The evolution of my work online has taken many twists and turns. I’ve worked in corporate IT, small business, and even an ISP and web host. I’ve worked online for 15 years now, and I’ve been blogging off and on for 8 or 9. This blog is now just about 2 1/2 years old – and I started it kind of as an online journal of sorts to document my journey of making money online. When I started this site the title originally was “JTPratt’s Blogging Mistakes”, because I was documenting my anticipated multiple failures blogging and trying to make money blogging – anticipating that I would eventually succeed.
This path has been great for learning about all the different ways to make money online. I can’t count the number of “research binges” I went on trying to learn different techniques for monetization. I read about Adsense for days (weeks even). I was obsessed with niche stores for over a year. It was the same with affiliate stores and affiliate marketing. If you look back through my archive of posts you’ll see all the things that I wrote about are an outline documenting this journey.
Because of the path I’ve taken, I’ve read a lot of blogs and reviewed tons of products. I’ve also answered thousands of comments and emails from clients, bloggers, and other online marketers. I’m realizing more and more that my blog is a hybrid. It brings me business (clients), income (products I recommend and review), AND it also brings me a lot of garbage. People looking for an online “get rich quick” scheme, people looking for shortcuts, people that actually believe that for $39 they can buy software to get to #1 in google and hit it big – or people that think that they can hire me for $200 to build them an auto-pilot web site that will make them thousands+.
Look, if it sounds too good to be true – it is. If I had software that made thousands – why would I sell it to anyone? If I could make you a web site that makes thousands+ for $200 – why wouldn’t I just make myself 100 of them and move to the Bahamas? P.T. Barnum said – “There’s a sucker born every minute…”, and it’s so true. But on the other hand, I have to ponder – WHY DO I attract people that ask these kinds of questions? I know a lot of online “GURUS” that would welcome this kind of traffic because they know they could profit from it. Then again, just because you have enough sales skill to be able to take two $20 bills out of the purse of a soccer mom who believe she can “blog her way to financial freedom” doesn’t make you a “GURU”. It makes you shady. No better than a snake oil salesman, slimy – and on the same level as a televangelist. The ability you have is the sales skill to extract money from someone based on emotion and an outcome they want to hear, rather than honest ethical talk about how hard it is to succeed online. You could have a mansion and 3 Ferrari’s from this kind of marketing – I’m sorry, you’re still scummy. Nothing better than an online con-man.
My goal is to do as much “sticky marketing” as I can in 2010. I am going to surround myself with successful people, and build a network of contacts that are the best in the business. I will learn from honest marketers that are banking on the success of their knowledge, and not profiting by selling products that are more “get rick quick” schemes than actual successful systems. If your 2010 is to be successful – you have to ask yourself the same questions, who are you surrounded by? Who’s in your network? What kind of marketing tactics are you using?
I have to say 2009 was GREAT for my consulting business, and I have attracted many great new networking relationships, partners, and clients because of the kind of blogger I’ve been. I think with some trial and error (and more sticky marketing), I can attract more quality content in the future. I’ll be blogging a lot more about this concept, and hopefully you’ve already subscribed to my RSS feed, so you don’t miss a thing.
Well said! This is the exact reason why I’m sticking around. A no-nonsense approach to what works without the hype. I will not hesitate to consult you when I need help with WordPress!
JT,
You are a man of principle and integrity..Your advice is from the heart… You have helped so many people without knowing it… If 2009 was GREAT I can see 2010 will be FANTASTIC for you..
I applaud you for your ethics! You’re right, there are a number of unscrupulous people surfing the web that are willing to do anything for money, and it’s sad. I truly believe in karma. If your “prosperity” is earned in a dishonest way then your prosperity will be short lived or you won’t enjoy it nearly as much if you had done otherwise!
.-= Darvin @ Ionic Air Purifiers´s last blog ..HEPA Air Purifiers =-.
This is an absolutely profound statement. Not that we haven’t heard before “if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is”. I’m just sick and tired of seeing every internet marketer offering to sell his or her secret formula and guarantee you can make a ton of money by working 5 minutes per day or some crazy statement like that. And guess what, it’ll only cost you $47 or $197 or $1997. I get 2 – 3 emails per day from one self-proclaimed guru offering up apprenticeships with him. It’s about $2000 to sign up. But you better sign up quickly because spots are filling up fast! What’s strange is I get those emails every single day for months on end. He must have 100,000 openings! I heard he also offers a bridge for sale if you’re interested 🙂
Certainly there are some IMers that are honest and do sell a fine product. But just be careful about what you put down hard earned money for. Always do your research before you buy.
John is exceptional. The information he’s got available on his website for free is worth thousands of dollars. Some of it you could spend days on end researching online. Much of it is from his personal knowledge that you would never find. The only way to get it is by being in the trenches. And he’s been there.
I am one of John’s interns – and I can say he is without a doubt a breath of fresh air when it comes to internet marketing. He’s genuinely interested in helping other people. One of my favorite sayings is “those who can do, those who can’t teach”. For most of the internet marketing gurus I think this holds true. John and a few others are the exception to that rule. They certainly can do and have proven they do. But they can also teach – and they do by giving out tons of free information that so many others would be more than happy to sell.
I think that you are a good man with a good heart and establish the relationship in subsequent interactions. I think now a days people are using cheap means to make money through Internet marketing. This should be checked at a level. Aside from that I would just like to say that I find your writing style entertaining. I do not very often add blogs to my list of regular read, but I have made note of yours!