Monday, September 25, 2006

The Backlash Against Online Marketing eBooks

Making money online programs and the eBooks that teach these methods have been going strong for the past couple of years. Just recently, though, a backlash of the product is making people think of it as a scam, not a money making venture.

For some strange reason, over the last 3 weeks, I have read and seen about a half of a dozen articles, blogs, emails, etc. focusing on the topic of how online marketing eBooks are nothing but a scam. Sure, there are always going to be critics, but is this sudden rise in awareness justified, or is it just a coincidence?

I have a interesting intrepretation of this situation from two stand-points:

1) I got into the online money making business using one of these eBooks.

2) I run a review site (http://www.thewebreviewer.com) that focuses on reviewing these exact programs.

In the early part of this year, I did what most of you have done: I needed extra money so I typed something like "Make Money Online", "Extra Cash", or "Get Rich Quick" into a search engine like Google or Yahoo. At that time, I knew nothing about affiliate marketing, paid surveys, wholesaling, data entry programs, etc. I spent a few nights researching it and finally found a program that I wanted to try out.

This eBook has changed my life. I spent the first 3 months making no money, spending a tons on advertising and getting little traffic to my products. I was learning. The last six months, I have created a number of websites and campaigns and earn steady income as a supplement to my 9-5 job. (This was exactly what I wanted to do). The point is that I would have never made it to this point without the guidance of an online marketing eBook. It taught me the fundamentals:

1) What it is.
2) Where to find products.
3) Where to sell products.
4) How to promote products.
5) How to maximize my earning potential.

Understanding the fundamentals is KEY before you can actually start making money. Again, the first three months were spent learning the system, the last six months have been reaping the rewards. At the end of the day, it was ME that made this system work (through hard-work, education and trial & error), but I needed this eBook to get the ball rolling in the first place. (How do you ask a question, if you don't know which questions to ask!?)

Secondly, I have an insight that not many have on these online money making eBooks: I review them! I post on my website about a half-dozen different programs, but I have read about twice that over the past year. I have learned a few things from this:

1) About 75% of all Online Money Making eBooks are the same: They have the same chapter headings and the same content. Some go over the "what" a little bit more; others go over the "how".

2) The last 25% is usually some "innovative" or "unique" marketing or product idea that this specific get rich program specializes in. In most cases, these ideas are a bit far-fetched for most, but are always worth a read.

3) It is usually the "bonuses" that distinguish these programs from one another. Some may offer personal counselling. Others may offer a free website or a paid surveys list. Some do not offer much of anything.

At the end of the day, the content is there to get you an idea of what you need to do to make money online.

So, does this really work? Of course, my answer has to be yes. The reason? I would not be here today writing this article if this did not work for me. So why the backlink against these Affiliate Marketing or Money Making eBooks? I am guessing it could be a few reasons:

1) Speaking out against such eBooks can be controversial (which can be an effective marketing tool to promote your own product...or "anti-product" for that matter!)

2) A lot of people try these programs and a lot of people fail. Not everyone will be successful doing this and those who are not are surely going to consider this a scam.

3) More competion means more work and less sales. Some may bad-mouth the programs just to prevent more people from trying. (The internet is a very big place, though, and there is plenty of ways to still make money!)

At the end of the day, I find these articles that bad-mouth online marketing eBooks a bit silly. Sure, some of them are pretty bad (and pretty short!). But some will provide you with tools to begin making money online in no time.

- Matthew Bredel

Visit http://www.TheWebReviewer.com for more money making articles, resources and reviews on today’s hottest online money making ventures.