
      to it - so won't bother if the chances of that are low.

      I've probably been influenced by something I read recently by Hugh
      "Gaping Void" MacLeod:

      "Your wee voice doesn't want you to sell something. Your wee voice wants
      you to make something. There's a big difference. Your wee voice doesn't
      give a damn about publishers, venture capitalists, or Hollywood producers.

      Go ahead and make something. Make something really special. Make
      something amazing that will really blow the mind of anybody who sees
      it...

      There's something you haven't said, something you haven't done,
      some light that needs to be switched on, and it needs to be taken care
      of. Now."

      - From "Ignore Everybody" by Hugh MacLeod, GapingVoid.com
      It made me listen.

      Maybe it'll make others listen, too
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      • Profile picture of the author Hanz
        If you posted the competition here Andy, you'd receive a ton of entries I bet. I've noticed those who offer to give away a free War room membership tend to gain a bunch of interested participants.
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        • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
          Originally Posted by Hanz View Post

          If you posted the competition here Andy, you'd receive a ton of entries I bet. I've noticed those who offer to give away a free War room membership tend to gain a bunch of interested participants.
          You're right - I've sponsored War Room memberships several times before.
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  • Profile picture of the author joymarino
    wow... thanks for sharing that. I am sorry not more people responded. Perhaps most people are too busy looking at what they don't have and not focusing on what they do.

    I can just picture a person walking down the street complaining about their empty pockets, moaning and going on, while a hundred dollar bill is stuck to the bottom of their shoe for a few blocks. Well, that's the image that came to mind, reading your post.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
    I found the topic of this thread pretty interesting. I ran something similar on one of my forums a while back. It was basically, win $50 for doing a ridiculously simple task. Not a single person did it. Crazy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarah S
    I'm a bit stunned that you didn't have more participants- $100 isn't enough to retire on, but it's still a fair chunk of change!

    And I honestly think that you're right in believing that there ARE newbie marketers who are out there that really need the money, and would have been more than willing to look up curation and post their thoughts about it for the chance to win $100.

    I suspect that your contest just didn't get seen by the right people.

    I've seen many "desperation" posters here- people who are in dire need of paying the rent, paying the bills, or whatever it is that they need the money for, and they need it FAST. I'm not in that situation myself (fortunately!), but I know that I would have participated if I had known about it at the time.

    I hope you're not too disheartened, because your idea truly was a kind and generous one, and that's a rare gem in the Internet Marketing world sometimes. Kudos to you for that!
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by Sarah S View Post

      I hope you're not too disheartened, because your idea truly was a kind and generous one, and that's a rare gem in the Internet Marketing world sometimes. Kudos to you for that!
      No - not at all.

      I've donated it to my favourite charity now (thanks to Mani's generosity).

      I've done the same thing here in the forum many times before so I was just surprised that a no-strings attached offer of $100 wasn't enough to stir a few more people into action. I wasn't so bothered about the action as it was really just a way for people to feel like they deserved the money. Whenever I offer to just give it away there are tons of people who don't really need it that will happily take it just because it's there rather than let someone who's desperate to pay their bills get it.

      I'll still do them in the future so this is just some feedback to bare in mind.

      Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author Steadyon
    Ask yourself the question:

    "Would more people have responded if it was simply a raffle?"

    Therein possibly lies the main reason.
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  • Profile picture of the author Eric Lorence
    Paying $100 to have a bunch of people do research for your next niche idea ...

    Maybe they have caught on?
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by Eric Lorence View Post

      Paying $100 to have a bunch of people do research for your next niche idea ...

      Maybe they have caught on?
      The only problem with that is - I have no intention of creating a product about this subject. There are already 'experts' on this and I already have a business so there's no reason for me to be even vaguely interested in creating a product. The only possible reason would be 'because I can' and that's not my style.

      I'm not one of those lame IMers who cranks out products about everything just because I know some newbies will buy it.

      In fact, I'm the opposite - I haven't created many IM products because I don't like creating products about things that there's already plenty of information about.

      I get asked all the the time what I think about various IM things and I could've cranked out 100 products by now if I just wanted to have something to sell.

      But - maybe you're right in that some sceptical people who don't know me might think something like that, afterall it does happen and there are people for who that would be true.

      I have only a passing interest in curation and this was more about giving some money away than curation, but I thought it would be useful for people to read about it, so having that be a qualification for the money was (I thought) giving people a reason to help themselves.

      Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisj383
    Hey,

    I wish i knew about this competion i would have entered, right from now on i'm checking these forums daily. But anyway i think i have an answer to the low response rate you have, not many people like doing research, they just like having stuff handed to them on a plate and dont want to EARN there money.

    I had this attitude for quite sometime until it finally dawned on me that i'm not going to get anything if i dont do something.

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave Rodman
    Banned
    Common advice for newbies is to stay focused and put things into action. So you can't blame them when they ignore the newest fad ("Curation") to do something else.

    I wouldn't automatically assume that people are too lazy. Maybe they were working on something that would eventually produce them more than $100.

    In regards to your Silver Tip. Hindsight is 20/20. Why exactly would people listen to you about buying silver???

    Can you imagine the response if someone came to the forum and said "I was at a conference and some dude told me that silver was way undervalued, so I bought a bunch of it. Now it went down. What should i do?!!?!?!"
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by Dave Rodman View Post

      Common advice for newbies is to stay focused and put things into action. So you can't blame them when they ignore the newest fad ("Curation") to do something else.

      I wouldn't automatically assume that people are too lazy. Maybe they were working on something that would eventually produce them more than $100.

      In regards to your Silver Tip. Hindsight is 20/20. Why exactly would people listen to you about buying silver???

      Can you imagine the response if someone came to the forum and said "I was at a conference and some dude told me that silver was way undervalued, so I bought a bunch of it. Now it went down. What should i do?!!?!?!"
      Perhaps.

      Maybe I did just complicate things by thinking they'd be interested in curation. I literally chose that at random based on there being a lot of talk about it going on here and thinking that it was something people would already be curious about and I was just seeing an opportunity to help them.

      Regarding the silver thing - I guess I just thought that since I've been around for so long and most of the people that go to the London Lunch know that, and the fact that I'd written a book all about it, that people would take my comments seriously.

      Remember - this isn't just hindsight - The price went crazy AFTER I told them about it. It wasn't just a lucky guess.

      Again, from my perspective I was letting people that I knew had an interest in securing their financial future know about a no-brainer way to make some serious money. I only wrote the book because people had kept asking me why I'm buying silver all the time and I wanted something they could read that would let them understand my motivation.

      For me - these were both instances where I was just sharing a way people could make some easy money.

      The money I've made from silver is the easiest money I've ever made and something anyone can do, so I guess I assumed that it was the sort of thing that would appeal to fellow IMers.

      The fact that most people seem to be so busy trying to work their current model that they'll happily ignore opportunties that don't fit seems weird, but like you say - if they're so absorbed with what they're doing that they don't want to be distracted it's no surprise, but from my perspective I'm offering them revenue on a plate and they're too busy doing stuff that probably won't pay (that's the usual outcome) but that they've mentally bought into to take the easy money.

      It doesn't make any difference to me but I spend a lot of time helping other people and when things like this come along and they're a no-brainer for anyone no matter what else they're doing - it just seems weird that people just let it pass them by.

      It's perfectly possible that $1000 of silver bought last year could pay for a car even a house at some point in the future, but because it's not short-term massive profits some people just aren't interested because the results aren't quick enough.

      There are so many IMers still struggling several years after starting in IM that having a supplemental longer term plan just makes sense, aswell as diversifying your income streams, and it's easy to forget that a lot of newcomers to IM also are looking only for answers that bring immediate revenue rather than securing their future.

      In a way I guess it's also a positive since it means at least they're hopeful that whatever they are doing will work and are focused on it.

      Andy
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      • Profile picture of the author Nevin McQ
        I did not read through the entire thread however sometimes I find competitions like this degrading for people.

        I have been at live events where they throw money into the aisles and yet what was discussed previously was a discussion about "LAW of ATTRACTION" or some other esoteric procedure and mindset to receive MONEY

        Though I believe in Law of Attraction and other methods, and not matter how much money I may need the $100 is not going to do it for me.

        In some ways I find it repulsive to act this way or to see people act the way they do to get such a small pittance.

        As for the competition I would have joined just to win as it is so easy to win that competition

        However IMO the 100 just cheapens it

        Yes people are buying courses and education as they believe in the following I think

        "GIVE A MAN A FISH YOU FEED HIM FOR THE DAY, TEACH HIM TO FISH AND YOU FEED HIM FOR A LIFETIME"
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        • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
          You should've read the thread......

          It wasn't about the competition. I didn't offer $100 BECAUSE I wanted people to post content.

          I wanted to give $100 away and used the competition as an easy way to do it.

          I figured that anyone who wanted $100 and wanted to learn about curation (I thought this would be all IMers) would find it an easy opportunity to say yes to.

          As you will see in other threads in this forum - this is not a new concept for me and I have given money away many times before.

          So - the big difference is - The money wasn't an incentive to write content - the money was just there to be had and the content was just an excuse I came up with so that people could feel like they 'earned' it because I know a lot of people don't think they deserve free money and won't ask for it unless they feel they have contributed value for it.

          Again - it's my fault for thinking that the people I told (my list and this forum) already knew I'm not motivated by trying to empty their wallets and I do genuinely give away money just because I know it can put a smile on someone's face.

          Andy


          Originally Posted by Nevin McQ View Post

          I did not read through the entire thread however sometimes I find competitions like this degrading for people.

          I have been at live events where they throw money into the aisles and yet what was discussed previously was a discussion about "LAW of ATTRACTION" or some other esoteric procedure and mindset to receive MONEY

          Though I believe in Law of Attraction and other methods, and not matter how much money I may need the $100 is not going to do it for me.

          In some ways I find it repulsive to act this way or to see people act the way they do to get such a small pittance.

          As for the competition I would have joined just to win as it is so easy to win that competition

          However IMO the 100 just cheapens it

          Yes people are buying courses and education as they believe in the following I think

          "GIVE A MAN A FISH YOU FEED HIM FOR THE DAY, TEACH HIM TO FISH AND YOU FEED HIM FOR A LIFETIME"
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          • Profile picture of the author Nevin McQ
            Andy

            I am not trying to get into an argument I read the Opening Post by you and in the second line you wrote that you "had a competiton"

            I did not read others answers in the thread as I wanted to answer to your post.

            So there was a competition, curation is a good topic but also sometimes these things are just created and really have no merit in reality.

            Curation sounds like a great idea and I still need to learn a little more about it, however I was talking about the "competition" you ran and that you mentioned in the second line of your opening post.

            Yes you are a benevolent person and a great contributor to the forum, so again this is not an argument

            Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

            You should've read the thread......

            It wasn't about the competition. I didn't offer $100 BECAUSE I wanted people to post content.

            I wanted to give $100 away and used the competition as an easy way to do it.

            I figured that anyone who wanted $100 and wanted to learn about curation (I thought this would be all IMers) would find it an easy opportunity to say yes to.

            As you will see in other threads in this forum - this is not a new concept for me and I have given money away many times before.

            So - the big difference is - The money wasn't an incentive to write content - the money was just there to be had and the content was just an excuse I came up with so that people could feel like they 'earned' it because I know a lot of people don't think they deserve free money and won't ask for it unless they feel they have contributed value for it.

            Again - it's my fault for thinking that the people I told (my list and this forum) already knew I'm not motivated by trying to empty their wallets and I do genuinely give away money just because I know it can put a smile on someone's face.

            Andy
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            • Profile picture of the author Mike McAleer
              Originally Posted by Nevin McQ View Post

              Andy

              I am not trying to get into an argument I read the Opening Post by you and in the second line you wrote that you "had a competiton"

              I did not read others answers in the thread as I wanted to answer to your post.

              So there was a competition, curation is a good topic but also sometimes these things are just created and really have no merit in reality.

              Curation sounds like a great idea and I still need to learn a little more about it, however I was talking about the "competition" you ran and that you mentioned in the second line of your opening post.

              Yes you are a benevolent person and a great contributor to the forum, so again this is not an argument
              I agree that in general someone thinks it is an incentive. It is not "1st one to send me an email" can claim $100. there was some incentive involved.

              However, I am sorry for andyhenry because he may not have meant to make it an incentive. It just seems that way. That is all.
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            • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
              Originally Posted by Nevin McQ View Post

              Andy

              I am not trying to get into an argument
              Then why are you disagreeing with me?

              Just kidding..... it's over and done with now so I don't care either way. I've had some interesting insights from people's responses.
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              • Profile picture of the author Mike McAleer
                Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

                Then why are you disagreeing with me?

                Just kidding..... it's over and done with now so I don't care either way. I've had some interesting insights from people's responses.
                I am glad that you have found good responses here in the forums. The whole point of this forum is to get opinions and that is great. Now anyone who was trying to argue(or not trying to) was just stating their opinion and that is fine.

                Now we know your intents when you are giving away $100 instead of rewarding $100.
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  • Profile picture of the author roley
    ANDY

    Its called information overload.

    There are just so many damn blogs and sites online no one has the time even if people are flashing money. Most wont think they will get it so they dont bother..

    plain and simple time = money

    People have less time now days, busy working and creating their own empires
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    • Profile picture of the author drmani
      Originally Posted by Dave Rodman View Post

      Common advice for newbies is to stay focused and put things into action. So you can't blame them when they ignore the newest fad ("Curation") to do something else.
      Originally Posted by roley View Post

      Its called information overload.

      There are just so many damn blogs and sites online no one has the time even if people are flashing money.
      After a heavy meal, you still find place for a delicious dessert that
      you love.

      After a busy day's work, you still find energy to watch a show or game
      that you love.

      After working on your daily business tasks, you'll still find time and
      enthusiasm to explore things that you love.

      Which is why a PASSIONATE entrepreneur will ALWAYS beat out a less
      passionate competitor in online business.

      And that's the reason I have always advocated pursuing your PASSION.



      If you thought my curation research came at the expense of other things
      in my day, that's incorrect. It was EXTRA work, done after dealing with
      other stuff!

      Donald Trump wrote in one of his books that he wakes up every morning
      at 4:00 a.m. and begins working. By the time most of his competition is
      at the office, he's got 3 hours of stuff done. He argues that unless
      they are so much smarter and insightful than he is, there's no way they
      can beat him - just because he works harder!

      Do what YOU love, and you'll ALWAYS have time for things you want to do!

      All success
      Dr.Mani
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by drmani View Post

        Which is why a PASSIONATE entrepreneur will ALWAYS beat out a less passionate competitor in online business.

        And that's the reason I have always advocated pursuing your PASSION.

        Dr.Mani
        I read a book recently that said exactly the same thing and mentioned some big names as having put their massive success down to passion too.

        When I say this kind of thing to IMers they generally come back with "well that's ok for you, but I don't have that luxury", which is sort of the opposite of reality.

        It's like saying you won't put any coal on the fire until it gives you some heat first.
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    • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
      I recently ran a contest here on the WF contest sub-forum. All people had to do was link to a meaningful thread and say why it was important.

      There were so few entries I gave money to everyone who entered.

      You can't win at anything if you don't even try.

      How did I win $3000 in the forum's copyrighting contest a couple years ago? I entered. I gave it my best shot.

      And yet, tomorrow, there will be another thread by someone desperate for money.

      Usually, these desperation threads are not by long time Warriors who have learned to take action instead of waiting for a pot of gold to magically appear without lifting a little finger.
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  • did you have enough people visiting the site? was it clear how easy it was for them to win the money? did it seem scammy?
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    The problem was it was a contest, I think.

    It's not guaranteed money, is it? You were going to give money to one person and one person only so I think the mindset would be, "Why would I waste my time to tell this guy about curation when I'm not even sure I'm gonna get anything for it?"

    Unless I read it wrong you were only going to give money to one person.

    So it's not that you can't give away money it's that people did not want to take part in your competition so they could "maybe" get some money.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      There's a disconnect here. It's a competition, so it's not really an opportunity. I think OnePlusOne is right that there would have been more participants if everyone was guaranteed $5. There could have been minimum standards and such, but then it would have been an exchange of value instead of performing work in the hopes of getting money.

      If you want to take a gamble, do a job on Fiverr and use your earnings to buy four lottery tickets. That's an "opportunity" to win a million bucks as opposed to $100.

      But, for anyone who could use $100, their time would be better spent doing work on things for which they will actually get paid instead of spending their time entering contests which they may or may not win, and usually won't.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post

        But, for anyone who could use $100, their time would be better spent doing work on things for which they will actually get paid instead of spending their time entering contests which they may or may not win, and usually won't.
        Wow..... and there was me thinking that all I asked for was for people to do something that was in their interest (learn about whether curation would be useful to their business).

        I'm seeing some really interesting perspectives come out now that I never would have thought of.

        It seems that calling it a 'competition' makes it sound like hard work that you might not get paid for.... even though all it needed was 30 seconds to make a blog post.

        I never thought anyone could take that to be too much work for their time. I honestly thought they'd read it and think "hey I need to learn what that is - cool, I'll do a quick Google and then give myself a big chance to have an extra $100 in a few days".

        The competition element was just so that I had a way to pick someone - all I really wanted was someone to tell me they could use the money and would like it.

        It's really interesting to hear that calling it a competition makes people just click away thinking that they'll never get it. The whole point was to give it away.

        Thanks

        Andy
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Hlatky
          Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

          It seems that calling it a 'competition' makes it sound like hard work that you might not get paid for.... even though all it needed was 30 seconds to make a blog post.

          I don't think anyone could give you the best answer with only putting 30 seconds into a blog post. Dr. Mani mentioned that he spent 4 HOURS researching the topic. And, I'm sure, more than 30 seconds typing up the post.

          You make it sound like it was a "simple" contest, but it really wasn't if you were going to win the prize. The person that was going to win/ did win had to put a "good amount" of work into the research and blog post.

          Plus, if someone thought that they weren't going to win, there was no point in ever trying.
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          • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
            Originally Posted by Mike Hlatky View Post

            You make it sound like it was a "simple" contest, but it really wasn't if you were going to win the prize. The person that was going to win/ did win had to put a "good amount" of work into the research and blog post.

            Plus, if someone thought that they weren't going to win, there was no point in ever trying.
            You're right. I didn't actually need anything more than just a post with people's thoughts - because for me it was just about giving them the money rather than actually caring what they wrote about Curation.

            I obviously gave people way too much to think about and it's a lesson I've learned well and truly now.

            You can see in this post that when I just ask who wants money people respond very quickly - and I gave this $100 away in a few minutes - http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ey-online.html

            So there's the lesson - most people are too busy doing their thing and not expecting it to come easy that if you really are making it easy - you have it make it REALLY clear. Any opportunity for someone to think they might not get it and they'll bail just to avoid 'wasting their time', no matter what the hurdle you put up is.
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by redicelander View Post

      The problem was it was a contest, I think.

      It's not guaranteed money, is it? You were going to give money to one person and one person only so I think the mindset would be, "Why would I waste my time to tell this guy about curation when I'm not even sure I'm gonna get anything for it?"

      Unless I read it wrong you were only going to give money to one person.

      So it's not that you can't give away money it's that people did not want to take part in your competition so they could "maybe" get some money.
      I think that's it in a nutshell.

      It's ironic because I chose curation randomly just because I thought they'd want to learn about it anyway so that would be an added incentive rather than suddenly making it seem like an impossible mission.

      That'll teach me to get too clever about it. From my perspective it was literally supposed to be a barrier so low that no-one could say no. I didn't need anyone to tell me about curation and if no-one at all had posted I'd have just come here and given it away instead, but I'm glad this happened because it's been really interesting to hear people's different reasons on why I made it too hard to say yes.

      The ironic thing is if someone had posted "will there be any runners up prizes?" I'd have thought it was a good idea and added some extra money to make it more fun.

      But no-one did.

      They just decided not to bother and go do something else.

      It's really interesting.
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      • Profile picture of the author milkyway
        No offense, folks, but I think most of you are missing the point...

        The real prize in this case was not to publish a few lines and (maybe) get 100 bucks, nice as that might be.

        The real prize was to publish a few well thought-out lines, establish a connection to Andy, and get on the radar of at least Dr Mani, and maybe some other interesting people.

        Assuming Andy's work is in any way related to your interests (fair assumption since you're reading his blog):

        The real value? A lot more than $100.

        Cheers,

        Regine
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  • Profile picture of the author masterpeez4py
    i feel you should try and ask questions on how to make money on this forum. there are always answers to questions here. for me making $100 is very easy and can be achived in one day. what! yes try out site flipping and you will be amazed at the results.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrea Wilson
    I am guessing that you advertised your competition to then wrong people. I am thinking of two reasons why only few people participated, one is they forgot to, two is they dont want to. People tend to bookmark, and err..yes forget or maybe they dont want to join because they are afraid to lose unto somebody else. There are people who simply has the mindset that they never wanted to be rejected.

    I hoped im around when you offered the $100, I could have shared it with people who needs it the most. Anyway you were very generous of sharing your blessings.

    Andrea
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  • Profile picture of the author theemperor
    With the $100 instance you were "crowdsourcing" i.e. trying to get dozens of people to do work on the speculation of winning $100. There is even a campaign against this kind of thing in the design industry: http://www.no-spec.com/

    A lot of people don't bother enter free competitions where you just answer a question like "what was the word beginning with c in quotes in my last sentence" for a chance to win $10,000, let alone do some work.

    Perhaps you need to up the stakes!

    As for the silver - well you are again asking people to speculate. It isn't a dead-cert that it would go up in value, even if in your mind you think it is.

    If you want to give away money successfully then this is how it is done:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ey-online.html
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  • Profile picture of the author Glengara
    I entered but never won anything in my life so why should I win this and break the habit of a lifetime
    Signature
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by Glengara View Post

      I entered but never won anything in my life so why should I win this and break the habit of a lifetime
      That's really sad to hear.

      PM me your Paypal address and I'll send you a surprise.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by cosmokid View Post

        with all the screams out there by people who claim to be broke or on the verge of homelessness -- or even actually homeless -- you still can't get them to actually take the tiniest of efforts to change their situation sometimes.

        But a month or two ago a new person came in here with some sob story about how he was looking after his ill grandmother and essential services like utilities and so forth were about to be turned off, and he shared this song and dance about how he was willing to do ANY work online for people, and people were pitching in with suggestions about how he could make money fast. I posted that I would give him $200 to do some simple backlinking for me and he would have the money fast, like, I was even willing to give him half up front. Never heard from him, not within that thread, and not at my email address, and not in private message here.
        Exactly.

        Some people here seem to be missing the point. It wasn't about the 'competition' that was just a label I gave it so that people wouldn't put up barriers to why I was giving the money away (I know most people just won't believe that I was feeling generous and wanted just to give some money to someone who needed it).

        It's a mindset thing.

        What you just said was exactly what I was thinking - some people are desperate for money, so I want to put some out there for them to have. As with my other thread about this - I actually gave away more than I publicly mentioned.

        I just wanted to know who needed money so I could give them some and help them out.

        It wasn't about me.

        It wasn't about 'the competition' etc....

        Focusing on that stuff is missing the point. I didn't actually care about making people 'work' for the money. I actually honestly thought it would be something they'd want to do anyway just because they're IMers and it was something getting recent focus. I guess it was an assumption others couldn't make but I honestly never gave it much thought and just thought it would be a no-brainer for anyone who wanted some easy money.

        I probably also made the incorrect assumption that because I've given money away lots of times before people would realise it was just me doing it again and not read anything more into it.

        I guess that people are a bit more jaded than I realised and also the fact that I've posted many thousands of times here still doesn't mean people won't be sceptical about my offers.

        It's all good though

        Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Hey,

    Maybe if you would increase the prize from $100 to $500, you would get more participation.

    I think maybe you did not get enough people to visit your blog after all.

    Tal
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

      Hey,

      Maybe if you would increase the prize from $100 to $500, you would get more participation.

      I think maybe you did not get enough people to visit your blog after all.

      Tal
      Like I said before - I wasn't actually bothered about 'participation' - I was literally just looking for people to give money to - because I can. It wasn't some marketing thing or a promotion or traffic generation tactic.

      I just felt like giving away $100 to anyone who seemed to want/need it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Wayne
    From what I've seen where I work, it seems like the people that need the money the most are the ones least willing to do something to get it. We've been going through a slow time at work lately, and instead of laying people off they give people the option to go home if there is not much work to do. The people that complain all the time that they need more money are the first ones to leave every time. Just a couple of weeks ago a person asked me if I knew of anyone that was hiring in town, he needed the money and needed to get a second job. But he leaves every time when given the option at work. I see this all the time. Doesn't make much sense to me. But as long as they keep leaving, I'll be able to keep my job so I'm not complaining too much.
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  • Profile picture of the author theemperor
    Oops - you kind of look different in this thread. Did you gel your hair?
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  • Profile picture of the author Dwight Anthony
    Amazing yet true, so many people are getting almost immune to certain marketing messages that they fail to see things of value in black and white.
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