Which Idiot Buys E-Books If You Can Learn Everything For Free? I Do.

March 29, 2009 in Editorial, Making Money, Newbie Help by Chef Keem

Seasoned Squidoo lensmasters advise us: “Don’t spend any money on ‘How to Squidoo’ e-books (or any SEO/online marketing/work from home tutorials, for that matter) – everything you need to know is available for free!”

Let’s take a closer look at this statement: It’s true! But…

It’s also true that we can learn a lot about being car mechanics, therapists, business consultants, chefs, neurological surgeon astronaut midget tossers and whathaveyou – without spending a single one of our wrinkled greenbacks!

“Wait!” you say, “It would take me years to find and assemble all the necessary materials, separate the need-to-knows from the unimportant stuff, break it all down into digestible chunks – especially in the case of the midget tosser rocket doc!”

Good point! We rely on other folks to do the ground work for us so we don’t have to waste our time with it. We use trade schools, community college classes, car engine manuals, step-by-step patio-building instructions, detailed cook books, relationship courses, etc. – ALL THE TIME! But…(again!)

We’re smart. We’re not fooled easily! We do our homework before we buy.

We know what we want and we research our options. Reviews, reports, ads, books, TV shows or websites tell us who the experts are. Then we spend happily $20, $50, $100 or more, because we know that the time we saved is worth so much more than the purchase price of our shortcut to expertise.

Why do we hesitate – no, make that: why are we suspicious about the value of “How to (make money with) Squidoo” materials for sale? Three reasons…

  • So many of them are out there – we don’t know which one is right for our needs
  • Some are low quality versions with little content that is easily available with minimal effort
  • We don’t know enough about the integrity of the authors and their true expertise

And I think there’s a fourth, very important reason:

  • We don’t know exactly what we want.

What to do? Let’s get real clear first on our goal(s).

  • Do we want to create brilliant content pages for the sheer pleasure of it?
  • Do we need to write in order to get things off of our chests?
  • Are we building lenses to introduce ourselves to the world and make new friends?

For these or other non-business-related ambitions we can find tons of free tutorials on Squidoo, SquidLog (of course), blogs and other websites. We’ll see great results within days or weeks.

Or, are we trying to make money online? Here, it gets a little more complicated.

  • Are we trying to sell things we make – art, cookies, our own e-books?
  • Do we prefer to sell other people’s stuff through affiliate marketing?
  • Is article writing our “thing”? Blogging? Niche sites? Product reviews?

My hand is up! I confess…

I’ve been trying to do ALL these things over the first year of my online activities!

Bad idea. Didn’t make much money either. Needed to decide, streamline my activities and focus my studies!

What do I really need to learn to realize my dream of online income?

  • SEO, keyword strategies, tagging?
  • Copywriting, effective presentations?
  • Email lists, pitch pages?
  • Niche research, content creation?
  • Blog concepts, AdSense, affiliate programs?
  • Pay-per-click, pay-per-wink, pay-per-burp?

Don’t get me wrong – I won’t regret a minute of my lensbuilding, forum chats, Squidoo volunteer activities, blog hopping or lens browsing. It all got me to where I am today – I know what I want and how to monetize it. And…

I will use all the help I can get – as far as I can afford it!

So, yes – there are monster packages available for $1,000 – $2,000, or more. Not for me, though. $100 or less is my range, and I buy only from folks I completely trust! I need to have a personal relationship (pure platonic, of course!) with my online teachers. Ideally, I’ve seen them interact with others (and me) in a helpful way and with no monetary gains at stake. And, I need to have prove that their system worked for them!

Here are some recommendations:

For income creation through affiliate marketing using Squidoo and other free resources, I’m happy to pitch with utter confidence: “One Week Marketing Course” by PotPieGirl. This 5-book tutorial (my review here!) is underpriced at the regular cost of $47. (I’ve made my investment back, many times over.) From now until 12:01 AM, April 1, 2009, OWM is offered at HALF PRICE, for only $23.50! But only through THIS LINK! If you want to benefit from Jennifer’s 2-year experience in making affiliate marketing money on Squidoo – ACT NOW! Make sure you use this special link for the 50% OFF deal!

(Full disclosure: I’m an affiliate partner of PotPieGirl’s course, so I make a few bucks through your purchase. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your purchase through this page! However, my recommendation is based on my great experience with OWM. That’s why I like to spread the word.)

More non-affiliate recommendations:

For e-book creation and marketing, check out “Desperate Buyers Only” by Alexis Dawes, $77

Naomi at IttyBiz is a highly-respected small business consultant and her “SEO School” has become a classic among online entrepreneurs ($39). Get to know this lady and look at her fabulous blog.

[ratings]

On a similar note...

Tags: , , , , , ,
No Comments »