Several years ago, while exploring the world of affiliating marketing I ran into an individual who was doing very well. Like everyone else in this new affiliate community I was curious how this person was doing so well. Everyone asked them how they made their money, but this shadowy individual wouldn’t say, for obvious reasons! Then one day all of a sudden he/she released an e-book detailing all if the methods used to generate that income.
People Paid $500 Per Copy
I can’t say it was easy to confirm that everything written was true, but people paid a hefty $500 price tag per copy. I’m not the type of person to believe that someone who is making thousands of dollars per day would share their knowledge for a measly $500, so it was a no-brainer for me to sit this one out. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” – I thought.
Being the curious gal that I am it didn’t take long to strike up a conversation with this money ninja and we quickly came to chat on a regular basis about earning online. One question was burning on my mind and had to be asked “why would you release everything you know for a quick buck?”
“People Will Always Make an Excuse”
The reply – honest yet cynical still echoes today: “because no matter how real and useful the information, people will always make an excuse to not put it to use.” It turns out this guru wasn’t worried about others replicating the “secret” strategy at all. Multiple conversations proceeded afterwards where we got to talking about why people fail at achieving their goals, and I must say these were some of the most interesting talks I’ve had with anyone online.
A week later, to no surprise, everyone who purchased a copy of the e-book was complaining that none of the methods described have worked. Cursing and name calling preceded and talks about scams broke out. Before getting to know the individual I would have quickly agreed that the money paid was too little for something too good to be true (promises of thousands of dollars per day), but after having regular chats with this rogue agent of affiliate marketing it became too difficult to accept harsh accusations of this persons’ work.
$15,000 in Sales
By then, their e-book has leaked online and became public knowledge for anyone interested in finding it. Although my new “friend” had pocketed a quick $15,000 from sales, they were still not worried about it being out in the open. Curiosity lead me to finding the book for myself and asking if it would be alright to test it for free. Without a raised brow I was given one tip: “You have to do exactly as the book says and you have to stick to it by being patient.”
Long story short, this person wasn’t lying. Everything that was written there did exactly as the title promised. Although the money made from that simple e-book did not make me rich, it taught me a powerful lesson: stop procrastinating. Everything you need to achieve your goals has already been written down or spoken. Just do the work and do it diligently. The super simple slogan Nike has adopted for its brand has been trying to tell us how to succeed all along – “Just Do It.”
Do you know someone who blames their financial problems on others? Do you find yourself procrastinating more often than doing the work?
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— Veronica Hill (@VeronicaHill79) September 28, 2012
I am a huge procrastinator. My motto, especially when younger, was if it can be done now it can be done tomorrow too. Thankfully I have my wife to balance me out and would call myself a reformed procrastinator. I find that too often we (myself included) make things entirely too difficult and by just doing it as Nike says things are much more able to be accomplished.
Haha John! I used to be the same way. Now that I have 100 things to do in one day (and most of the time I don’t get half way up the list) I try to just go for it. It’s still difficult sometimes – specially when I’m at home.
This is a great story and I totally agree. You have to put yourself out there, try new things, try old things, try anything! You might be the only one who is trying at all =)
There is just so much great advice out there and all it takes is trying it and sticking to it. But because there is so much of it out there, that people like to keep on reading and keep on looking. At some point you just have to stop reading and start doing
There are a lot of people who blame others for their money problem, but in reality they aren’t putting forth the effort needed to realize their financial goals. You aren’t going to own a massive house in 10 years if you only make $30k/year. You need to line up your goals with realities, and put in the effort. Great story in this post!
Thanks David. Yep, that’s exactly what this person told me pretty much – everyone who bought the ebook tried parts of it and stopped when it wasn’t working. They never fully dedicated their time and energy into it – which is what took to make a lot of money. I guess everyone just expected a quick buck.
That’s a great story! So true too – about people not putting forth the effort to get where they want to be.
Welcome to the challenge – by the way.
Oh thanks Marie! I am going to post an update on the challenge this Friday. Last week was too crowded at the end there to squeeze in an Alexa update
There’s definitely a big difference between knowing how to do something and doing it! You are so right that even with a plan laid out, sticking to it can be the biggest part of the battle.
That’s how I feel with this blog, I know the end score but to put forth the right plays is going to take work. Wow, I sounded like I watch Football – I swear I don’t!
I don’t know who this person is, but I’m impressed that they sold a book for $500 and make $15K! Someday, I plan to have a product of some kind (but I will probably sell it for much cheaper!)
I feel like the story of my blog fits this message perfectly. For over a year, I agonized over whether it would be dumb to start a blog or not. Even after I did, I kept asking myself what the hell I was doing. But now I realize it was the perfect thing to do, and I question why I didn’t do it sooner!
To be honest, I felt like their e-book was worth at least $10,000. It had some really great foundation for making affiliate income online.
I’m glad you have decided to follow through with your blog. I often question my own methods and projects and wonder if what I’m doing is going to be worth it in the long run. As long as you are motivated and are not afraid to do the work it’s worth it every time.
Great advice…..but so hard to follow! I was just having this discussion with my daughter who didn’t want to do her homework….I was telling her she was spending more time and energy complaining about doing it than it would take to do it.
Then I realized I had a blog post to write, and was pretty much doing anything and everything possible (like checking my email a bazillion times) to keep from doing it.
My daughter started her homework, I started my post…..amazing how fast both of them got done when we put our minds to “Just Doing It!”
Awww, that’s sweet. I agree, it’s much easier said than done. I’m still fighting the habit of checking my email 20 times a day. I have several accounts, each getting at least 20-100 (non-spam, semi-important) emails per day. It’s so tempting to check them once, then keep refreshing to see if anything comes in!
Funny you should mention writing blog posts. That’s what I’m doing right now, but it wasn’t easy to get going – I was very much tempted to check all of my email first, hahaha!
Procrastination is a killer. I try to overcome my laziness by setting very small goals, two or three a day, and doing just that. Since they are achieved so quickly I usually feel good about myself and do a little extra. What the mind can do…
Pauline, everyone has their own way of going about overcoming procrastination but I like the way you break down tasks into small weekly portions. If only I could be like you and do a bit extra every time, maybe I wouldn’t have to burn out on Mondays. Still working on getting more done on weekends.
Well, we are on the same wavelength on the “Just do it” ideology
My reference was by chance, while your is more the focus. Great point though, if it’s looks too good to be true it 9 time out of 10 is… Except me, I’m the exception
lol
Don, I find it strange that we wrote about the same slogan within a few days different, are we somehow linked? Haha. The only thing is, the point you mention about “if it looks too good to be true it probably is” is not what I was trying to convey in my post. The e-book I read was not too good to be true, it was 100% true, I was merely stressing the fact that people expect everything to be given to them on a silver platter without doing even a tiny bit of hard work.
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