It's Called Work For A Reason!

I, for one, am proud to be able to say that I work from home. That doesn't mean that I press a few buttons, send an email, and all of a sudden there's a Ferrari in the drive way... I mean, that would be great - don't get me wrong, but it just doesn't work that way!

WORKING FROM HOME

I do wonder if I'm only just noticing this now, or if it has been going on for a while and I just ignored it, but we seem to be a breed of 'new age' internet marketers that know what we actually have to do in order to create and sustain a long term online business. I think that it's mostly due to companies like Wealthy Affiliate - and I can't tell you how grateful I am.

If I was ignoring it, it's because I was sold a load of BS about just how online business actually works by 'the gurus', and I think that is sad. What it means to us as genuine internet marketers - if we are teaching people how to do internet marketing - is that the whole 'get rich quick' thing is such a crock.

Does that mean that it's a bit of an uphill battle to convince people of the legitimacy of starting an online business? I think so, but also think that there are ways around this.

WE NEED TO EDUCATE

Because of the 'BS gurus' out there, people think (and I know, because I was one of them) that it's easy to start an online business, and that in essence is quite true. That I wouldn't really have to do any work? That's a completely different story!

I found that I needed to step back and figure out what they were doing, not doing what they were saying they were doing - and then it all made sense to me.

These so-called 'gurus' actually work their butts off. They have to. To figure out a scheme that might work for somewhere around a year, film sales videos, market it with websites, get affiliates to sell it for them - MUST take hard work!! And yet here they are - trying to sell the dream of living on beaches and driving flashy cars doing practically nothing...

THE ONE THING I WISH I KNEW WHEN...

OK, this is a good one. A tactic that I've seen a lot lately and it's because I have quite a few friends asking me about the whole drop shipping thing, is this craze on YouTube where people are saying "I wish I knew this when I started drop shipping" and then they go on to bamboozle folks by 'kinda' showing them the routine, then selling software that 'does it all for you to make it REAL easy' and most folks that are into instant gratification will fall for it.

It's not such a bad idea - on the surface. Sure, if I knew nothing about building websites and sourcing suppliers and getting traffic to the site - whether it's organic or paid traffic - then I'd LOVE someone to do it for me. But the whole thing that really stinks about it is that what they are teaching you to do is NOT what they are doing. And the moment that there's any type of algorithm update, your little software thingy might not work anymore, and you just lost your entire business.

With a little bit of research, I figured out what was happening 'behind the scenes'. You may already know this or you may not, but I thought I'd share it with you in case you haven't noticed it.

THE SHOPIFY METHOD

I think this one is really cheeky. If you don't know how to build an eCommerce store and get traffic to it, then learn how to do it - but don't let someone make it look hard and then pay them a fortune to do it for you.

There are 2 levels to this 'routine' that I've spotted (and if you know more, let me know in the comments below).

• 1. They sell you a 'theory based' video or PDF that explains how to set up Shopify, find a supplier, and then teach you how to do Facebook ads in a very basic way.
  

The problem I see with this is that if you send ads on Facebook to someone who doesn't know who the hell you are, where you came from, and why you are sending them ads in the first place, they are either going to ignore you, or click to look at what you have and then do more research about the product - and probably find it cheaper somewhere else. You have to build a relationship with these people. The number one rule in sales, folks!

• 2. During the 'theory' part of the lesson, you are encouraged to set up a 'free 14 day trial' of a Shopify account using THEIR affiliate link - this is the real kicker...
  

This is where they are really making their money. The over pricing of their course (which if you spent just a little time looking around, you can find all of this info for free) and getting you to sign up to Shopify with their affiliate link. Shopify pays up to $2,000 for a referral (depending on what level the customer may purchase). They're not making it by the method that they teach you, but instead using this method to make the money that they 'show off' to you.

YOU CAN DO IT, JUST BE ETHICAL

Now I'm not saying that referring Shopify is a bad thing, but if you are leaving people high and dry without giving them the full story, then that is a scam in my opinion. Teach them how to do it and teach them right. Be thorough about it. Don't leave anything out. Then you will be establishing trust and if they purchase their Shopify account through your affiliate link, you have truly helped them and they in return will be helping you. This is the real work!

IT'S CALLED WORK FOR A REASON

Can you imagine how much time and effort goes into these types of scams? Imagine what can be achieved if they went about it in an ethical way in the first place. Then they would be doing the world a service - creating value - and receiving rewards in return. Not just a flash in the pan and losing the trust of people all over the world. You would have to at least double your work load having to win back the trust of people. Not particularly efficient.

Think about Wealthy Affiliate for a minute. Why do you think they've been around so long? Why do you think that no one has to run and hide? Because it's LEGIT, that's why!! True value is created by teaching us how to do this whole internet marketing thing properly!! And we can do this too. It just takes work!

The reality is that it's called work for a reason - because you do have to work. There's nothing wrong with that. Just bear in mind that you might have to convince people about this when you are referring them to Wealthy Affiliate. You might just have to warm them up to the fact that they will be busy. Let them know that it can be fun though. Who wouldn't want to sit there day in day out talking about what they love the most?

The 'gurus' have left us with a bit of a mess to clean up, but with some hard work, we can do it!

I know this is a bit of a rant, but let me know your thoughts. I'd love to hear them.

Cheers,

Peter