One might say “it comes with the turf.” I’m referring to the number of people who contact me begging for miracles. I might have a fondness for children’s magic and I might be active in my local church, but I’ve never claimed to be a mysterious holder of magic dust that, when sprinkled on any website, instantly transforms it from the bottom of the rubbish pile (rank 241,967 in Google) to the top of the charts at #1.
And then come the tears … and the showing of the empty pockets with only little bitty pieces of lint remaining … and then the stories. After a while, they all sound the same.
Jon’s a real estate agent. He’s been selling houses in the Houston, TX region for years. He’s done well … in the past, that is. Just after he purchased a vacation home, a third vehicle (sports car) and sent his oldest off to college, the economy hit … hard. His clients’ homes sat on the market, growing stale with each passing month. His phone sat still on the desk, ringing only when a hopeful seller called him to check on nonexistent leads. Jon got desperate.
So, he browsed the web. People had always told him that there was good money to be made instantly online. A neighbor of his worked from home running a successful ecommerce business. Everytime Jon saw his neighbor walk out to check the mailbox wearing his pajamas at noon, Jon would drool. Oh to have a simple life like that when money was plentiful and up for the taking.
As Jon browsed the web, he came across some incredible money making deals on the web. For just a minimal start up investment of $399, he could have his own ecommerce website. He’d never have to stock anything–all the products would be dropped shipped directly from the company to his shopper’s door. What a bargain! The ad copy on the page he raced through shouted testimonial after testimonial, all from ecommerce owners who posed beside flashy new cars holding giant checks in the six figure range. Without a moment to lose, Jon pulled out his credit card and fell for the deal, checking agreement boxes left and right, accepting the automatic monthly fees of $99 that would be billed perpetually to his card forever. He was on his way to wealth.
Within 72 hours, his new ecommerce website was live. The site was simple, rather plain–possibly even ugly. But the others had made their fortunes from this, and he reassured himself that his photo would soon grace that same company page.
He messed around with his new site for a month. He learned how to adjust prices. He learned how to check (several times a day) the number of hits coming into his site. He soon realized that on days he forgot to check the number of hits there were few if any hits recorded for that day. Jon waited and waited for the money to come in, but nothing happened.
Some friends of his in his office mentioned advertising. Jon decided to try a Google Adwords account. It took him almost a full day to figure out how to get the ads working, but he had nothing else to do. His phone still sat quiet. Unsure of how much to spend each day, he decided $5 should do it and targeted the words “shopping,” “home decorating,” and a few other words he figured people would be looking for. The minimum bid required by Google was $0.50 per click so he accepted that.
Every hour, he eagerly checked his website for hits. Barely anything. Then he’d check his Google Adwords account but not a single click.
He’d heard about search engine optimization, but he wondered if it could really work. So, he searched Google for “quote for SEO” and pulled up SozoFirm.com. After browsing briefly through the website, he submited a request for a bid proposal. And, you probably know the rest of the story.
I can’t say that I’m proud to decline prospective client after client who is in this sort of situation; however, I would much rather be completely up front and honest with someone than take them for a ride knowing the realistic odds of turning such a site into a profit making model is slim if even that.
Yes, some people do become wealthy through being affiliates. And, yes, there are some who can turn an affiliate modeled, drop shipment based ecommerce site and generate a hefty income. However, for each one who is profitable, I would venture to speculate that there are dozens and dozens who fall to the wayside. Typically, with these kinds of internet businesses, the ones who end up floating with the dough are the ones whose products are being promoted and the company who is doing the drop shipping (and selling the affiliate programs). If company A can persuade you to pay them (up front fee plus monthly fees) to sell their products at inflated prices, then they’ve got some kind of marketing program going on!
I strongly caution anyone who is seeking to “make it big” through an internet based business (or any kind of business, for that matter) to realize that a lasting, profitable business requires work (lots of it) and investment (lots of that, too). Contrary to what you see posted all over the web, a profitable business doesn’t just fall into everyone’s laps. You have to work your tail off to establish it.
If you plan to begin an internet based business, develop your own products or services to sell. Build your own ecommerce store which sells specialty products or custom crafted items that you make. Then we’d be glad to talk to you and see what we can do to help.
