One Website Niche You Should Avoid
One of the most common ways people get lured into starting an online business is by discovering an affiliate or MLM (multi-level marketing) “make-money-online” program.
Usually, they promise lucrative profits if you promote a pre-created, turnkey website and get other people to join the program and/or buy certain products.
YTB.com and SixFigureIncome.com are two programs that come to mind, but there are many more.
One major flaw with these programs is they don’t tell you that in order to make money you are going to have to drive thousands of targeted visitors to your site per day.
Not an easy task.
Also, it’s difficult to convince total strangers to pay their money for a program that does not guarantee a return on their investment.
People are incredibly skeptical about programs that ask for upfront money in order to make money (and they should be), so immediately the cards are stacked against you.
Just because the company has provided you with your own turnkey website, that doesn’t mean you are any closer to striking gold. In fact, they are leading you into a false sense of hope and security.
Here are more reasons to avoid the “Make Money Online” niche…
How can you expect people to trust you if you aren’t making money yourself?
People who make a lot of money online have spent years building credibility from an audience who trusts them.
They do that by providing useful advice that actually helps their audience. Over time, they develop large mailing lists, faithful blog subscribers and/or loyal website visitors.
When you do this, it’s much easier to make money online because when you recommend a product or service, that credibility you’ve earned now works in your favor.
Your audience trusts you and they are more likely to buy something you recommend.
People often believe that the best way to make money online is to join a program that teaches others how to make money. When that’s probably one of the worst niches (unless you are really making a lot yourself and you can help others succeed.)
The reality is, you begin living a lie. You’re encouraging people to fork over money for a chance at making money when you don’t fully believe or know how to master this program yourself.
So you end up recruiting more people who recruit more people who recruit more people on the hopes of getting rich someday.
The replicated, turnkey website you receive does you no favors.
The problem with those pre-created websites that you receive is they are not unique.
Search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc. are now smart enough to realize it’s just a duplicate of the other 180,000+ member sites in the program.
So reeling in all that free, targeted traffic like Webmasters who have their own domains with unique content will be next to impossible.
The money making niche is too saturated.
Type make money in Google and look at the total number of results on the top right-hand side. That number right there should be enough to scare you away.
The topic is saturated to no end so getting found, even if you had your own domain name, is a very tall task.
It can’t be any fun.
How boring it must be to promote a program on how to make money when your income is $0. Suddenly this is turning into a discouraging task with no reward.
People who are successful online enjoy themselves. They know a lot about their niche and it’s evident by reading their sites that they know what they’re talking about.
Their sites have personality and appear to have a real person behind them who is engaged in the topic.
Compare that to your anonymous, money making site, with its impersonal, over-hyped content written by the creator of the company (who, by the way, is the real beneficiary of programs like this.)
One of the joys of owning 2CreateAWebSite.com is when I learn how to do something new, I write content to help my audience learn too. Knowing I am helping thousands of people all over the world is quite fulfilling.
It’s also clear to my audience I am living what I write about so it helps build credibility.
Your income often depends on the success of others
One of the traps with these programs is the multi-level or tiered factor. If you sign up people who then sign up people who then sign up even more people, etc. multiplies your income.
Sounds great right?
The problem is 99.99% of people who join these programs never sign up a single soul. So don’t get too comfortable, expecting your downline to make you rich because chances are, they are running into the same roadblocks as you.
There Are Always Exceptions
I don’t want to imply that no one ever makes money from these kinds of programs. A few people do, but they are the exception more than the
rule.
Some people are extremely marketing savvy and/or have the initial income to advertise and compete. So of course there are always going to be those select few who do well.
But you should still proceed with caution. Often times companies add fake testimonials to make it look as if there are more successful people than there really are.
Isn’t it funny that no one ever knows any of these people personally? And if that many people are making so much money, why aren’t they featured on the national news more?
Who are those people smiling on the site with the six-figure income totals under their pictures?
And why don’t they ever provide an email address so you can contact them and ask questions?
Hmmmmm……
The Bottom Line
If you want to increase your chance of success online, choose a topic that interests you and build a useful website on that.
Go to www.associateprograms.com and find affiliate programs that match your subject-matter.
While you’re there, subscribe to Allan’s free newsletter and read his archives. There are some very encouraging stories and great lessons.
You don’t have to promote “how to make money” programs to make money online. You could create a site on cooking and recommend kitchen gadgets and other products related to your topic.
Yes, that means there is work involved and you probably are going to have to learn how to build and manage your own website. Making money takes work, and there’s no way around that, I promise.
- If you’re allergic to the concept of work, this is not for you.
- If you need money immediately, this is not for you.
- If you are constantly looking for shortcuts to success, this is not for you.
- If you cannot accept the fact it may take months before you see any money, this is not for you.
Are You Incredibly Desperate For Money?
I often get emails from people who are in desperate need of an income. The problem with many of these people is they are so hungry for instant gratification, they want to somehow bypass the learning and work involved.
When you are so focused on how long it will take to make money, then it’s nearly impossible for you to remain patient and enjoy the learning process.
Even though money is your ultimate destination, you must enjoy the ride. So you might as well choose a niche you enjoy and allows you to appear credible.
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Comments
I think i have a few months to develop profit
from my site ( a site that teaches people how
to expand their bodyframes’ strength, endurance
and mucle mass using totally unique techniques )
before Rosemary exits St. Paul.
Thank you for this post. Good warnings.
Doug.
Hi Lisa,
You rock. Though I do earn money
over the programs I promote - I rarely
recommend them just for the sake of
earning money but more towards the
feasibility of an alternative income
stream and the products that come with it.
I had been involved with an mlm company
during my start in Internet marketing but
have since moved on to better affiliate
programs which provide value and now
see that you also strive to provide value
to your readers.
Cheers!
Vern
Hi Lisa,
I’ve been learning from you off and on for months now. You care about your audience and it shows. I sat my butt down and spent 18 months+ to learn internet marketing and all that goes along with it. It was brutal, however, meeting people like you on the internet during my studying made the process much more easier at times because you break things down in a very easy to understand fashion. Bite-size nuggets of very helpful information is what your websites have taught me. Thank you, Lisa. I’m glad we ‘met.’ :-)
Cheers,
Yves Marie Danie Baptiste
Lisa,
I agree with you 100%. There are far too many people out there trying to sell “get rich quick” information when they don’t have the first clue how to make money themselves.
I’ve personally invested hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to learn how to earn money online. I can honestly say that, until you’ve learned the ropes, it’s not easy. And, you have to keep learning. It’s a journey, not a destination.
And far too often, people will give up just short of their goals because it looks like their work just isn’t paying off. It takes time to see results. You have to be committed to see it through to the end.
Anyone that will visit your site and read your blog regularly will have the information they need to make money online. The key difference between those that fail and those that succeed is that those that succeed will actually take action and put forth some effort to make their dreams a reality.
I think you hit it right on the head. People somehow feel that starting work online means instant money. I’m not really sure where this idea comes from. Nobody in non-Internet businesses believes that you can be instantly successful. It’s understood that there is an investment period and that you have to pay your dues. Even so, many businesses fail even after large investments. I would love to see the hype around online-incomes go away and people just talk about the honest truth. It takes time, cleverness, and a TON of hard work… If you are incredibly disparate for money, my guess is that it will not work out.
this is a great post, everything is clear about been a successor in life, if you are heading through internet. i mean all the truth has been said in this chat. i really give credit to this person.
I actually stumbled lisa’s site by accident and am really glad for what i discovered.Her views are real facts and those who crave instant success will find this hard to swallow.I am embarking on a very long journey towards learning to make an income via online and am very glad to find someone who knows exactly what it takes to teach newbies into the world of online.
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This is a good post. This is why I like sites like shoemoney, johnchow, and problogger. These are guys actually making tons of money online and aren’t charging you to learn how to do it