The internet is just a tool. The same as a retail storefront or an office in an office building. All the shiny pieces of the internet like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and blogs are only as effective as the skill set of those utilizing them. If get rich schemes don’t work in the offline world, why on earth would you expect them to work in the online world?
Expand your skill set to succeed online
Avoid focusing on specific tools like Twitter and Facebook. Instead, read books and blogs by thought leaders in the space. Very few of them focus on specific tools. They focus on the importance of engagement to deliver your message in the online space. Learn how to help others online before you help yourself. You will be amazed how many offers for help start coming your way once you provide genuine help and assistance to others.
Protect your reputation online like it’s the last five dollars you have. The most costly part of an internet startup is the potential to forever damage your online reputation. If it happens on the internet, it stays on the internet – FOREVER. You can risk a great deal in an online start-up, your time, your energy and even a small amount of money. Please whatever you do, don’t risk your reputation. I try to behave online as if my mother is looking over my shoulder (admittedly with a sometimes disapproving scowl).
Ready, Fire, Aim. Never before in the history of man has there been a medium where you can risk so little financially with such a huge upside potential. The advantage the internet has over the offline world is the ability to try and fail at an unprecedented rate. I’ve built and tested complete marketing programs in three days. Many don’t work, but even from those I take away knowledge that can be worked into the next test. Who knows, maybe one day soon one of the tests will be a huge financial success. At that moment, those on the outside looking in will say I got rich quickly. That’s OK because I (and you) will know it happened because I followed my own advice above.
The internet can speed the “get rich” process but just like the offline world there are no silver bullets to replace hard work. That is, unless you are buying lottery tickets and one happens to hit. That’s basically what most get rich quick schemes are.
[…] The internet, get rich, just not quickly was originally published on JimRaffel[dot]com and is a good reminder that information products selling on the internet takes time and hard work. […]