Who Makes More Money – Authors, Bloggers or Internet Marketers?
I suspect after reading the headline of this article one of the first things that crossed your mind is how can I possibly distinguish the difference between an author, blogger and Internet marketer?
Nowadays most published authors have blogs, and bloggers use Internet marketing techniques and write books too. Internet marketers also publish books and use blogs, so how can we determine the difference?
In this case rather than look at the person, who can easily encompass all three of the personas we are talking about, let’s look instead at the different mediums themselves and how effective they are as money making techniques.
In other words, can you make more money publishing a book, or writing a blog or selling things online as an Internet marketer?
Why Ask This Question?
I was thinking today while reading an article – a good article – on a blog how the ideas within the content where also present in two other mediums – inside a popular print book and a course I studied, which was a recording of a live event by an Internet marketer.
The blog article was given away for free. The print book probably costs about $10 now since it’s not new, while the live event cost $10,000 to attend and the recordings I studied were at least $2,000.
The blogger in this situation was basically summarizing and filtering some information he read in the book. The author is an expert on the subject who had no doubt spent years accumulating the knowledge and experience to produce the title. The Internet marketer who ran the event had read the book too, and included the most important points, again filtered for his audience, in the live event.
Three different people, all using the same information and getting paid vastly different amounts for it. This prompted me to wonder, which person would I rather be – the blogger, the author or the Internet marketer?
Let’s Focus On The Money
How To Make Money Teaching People How To Make Money
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…
The Truth About Membership Sites
I’ve read a lot of articles about membership sites at other blogs and websites. Many people who write in the online marketing space jump on the bandwagon and talk about the benefits of owning some kind of subscription based income stream. They point out the obvious, such as recursive income, the stability and significant money that can be made with only a few members.
Unfortunately, nearly every person I’ve seen write about running membership sites has never actually owned a profitable one. Despite how good the model is, most people never get off their butts and actually launch a membership site, or if they do, their site fails because there’s a fatal flaw in their execution or strategy. I find it hypocritical that people can “teach” how to make money with a membership site never having actually done so themselves.
I agree with what people say about membership sites, even if they make statements without having the experience of running one. They are not necessarily wrong, they are just repeating what others have said, so it’s hard to have faith in them as experts. Without proof, how can you really know about something?
I say the same things about membership sites that other people do; they are the best online business model I know of. The difference of course, is that I own two membership sites and have conducted many different types of membership site launches. There’s no greater insight gained about how to do something than actually doing it, so I’m in a position to pass on some real “insider” information about this subject.
Today I want to clarify something that has bothered me about other people’s commentary about the membership site model, especially from people who have never actually run such a site.
The Reality About Membership Sites
How To Make Money Online
I was at the World Internet Summit (WIS) a couple of Sundays ago when it was held on the Gold Coast, an hours drive away from Brisbane (my home), on the coast of Australia.
Brett McFall, co-host of the WIS, was up on stage doing the last formal presentation of the event. During his presentation he had a diagram of what he does to make money online in its simplest form.
All subjects have a macro and micro view, that is a view from the very top, the “big picture”, and the micro view, which looks at all the tiny elements that go together to make up the big picture.
You can drill down most subjects to a near-infinite number of micro views, taking each element and breaking it down to its components and then doing it again to those elements. This can repeat until you hit base elements, at least according to science (metaphysics can take you a little further, but let’s not go there now).
Internet marketing is no different and Brett’s diagram of what the macro view of what he does inspired this blog post. I’m going to break down how Internet marketing works in it’s simplest form, so you know how people make money online.
Ready?
Here it is…
I drew this diagram myself, so you better be impressed.
Step 1: Squeeze Page
Step 2: Email Follow-up
Step 3: Sales Page
This essentially is the macro view of a typical conversion process that makes people millions of dollars from the Internet every single day. I woke up today to a $497 sale of my Blog Mastermind course, which was generated by this exact process.
Obviously there is a lot more to actually making this work, so it’s necessary to add to the picture somewhat, and there are also many derivatives of the process. In its simplest form, this is all you need to understand and if you can grasp this, you have the keys to making a ton of money online.
Let’s Break It Down A Little Bit
How Not To Approach A Potential Joint Venture Partner
Let me state an obvious fact about Internet marketing:
Joint ventures (JVs) are the quickest and most effective way to make a lot of sales and/or bring in a ton of targeted leads.
The reason this is the case is fairly obvious. You get someone who already has access to and a relationship with a large audience, who then recommend your product. The combination of distribution and trust, two of the most critical factors for online success, makes this marketing method hard to beat.
The only thing that beats a good JV is an internal promotion where you personally have distribution and trust, in which case the connection between you and the product itself is seamless – because it’s your product you are recommending – there is no disconnect in the mind of the audience, like there is with a JV or affiliate promotion.
Unfortunately building your own audience and establishing trust with them takes time, so if you are in a hurry, going the JV route is the best option. It’s also the quickest method to expand reach, so this is a technique you simply have to get on top of if you want to really explode your business online.
How Not To Approach People
I’m approached every week by people looking for me to promote their products. I’ve also been rejected more often than I’ve had success with my own JV approaches, so I know what works and what doesn’t from both sides of the relationship.
I often receive template emails suggesting I promote a product, which I delete before reading beyond the first paragraph. Other approaches come from genuine people, who appear on the surface to have a great product and are sincere in their intentions, yet unfortunately this approach usually fails too.
So what exactly does it take to convince someone to promote for you? Let’s take a look at the dos and don’ts of seeking joint ventures.
