Here’s another important observation about money…
“Money is hard when its easy, and easy when its hard”
By which I mean, whenever I’ve gotten seduced by the idea of easy money, I wind up wasting a great deal of time, effort, and morale chasing a dream. In contrast, when I accept that creating money requires genuine work, time, and effort, I find it comes MUCH more easily.
The other day I got an enthusiastic email from a member of my hyper-responsive marketing club. It went something like this:
“I’m amazed at the level of focus your method provides, the confidence I have that I can actually implement what you’ve suggested, and the peace of mind it gives me that I really WILL be able to create the business I desire. Clearly you’re the guy to follow to develop long term, stable profit. But I need money now, who do you recommend for short term, more immediate profits?“
My honest answer was “no one”.
If short term, immediate profits were really so easily available, wouldn’t everyone be flocking to them? And if everyone flocked to them, how long do you think they would actually be available?
Money is hard if you insist it comes easily, but it’s easy if you’re willing to admit it’s hard.
What do you think? (I really want to know, would you comment below please?)
Dr. G 
PS – The whole purpose of the hyper-responsive marketing club is to help you FOCUS and develop confidence in your plans so you CAN settle down on a reasonable path to business growth and real profit. It’s not at all hard as in difficult, but it does take time to build your system.
PPS – Notwithstanding all above, I can tell you that if you really DO need money in a pinch probably the best way to accomplish that is by offering your internet marketing skills as a consultant to hyper-local businesses (those you can visit personally, go have lunch with, etc).
You wouldn’t believe how primitive the vast majority of local brick and mortar businesses are with regards to their internet systems. Just getting an autoresponder installed, setting up a blog, doing a little clean up of their existing site copy seems like magic to them. Try walking into a few strip-mall stores and strike up a conversation about their website. The average person on my list with a reasonable grasp on these things (never mind PPC) should be able to fetch $50/hr work all day at minimum
PPS – I’m closing my private coaching program to new registrants on Monday, and I’m not sure if I’ll be offering it again.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Amen! It’s so true… part of the reason so many businesses fail is because people forget that hard work usually comes far before easy money.
I better get to work!
Glenn,
I think your observation is right on target. It’s kind of a trick we play on ourselves. One that gets exacerbated by the skillful work of the “marketing gurus” among us.
I think the same principle applies to accepting that “sustained effort” and “sustained focus” is what yields results in the end, multi-tasking or multi-tripping will only result in delayed success.
Gogo
There is never a better time to collect money then “NOW”, myself and others are doing this easy and so can YOU. It is a very small ONE_TIME payment of $3 but i average 12-18 of these payments come to me DAILY.
I was on a call with Perry last night because I was one of the first 500 to get the new definitive guide, and I asked his advice in this area. Pretty funny you posted this today Glen!
I asked for his advice on whether to continue pursuing affiliate marketing or to become a local search expert.
For the past 2 years I’ve been doing PPC at an ad agency. Our clients are all over the country, but most advertise to a local markets. We blow our clients away when we have a well optimized PPC campaign for them.
last year I became a member of PPC Classroom and have been trying affiliate marketing for the past year. I have learned a boat load, but do not have the budget to really play against all the recent rise in competition. (Perry mentioned affiliate marketing being really advantages for the merchants right now too)
Perry gave some great advice saying: You’ve learned how to swim in the deep end (affiliate marketing), but it’s much easier to swim in the shallow part of the pool (local search for small business). He recommended going into the local side of things because I’ve got the expertise, can clean up, and it really only takes a few clients with a decent marketing budget to make a comfortable living.
I don’t want to give up on my dream of being able to own markets ( I will purchase your system soon I swear!) , but I’m 26 years old and don’t make squat at the agency I’m currently working at. For now I think there are a lot of people who can use my help, and owning a local market is relatively easy.
Great post Glen.
Thanks,
Kevin
“Money is hard if you insist it comes easily, but it’s easy if you’re willing to admit it’s hard.”
Hey Glenn, this concept is reminiscent of Martin Atkins’ adage, “When you think you’re not f*cked, then you’re f*cked” but “when you *know* you’re f*cked, then you’re not.”
Hey, Martin ran with the Sex Pistols and was drinking and shagging at the age of 12, so his colorful language fits. For those that heard his presentation in Chicago two years ago, you may remember he translated this to German which had the audience howling.
Now for the question, do emergency cash systems exist…making money without money?
Sure, it’s always possible to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but as Glenn pointed out, if were that patently easy, everyone would be doing it. (Look at the latest insider trading investigations bringing down billionaires like a house of cards.)
That’s what I LOVE about the Hyper-Responsive Circle Glenn’s set up. I KNOW the handful of people I can send an offer to for a $10,000 product or service and I can design the product and the copy *just* for them. But it’s taken time and analysis to find those people.
That was articulated so beautifully. I think at one time or another, we all get suckered into thinking that there is some magic, easy way to make a fortune. But chasing rainbows has always proved futile.
You are absolutely correct. Find what works, dig in and do it. In the long run, it is the only way to really make a lot of money.
Michael, respectfully, I don’t believe you. What do the rest of you think?
Thanks Glenn for the reality check.
It is so true that the reason why the reaping is sometimes easy is because we have put so much time, energy and persistence into the sowing part.
Just investigate all those “overnight success” and you will find that they are almost always the results of years of hard work.
I strongly believe that the only way to get without giving as much is by taking it at someone else’s expense. So don’t let yourself be lured by the quick and easy gain or else the law of economics is going to get back at you the hard way.
Cool post Dr. G
I don’t like to really think of it as work… or I’m trying to get myself away from that and say action instead. Not to be new age or anything, but work just sounds bad.
What I really hate, but it’s part of the price of success is when you really put in all that action taking and not really get anywhere on the physical results level… Oh well… keep moving forward.
And to Kevin, if you read this, you definitely should become a local consultant to sm biz. I pick up some clients here and there with not much marketing but if you really work it, pick up these clients can be pretty easy. Go that route and then dive into affiliate marketing… I still have yet to really dive it because I don’t feel comfortable with the financial backing I have in place… aka… I need more of it!
Hey Glenn,
Nice post. I think I’ve seen you write something like this before, and it’s well taken.
By the way, the links to your hyperresponsivemarketing.com page link to a parked URL. Did you mean to link to hyperresponsivemarketingsecrets.com instead?
Patrick
To anyone trying to decide whether coaching is a good deal, I can tell you as a student of +3 months that I am continually surprised by the value of this personalized approach and the quality of advice. If you\’re serious about an online venture then consider grabbing a spot before they go.
Cheers
Tom
Hi Dr. Glen
I agree with you completely, and after thinking about it a bit, I also agree with Michael. This is a story about why I agree with both.
Imagine that you are standing at the edge of a river. Your goal is to cross the river, and the only means available to cross the river is a rowing boat that has 2 oars. The left oar is labeled “knowledge”, and the right oar is labeled “experience”. The boat and the oars are manufactured by “Livingstone Manufacturing Group Inc.” who is the highest quality, lowest cost producer in the world, real value for money. It is crafted by a skilled male expert in fluid dynamics, and finished off exquisitely by a woman’s touch, complete with padding so that you don’t get any blisters. The left “knowledge” oar has a TV built in, and the right “experience” oar has a name tag where you write your own name. You have the confidence to cross the river, with an unfair advantage by having such a high quality boat, and privileged to get it at such a low cost.
Obviously you have to cross this river by rowing yourself, while watching and listening to Dr. Glen on the TV monitor mounted on the left knowledge oar, while he coaches and encourages you while you row.
The amount of money that you want to make is represented by the volume of water flowing in the river. If you want to make a little bit of money, you only have to cross a small stream, and if you want to make a lot of money you have a very wide river to cross. It will take a lot of effort, you will have to work hard, and it will take time to cross that river.
You can look for a shortcut and pick a spot where the river is narrow. But beware, when a high volume of water flows through a narrow space, it flows very fast, and crossing is treacherous, full of white water rapids and water falls. You may have a shorter distance to travel, but it will be a rough ride, your boat will likely capsize, and you will find it very difficult to control direction fighting against a strong current. The river will carry you downstream, you cannot see your destination, and you risk going down a water fall. Don’t get lured into the illusion of a fast crossing, most rowers just get washed away, and some even drown. Pick a spot where the river is wide and the current is mild, and accept that it will take time. You can control the direction, and you can see where you need to get out on the other side.
Your start with one stroke of the left oar, meaning you require a bit of knowledge by watching and listening to the TV, and to move forward you have to gain some experience by rowing one stroke with the right oar. You repeat the process continuously to row across the river. As you progress, both your knowledge and experience increases, and that is the shortest possible route to cross the river.
The time it takes you to cross the river is proportional to your work rate, which is up to you. The faster you want to go, the harder you have to work. You will sweat less if you row slower, but the total energy required is the same as whether you row faster. If you want to make it across, you need to pace yourself depending on how fit you are.
Now, if you are hard of hearing, or not focussed and concentrating on the TV, then you only row with one oar, going in a circle and geting nowhere. Both oars have this property, if you over use one oar, you row in a circle. To cross that river in a straight line, you really have to row in a balanced way, one knowledge stroke, one experience stoke.
Michael chose to jump across a small stream, he does not even need the boat or the oars. $3 x 12 – 18 = $36 – $54 per day, or $1,080 – $1,620 per month, a small river indeed, perhaps just a trickle. Small streams are of course prone to flooding, they tend to dry up in summer, and the other side of the stream looks the same as where you are jumping from, washed out and full of debris from floods.
The really amazing thing about crossing a very wide river, is the sign that was too small to see until you get there. It says “Welcome to Paradise. Here You May Relax for the Rest of Your Life.“. It is really worth the time to sweat and work hard to get across.
- The End –
To all you rowers out there, “Bon Voyage”, go for the widest river, and stay inspired by that sign!
The only easy way to make money seems to be winning the lottery or stumbling across an entirely new idea. Yup as I’m finding out internet money isn’t as easy as it initially seems like it might be from everyone trying to sell you their newest money making system.
That being said the newest niche I’m trying to figure out seems to be relatively unexploited and has 10-20 million or so searches a month.. it still seems like with the right approach it could be ‘easy’ money given how much time would be invested. I guess time will tell but I know I can get at least a .25 CTR for 5 cents each and they are looking for an actual product that has lots of affiliate programs and know via cj.com that some affiliates are making as much as 25 cents per click.
While I’m at it: Let me know if anyone would be interested in hearing more about it(matthewczarnek(at)yahoo.com) and hopefully choosing to help me(for a profit share of course). I have barely any real experience and have only made $50 after a year of trying and would appreciate the help.
Hi Glenn,
I think you’re “right on the money” with this thread.
I’ve always found that if I start focusing on the money, things get harder, more stressful, and go wrong.
If I focus on the *work* the money takes care of itself.
And Lawrence’s comment about Atkins was great – as soon as I read your headline, Atkins quote sprang to mind before I had even read down the comments. I was at Chicago when he presented it, and it really was both a scream and a salutory lesson in strategic planning.
All the best as ever!
Hi Glen,
Great article… I\’m in the shallow end and you are spot on with businesses running archaic web marketing systems… They know they need a website and as soon as it gets beyond that, its a world of goobledegook for them.
I am finding its best to keep it very simple – People like a easy to manage website and the ability to start to leverage their other marketing (newspaper ads, leaflet drops, signage, radio) into more traffic for their site. If I go into full internet marketing mode it freaks out the business owners and they can\’t see the value…
As they get started though and begin to get the results – more options open up for them – ok, so we are getting some traffic, lets try finding out whether we can make some pages that convert better so you can make more sales and run a simple split test and measure…
The amount of money being spent on old school marketing (physical yellow pages, traditional print) that will end up in PPC or SEO over the next 2-5 years will make it an increasingly competitive game. You are so right about small business – its a great market to be in for any affiliates that want to move to a better playing field.
Tom Rolley, Bloomtools
Hi Glenn,
I believe money only comes easy once you have the foundation ready, you have to work hard first, then after everything it’s in place money comes easier not easy.
The problem is like you said if we get seduce by an idea of easy money the temptation is so strong that we tend to fall into it, and most of the time ending with are tail between are legs.
We just have to keep working hard and have a positive mindset to stay on track and avoid falling into easy money ideas.
Haha. That’s so funny. I’ve been working my way through your material as out of interest and with lont term goals of becoming an online businessman.
Circumstances have changed recently and I’ve needed to get a substitute wage quickly.
I’ve been doing exactly what you suggested… swim in the small pool doing Internet Marketing for small local businesses. They think I’m a genius whizz kid and the results are immediate and compelling for them. What’s more, the highly talented Adwords/Internet Marketing types aren’t down here to compete with.
Thanks for mentioning that in your PPS Glenn. I’ve a few clients paying me a monthly retainer for an “Adwords Managed Service”, and when I’ve doubled this number I’ll have my head above water again and can concentrate on the long term.
For those starting out, I’d recommend getting a few actual clients such as local electricians and tradesmen and actually doing the work and putting what Glenn’s teaching us into practice in a commercial environment.
Glenn,
This is true, but not for money alone. This is true for almost everything in life.
Mark
The hardest job I had was in an industry where single sales is the rule. My first sale was for fifty three units. (Easy sale, easy money.) The mindset that sale started, made that job one of the hardest I’ve had.
Lets say that money isnt hard to get, if your consistent enough.
I prefer to found it easy, to make it so.
But easy fast money is hard, and counter productive, anyone smart will prefer having a big cashflow compare to a big prize
Gab
Need money now? Find a job.