Beware The Allure of The Internet Marketing Success Story
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It’s day three at the World Internet Summit (WIS) in Melbourne. I’ve sat through four presentations and several mini-presentations. There’s another presentation on right now by Marc Dussault, who is at the head of the Jay Abraham organization in Australia. Marc teaches all things Jay, with the focus on host-beneficiary relationships as a means to create leverage. I’ve seen Marc present before so I can write this blog post for you.
There is a distinct difference between a conference like this one, full of people new to Internet business, and the seminar for Rich Schefren’s clients that I attended in Florida.
The main difference is the type of person that attends. At Rich’s seminar the people there, at least most of them, had businesses and they were looking to setup systems and create freedoms and stability. It was just Rich presenting, teaching how to follow in his footsteps and build a real business online.
Here at the WIS the sensation I sometimes feel is one of trepidation. The networking, as always, is fantastic and I’ve had a chance to talk to many of the speakers and meet some very successful people. That’s always the best part and on that benefit alone I’d recommend you attend conferences whenever you get the chance.
Why I feel the discomfort is because I’m worried about the 90% of people who watch these very successful people get up on stage, present their amazing stories, end with the sales pitch for their do-it-yourself products and buy into it, expecting similar results in a matter of months.
As the presenters openly tell everyone in the audience - most people who go to these events leave and never take enough action to get results. Of those who spend thousands on the packages that each presenter offers, again only a small fraction ever implement enough of what they learn to actually start making money.
The 80/20 principle, as always, is in effect. There will always be a small fraction of the whole that actually take steps to control their destiny, but I can’t help feeling bad for those who don’t, who are in the majority.
With Best Intentions
The presenters have positive intentions and I’m sure they hope that every single person who buys into their story and packages, with their minds and money, eventually achieve some margin of success. They also realize that the majority of people who buy from them, will end up in not much better a position than before they attended the conference.
This is an industry that generates a significant proportion of money from people who get caught up in the emotion of the moment and the potential - the sugar rush, as I like to call it. The presenters are outliers, they are the very rare success stories and make up the top 1% of Internet marketers and online business owners. They make for fantastic motivational figures and people to learn from and replicate, which in an ideal world everyone would do successfully, but the reality is most don’t.
Advice For Newbie Conference Attendees
If you ever get a chance to attend an Internet marketing conference my advice is to do so with a clear intent and purpose and to remain level headed at all times.
You are going to meet and listen to many people generating seven figure incomes online and you will see that when they first started they were not much different from you.
If you find a speaker that really resonates with you, or a money making system that you can actually see yourself implementing, buy just that one product.
Go home, absorb the information and immediately start taking steps to implement. At each roadblock you face seek information and guidance specifically to solve that problem. DO NOT purchase any more information products or new business systems because you are caught up in the potential and apparent ease of making money.
You only need help and should only spend money on seeking solutions to constraints that are keeping you from generating cashflow today. Once you have cashflow you can consider buying products that you might not use immediately, but you use eventually or may hand to an employee to study and implement.
There’s a very big difference when you first start out and have no money. It’s at this point that your self esteem is lowest because you don’t have the experience or the validation that you can make money online yet. It’s at this point grim determination has to carry you forward. Focus on filling gaps that are in your face today, not cool new ways to make money online or information someone else tells you need for success.
You only need to find solutions to what is stopping you right now. Once that constraint is removed, you move on to the next constraint. When you have a system that makes you money, then you have the luxury of financial resources. At this point it’s much easier to justify the purchase of additional information because you know if you find just one tidbit of information you can go home and immediately benefit from it to make more money by applying it to your money making system.
Take this blog for example. It makes money for me. It has an audience. It is an income system.
When I attend a conference like the WIS I can use what I learn immediately to generate more income. In fact I can do so even before I attend the conference by promoting the event as an affiliate. It’s only because I’ve spent a consistent two years taking action and focusing on building this one asset that I have the potential to immediately make money from what I learn.
Focus, Intention and Action
Don’t look at this article as a reason not to attend a conference, consider it advice on creating the right attitude and mindset to gain the most from the conference, without maxing out your credit card. Beware the emotional allure of the sugar rush potential and focus on your reason for being there.
Yaro Starak
Wandering The Conference
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[...] and spent a few thousand dollars on a training package they probably won’t open (remember - beware the sugar rush!). These events are full of new beginners month after month. As with any growing market, there are [...]
I agree with you on this. I talked to a few people who were just starting out and many were totally baffled. The sales pitches seemed to work though. I bet this made you more motivated to get your own product out?
I am bit disappointed as no-one talked about blogging or creating a content-rich site.
I attended the WIS in Singapore a few months ago and agree with what you said. There were a few presentations whereby there was a mad rush by the audience to sign up for the “advanced training”.
There was one guy who even signed up for ALL the packages and maxed out all his cards.
A cool head is required at times, especially for newbies.
A thoughful, unbiased post as always, Yaro. Many thanks for that.
I understand your discomfort that around 90% of people who hear speakers at events like the one discussed may expect sudden results - however I do think it is appropriate to question why this is the case.
Many people who start an Internet business or are looking to start an Internet business are in it for the quick buck. But to be really succesful on the Internet or to market your offline business succesfully on the Internet, you must be prepared to invest a significant amount of time and effort in learning how to harness the power of this modern marketing medium.
I’d argue that the majority of people who beleive that there is quick cash to be made online would instead be investing their hard earned cash in network marketing schemes if the Internet didn’t exist - so I don’t feel that they are necessarily being dragged in a direction that they wouldn’t go by themselves.
I share your feeling about the importance of focus, but I’d also emplore to anyone starting out to have a long hard thing about business strategy. Although the Internet evolves all the time, a strong strategy is still a necessity.
Bringing the conversation back to people who are looking for instant results, these tend to be people who don’t want to spend their time thinking about business strategy. And I can’t bring myself to feel too sorry for people who start out before they have a direction!
The ’sugar rush’ is an excellent phrase, and its what many copywriters are seeking to achieve - attention, interest, desire … and action. The person who maxed out their credit cards will make a copywriter very happy.
Its interesting that on the web its the words that create this rush. So you can see the effect occurring even without the heady atmosphere of a conference - no doubt a conference contributes a lot of social evidence as well.
Great writing Yaro.
Hi Yaro, i am new to your blog and was very fascinated with your posts.
i feel that these conferences are quite ideal for understanding the constructs used by these few and successful people, more than the products that they sell (atleast for starters). As what makes an expert manager is not his effeciency but more his experience to internalize the externalities.
Well written Yaro and I feel your discomfort - lots of starry eyes at these events, you can almost see the focus is all over the place with every new offer.
And David (commenter #3): 100% spot on. It’s those seeking the “get rich quick” that will get burnt, whereas those putting in the hard yards now and want to be in business for the next 5, 10 years will be the ones who succeed.
I don’t see this business as a sprint, but rather as a marathon and your “Focus, Intention and Action” line, Yaro, pretty much hits the spot on nearly every level.
Well said Yaro. Unfortunately, the presenters will only tell you of their successes and never boast of their failures, but their success is a direct result of their perseverance, ingenuity and most importantly their failures. They are only successful because they have failed so many times. Though I believe their attendance would drop if they started telling you how many times they have failed.
Thanks everyone for their comments.
In some ways I feel it’s almost a “right-of-passage” for people to go through the discovery phase, investing in products that they never actually implement, but certainly learn from. You have to earn your stripes by “wasting” money on resale rights packages, website templates and all the other programs available that lure the uninitiated.
Once you get past that you emerge wiser and ready to build a business with a real strategy.
Mike - yes, I would have loved to have seen a blogging presentation, but then again I’m glad there wasn’t one since it means that I might be able to one day fill that gap.
Darren Rowse was off speaking at the underground seminar in the USA, which might have been why he wasn’t there talking about blogging for money at WIS.
Sorry too Mike that we didn’t get a chance to talk after that brief moment I had with you before running off. I saw you walk by once but that was the only other time I saw you. I hope everything is going well with your blogs and property etc.
WHY would you want that?
A seminar on how to blog???
I’m sure ALL of us have noticed the same salescopy, the same products, the same website design.
A BUSINESS IS MORE about selling a product, its about providing an experience, building a brand - and ultimately giving back to the people who got you there in the first place.
Can you imagine if everyone went to the same school, dressed the same, talked the same?
How boring would that be?
Because, guys, ITS HAPPENING on the internet.
A blog is a representation of your personality, and providing information people can use.
I come to this blog, NOT only because I like the posts (I can relate to them), but becuase of the information that I can pick up, and use.
THAT IS HOW YOU become successful.
You don’t need a seminar on that - just common sense.
I also agree with David Bain - And maybe I’ve said this same thing before:
If I were to open up a business (brick and mortar type) - DO I just jump in? NO, you have a strategy, you make relationships, you provide a product/service that fills a niche - OR maybe its just a killer brand that will drive people in droves (think starbucks).
I am new to the internet marketing/creating a web business. BUt what I DO know is that even if your business is online - you still have to go through all the same steps as a brick and mortar type, except you do a different approach to each step (ie instead of advertising direct mail, you launch a google adword campaign).
A lot of people skip these (VERY crucial) steps - because all they see is the dollar sign of people making money online.
And that is understandable, because to go online, you can basically rely on a shoestring budget. So, there is an allure to all this.
The reason why I can relate to this, is because I teach people at the stock market. And, I SEE THE exact same characteristics with people who want to make ‘quick’ money in the stock market.
It just doesn’t work that way.
Kunal - A blogging seminar would be very popular. Think about some of the most popular blogs on how to make money blogging and blogging tips etc.
People are hungry for advice so they can make blogging a work at home job. Most bloggers have trouble building traffic and making money from the traffic they have, so I’d say a blogging seminar or at least a speaker about blogs would go down very well.
Remember too just because you feel you know the answer doesn’t mean everyone else does.
Haha!
Yaro.
I don’t know the answer, by any means! Im just the new kid on the block!
No no, thats not what I meant - I’m more curious than anything else.
Do you mean you wanted to know the different types of ways to make money? Ie - I just found out about ReviewMe - and some people are just racking in the dough - you’re on ReviewMe I noticed. Then, theres text link ads. Then there’s this, then there’s that…
I wish there was just a huge list of different programs going on right now.
But then, I would imagine that the best programs are the ones that everyone has heard of - becuase of the traffic they generate, they can compensate the advertiser.
Ie Text links ads are huge right now, but I just heard about those guys at Shoemoney making some affiliate program for ebay. See, thats new - and Im sure its not mainstream as yet. Heck, I hardly even know about it.
Maybe thats what you mean…
Did I come across as too sure? My bad!
Or maybe, my take on things is more contradictory to mainstream - while people want to learn more and more and more (and gosh, there is a lot out there), that sometimes, we forget to see what we are capable of.
Kunal - there are new programs released all the time for making money with blogs/sites and if you are plugged into the community you generally hear about them eventually.
Most people don’t spend time in the community though since they have jobs and lives to lead, so stumbling across something like text link ads can be very beneficial for them.
There are always newbies entering the market, that will never change.
Hi Yaro, Great post. What you said is so true - people fail in business because they do not take action.
The problem is that products such as the Secret DVD influence people to think that they just need to want something and it will happen.
I’m not knocking the DVD - I thought it presented old ideas in a very interesting way, but I think it failed to impress on people that thoughts can only become things, if you also take out the necessary action to make them happen.
The sugar rush! what a terrific analogy for what I saw last night in Melbourne after Stephen Pierce’s event. Great content for free and a big price ticket at the end. The line up afterwards was an event in itself. My first time on this blog today while browsing ofr more info on Pierce and Yaro’s comments are insightful and refreshing for a newbie with a site and no experience in marketing it. I think time spent on this site alone will be productive. Thanks Yaro.