I post stuff in jest all the time and get PMs asking for details.

Today I made $68,000 before breakfast on $1.27 ad spend. It's not hard.

"We" aren't doing that If you look closely you'll notice almost all of the "easy money" or "this will work" threads are by people hoping to earn or having a plan that WILL (maybe) make money. Few of them have done what they are proposing to others.

One 'tell' is to look for the word 'passive' - it's a clue to 'ignore this advice'.

Posting a spoof used to be a good laugh - now if you do that, people take you seriously.

So Zany, what was it that "happened, by chance" that changed everything for you? You never finished the story . . . what did you do to make consistent money online?

Steve

It seems many make money eventually after going through the motions of the title of this article. Where there's a will there's a way. However, all of us would like things the easy way so we all want to believe...even against our better judgment.

Hey ZanyZebra

I remember the very first sales page I ever came across. The headline read 'Discover how to make $50,000 a day with my system even if you've no experience'. and I was also sucked in by the hypey bullshit.

It didn't take long to realise that there are a lot of 'dream-sellers' online that like to portray the 'instant riches' B.S that unfortunately so many people are still looking for.

Most people seem to think there is some magic push button secret that if they figure out, they will make millions overnight.

The secret is..... 'there is no secret'.

It takes hard work, determination and dedication to make an online business work. The same hard work as any off-line business would require.

I've spoken to complete newbies before who have told me their reason for starting an online business is 'they have had enough of working'.

oh the irony.

I get that some people want to quit their job but some fail to realise the actual work that goes into an online business. You don't click a few buttons, send a few emails and magic pots of money fill your paypal account.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows.

I have had some major disappointments that have left me with my head in my hands wondering 'why am I still doing this?'

Which is probably the same for most people.

My advice to anyone getting started would be. Make a plan, work your ass off on that plan and avoid 'shiny objects' at all costs.

Shiny Object Syndrome is the biggest success killer.

When I realised there are no shortcuts to starting an online business, shiny objects automatically became less interesting.

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I failed for over 10 years before I had any sort of "success".

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First of all, your headline is really clickbait.

And yes, to your post, I would say that I am a BIG FAN of Brian Tracy.

Being a copywriter myself, I can tell you that it's a MUST to promise to make a sale. That's the reason you see those high talks.

But the fact is that when it comes to e-commerce, many focus on selling, but forget about ethics. All they think about is making money.

However, here's a great quote by Brian Tracy:

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'

You see, you can charge $47 to change someone's life for good...really. And it's not a bad thing.

The main thing is to PROVIDE VALUE.

Se what you did Zany you let a copy writer in but really it takes is a good plan on how you are going to run the online business ! the main issue now is that there a lot of new warriors thinking that they can do it over night

Their are lot of senior warriors who have fallen for the shinny silver bullet and the big red button of self automation and it did work for awhile posting vids and articles adding affiliate links and making money and lots of it

But now people have to work at it at least 6-8 hours min a day to make any money and there lies the problem now!! no wants to work they want it now and you show me but i dont have money because you rich ( was taken from a real post )

Jason

Some have the misconception that technology somehow replaces the skills you need to be successful.

This whole process of making money online takes skill. And an entire shift in mindset from an employee to an entrepreneur.

An employee puts in the time and wants to get paid right away, up front.

I think it's just human nature in general. Look at fitness. Some people work out for 4 weeks and are baffled that their arms are the same size.

Or I see people sharing posts on FB all the time for women on how to trim up in only 10 minutes a day. It gets back to the idea that most people do not want to work.

When you watch movies about really successful people, they were workaholics. The movie "The Founder" about Ray Kroc is a good example.

In my experience it takes more work to get something started than it does to maintain it. It also depends on how happy you are with what you're making.

Not everyone wants to be the next Steve Jobs or is cut out for it.

Another thing...

Too many people think that the words 'simple' and 'easy' are interchangeable.

Making money, online or off, is pretty simple. Figure out what people want to buy, and sell it to them at a profit.

That's where the 'simple' ends and the work starts.

I remember a talk by an MLM trainer, who said something like

"This business is simple, but it ain't easy. It's work - sometimes hard work. But it ain't that hard. Digging ditches is hard...."

Once the hard work is done, and you've shinnied up the learning curve, making money can be as easy as sending a single email. But if you haven't learned to both build a list of people who want what you offer, and learned how to make that offer, making money by sending a simple email can be the hardest thing in the world.

Just yesterday I was looking through the WSO section, and came across a WSO that proposed to teach people "How to make money online selling WSOs even if you've never done it before and have zero experience." Full disclosure: I'm changing up the copy & text a bit so as not to "name and shame" the WSO seller (although I probably should, but I think it's against forum TOS).

That caught my attention. I began reading the sales copy from top to bottom and as I got close to the middle of the page I was almost pissing my pants because I was laughing so hard.

This "WSO" was all about teaching people who knew NOTHING about making money online and who had NEVER made a dime online how to MAKE MONEY ONLINE by selling WSOs (short "10 page reports" to be accurate).

Now, I ask you all; How the hell can you teach anyone else how to make money online when you have NEVER made any money online? It's the damn blind leading the blind. I can only imagine the quality of the products that those people are going to produce. It should really improve the WSO section (sarcasm).

Now, as it relates to what the OP was talking about, not only were people gobbling this stuff up, there were even testimonials from people who have already done it a few times and claimed they made money!

This is why people are so skeptical and it's also why so many people believe it's easy to make money online.

I've told my story on here many times, but I can remember starting my Internet Marketing "career" in 2008. I easily worked 12-14 hours per day, sometimes 16 hours a day.

To anyone who is reading this thread, let me just put this out there: MAKING MONEY ONLINE IS NOT EASY, NEVER WILL BE EASY, AND ANYONE WHO SAYS IT IS EASY IS FULL OF SH*T!

Now, there are some exceptions to that rule, such as people like the OP, myself, and I'm sure many others here on the forum. HOWEVER, these exceptions exist because the people who are now doing it have busted their ass for YEARS to make it this easy (and it still requires hours of work to maintain).

The OP is in eCommerce. I'm sure he worked his butt off for a LONG time before he succeeded. I know I didn't see a profit from my business for the first THREE YEARS.

Sure, you can make money on demand from the Internet, but only AFTER you have paid your dues and built up your business and have assets available to you like a large opt-in list of people interested in your niche or an eCommerce store that gets lots of organic and paid traffic and has repeat customers.

Look at guys like John Chow and Pat Flynn. They make 6 figures per month with their blogs. They will both openly admit to you how long and how much work it took to get there.

In fact, Pat Flynn's blog is great because he shares his income sources every months and talks about how he used them to make money.

If you really want to learn how to be a successful 6-figure marketer, Pat's blog is one of the best to read.

You can learn a TON just by reading his income reports:

https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/income-reports/

I don't know Pat personally, and I know it looks like I'm promoting him, but I'm only mentioning him because he is one of the REAL marketers who is 100% open about how he makes money online.

You will learn more from the FREE content on those blogs than you will from just about any $7 WSO.

So save your money and go and find out how the REAL marketers do it.

I remember a friend in the deep South who said "you could drop a whole load of irony on his head...and he wouldn't feel a 'thang'".

Yup - sure could.