The Best Advice For 'Making Money Online'..

25 replies
Hey,

I've been online since 1996... and I've been making a full time living online for a few years. I run my Internet business from my laptop whilst I travel the world (at this very minute I'm in Koh Samui, Thailand).

One of my favourite marketers is Seth Godin, everything he puts out is pure awesome...

He just posted a blog post containing some of the very best advice for people new to this game - I wish I'd read it many years back..

I've a lurker on the Warrior Forum for a while and I think it's worth a few Warriors reading..

1.The first step is to stop Googling things like, "how to make money online." Not because you shouldn't want to make money online, but because the stuff you're going to find by doing that is going to help you lose money online. Sort of like asking a casino owner how to make money in Vegas...

2. Don't pay anyone for simple and proven instructions on how to achieve this goal. In particular, don't pay anyone to teach you how to write or sell manuals or ebooks about how to make money online.

3. Get rich slow.

4. Focus on the scarce resource online: attention. If you try to invent a way to take cheap attention and turn it into cash, you will fail. The attention you want isn't cheap, it's difficult to get via SEO and it rarely scales. Instead, figure out how to earn expensive attention.

5. In addition to attention, focus on trust. Trust is even more scarce than attention.

6. Don't worry so much about the 'online' part. Instead, figure out how to create value. The online part will take care of itself.

7. Don't quit your day job. Start evenings and weekends and figure it out with small failures.

8. Build a public reputation. A good one, and be sure that you deserve it, and that it will hold up to scrutiny.

9. Obsessively specialize. No niche is too small if it's yours.

10. Connect the disconnected.

11. Lead.

12. Build an online legacy that increases in value daily.

13. Make money offline. If you can figure out how to create value face to face, it's a lot easier to figure out how to do the same digitally. The web isn't magic, it's merely efficient.

14. Become the best in the world at something that people value. Easier said than done, worth more than you might think.

15. Hang out with people who aren't looking for shortcuts. Learn from them.

16. Fail. Fail often and fail cheaply. This is the very best gift the web has given to people who want to bootstrap their way into a new business.

17. Make money in the small and then relentlessly scale.

18. Don't chase yesterday's online fad.

19. Think big, act with intention and don't get bogged down in personalities. If it's not on your agenda, why are you wasting time on it?

20. Learn. Ceaselessly. Learn to code, to write persuasively, to understand new technologies, to bring out the best in your team, to find underused resources and to spot patterns.

21. This is not a zero sum game. The more you add to your community, the bigger your piece gets.

I've bolded the ones I think are the most important but seriously all of this should be followed! It's complete gold!

You like?

And of course, the original link:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_b...ey-online.html
#advice #making #money #online
  • Profile picture of the author jamesb8484
    Great advice, thanks for sharing. Always learning something new everyday but thats how it should be.
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  • Profile picture of the author jthom804
    I agree 100%. Good advice. Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Another point of advice to people wanting to make money online is to forget about making money online and focus on helping others. When you do that you are forced to go into a market you know something about.

    Then, apply what you learn in internet marketing into your niche... It's quite simple if people would just stop thinking about money and starting thinking about how their knowledge could actually help others.

    When you help others the money will follow.

    If I were to sit down with someone just starting out the best advice I would give them is go into a niche you have knowledge in and if you want to OWN that niche start following a successful internet marketer and apply the exact things he is doing in the IM space to your own market.

    As a quick example.. the post directly above me here (Hey they deleted it) happens to be Elizabeth Swell. Her website is about Cleaning Services. Very nice website by the way.

    If I were to talk with her briefly I would say STOP cleaning those houses and put your IM skills to work and teach other cleaning services how to market their business offline and online to get more clients.

    Another example is Joe Polish... his main business is teaching carpet cleaners how to get more clients. He also has a successful marketing company Piranha Marketing. Joe started his business by first being the guy cleaning the carpets.

    See what I mean?
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  • Profile picture of the author marcuslim
    All very good points. I especially like 16 - fail often and fail cheaply. It is important to know that you will fail, but the key is to fail as fast as you can so you can succeed as fast as you can.
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  • Profile picture of the author PhilJensen
    Originally Posted by Joe Motion View Post

    Hey,

    18. Don't chase yesterday's online fad.
    Sooooooooo important...great list.

    Phil
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  • Profile picture of the author TelZilla
    Thanks for sharing this list. Just what I was looking for to help a friend interested in starting a business online.
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    Don't get so wrapped up in making money that you forget the important things in life.
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  • Profile picture of the author satrap
    While I have lost of respect for seth godin, I disagree with number one. I hate to say it, but I mean, you have to start from somewhere. This is exactly how I stared. I started searching Google for "how to make money online" about 6-7 years ago and after a few years I was making (and still am) making a full time income on the Internet.

    I understand his point (yeah, most :how to make moeny online" gurus actually make money by "teaching" you how to make money online.

    But, if you are careful enough and are like me (dont like to spend money to make money) you will find out that everything you need to learn how to make money online can be found online for free. You just have to spend some time and do your research.

    Then it becomes all about taking action and doing the work. There is no other way around it. No push button. It takes work to make money online just as it does offline.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve2129
      Thanks for posting - great advice. I don't actually make any money online - would like to but not sure of the best way how...plus I'm still too busy trying to make money offline!

      Great addition to the original article:
      Originally Posted by satrap View Post

      It takes work to make money online just as it does offline.
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  • Profile picture of the author enterscope
    Definitely no shortcuts to success - great post!
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  • Profile picture of the author imgeek2727
    Hey Joe, if you want to do something really awesome around Koh Samui, I suggest you take the ferrie out to Koh Tao and join up with a diving school there. It's probably the cheapest place in the world to do it and it's amazing how tranquil the island is compared to it's neighbours, won't last for long either.

    But on a more relevant note. I couldn't agree with those tips more. Really solid advice.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jackson Tan
    Thanks Joe for sharing this! Yeah.. Don't look for shortcuts... And I must remember not to quit my job before getting rich slow

    Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author kayfrank
    Yes I like this. Especially "get rich slow" lol

    How true. Go slow and you will have a successful business in the future rather than "here one minute and gone the next"
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  • Profile picture of the author joomseller09
    One of the advice is Get rich slow. Yet I see many threads in WF talking about how to make money fast. I never trust anyone saying that you can make money fast. Money does not grow on tree!

    Anyway, thank you for the advices. The one I like the most is
    "Learn. Ceaselessly. Learn to code, to write persuasively, to understand new technologies, to bring out the best in your team, to find underused resources and to spot patterns."
    I'm very new to marketing online and I have tons of thing to learn. This encouraged me a lot!
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  • Profile picture of the author Big Al
    Lots of quality tips there...

    My favourite is Obsessively specialize. No niche is too small if it's yours..

    Thanks for sharing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kate C
    Thanks for sharing. One of the keys to success is generosity. You will build some awesome relationships with people you help and they will buy from you because they trust you.
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  • Profile picture of the author MartinM93
    Great share , i will take all of your comments on board ..thanks again
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  • Profile picture of the author Melvin San Miguel
    totally agree with you there... like never ask a casino manager how to make money in Vegas and its all about creating value.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tanya E
    These are some great tips. There is no substitute to making money online contrary to what many would think.
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    ...
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  • Profile picture of the author mosthost
    Tiny little soundbite morsels. They don't mean crap but they're smooth going down. LOL.

    I mean is "get rich slow" really advice?
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  • Profile picture of the author prismkuet
    Probably the most searched topic in online is "How to make money online"!
    When I passed long time searching that, I really found nothing from where I could start! When I started, I started with a dream to be millionaire within a year! My feelings are also same, if I got these points then!!
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  • Profile picture of the author prismkuet
    Probably the most searched topic in online is "How to make money online"!
    When I passed long time searching that, I really found nothing from where I could start! When I started, I started with a dream to be millionaire within a year! My feelings are also same, if I got these points then!!
    Signature

    check out the Pros and Cons of CPA

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6540888].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author TimPiazza
    Seth Godin makes much more sense than "my easy-to-follow plan that will have you earning $500 a day from hundreds of customers in seven days".

    Get rich slow is great advice because it takes the polish off the apple and gets you to pay attention to the rest of the apple. Inexperienced people often see dollar signs and don't see the work that goes into making those dollar signs.

    I realized last night that I am not in the business of transferring other people's money to my bank account. I am in the business of gratitude. People want to pay me because I help them solve problems that hinder their own success. That might not be the fast road to riches, but it is the road to a rich life.
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  • Profile picture of the author tomm1
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    I started a business using the website goresellers.com
    Goresellers.com - Low cost domain names, domain transfers,
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    in this Business.
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