IM is destroying the internet..

So very true! Too many people are so focused on using all the right sales techniques and emotional triggers etc that they forget about providing decent content.

The real money is in repeat customers so if you have to use Jedi mind tricks to make someone buy your stuff then you need to seriously question the quality of your content.

Thanks Ben, Im not alone lol..

One good indicator for passion I suppose:

If you didn't receive any financial reward for your endeavours, would you still write about that topic?

People wanted to make money and you can't blame them. And there's always newbies who can make mistake in any given time by trying most of these methods without realizing the outcome. You can't ask the same question to most of old IMers....

There is a thread somewhere here about "selling build muscle products" but he is not muscular. Can we blame him?

I agree with you that passion should come first but what if your passion can't give you what you want?

That's called capitalism. People want to maximize return on invested time.

Nail. Head. Hit.

I like to believe that long term success depends on dedication to your topic as well as using the right techniques.

Then again?

I'd be lying if I said I had never been tempted by the lure of quick success. That's a tantalizing prospect in any economy and much more so in todays economy.

Regardless of your niche it is critical to find your passion. My passions are writing and teaching, and that's what I do now.

That's not to say I'll never again be tempted by the promise of quick riches.

Can I just say that is one of the most sensible and observant posts I've seen from an IM beginner/lurker for a long time.

Of course you don't HAVE to know about your niche, but it helps. The mistake most people make is in thinking they can throw up a **** site, full of **** content and expect it to earn money.

If you don't know anything about your niche - research it. Ask yourself what information YOU would want to make you engage with it. Do some more research. Find other sites in your niche and ask yourself which ones you like and why, which ones you don't like and why. Then do some more research.

Wait a minute... I thought porn was destroying the internet? Har! Har!

That said, I think it's a generalizing statement to say that internet marketing is destroying the internet. There are far larger companies with vast resources that you could say are actually destroying it.

Now that said (and to get slightly back on topic here), I would say YES, those that create crap-o-matic sites with crap-o-matic content are definitely not providing any value to their site visitors. Destroying the internet? I wouldn't go THAT far with it, but to each his own.

What always amazes me is how many people set out to start a niche website in a topic they have absolutely NO interest in and then wonder why they don't get conversions. Of course your not going to make any money... because your content is vague, uninspired and truly awful.

Boot-strapping your idea into implementation is one thing, but when your trying to do that with "phoned-in" content, you're not really doing yourself any favors. There is a reason some businesses are called "fly-by-nights!" It's because what they offer is such crap they can't stick around long enough to get any feedback.

Niche sites have their place, just like niche businesses exist in the offline world. But like in any business, those who are professional get professional results--while those running the crap-o-matic machines get craptastic results.

Just my two cents. Now where is my gumball?!

BP

Destroying the Internet is a bit strong, but I agree with the theme of the OP. Fortunately, there are stops along the way to prevent crapola from dominating the Internet. You only have to read and the woeful, crybaby threads here to see that it is a short term proposition:

1. Google ate my baby
2. Google tanked my site
3. Youtube banned all 20,000 of my videos
4. Facebook shut me down
5. Adsense banned me
6. Adwords banned me
7. Hubpages screwed me
8. Squidoo hates me
9. Pinterest changed it's algorithm so I can't get 2,000 images on the front page anymore
10. Ebay sucks
11. Paypal is holding 10M of my money hostage
12. and on and on and on.

Would have to entirely agree as it seems to be a 'follow the herd' mentality. Of course this is in the main part due to so much hype, false promises, and misrepresentation within the IM industry. As has been pointed out thousands of times before on WF, whilst there is a limitless supply of newbies who are sucked in by the christmas tree styled attraction of online, make money promises, then there will always be mavericks, shysters and opportunists who will profit from them.

I've got to the stage where I'm also fed up of this remorseless 'what is the best niche' type of posting and will refrain from replying in future. Yesterday was another example.

There's far too big an influx into IM who want to make it off the back of other marketeers success stories and ideas. Almost all industries require a great level of experience before hitting the top rung of the ladder. A joiner serves an apprenticeship, an accountant passes qualifications, a pilot sits training courses . . . etc, . . . and all take a LONG time. Unfortunately, individuality and a steady learning curve appears to no longer matter to most who are new to IM. Making a fast £ or $ does.

Incidentally OP, if you are UK based would be interested in talking regarding Photoshop projects.


.

I'm pretty sure Google is trying to prevent this, that's why they're crushing all crappy content.

I absolutely agree with you, which is why I always advice newbies to start their IM career in a niche they're personally passionate about, regardless of whether it's a "hot" niche or not. In fact, there's money to be made from ANY niche, and your passion, drive and motivation about your niche often becomes the crucial difference between a "bleh" site and an awesome site.

SurrealPSD, write from your heart if you feel it, I'll writte thinking on my heart and thinking in $, both

And not destroying anything at all

destroying seems to be abit extreme.. ahaz.

I just have to say as a newbie myself.. i have to start from somewhere.. I might be deeply interested or knowledgeable in certain areas.. but if it does not make money, will i still be doing it for passion? YES, then i dun think it counts as IM..

since you are doing for your interest and if it does make money, it is a bonus.

Your primary motivation for doing it would be different.

My 2 cents~

People are trying to make quick money and that is the problem.... But we have to admit it that if there is competition there will be good out come...

So I appreciate this trend

Hi,
You are absolutely right but problem with niche marketing is that only few niches are thos what you can monetize. Let's understand it with an example.

Let's say I am passionate about skiing. Now according to you I should create a website about ski-ing. The problem is very few people on Internet buy something related to Skiing online. So it would be hard for me to sell anything or make any money.

Rather if I create a website about forex and as you know it is a billion dollar industry I will have more chance of making money.

Internet marketing and any other business for this matter has only one purpose. And that is to make you money. So if a business doesn't accomplish this goal then it is useless pursuing no matter how much Pleasure it gives you.

Money is the target with affiliate sites; You really need to appeal to the readers emotions if you want to sell anything.. It's business!

Agreed. It's amazing to me how many people come on these forums and ask "what niche is most profitable" or "what niches should I target"?

I mean, really?

How about targeting niches that you actually know something about maybe? Just a thought.

Come on folks. Stop pretending to be an expert on something you obviously know nothing about. Trust me, it shows through in your writing/videos. Stick with stuff you know (or are at least interested in) and you'll have much more fun and will be far more productive.

You are not an expert on back acne, okay?

Google is catching on to autoblogs and all that kind of crap. It is all about QUALITY! So writing top quality blog posts is the future of SEO. Keep updating and write quality. I keep hearing people moan about how they were making so much money off their adsense crappy site and got slapped by Google. WELL Google finally caught onto the crap and ignored those spinners

"Real" IM is not destroying the internet. Hustlers are destroying the internet.

My definition of a hustler in IM is someone who is constantly trying to game systems. They hear about the "next big thing" and join the swarm of other hustlers as the descend upon it. Once it dries up, they swarm on the next thing.

The hustlers are also those who spend so much time on SEO "tactics" that they never give a thought to the content.

A true IMer understands that techniques may change, but principles do not. They understand the concept of providing value.

The irony is that the hustlers think they have outsmarted us, but the reality is that hustlers always need to hustle, and they have to work a lot harder (but definitely not smarter).

All the best,
Michael

Great post!

Too many folks are looking for a quick buck without providing any REAL value. I have many niche sites but I only write about things I am passionate about. I know there's plenty of money to be made in the weight loss niche but it's not something I know or care about. When you write about your passion the content is a breeze...

Just my 2 cents.

No sure that I agree that IM is killing the internet, it's a bit like saying marketing is killing the real world. The truth is that without marketing or IM consumers don't buy. If they don't buy then jobs aren't created. If jobs aren't created then people don't have a job, if they don't have a job then they don't spend money, if they don't spend money then government don't collect taxes, if government don't collect taxes then we can't pay for all the things in society that we cherish. I completely agree that the good IM people create products that are unique and of high value, but the truth is that IM is important whatever it promotes but for me I would prefer to stick with unique articles that I'm passionate about......

In many ways, IM is helping the Net. There's a number of sites that were created with the intention of making money, while providing things people want or need.

If someone feels that IM is hurting the Net, the best thing to do is to create something worthwhile, instead of complaining.

IMO, rants, flames, and complaints hurt the Net more than IM. The Net gives people a platform to be heard and so many use it to do nothing but fight and complain.

I wonder if the guy that started a plumbing business did so because he had a passion for unclogging toilets? Did the maid start her business because she wanted to clean other people's messes since she was a child?

I always suggest that people do what they are passionate about, but on the other hand, I am glad that some people go where the money is, because I don't know how to fix a water heater.

lol from what I can tell IM and AM are the internet. I don't think you would have to many sites if it weren't for us. seriously.

Do people have passions - yes
Do passions pay the bills all the time - no.
If you ask me if the world stopped being zombies then you may see more folks doing what their passionate about and making a living off it, but as long as people only desire certain niches, passion has to come second.

I would say do both. Make the money first and do your passion as well, that's the balance.

Good point by OP.

Did not read all the replies here, about half of them, so not sure if anybody mentioned this :

Making sales will be easier if you really know your subject matter. If your blog is about Sailing, then you should know about Sailing (or hire a writer who knows about it).

Your blog will be much more credible.

The only way I have experienced profits with crappy spun content is with adsense or other similar contextual type ads (adbrite, kontera, infolinks, etc.) The visitors sometimes will click on those ads, just to escape the crappy content on the blog..

Good thread here.

I think what you mentioned is more the difference between web design and web marketing. From my experience you see a very different trend between the two, between the online marketing forums and the web design forums. Normally most web designers struggle with the monetization of their websites, while on the other hand, online marketers struggle with the design of their websites.

Normally most web designers construct their concept from their own personal interests, yet very few are able to profit from their idea. While many marketers on the other had construct their concept from their drive to profit. However, many marketers struggle in order to bring that concept above just a money making scheme. The people who tend to succeed, are those people who are not only able to develop a unique idea or concept, but also able to handle both the web design and the web marketing side of things.

Totally agree!

So true!

I write articles and I noticed most people have no idea what they want. They just dive straight into something for pure profits and unfortunately profits are exactly what they don't see. Half the time people come to me, they just want an article, but they have no idea what subject they want me to write on. This then reflects badly on them and their product or service.

If people sat back and thought a little bit more about their online "business" the same way they would about an offline "business" we wouldn't see so much bull on the web.

But too the same effect if people didn't buy crap others wouldn't sell it.

If I ever get sucked into buying something that is not what it is made out to be or simply just crap, i'll ask for a refund and never ever purchase something from that person or business ever again.

Unfortunately some people are only too willing to go around shouting how good the product was they just purchased in the hope they can make some connections with the seller for personal gain, think it's "good" because it's cheap or are simply just too ignorant to understand that what they purchased is pure crap.

I recently purchased an pdf ebook product from a MMO (make money online) seller just the other day -that the seller was making it out to be the bees knees method for making money online and was flogging it off as some forgotten secret of the Internet when all it was in a nut shell was "Sell stuff on eBay" unfortunately he filled up about 20 pages with images and how some people have made money on eBay...

...now if he had have been open and honest and said he was selling an eBay course, I would not have purchased and there would have never been a problem, because I was not interested in eBay methods. And im sure people interested in eBay methods would have been delighted.

That's akin to me walking into a store and some smooth talking person showing me a black box giving me a bit of razzle dazzle and telling me I will be so impressed with the cooking effects of his mystery product, I sit back and scratch my head but he's such a good salesman he convinces me to buy it, I get home open the box and find he sold me a toaster!

As I say, if people sat back and considered what they are doing a little more carefully online in terms of their "business" and stop being so anxious to "make money" we would all be better off.

</End RANT!>

We live in a not-so-perfect world and the internet just like the TV and radio could show some good things and bad things. But we can't blame IM entirely and say that it's destroying the internet. It's up to us to show good judgment and discern if what we're putting out there is a good thing or a bad thing. It's really up to us...

Exactly right. But if they don't provide decent content, people will see it and they will fall. People are getting smarter and smarter about this.

Yes, it's true. Agree with what your saying.

The internet is a communication machine. What people use it for is to connect and communicate with other people who are interested in the same stuff as them. Sure, you can just plop some information down and it might be useful to them. But it's not AS GOOD as if you can really make a connection. That's why I recommend to people that you write stuff that you actually care about. Stuff that you are interested in researching in order to write about it. Stuff that you get enthusiastic about when you explain it to people. Otherwise, you end up just barfing out mediocre crap. Sure, sometimes you can get SEO rankings and traffic with that. But it won't last forever. A user will always prefer interesting content from interesting people.

Don't sweat it too much, Google is getting better and better at rewarding the real stuff and down-ranking the BS.

when oyu have WSO's asnd other sellers telling peole to create sites/products on niches they know nothing about...you wonder where it will end. The fact a bin man can come across as a heart disease prevention expert is very scary!

You should work for Google! Seriously though, that's exactly what is being forced on people more and more as Google finds better ways to spot and slap the nonsense.

You are right, it's better to write about something you are truly into. It's much easier to come up with good content if you are in a niche you love. You also enjoy the work hours much more because it actually loses the "work" aspect of it.