Newbie?? This Little Mistake Will Get You Burned Every Single Time! Seriously, Stop This Now!!!

Very true, only a small percentage of people are successful online. I remember when I was new to the Internet how naive I was. I believed almost anything I heard. You wise up really fast as time goes on.

I've never liked the idea of comparing peoples earnings with ones own, specially in IM when it is so easy to be discouraged. At the end of the day ,we should have it at the back of our minds that it is possible to earn a decent living through internet marketing. I think the main reason people ask others incomes is because they want to believe that it is indeed possible to earn a substantial amount in this profession. I don't know if it's more accurate asking them directly or trying to figure it out on your own!

Like the old saying:

"If it sounds too good to be true... It probably isn't"

But what can we do? It's in our DNA: We're creatures that learn by their mistakes.

If someone advice you, you're like "Oh.... Good to know, maybe I'm going to remember that"
But if you made a mistake, you're like "D*mn!! I'm never going to do this again"

So true. On the flip side ..... learning how to get past the question of how much do you make is one of the most important things you can learn and teach other newbies. It's almost irrelevant how much someone else makes because.... maybe you will learn to make more

I am new to this marketing online and what you said makes perfect sense. I never thought that there was so much involved in starting an e-commerce website. I could add a point to your message. Beware of people talking up a good story. It's really not about the story, it's about what they tell you what it costs for their services. Learn to say 'no'.

I agree and disagree.

It can be useful to know that earning $10k a month or $50k a month is possible. Without that knowledge a newbie may give up thinking "oh well everyone is just earning $300 a month on silly adsense sites". Hearing high earning stories from ordinary people is very motivating.

On the other side of the argument yes a newbie shouldn't be too concerned with what others are making and just conentrate on taking action.

And I agree that you should never buy from someone based on an income claim, but instead based on the value they are offering.

And it is good no to get too hung up on what others are making.

However I find that ocassionally dipping into a thread where people share what they are making online is useful and encouraging. It keeps me going!

There are plenty of people who are genuinely making money online, and aren't lying when they say so, but the newbies tend to gravitate towards promises of making $x,xxx in under 24 hours with the push of a button... the very claims that are the least likely to be true.

I agree with you 100%.

My Grandfather used to say "Don't speak about it, be about it", so I grew up measuring actions and not words. Another things newbie have to realize is that while $1000 per day is possible for a select few, there are plenty of people making good a IM living with only $200 per day. And while $200/day doesn't sound glamorous it's still 73K per year which isn't bad.

It's been my experience that those who scream the loudest often say the least. And those who are bringing in $1000's of dollars per day are not broadcasting exact figures.

I disagree as well, at least with the no-asking-how-much-you-make bit.

It's really motivating to people to know that John Doe is making this much a month, but even more motivating to know that he started exactly where you did, in the same place you are at right now. Well, not the exact same place, but you get my drift. Because if you know who he was and where he came from and what made him succeed, then the same can be possible for you too.

And while knowing the benefits of the systems are great, you want to know that it will indeed be profitable for you, even if you made a tenth of what he claims he did.

Furthermore, even though big financial claims shouldn't be dwellled over, reading about small successes in forums like these encourage people. Things like, "First Sale!", "First Subscriber!", "First $100 Day!" prove that success isn't measured in the flashy dollar signs, but the milestones it took to get to them. With all the hypy sales pages, it's no wonder people automatically expect a dollar amount earned by a system, but at some point they need to be grounded too.

My comment has two parts. On one hand, I totally agree that you should not measure the person according to his/her income. Sometimes people have amazing system and that is what matter. After all, they may need just a little tweak and they would skyrocket. But on the other hand, I would never get into IM if I was not sure that it's possible to make money.

So I would show newbies that it is possible by presenting some big names and tell them that the big names were exactly where they are at the beginning. But I would not ask the middle range IM about their income. Maybe they are just working on something big that requires a lot of effort and it doesn't represent their income. In that stage the system is more important.

WOW! This is a great thread... Thank you all for coming out and sharing! This is what it is all about! Showing people different ways to look at things and craft a decision for themselves.

It is perfectly fine to encourage yourself by seeking out successful people and looking at the stories they share!

Now actually asking someone how much they make could be setting yourself up for failure!

My thing is, you shouldn't have to ask! There should be enough evidence in place to go along with the information they volunteer to make a proper judgement on if this is a viable means of income.

Mind you 97% of people that are in this game are not reaching "their own ideal" level of success! So that's saying 9 out of 10 people you meet in your path is not doing much if anything at all!

Just be careful who you take your information from is my advice! :-)

Thanks again everybody... :-)

Hey, nik0, thanks for the mention!

We've been posting monthly income reports over the last year. I think we mainly do this for 3 reasons:

1. Motivates others - We're told often how exciting it is to follow our income reports.
2. Extremely popular - They're some of the most popular posts on our blog, even though they tend to die out as the next one comes along!
3. Keeps us accountable - In addition to stating our income, I also get a chance to think back as to what we're doing well, what we're not doing well, etc...and putting it all out there publicly.

While we're extremely open about our revenue and where it comes from it could, ultimately, be completely fake. (It's not, I promise! hehe) There's no way you can ever know for sure.

I think it's great to look at income reports...but then you have to look at the details they put out about what they're doing and see if they really do have business "chops" or not. If they hide the "secrets" about how they make their money behind a paid product or membership...keep that in mind before getting involved, IMO.

By the way, I've been chatting a bit with a guy who's rolling up many of the online income reports you might want to check out...pretty cool stuff:
Monthly Income Report

Good thread

I'd add that if someone does start talking about how much they make, don't start imagining that amount in your pocket. Presume that they lost a lot of money at the beginning before they even got into profit, that they may even be in debt overall, that the stated amount is revenue and not profit, and that the amount of profit left over is subject to tax.

Then picture that person spending 16 hours a day at their computer!

Frank

Good point! It's best to measure your own progress instead of looking at others in my opinion. Although it may help inspire you and fuel your work.

I think there is no problem to ask. The problem is if you believe all the answers you get.

Hey, if you had magic software that made you $1,000's overnight while you sleep would you let anyone else have it? The claims that people make on those squeeze pages is laughable.

Good advice, it is very difficult to figure out if people are telling the truth or not when it comes to earnings.

we have to stop chasing after shiny object and be laser focus and take MASSIVE action. this is the hardest part.

each time someone says "newbie" i get sensitive, i thought they are talking about me.

lol