Teaching how to “make money online” is one of the most lucrative niches to be in as an Internet marketer, however most people who attempt to profit from this niche do not.
Some people consider making money by teaching how to make money essentially a scam. I mean if you know a system of how to make money, why not just use that system rather than sell it? That smells fishy right? Umm, no, I find that logic quite silly. Why not make money using your system AND teaching it.
So, why can a small minority of people earn big in the Internet marketing industry and the majority fail miserably? Is the make money online niche only full of scammers or those who just got lucky?
As someone who has been making money in this niche for years – and I’ve certainly climbed the ladder over time – I’m in a pretty good position to explain the subtle elements that people new to Internet marketing won’t see.
Where Most People Go Wrong
Let’s start with some common mistakes that people make when attempting to profit from teaching others how to make money…
1. You sell people products about and attempt to teach how to make money when you’ve never made money yourself.
This might seem obvious, but for those people who can only see the dollar signs and not reality, understand that credibility is a big part in converting a sale.
You don’t go to a doctor who just decided one day to open a surgery having never studied or practiced medicine, so why do you think people will give you money to learn something from you that you’ve never done or have very limited success in?
There are a few people out there, especially affiliate marketers who’ve never done anything but promote how to make money products, who can enter the make money online niche and do well, but that’s because they have a skill (traffic generation and conversion), which can be applied across any market.
It’s very likely that anyone today who has made good money in the Internet marketing niche has earned money in other niches before or still do. If you’re currently running a blog that just promotes how to make money products and that’s your strategy for striking it rich, it’s time to face reality and try a different angle.
2. You’re planning on chronicling your journey to make money through blogging and thus profit from the audience you build.
I’m certainly partially to blame for people following this path, as are guys like John Chow, who rose to fame using the phrase “I make money online by telling people how I make money online“.
I’ve had numerous people go through my blog training programs and begin the with the idea of starting a blog on how to make money. The thought process usually goes something like this…
“I want to make money online, but I don’t know what niche to run with”.
“I know, I’ll start by experimenting, and write down my results to my blog and build an audience that way”.
“As a worst case scenario, I’ll be able make money from my blog”.
That theory looks good on paper but most people have a fatal flaw in their execution.
They key to making money by writing about your journey to make money is that you absolutely must take action and try different systems and methods to make money, and then report back real results to your audience.
For example, try Pay Per Click advertising (PPC) to sell affiliate products and hopefully make at least a few hundred dollars in sales, so then you have a great little case study to report back to your blog. People want to know how to make a couple of hundred dollars from PPC, so explaining how you do it is valuable content.
What usually happens is people realize how hard it is just to do the experiments. Reaching the point where you profit from the experiments is tough enough. Adding a commitment to write about the experience as well for little to no immediate return – that’s beyond most people.
The fact is, unless you already have experience actually profiting from a business it will be very hard to build an audience by talking about how to make money on a blog. That’s why my blog, and the few similar blogs to my own will likely remain at the top. Many contenders have come and gone, and most come to the realization they just don’t have the energy to run their business AND write about it too.
3. Believing that if you make enough blog posts promoting affiliate products eventually you have to strike it rich.
This really is a newbie mistake, but it’s so common I need to point out how futile it is so you don’t make the same mistake.
If your blog only features promotions for products you will never build an audience that trusts you. Why buy from someone who keeps asking for money and never gives anything.
This is actually a huge problem in our niche, which, for the smart marketers is a golden opportunity.
It’s fair to say that the average consumer who goes looking to purchase something that purports to teach them how to make money – a business opportunity – is pretty skeptical. Down right jaded is a better label. These people are petrified of being ripped off and because so many people sell junk online using copy from the hype-machine, as an Internet marketer you have to work extra hard to build credibility.
The opportunity is to stand out from the crowd and build a sustainable business simply by not attempting to steal every penny from an unsuspecting newbie, and instead actually help them with genuine support.
If someone gets burnt once, then comes to you and very cautiously makes a decision, buys your product or a product you recommend, and then has a positive experience, you have generated some very powerful goodwill. Being an honest person in a sea of sharks and hucksters is a HUGE advantage, assuming you can figure out a way to create that perception.
How You Can Profit Selling In Internet Marketing Niche
The key to profiting in the make money online niche is to focus on credibility, authenticity, trust, quality information based on practical experience and sheer consistency.
Most people fail on one or several of those criteria and thus struggle to stand out as anything more than yet another person attempting to steal an unsuspecting newbie’s money and then run away.
The next key criteria, assuming you can adhere to the criteria of credibility is to find your unique positioning in the market. It’s very hard to just teach “internet marketing” and unless you find something you can specialize in, it will be hard to build a sustainable business.
In a sea of also-rans, anyone with a clear point of differentiation, a unique market positioning and a specialized area of expertise, wins. Here’s how you can be a winner -
1. Find a Sub-Niche
Most marketers who make good money teaching how to make money, even at the very top level, have some key point of differentiation, which essentially is just a sub-niche of the overall “Internet marketing” category. Here are some examples of the people I learned from and consider peers and mentors and the sub-niches they focus on –
- Jeff Walker is know for product launches
- Alex Mandossian – Teleseminars
- John Reese – Traffic Generation
- Rich Schefren – Business Systemization
- Mike Filsaime – Viral Marketing
- Perry Marshall – Pay Per Click
- John Carlton – Copywriting
These guys are some of the celebs in our market. If you drill down and take a look at any smaller success stories, the less well known Internet marketers, who every day are making good money in the Internet marketing niche, they still have some form of specialty.
They might focus on email list building, or pay per click, or affiliate marketing, or copywriting or conversion or lead generation or any countless parts of the overall industry. Each person has a focus that distinguishes them in the mind of their customers as the best solution to a specific problem they suffer from.
You can even go deeper than this, with some marketers taking one specialty and applying it directly to a geographic location (Sydney copywriting) or specific type of customer (pay per click for mortgage brokers) or a combination of these elements.
One of the most successful formulas I’ve seen applied well is to become the local specialist for a type of small business in your community and help them market online. Your angle might be to focus on retail stores of a certain type (say antique shops) and help them set up an eBay marketing campaign to sell their goods.
This formula of taking offline businesses online can be done in so many markets and in many ways, and is a fantastic entry strategy for any person who knows at least the basics of Internet marketing. Or, if you can become very good at one thing, for example SEO, you can make as much money practicing your craft as you do teaching it, or more.
2. Ride the Wave of a New Evolution
Specializing is vital for success, but sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can’t find your spot in the Internet marketing landscape. If that is a frustration you have experienced, you might consider leveraging the emergence of a new form of online marketing and become proficient enough in it to be one of the first experts.
My own story becoming a blog trainer is one such example of riding the wave of a new evolution. While I’m not the first blogger, nor the most prolific or the most popular, I was one of the very first to sell an information product that teaches how to make money blogging.
It helped of course that I spent time to build a blog that made money, which leveraged my earlier life experiences in business. I had the sense to realize there was an opportunity there that I could take and become one of the first to establish positioning as a blogging expert.
I also happened to be one of the only bloggers who focused on Internet marketing, so again I leveraged what had worked for thousands of other marketers and applied it to my area – blogging – which was something that few bloggers did, or even do still today.
In more recent time the example of Maria Andros springs to mind as a person who was able to ride the wave of another evolution, this time video and social media marketing, establish herself as one of the most credible experts and – here’s the key part – released a product to cement her position.
Maria had the sense to know she was in the right place at the right time and there was a market she could dominate. She took action, branded herself appropriately and then went after a market. Maria now has very little quality competition, at least in the perception of the marketplace.
3. Stay One Step Ahead of your Target Market
One key concept that I’ve had to remind my students of time and time again, especially if they are attempting to brand themselves as an expert, is to realize that you only need to be one step ahead of your target market.
You can teach how to make money if you know how to do something that a large enough group of people don’t know and would benefit knowing. As long as you are good at one thing there will always be a stream of people new to your topic who need to learn what you know.
If you combine the previous points about building trust, finding a sub-niche or riding a new wave of opportunity, and stay one step ahead of the people you sell to, you are set, even in the highly competitive and highly lucrative how to make money online marketplace.
Making Sense Vs. Making Dollars
Everything I’ve outlined in this article makes sense. It’s clear and you should be able to get your head around the concepts I’m teaching. Unfortunately most people fail to execute and thus fail to profit.
Although this article is about how to make money teaching others how to make money, the rules apply just as well to other markets.
Every market is at a different stage of its development cycle and some will have more competition than others. The current relationship between supply (the number of quality competitors in the market you are in) vs demand (the amount of money you can potentially make from customers) will dictate how much effort you need to put in place in order to make money (I promise you, there will be effort required!).
My advice to you is to get out there and experiment until you find your place in the industry. There is enough room for everyone who provides value. It doesn’t matter if you think you face too much competition, it’s not the competition that will stop you from succeeding, it’s your ability to leverage the advice I’ve outline in this article and carve out your position in the market by delivering value to a specific segment of people, that will dictate your success.
Good luck, and remember the golden rule to making money in any marketplace: The more people you help, the more money you make.
Yaro Starak
Blogging Expert
Good stuff. I’ve noticed way too many blogs on blogging that just don’t know what they’re talking about. Most just recycle what pro’s such as yourself, Darren, and a few others discuss on their blogs. I hate seeing bloggers who never owned a blog blogging about making money blogging when they never made a dime. I like the part about making sense vs making money. Build a readership, spread good content and persevere and you shall have yourself a solid blog. Then when that’s going for you then it’s time to monetize. Thanks again. Cheers Yaro!
Hey Yaro, Awesome valuable point in finding Sub-Niche, as l was reading your post and you recommended finding building partnership with others or another in your Sub-Niche.
l couldn’t help to come to mind the very successful offline partnership between Shell Petrol Stations and Coles, Shell really done there home work ! l think considering Shell was going through a bad patch in terms of trust after all the negative press over the environmental issues that concerned them.
They have done great masterminding homework to develop a great marriage with Coles in terms discounting and up-selling on the back-end using Coles talent in the wholesaling and combing that with there speciality been petrol, l wonder how many business marriages (sub-niche partnerships) like this can be completed by the end of 2009 ?
It seems like there is a million bloggers out there all trying to sell there get rich scheme. I have even seen an infomercial about it.
Damn, that’s a lot of info. Nice to see a blog where the author really puts time and thought into a post. You really brought up some good points as I often do wonder why some people don’t practice what they preach. You really need to make sure that you are telling people that are doing both.
Waw. Did my email with critical questions inspired you to write this article?
I’m impressed.
Cheers,
Johan
Great message. Sensible & sound advice. Your comments about “staying one step ahead of your target market” (mine is persons thinking about – or in the process of – starting their own small business) reminds me not to get too advanced in my posts or articles. It also reminds me that I don’t have to know how to be a master of all subjects myself. All I have to do is point my readers to experts like yourself to get the advanced help they need. Thanks.
Yaro,
Great post! I like what you mentioned about the sub niches. I would have to agree that I didn’t focus my blog on a particular sub niche from the beginning but over the last several months I’ve adjusting to a more focused niche.
It’s also true to say that if you’re willing to do what others are not willing to do you may be able to gain that edge that most bloggers in a particular niche are not willing to do.
Thanks, keep the great content coming.
I agree with you Yaro, we need to establish our credibility before we can be called experts. People can definitely see right through us. They know when we are genuine or not.
This is a great article, Yaro! It all makes a lot of sense. I’ve just begun teaching people how to make money online, and I agree that it’s really important that I, myself, have used, and better yet, profited from, the methods I’m teaching. Thanks for a great read!
Brenon MacLaury
Hi Yaro,
Excellent post, as I am new to blogging I have a lot to learn, which I am doing at a great speed thanks to you and Gideon. Keep up the good work.
Best regards,
Harpal
Great Post Yaro,
On the money mate, I like your points about being Credible in the area that you choose to blog on (or regular website). Yaro intially ran a couple other smaller sites that made money- this builds up his experience at being successful on line.
I couldn’t imagine talking about something at length that I knew very little about- If you going to talk the talk you have to walk the talk too! You have to back it up. It is like getting advice on how to lose weight (I’m a personal trainer) from someone that is a little fat! No I want to the trainer to have a six pack and be able to show me how they got it and how they can get one!
That trainer has knowledge from experience not just information- any one can get information; it not worth anything unless you test and commit to it- then you will have knowledge on a subject.
I have a small on-line business (1 year old) and is making a modest profit (about 20k) but I’m in no position to be some oracle on making money on-line-YET!
I have written 20 000 words on my next projects- Golf Fitness and Losing body fat why this these topics? because i have been a pro golfer and I fitness trainer ( a lean one!) for the past 13 years.
I’m not doing a blog either, as I know bugger all about blogging (i will have a members only blog/forum) and may do a blog in years to come but the time is not right just yet.
Like yaro said do stuff that your passionate about and that you have credentials in.
If your successful at that you can sell the process later on your ”how to”- Andrew and Darryl Grant have done that: they built there credibility by selling US$250,000 of E books in the first year- now that gives them credibility- now they make millions every year because they teach now how they did it-cause they are now experts.
My promo video which will send people to my new site is building those credentials- it 1. shows that I can hit the golf ball well and 2. Show that I’m in shape and walks the talk on health anf fitness- sooo I practice what I preach. site not buit yet but video is up (but not tagged as i don’t want people going to a site that is not up)- credentials= http://www.youtube.com/apgolffitness2 This is not a plug it is just showing what I’m talking about.
Keep learning and…..IF YOU BUILD IT (credentials) THEY WILL COME!
Great post Yaro
AP
This is a really great article with lots of good tips – thanks for the information. One thing I’m wondering though, what would you consider a good balance between just info and more selling-related info?
I’m writing a lot of posts/articles where I do give good content, but then at the bottom suggest a product on this topic. Is making a product suggestion at the end or at some point of most posts too much?
It’s something I’ve been questioning quite a bit as I’ve been doing my writing.
“It doesn’t matter if you think you face too much competition.” That’s key. There is no such thing as a saturated market, just gotta bull your way into them and take your share. The most saturated markets are so saturated because they are so profitable.
Making a lot of money online is hard, and is a full time job. That’s why 99% of people fail.
I do believe that there’s money in the internet. Internet marketing is very “rampant” that spread virally all over the world through internet. With combine knowledge in business and computer technical aspect you can earn money using the power of your fingertips.
Hi,
So many ways to make money from internet, some maybe scam, some aren’t. I depend on you to choose wisely. And focus to one way until you got some money for rest of your life.
Hey Yaro,
very cool post.
Most marketers just jump into the IM
world without having a clue about it.
The topic you have touched upon is
in fact the reason why someone
who is starting an online business always should
look for a mentor first(proper one)
Igor
Great post Yaro!
What I really like about this blog is that the posts are also good. People focus on the bright side of things: they say thank you or share an experience.
I’ve read posts on a Hungarian blog and almoust 70-80% from comments were very offending and negative. The same people comment on the blog every time but they have nothing nice to say. Incredible. How do you ” soften ” these blog readers?
The blog I mentioned is also about makeing money and the editor sometimes goes to USA on a seminar, then comes home and writes about stuff he learned there, but makes it sound like he invented the whole thing.
Julia
Great post very informative and useful information you can act upon. Yaro you practice what you teach and you certainly give first without attempting to sell your excellent products What is a bonus is the amount of comments and the added live info resulting from these that are also useful
Thanks for sharing
Charles
Yaro, great post. When I first began scouting money making opportunities online, blogging was one of the things on the list. I had far more success with freelance writing and so blogging took a backseat. I have been reading your blog for more than a year now. In fact initially I would not even feel confident enough to leave a comment, but have come a long way from then.
Over the last year I have experimented with a number of options and have finally narrowed down to my niche. It is still a blog under construction, but when I do finally launch it I must say, it was in no small measure thanks to the advise I got from your blog.
The best way to make money online is to teach others how to make money online. 99.999% of the world population still does not know about Yaro Starak… And there is nothing called “THE TOP”. It is all a relative measure.
You can teach people to make money online unless you already are.
Yaro,this is an owesome article at the right time.Ever before now, i had been researching on how i can maximize the full opportunity potentials of my blog on online gold trading which i started late last year;But this article of yours have answer vitually all my questions.Thanks!
Although i’m totally new to blogging but i have tried all possible means to educate myself and choose my passionate niche which is Precious Metals (gold/silver bullion and coin).
Once again,thanks for this wonderful post Yaro,Its came at the right time.
My Blog:-http://GoldTutorNg.com
can’t**
This needs to be read by all the guys writing on this subject. There are so many out there that it is now an overkill.
Hello Sir Yaro ^^ i am looking forward to be joining in your coaching program. ^^
im still saving money for that but for the mean time, im learning a lot through your free report.
Thank you so much sir. However i got something noticed ^^ this is not important though but ive noticed it haha lol.. your twittercounter is not updated hahaha.. i noticed it ^^
I know that you are very busy and twittercounter is not that important but if you have time sir update it ^^. Goodluck and Godbless. Keep inspiring us ^^
Yaro i agree with your if you discover a system that is making money for the best thing to do teach peopel how to make money from the system while you also continue to make money from it
Hi Yaro
As usual, a great common sense approach from Yaro that always seems to be diferent from everyone else i.e. so called ‘Gurus’, and delivered in a very sensible, straight forward manner.
Yaro – You definitely have a way with words!
The ‘make money’ brigade seems to me to be like a ‘lot of headless chickens’ running around in ever decreasing circles – and getting absolutely nowhere for most people.
I got off the ‘magic roundabout’ and set up my own site in my niche and feel a hell of a lot better for it!
So Yaro – Tell it like it is
regards
Graham in UK
Your Message
Yaro,
Great timing with this article. I’ve been working on setting up a classified ad on eBay for the purpose of building my list by giving away a “blueprint” book on starting an online business. I was concerned about the fact that I haven’t reached “guru” status and how that would affect my credibility. I do have 30+ years of Sales/Marketing experience and provide online services to offline businesses. I believe that my experience is more extensive than most newbies just starting out.
My plan is to provide good educational content and the right tools to do the job. i.e. software, videos, ebooks, etc. My autoresponder is set up to provide the content with links to my products and affiliate products. I’m holding off on starting a log until I see how the response to this plan.
Keep the good stuff coming.
Mike,
My sense of successful online marketers is that they are successful marketers first, and online a distant second. Something that isn’t often discussed.
For example, if I were foolish enough to let Frank Kern into my home, it’s a pretty good bet I’m going to buy *something* he’s selling. (Which is why I’m very careful about NOT reading list, etc.
Nothing at all against Frank, he’s just that good. He’d be a top salesman if he were selling vacuum cleaners door to door. The internet just gives him profound leverage.
In summary, if you’re good offline, you’re path to success online is likely to be much shorter than technogeeks like me.
Thanks for the great post Yaro, it really made me reassess my intention surrounding my own blog. I will focus on delivering value and make money in my other niches. Thank you for the wonderful content that you deliver on your blog.
Anne
Hi Yaro
Absolutely right.. I have seen many newbies launch into a ‘make money online’ frenzy..I was also talking to a web designer friend who thought it was all a scam, I guess MLM is to blame.
Jerry
Hi Yaro,
I am just starting out learning marketing and feel really fortunate to have come across your article. It is going to save me a lot of headaches and wasted time. This is a terrific article full of great information
Well said Yaro. Of course preaching to the choir for me, but love having the little reminder of why I am doing what I’m doing from time to time, so thanks!
For those getting started, take this article to heart and apply what you learned. Don’t fall off the edge of the world and then wonder why nothing happened. Its all about you and your passion. Execute and stay focused one step ahead of your target market.
Interesting thoughts on the IM niche Yaro. There is definitely a lot of money in teaching others how to make money. And I like reading about it from you because you aren’t the typical “used car salesman” that so many of the IM guys are.
You deserve your success because of your good principles in what is sometimes a pretty dodgy industry.
All the best to you.
Hi Yaro,
I was wondering if I could print out this article because I get a “Oops! 404 File Not Found.” I think I had an earlier circumstance with the article on June 19, 2009. I want to print out these articles for reference in the future.
Thank you for your cooperation and the valuable advice.
Rick
Hi Yaro,
Thanks for this article, I have lost sooooo much money trying to be an affiliate of these make money ebooks etc. Its the adverts on google, I just can’t stop clicking them and signing up to stupid things. I swear its some sort of disorder. he he
Really great post Yaro!
You always provide valuable information. The sub-niche recommendation really leads in the right direction. Most importantly, as you’ve pointed out many times, take action.
The lack of taking action is where most fail.
Thanks for all you do.
Thanks I think this is a great article.
A point of clarification. If consistency is important it would mean that it is not possible to make money quickly. If credibility is more important it would mean that it is possible to make money quickly.
I would like to know if you think one is more important than the other (and if so which). Or whether you think it isn’t quite this simple.
One of the first things I check when I visit a blog for the first time is how long that person has been posting to the blog. If I see only two or three months of posts (on an Internet marketing blog) then I leave immediately.
If I see a lot of dates in the archive but only one or two posts per month, I’ll most likely leave as well.
I want a blog that has been around for a while and has at least good weekly content. Anything else smells like a marketer who is just out to take my money.
That’s my opinion anyway.
-David
I agree, finding a niche is important and allows room for growth while the general area gets saturated. Very few “get rich” actually made money in the niche.
“They key to making money by writing about your journey to make money is that you absolutely must take action and try different systems and methods to make money, and then report back real results to your audience. ”
The few that do make money know that the “hour a day” is a bunch of bull.
Have to agree with some of the comment above a lot of blogs like the rest of the web are now spam or marketting exercises.. The content needs to be long term specific and good if i am to return
Yaro – your post reads some what like a page right out of How to Win Friends and Influence People – Essentially, If you help enough people get what they want in life – then you will get what you want – The secret is figuring out how to do this on a massive scale and do it daily-
You are a tremendous writer/blogger – Keep up the Good Works and I know you will get what you want/need out of life -
Reason #1 is golden — How could you possibly teach something you know nothing about!!!
concentrate to what you desire and work consistently towards it, you will find success in one day. Thanks for your teaching course:)
Great post Yaro, although I’m left wondering why you had ‘how to make money’ twice in your post’s title. It doesn’t read sensibly, so is there really something I’m not getting…
I thing the best way is to log the journey for making money online as you mention. But by just creating a blog and sitting down is not a journey. As you said, running PPC campaigns, writting articles etc. And provide the results as a report to the readers. I strongly beleive that people can make money from making money niche as long as they are patient enough. However, showing people how to make money without making money is bit ridiculous.
I am presently making a french blog about how to make money (excuse my english i am a simple frecn
) . But it’s not a way to tell people, yeah I made money and I am a liar who gonna teach you something. It’s a manner to tell people, that ok i knew some success but I’m gonna teach you the several informations you have to know to grow fast. Juridical, economic, marketing, psychologic informations and others, and ok if i make money with my blog, thanks to God, but the one who want to make money must have an open mind: blog, book, work, wages, black money (in french we say “argent au noir” to talk about money we don’t declare to the tax authority). That the only thing I have to stay. For the rest, good article, well done!
This is an excellent post. Your knowledge and your caring for people shows here. Give good service, show people what you yourself have done, and help them see what they can do. I am looking into blogging and you have given me much to think about before I jump in. I am looking forward to the journey.
Yaro
I have recently been working on just such a blog. Using information that I have gathered through experience for the past year and a half. I am going to have to bookmark this and come back often to review it as I continue to piece my efforts together. Thank You for this!
CouldB
That’s definitely true! Most of the people who claims that they teach people how to make money with a system, but they never made money from the system, it sounds like fishy. I think this post will be more on telling beginner how to success in affiliate program or product selling, right? Anyway, I’ll be following your further post and I hope to step in to affiliate program. Thanks Yaro for great post!
-Davis-
Great post. I am consistently impressed with the quality of your content. Useful, concise and not jammed full of “sell me this crap” that I don’t want.. Thanks again for posting with substance.
It’s a bit ironic but it’s definitely true. It is a very lucrative niche to get into. I have seen many people fall into category number 1. If you are not making money, then how can you expect to sell the product. You are right about the importance of supply and demand … very important concept.
till then,
Jean
This is a good niche to get your hands into. Building trust isn’t easy, but if you do you may can offer a great guide to make money online. I would suggest offering something that actually works. Great point on this article though….a real thinker!