Is IM a JOB Opportunity or a Business Opportunity?
August 23rd, 2011 | 36 comments
In November of 2004, while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany, I created my first website. It was a tourist info site on Germany. For the next three years I worked to get that site ranked in the SE’s and I also worked on many other sites and ventures with the ultimate goal of making a living online. That was a good thing, nothing wrong with that…I see it as working your way up… you just have to do it, but for all of those years it was a JOB. Although I knew there was huge potential online, I never thought of myself as a business person, so I kept my expectations low, to the level that as long as I can eventually pay my bills with it, it’s a success.
Fortunately after a few years working part time online while serving in the military I did finally get my IM income to the point to where I could pay my bills with it, barely. But as time went on I started to realize more and more than although I’ve never thought of myself as a Entrepreneur or business person, I was exactly that! That was my “tipping point.”
There should come a time in every IM’ers online ventures when they hit that same tipping point and start to see the bigger picture…the bigger opportunity that is the infant Internet… yes, it’s still very much an infant!
But the question for those who haven’t reached that point yet is, do you want to keep working a JOB or do you want to become an entrepreneur? If you just want to pay the bills, you might as well just get a job. At least then you have more stability… that’s how I see it anyway. But I don’t think that is what any IMer wants.
So how do you go from an Internet Marketing worker to an Internet Marketing Entrepreneur?
The first step is to learn the basics of the business… learn SEO, email marketing etc. You don’t have to be making loads of money in each, you just need to know the techniques and their markets… just learn the basics. That is the “work” we all have to endure before we get to our tipping point. The next thing is to decide whether you WANT that tipping point or not. I’m guessing you want it!
One thing I learned about life while in the Army is that almost everything that is challenging, whether mentally or physically, can be accomplished if you truly set your mind to it. So if you don’t believe you are an entrepreneur, or at least have the potential to become an entrepreneur, then you will never become an entrepreneur because you will not possess the mental confidence required to become one.
So what’s the difference anyway?
To me, the primary difference is in what you devote your time and resources to. If you’re constantly working to write and publish articles to get your site(s) ranked in google… creating sites to earn a little adsense income… etc. etc. then you probably have a worker mindset. If you’re constantly coming up with new ideas for software, applications etc. and you’re looking to outsource everything you possibly can… also thinking about automation (so one project doesn’t tie you down, but brings in residual income,) then you’re on the entrepreneurial track.
This all seems like fairly basic stuff, but I’m writing about this today because as I watch conversations and updates on facebook, twitter, blogs etc. I see 9 out of 10 Internet Marketers (if not more) who are completely focused on working for a living and very few who are focused on becoming true Entrepreneurial business people.
Of course it is nearly impossible to filter out all of those who are still in that required learning phase, but just by evaluating the overall mindset, I believe there are more IMers who are looking for a JOB than there are who are looking for a solid business opportunity.
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23rd August, 2011 at 5:49 pm
I’m not sure that everyone is even looking for a job – they’re looking for hope out of their current job. Hearing about the “internet lifestyle” sometimes is enough to get people going and then take some initial steps. Unless they figure out that they’re just trading one job for another, they won’t be any happier. Good stuff as always, Josh!
23rd August, 2011 at 5:50 pm
Good article, I now see where I am (the heavy lifting) but can also now see where I’m heading (getting others to help with the heavy lifting).
23rd August, 2011 at 5:56 pm
It may sound easy, Josh, but it ain’t so. Not to mention that my site ranks for a couple of keywords and that I know something about SEO, yes, it’s easy, but it’s not all about SE rankings. There’s much more to it, if you will.
23rd August, 2011 at 5:58 pm
“Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls aren’t there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things…the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough!”
– Randy Pausch
23rd August, 2011 at 5:58 pm
I’m still in the learning phase, but I KNOW that there will come a point when I will be ready to outsource the donkeywork. I’ve already got more ideas than I can implement, and already got many more domain names bought than I’ve got sites up.
My biggest problem right now is getting the ones I’ve got going to the point where they’re making a regular and at least somewhat predictable income. I’m in the testing phase on those.
I think you’re right about your surmise. I’m a little unusual since I’ve been self employed for many years, so my attitude was already more entrepreneurial than most. But I do see what you’re talking about with a couple friends who were employed in a “real job” for many years, got laid off, and now are trying to start their own (not IM) businesses. Neither of them seems to get it to the point where it’ll really take off. I hope they break out of the “job” mindset, and I’ve sent them a link to this post hoping they’ll get the hint.
23rd August, 2011 at 6:01 pm
So true about thinking about being an entrepreneur vs. doing it all yourself.
Once you get proficient “enough” your next step absolutely is to outsource whatever task that is and move onto the next one…become proficient, outsource it, etc.
23rd August, 2011 at 6:05 pm
I like the message within your post here. I think it is important to learn how to use what you have, refine, and scale up. Sometimes it takes the struggle to appreciate the what we have and how we can all help one another.
23rd August, 2011 at 6:08 pm
Good post, Josh. I actually agree with what Philip said above: for a lot of us, online money making opportunities are less about getting wealthy (although that would be nice) than simply gaining the freedom to have a real work-from-home job and to be our own boss. I’m not there yet, but every day brings me a step closer to the goal.
23rd August, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Great post Josh. I totally understand your message here and am working myself towards that tipping point as well. You did a great job with your websites and I actually model a lot of my work off your success. I just hope I can get more towards that entrepreneurial side instead of the worker side. Then I’ll be laughing.
Great post!
23rd August, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Josh, I’d have to agree that one sort of crosses the ‘Rubicon’ when they commit to at least some outsourcing. Until then, they are more of a ‘hobbyist’ trying to do everything themselves to save money. No real business person thinks that way, only those with a ‘worker mindset’.
23rd August, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Love this post, Josh. That light bulb went on for me recently and I am trying to figure out how to get the “big” stuff done while giving up control of the smaller stuff (and not sacrifice quality). Please pass along some suggestions!
23rd August, 2011 at 6:24 pm
Josh,
Great post, I believe I still in the worker mindset. As someone who balances both work and being IM’r it is not easy. But I will say I am slowly starting to see the difference and have begun outsourcing things.
In one sense I am a little like BJ where I have more sites then ones that are set up and I have too many tranks of IM that I want to try.
23rd August, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Hi Josh, Thanks for the words of encouragement and motivation. As a realtive newbie to IM I still need to learn and work but I am looking forward to the day I reach that tipping point!
23rd August, 2011 at 6:35 pm
@ Billy – It depends on what that small stuff is, but if you truly classify it as small stuff, does it really matter?
23rd August, 2011 at 6:48 pm
It’s a JOB for right now. I think in this way: as the money comes in it will go to outsourcing and such. As much as absolutely possible. Today I’m setting up some auto software as a beginning step in the entrepreneural stakes.
23rd August, 2011 at 7:29 pm
In the end, coming up with ideas and hiring people to work on your projects still takes work…just a different kind.
Eben Pagan is a client of mine and I can tell you he works a bunch on his projects although he did 29 mill last year and has a big team. He isn’t just sitting around.
One of the things I think is important is finding the type of work you love doing and do that. Outsource the rest. This is off line or online.Does not matter.
Pick a goal and shoot for it. I have a travel site that pays my mortgage each month and has for years now. I worked upfront and now I haven’t worked in 2011. It allows me to do other things.
That is what I mean by a goal.Something very specific.
Dave
23rd August, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Great post Josh. I see the trap many people get into is, buying everything that comes along promoted by a guru and then justify it by saying they’re being entrepreneurial. In reality they’re fumbling around for answers.
What I say is learn the basics, decide and apply them to generate the cash flow required to create your dream of being an entrepreneur or whatever else you dream is.
23rd August, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Ya got me! I have always been a worker, no matter what I do. I guess it’s that perfectionist mentality. I hate to turn over control. But I know I should.
Thanks for the reminder.
Wayne
23rd August, 2011 at 9:08 pm
Nice post Josh!
I am always online working, writing, and creating products and I am an entrepreneur but I am also feeling sometimes I am more of a worker.
I like to do the actual work. It makes me feel more accomplished. Ask my wife, I am a WORKAHOLIC.
Everything I do earns my full time living now but wasn’t always this good.
One thing I have noticed is that the more effort I put into my online work the easier it gets. When I first started I was literally online every day all day with barely any time for my family. I had to do something about that and I did. I learned to outsource but even though I do not do it as much now I still do occasionally. Like I said I feel more accomplished if I do it and I know it will be done and done right if I do it.
My point is I am an entrepreneur but I do work hard for what I have accomplished but not as hard and it gets better every day. I now work just 8 hours per day at my desk compared to the 16 hour days before recently.
Best of luck to everyone. I hope your online dreams do come true VERY SOON!
23rd August, 2011 at 10:09 pm
thank josh, its been a couple of years now that I’ve been reaching and looking for a job or a kinda thing that i can be doing online to make my own doo,but all my effort to do so has been proving abortive¡¡¡. Though i’m a nigerian, but i’d be so glad if you can tell and teach me how to get started.¡¡. Thanks
23rd August, 2011 at 10:56 pm
I was in the military too – did 5 and a half years in the UK. Didn’t start IM until about 3 years after leaving though – I wish I had started sooner!
There are so many workers sitting in their desk jobs day to day, interested in making a living online and learning SEO who simply don´t realise what a pot of gold they are sitting on top of.
Whatever business you are in, imagine going into your bosses office 6 months from now and pitching him your website, your leads, your nr 1 or 2 or 3 google ranking for the keywords the company you work for are actually trying to rank for.
SEO services are overpriced and basically shit – simple as that. I work with a load of people who are all paying big bucks for crap SEO. I just spoke to a friend of mine today who had a meeting with his SEO guy on my advice. He is paying $325 a month and this guy shows him some page 1 (not position 1) positions for poxy, mega tiny niche keywords to justify his bill each month. I pointed him at my site which holds pos 1 for 9 out of 10 of the biggest keywords – opened his eyes enough for him to bin his SEO rip off guy. My deal – commission split on all future business if I can get him onto page one (easy – will take around 2 or 3 months.)
Opportunity is all around you. Learn this SEO stuff, invest your time in it – it will reward you SO much. There are so many companies getting it wrong, show them how its done – THAT is low hanging fruit.
Me? I SEO the crap out of my own websites and work primarily in lead generation and it pays off big time. I am on track for around $80,000 USD income this year. Not a huge amount but I started from NOTHING with very little money exactly 3 years ago (I knew nothing about websites or SEO and this was one of the first blogs I read – you need to find some good IM blogs for inspiration and dodge all the bullshitty ones.) That 3 years feels like a lifetime and I have learned so much from reading and reading and generally being a bit cynical about get rich quick stuff whilst at the same time actually getting a website started.
My next step is to begin working with people who simply cant afford SEO services to get them into the big bucks. So, if their business looks viable and scalable and they have the right attitude, I work with them on a commission/income split. I push their sites and drive traffic, they generate leads and income and pay me a proportion – results based service. No risk on their part, big reward if I get it right. I´d also like to start generating some passive income (adsense) but not something I have ever had time to really look into – I have Josh´s $5 niche marketing book which I will look at again and see if I can make that work but I am an absolute amateur so far as adsense/passive income – but hey, I may as well try it because if it works then I rinse and repeat and make a lot of money and thats what its all about.
The best way to learn is dive in and see for yourself. Learn as you go and learn from your mistakes. If you can become “pretty good” at SEO you will be better than 90% of the numpties selling it as a service and can basically name your price with just about any small business in your neighborhood. Its all there for you, but you´ve got to “grasp the nettle” so to speak.
If you have a job and good salary, then really get stuck into this in your spare time, dedicate 4 hours a day to it (inc the weekends) learn this stuff and you really can make a living from it, but it takes dedication, a bit of cynicism/common sense and self belief.
If you dont have the balls to give it a go, you will never have a chance at succeeding. So either give it your best shot or get used to your day jobs and stop whinging. Best of luck to all you triers!
23rd August, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Although I have been reading most of your posts, this is my first reply.
I think you hit it right on, but before you can start thinking as an entrepeneut you have to be a worker fist. If you want to oursource what you do not understand yourself it is doomed to fail.
I have a “brick and morter” business for years nows as an entrepeneur and am a worker in my new IM business for now.
working towards the turning point to become entrepeneur instead of worker.
Thanks for the useful post (as always)
Eddie
23rd August, 2011 at 11:24 pm
I was just listening to one of Rich Schefren’s webinars yesterday and he was talking about something very similar.
He was talking about becoming a true entrepreneur. He referred to the necessity of changing your mindset from being an “opportunity seeker” to a “strategic thinker.”
A few of the main take-aways I got from it were not “new” but very good reminders for me.
1. Discover your strength (your sweet spot) so you can do what you do best.
2. Focus on the essentials.
3. Learn to work quickly.
I definitely started out as an opportunity seeker with fairly low expectations of what I could achieve online. As I’ve grown in knowledge and understanding and applied the IM principles and seen some success, my thinking gradually changed.
I still have a long way to go, but I’m definitely preferring the potential of the entrepreneurial position and mindset.
23rd August, 2011 at 11:46 pm
It just depends on what you want. Some people are quite happy being a worker in their own business, whether online or off. There is something to be said about being satisfied in what you are doing and nor always “striving” fo a goal which may not be possible for one reason or the other.
People shouldn’t denigrate the workers, after all where would the entrepreneurs be without them? There is room for everyone in IM regardless of their aspirations.
Wendy
24th August, 2011 at 1:16 am
I have done some niche and keyword research. I have great ideas and I know a lot about SEO. However, when it comes to wordpress and website building. I get stuck. I have two unfinished websites. I thought about outsourcing this task, but should I trust someone else with my passwords. What is your suggestion are there some videos I can view. I am a very visual person.
24th August, 2011 at 2:44 am
After a few years you got your IM paying your bills, Josh: let’s all keep that in mind when we teach newbies: it takes years and it takes perceverance.
“If you just want to pay the bills, you might as well just get a job.” If that works for you, fine. But if your secure army job ends you up by stepping on a mine and in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, you will find out that paying the bills is not everything, and it doesn’t get any easier when sitting in a wheelchair.
Having a job you mention: “At least then you have more stability…”; stability means exatcly that: standing still. So I agree if you want to move more forward, something should be added, just like you did: an extra stream of income: never put your earning eggs in 1 basket.
My take on the job idea: “if you just want to pay the bills, get a dayjob where you can work online.”
The nice thing about IM is that you can do what you like: we all know you have a special love with Germany, and you made decent bucks out of your love, that’s the way to go, with or without IM.
But I guess you simply wanted to say: once you know the power of leverage on other( worker)s, your earnings will skyrocket?
24th August, 2011 at 2:57 am
If you had been in the military yourself or had lost people close to you in conflict (as I have) you would perhaps be a little more thoughtful when referring to the military and those afflicted by horrific injuries.
I am not sure by your post if I have simply misread you but as a veteran myself, having recently had someone I personally encouraged to join the forces blown to pieces in Afghanistan I find your comments insulting.
24th August, 2011 at 4:30 am
@Andy
I am sorry for your loss. Not meaning to insult anybody Andy, so I am sorry if I sound like that. Let’s not talk about the military any more nor about conflicts. Please accept my deepest appologies Andy.
Let’s talk about any job that can kill or damage the worker in a way you can no longer do that same job: in the long run like coal mining or asbestos construction, or in the short run like sawing off a hand or just getting killed when a truck reverses towards a wall and didn’t see a person standing inbetween, just to mention some of the examples I have seen up close. All these people are/were brave to do whatever it takes/took to support themselves, their family and their loved ones.
My remark was about when Josh said:
“If you just want to pay the bills, you might as well just get a job. At least then you have more stability… that’s how I see it anyway. ”
Not all jobs are equal nor stable, I will choose IM any time above crab fishing in the artic. Some jobs are dangerous, some are unhealthy, some are healthy, some are easy, some are fun. IM doesn’t let you waste time commuting, your computer doesn’t expell toxic air, your keyboard/screen at most will give you some strained muscles and we all know that a sitting lifestyle is not what our bodies are made for. If you love sitting behind a computer, then IM can be a lot of fun, and a happy mindset goes a long way.
24th August, 2011 at 11:57 am
The key difference is AUTOMATION and SYSTEMS.
Many people think they know about ‘outsourcing’
The truth is there is outsourcing… and there is outsourcing.
You have to, have to, have to be constantly thinking “How can I systemize this” – “How can I automate it” – whether with your own Expert Team – or with software.
And the BEST way to effectively outsource is to have your own Expert Team – ie people who work full time for you. Personally I my team mostly comes from the Philippines. There are other options – but they are awesome
24th August, 2011 at 12:43 pm
@ Stef – I run every morning and do strength training every afternoon. Sitting all day is a heart attack waiting to happen. Unhealthy, true.
24th August, 2011 at 3:26 pm
@Josh
I used to write comments when on the tredmill: dangerous
25th August, 2011 at 2:28 am
To me It doesn’t matter…really it doesn’t. Because both require that you “work” to make it online.
If you think about it…it comes out the same. In the military they teach discipline and if you can’t “Discipline yourself” you won’t make it…and it don’t matter if it is job or online guru.
My 2 cents worth.
Paul
25th August, 2011 at 4:29 am
@Paul
I agree, you can spent 24/7 working as a worker and as an entrepreneur.
However, there is much more leverage possible when more people are working for you (10 hands can do more than 1).
Hence if you “outsource things well” (— and now an entrepreneur would be adding an affiliate link to an outsource network —
Hence, if you outsource things well, you get much more ReturnOnInvestment, which is your 24/7 time.
And if with 5 hours of entrepreneur I can earn 10 hours of worker, I would choose the 5 hours entrepreneur. Nothing beats having more time to do other things that matter or that you simply also love.
27th August, 2011 at 2:46 am
Josh,
Great article, you have it nailed down. I think your posts are very insightful and inspire me and others to take action.
Keep it up.
12th October, 2011 at 5:53 am
was just listening to one of Rich Schefren’s webinars yesterday and he was talking about something very similar.
12th October, 2011 at 5:54 am
To me It doesn’t matter…really it doesn’t. Because both require that you “work” to make it online.
If you think about it…it comes out the same. In the military they teach discipline and if you can’t “Discipline yourself” you won’t make it…and it don’t matter if it is job or online guru.