Advice For Non-IMs?

[Zach]

I am known as the internet dude with my family. I make $$ on here and friends and family aren't quite sure how.

I've had a few of them genuinely ask me for some help.

Typically I'm at a loss as to what to tell them. To get to my point it took years of dedication and obsession which I know whoever is asking me will roughly pour 1% of effort, action, and dedication that I would.

Regardless, what do you guys tell people like family members who ask you about getting in on the game? In my case, its like a mom who has some extra time on her hands.

I lean towards Youtube reviews/social channels about stuff you know something about. If you're a mom, review some toys or something. Let your personality shine. No coding/marketing/design skills needed. If you can't get to this minimum threshold of effort, it was never going to work anyways.

I see a lot of non-IMs out there do Advocare stuff, but I haven't recommended that as you look like you're just monetizing your friends.

The best advice really may be: Don't bother to get into this. Just Uber instead.

Any other good suggestions out there for non-IMs?

 

[eliquid]

I know this feel.

I have had the same coming out of the woodwork with family wanting to know.

While I wasn't talking about my gains, people noticed and asked. Especially family.

They see you:

• Working from home or your office ( meaning, you don't work a 9-5 typically )
• Your normal day might be really odd to them ( how are you out all day doing XYZ )
• You just came off your 3rd vacation this year
• You just bought a newer car
• etc

My 2 brother-in-laws came directly to me and asked how they could do the same.

My mom also came to me about doing things online.

My own kids and wife want to also.

I tried to show my brother-in-laws, and it failed with me doing all the work for them and them not doing much and understanding much. Waste of time.

It really does take ( most times, the odds are this way ) years of backstory to get into a really well defined groove online. Sure some people get around this ( outliers ), but even talking about cryptocurrencies requires a bit of background and timing ( getting in early enough ) to make it worthwhile. I would consider this really easy online stuff ( crypto ) and I find it hard for others to grasp it that are not "online" people.

I eventually defaulted to that you need to have domain experience and then take that online.

"What do you have domain experience in", is what I end up asking them now and it generally comes back as nothing. At that point I pretty much tell them this is starting a business and if you don't have domain experience and/or an advantage, don't start a business online.

It does hurt to have to potentially crush a family members dreams, but honesty is not cheap. It's expensive to truly help someone and tell them the truth.

I haven't found anyone yet in my family that I think could truly take the soul crushing lows having a business ( let alone an online one ) can cause. Everyone loves the highs, but everyone is a guru in a bull market right? It's those lows people have to push through and once back on their feet, have something worth selling to others ( the domain experience and advantage ) to keep the boat afloat.

I don't want to teach someone just to watch them lose money, give up, or half ass it 6 months later. Or worse, come to me for more help in 6 months when they can not figure it out and I have to hold their hand the next 12 months because it's family and putting bread on the table depends on me trying to help them more.

Do you have to have domain experience or an advantage to make monies online? NO.

However, I think it's a good threshold to sift out long term success when wanting to show people the ropes.

.

 

[Sisu]

My first experience with IM came from Textbroker. Over a few years, I wrote around 2,000 articles to make other people rich. Looking back, I realize I could have made a killing if I'd written those for myself instead, but it's best to look at those years and articles as an apprenticeship, as they led to hundreds of thousands of dollars from my own projects that I started after leaving TB.

My point is that to make money online, while there are more and less efficient ways to go about it, in the end, you need to be willing to put in the hours one way or another--just as with any other radically different path in life (learning a new language, learning an instrument, learning to invest, becoming financially independent, retiring early, etc). The time will pass whether you use it to pursue your goals or not. Might as well use it to move forward.

 

[Ryuzaki]

I make it sound really unsexy. "I build websites for myself and other people." If you spin it into something like "I code a lot," most people already have preconceived notions that they can't learn to code or don't want to. That gets rid of most people.

I've tried to JV with a family member once. They never did a single thing. Always deprioritizing it and making excuses. I have two friends that ask me all the time, and it's like 5+ years later and one hasn't taken the first step, and the other has done some EMD style stuff but isn't taking it serious either.

If anyone acts like their ability to enter this industry hinges on YOU, then fuck'em. Business is for self-starters, not coat-tail riders.

So first I try to get rid of as many as I can by making it sound shitty. Then the others I just point to forums and blogs they can learn from. If they don't get started then, but keep talking about it for years, I chalk them up to "the dream is tastier than the reality" and let them talk about it, with no expectation that they'll ever start and no pressure on myself to help.

@eliquid nailed it. You need TWO sets of domain experience. One is the online world and all that comes with building up websites and advertising knowledge. And the other is about whatever you're going to make a website about. Of course there's people who can jump straight to PPC or straight into outsourcing who don't need to know about their vertical or niche. But most people don't have the means or the balls to do that.

So yeah, my advice is always to make it sound shitty, then point them to resources if they pass that test. I've never had someone actually pass that test. The ones that keep bringing it up without starting, I end up giving them hardline comments. "You've either got to do it or don't, and this fear about starting is surely hurting you in other parts of your life too." Stuff like that. But I don't offer help.

The worst kind are those that try to pressure you into them becoming your partner for a 50/50 split when they bring nothing to the table. There's so many types out there.

Although I've outlined how I approach this above, I think it's best to not even engage these conversations. Just keep shutting it down and brushing it off. It never goes anywhere. It just wastes your time.

If they aren't willing to do the equivalent work and time (they aren't) of getting a college degree for a new career, then they can't cut it in this world by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[chanilla]

It's funny, I've though about setting up a blog just for this many times. Then I could just say, "oh yeah I have a website that shows you how to do the same thing for yourself"!

Pros and cons of doing that? Curious what you guys think... (or if anyone has done it)

 

[eliquid]

Another way you can make it unsexy is to tell them, "Do you have $20k to invest in it today?".

Me and you both know, you don't need $20k. $20k is just some made up number in my head.

But $20k seems like it is another roadblock since $20k is a lot of money to the average person.

1. Do you have domain knowledge or some secret advantage moat ( like IP )? No...

2. OK, are you ready to spend 5 years learning and doing ( Upwork work, article writing, grunt work learning, reading and asking the right questions, failing in your first attempts and getting back on the horse, etc ) while working for peanuts and having no social life or material things? No...

3. Hmmm, do you have $20k to invest right now then ( buying domains, buying articles, buying crypto, affording PPC for your ads, maybe hiring a guru coach )? No....

4. OK, then go back to your 9-5 and 401k and forget this life.

The point I'm making is for MOST things, you need the domain knowledge or an advantage. If you don't have that, you can gain it working for others maybe the next few years as someone like @Sisu . If you are NOT willing to learn, then MAYBE... just MAYBE if you have enough money ( again $20k I made up ) you can try to learn PPC or pay someone to coach you ( some guru like Frank Kern ).

If you fail all of the above, you just aren't going to make it.

Hell, I know people that have done all 3 above that still failed anyways....

 

[shaunm]

Another way you can make it unsexy is to tell them, "Do you have $20k to invest in it today?".

Me and you both know, you don't need $20k. $20k is just some made up number in my head.

But $20k seems like it is another roadblock since $20k is a lot of money to the average person.

1. Do you have domain knowledge or some secret advantage moat ( like IP )? No...

2. OK, are you ready to spend 5 years learning and doing ( Upwork work, article writing, grunt work learning, reading and asking the right questions, failing in your first attempts and getting back on the horse, etc ) while working for peanuts and having no social life or material things? No...

3. Hmmm, do you have $20k to invest right now then ( buying domains, buying articles, buying crypto, affording PPC for your ads, maybe hiring a guru coach )? No....

4. OK, then go back to your 9-5 and 401k and forget this life.

The point I'm making is for MOST things, you need the domain knowledge or an advantage. If you don't have that, you can gain it working for others maybe the next few years as someone like @Sisu . If you are NOT willing to learn, then MAYBE... just MAYBE if you have enough money ( again $20k I made up ) you can try to learn PPC or pay someone to coach you ( some guru like Frank Kern ).

If you fail all of the above, you just aren't going to make it.

Hell, I know people that have done all 3 above that still failed anyways....

This would have been useful on New Years Eve when I was actually trying to explain what I am trying to do to people but they didnt have a clue but liked the idea of earning money online.

 

[Sutra]

For family who ask, I really try and point them in the right direction and give them tips, advice, etc. However, so far they don't do much. So after a few conversations I just drop it. It's up to them to push forward or not.

For random people who ask I usually point them towards the BUSO crash course and the Authority Hacker courses. If they REALLY want it as bad as they say, that is everything they need and more. If they don't make it happen after that, too bad.

 

[Maria]

You can waste a lot of time helping people who clearly are not going to be able to hack it on many levels already mentioned here. I can't even hack the lows some times but I know full well the people in my family who couldn't hack them or give up certain things that I have had to in order to do this.

I helped an in law once - I spent a LOT of time helping (time I could have spent on my own stuff!) and it was a complete waste of energy...he set up a site and did like the front page and a competition then gave up because it was too hard. He is also the type that just spends spends spends - so should have known this would have been short lived anyway.

Now if I am asked I will just point people into reading certain stuff and working the basics out first. I don't mind answering questions but I will not spend more than two minutes doing so now - there is not enough time as it is to do things and I value my time much more now than ever! If people take the time to read the basics and start being proactive I will be more inclined to help them a bit further but I will not spend the hours of time I spent explaining again.

Only exception is if this was my children. I am happy to spend time helping them figure out what they want to do in this world and if they want to be self employed will spend the time to figure out what works for them - which may not necessarily be the online stuff in the way I do it.

 

[Zach]

An old high school friend of mine I ran into at a 30th bday party.

Him and I used to hustle online poker together for years so I knew he was generally smart and has skills for this game.

He was asking about all the shit I do. I told him he could do it too as the mindset of online poker players translates well to IM.

I give him a guide of like 200 pages of reading as a “lets see how serious he is” test. He rips through it in 2 days. Good. This is a promising start.

He asked a few questions over email then eventually never emailed back.

Smart, capable guy understandably just got cold feet when it came down to the taking action part.

Hes not the first victim of reading over action. Another friend of mine who dubs himself big on the entrepreneur space just reads a shitload of books and mistakes the effort for taking action. He has nothing to his name but an in-depth knowledge of entrepreneurship. Reading is easier and more predictable than taking action and people use it as an excuse for not taking action. “Ill get to it once I read this - then I’ll really be prepared!”

 

[mj22]

I didn't read all the replies after ur op, but I'd recommend content creation, something easy anyone can do. If they can figure that out groom them and lead them further down the rabbit hole. I had this same shit happen to me after yrs of sacrifice and obsession to figure it out, after I am pulling up in an h2 Hummer or an Escalade everyday, they all start asking how and thinking they can do it or start, they have no clue the amount of work it takes to make it. I get that, but also most are too fucking lazy or unwilling to put in the work. My fucking nieghbors thought I was some drug dealer till they got to know me and found out what I did for a living. Then they asked what it took to do it for a living and I didn't over exaggerate or anything, just was straight up with them the amount of work, they said no thanks. LOL

 

[RomesFall]

.

My fucking nieghbors thought I was some drug dealer till they got to know me and found out what I did for a living.

Mine still do, and the postman.

[broken non-image]

Reality is most people can't conceive of a life outside of the 9-5 unless you're doing something criminal.

they all start asking how and thinking they can do it or start, they have no clue the amount of work it takes to make it.

Everyone thinks it must be easy money.

Sure some of us get there with a bit of luck, or business skills rather than marketing or vice versa. Point is 90% of the successful "IM" guys have had to work their ass off.

Most people aren't willing to do the hours, let alone working now for no immediate reward.

They just want to 'arrive'. Be where you're at with little to no work. Never invite family or friends into your businesses, they just don't get it. Help them out with theirs if you can, but they most likely still won't get it.

My sister-in-law has a business and insists on sticking hundreds every month into traditional advertising material e.g. flyers, business cards, posters.

It's always one new re-design away from working it seems.

The only leads her business generates other than through word of mouth comes from her website which I setup in a few hours.

Those hundreds she spends every month are never invested online. More into SEO and it could generate more leads through better rankings or exposure via investing in content. Some dollar into paid ads and it's another ballgame.

Those kind of people are a cut above the regular people who never even attempt to start a business.

Yet the idea of figuring out how much it costs to acquire a lead and all these things we would consider mandatory aren't even considered by most people. Explain it, they probably won't see the value.

Most of it comes down to common sense which is very uncommon.

Work hard get rewarded, work smart get rewarded, work hard and smart get rewarded.

If you can't do that business isn't for you and that's 99% of the population.