Bloggers – Internet Marketers Against Internet Marketing

April 22nd, 2008 | 12 comments

Bloggers against Internet Marketing This post is probably going to piss alot of people off. But hopefully I’ll be able to get my words across in a way that explains my true feelings on the subject, which aren’t bitter, but frustrating that so many bloggers don’t understand.

This post wasn’t written to call anyone out or criticize anyone. My goal here is to actually help some people expand their business by bringing it outside of the “blogosphere.”

Not long ago I wrote a blog post stating that my blog is extremely profitable and important, but it brings in very little direct income.

Unfortunately there are MANY bloggers out there who’s main goal in this business is to bring in a solid income solely through blogging.

Is it possible? Absolutely. Darren Rowse does it, although I’m sure ProBlogger isn’t his only income. And many more make a very nice income from their blog.

But there are MANY more who run highly successful blogs, which bring in only a small portion of their overall direct income.

There are far too many bloggers out there who think Internet Marketing is all about blogging. The truth is that blogs are very powerful, but very rarely bring in alot of direct income. They bring in loads of indirect income, they help brand people and their business, they provide a “hub” for those businesses and all Internet Marketers should own one. But there is so much more out there and isolating yourself within the “blogosphere” is leaving alot of money on the table!

So here’s your call to action – Keep posting solid info to your blog. Keep building your blog. But don’t rely solely on your blog to create that lifestyle you’ve been dreaming of!

Just because a product is for sale doesn’t mean it’s bad. Just because a product is sold through a long sales letter doesn’t mean it’s a bad product. Just because people are making money by selling products doesn’t mean they’re con artists.

Be a good consumer and be smart about your purchases.

If you don’t want to create a product become efficient in PPC. If you don’t want to me a SEM be a writer… build a list and start building your business.

Don’t worry about what others are doing! If you don’t like it ignore it! If they’re scamming people they’ll get what’s coming to them. If they’re honest they’ll make more money!

You don’t have to be one of those sleazy marketers to make money, but don’t make the mistake so many others make by isolating yourself to the blogosphere. Be a good MARKETER and market!!

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12 comments

Jason Gilman (4 comments.)
22nd April, 2008 at 7:42 pm

Good post Josh, your point is a very good one. Even Yaro Starak, the Blog Mastermind himself, has made most of his money through traditional IM methods: the Blog Mastermind membership site, various email newsletters and affiliate product promotion.

I’ve been working on my blog a lot more recently as I devote more time to IM, but I’m approaching it as one small piece of the money making puzzle.
Brent Crouch (35 comments.)
23rd April, 2008 at 12:52 pm

Good post that puts things back into perspective.
Maurice (The CaymanHost)
24th April, 2008 at 4:27 am

Hey Josh,

Spot on, couldn’t agree more, I keep reminding people that if you are trying to make money online a blog is just one tool, albeit a very useful one, that you should have in your arsenal.

Particularly, I believe, if you are positioning yourself in the very overcrowded IM “niche” – it’s a very tough place to be.
Canon S5 Powershot (1 comments.)
24th April, 2008 at 5:50 pm

Great perspective Josh. You make some solid points. Bravo.
Lisa Stoops
25th April, 2008 at 1:16 am

This is a great post!! So true! I actually JUST realized this a few weeks ago and now my focus is on things that actually generate money!
make money blogging (6 comments.)
25th April, 2008 at 11:30 pm

LOL josh, you’re being very politically correct, which I suppose is diametrically opposed to some of the “bashing” that has been going on in the MMO worlds as of late. Be a consumer and consume responsibly.
You know its funny because not long ago I paid 22k for a new car and got bashed and vilifed by friends and family for spending that on a car.
Some other dude spends 10 k on a web poperty and he gets villified for doing it. I bought a dodge caliber he bought a website.
Some call them as they see it, some speak up and say the truth of the matter and they get shot at.
People are people and theres no pleasing all of them. I say be honest with yourself first and then be honest with everyone else after that
Terry
27th April, 2008 at 10:10 pm

It’s too bad there are so many “make money blogging” products out there telling people it’s just a matter of writing posts and marketing your blog. Blogs are an excellent way to feed people into your marketing funnel, but when we try to monetize our blogs directly we end up with travesties . . . those blogs cluttered with banners and Adsense who look for some unsuspecting soul to buy useless space.

But my real gripe is about the inflated numbers many blogs display. You can boost your RSS subscriber count for that little chicklet everyone displays by simply adding a blog broadcast to your Aweber lists . . . that’s how Yaro Starek went from 5K to 25K “subscribers” overnight . . . and that’s assuming those subscribers are even active readers (I’m getting ready to talk about that in a blog post, can you tell? lol)

Anyway, good post. Keep up the honesty, we sure need it.
Josh Spaulding
28th April, 2008 at 4:57 pm

@ Terry – Yeah Aweber just recently started counting those stats. I use GetResponse and tested the waters. Instead of pointing my list subscribers to my blog post URL I sent them to the individual blog post RSS feed. Nothing happened Was just curious if those clicks would be counted.

But, although aWeber counting those stats provides a false RSS #, it is still a pretty accurate measurement of the exposure the blog is capable of. It’s just bad mojo if someone uses those stats and tries to sell a blog, as the email exposure would be gone after the sale.
Joseph Ratliff
29th April, 2008 at 9:12 pm

Nice content.

I think of a blog as a magnet, it attracts potential clients and other forms of business.

But selling does not occur at the blog, selling occurs through the blog.

And, my blog produces a little cash along the way
Neil
19th June, 2008 at 12:23 pm

Hi Josh

Not sure if this is quite the right place for this question, but here goes…

How do you think that blog commenting compares with article marketing as a method of driving traffic and gaining SE ranking? For the latter point I’m assuming that the blogs that are used are “follow” ones (like yours). Having done a bit of article marketing it would seem as if commenting (in a genuine way) offers more links for less effort. Is this true or am I way off the mark.

Many thanks

Neil
Josh Spaulding
19th June, 2008 at 2:15 pm

@ Neil – For link building purposes neither article marketing or blog commenting is going to turn a site into an authoritative one, although they do help.

For direct traffic an effective article marketing campaign beats blog commenting hands-down.

Enough articles tanking in the top 10 for long-tail keywords with some search volume makes for alot of steady, long-term traffic, whereas a blog comment generally needs to appear at the top and the direct traffic dies down after the post gets burried in the blog.
Nathaniel Fruebi
11th July, 2008 at 11:18 am

It’s really amazing but it’s just true. The apathy agaisnt anyone who tries to sell is surprising. Even in my country it’s the same… people just want information products for free when you put a price tag for them to get it, they see you as a con artist or scam.

I wonder how a business is gonna survive if the owners don’t sell.