Maybe you’re a lot smarter than me and I should be embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve spent many, many hours in the past year online attending webinars and teleseminars, and downloading and reading free eBooks  offered by dozens of “gurus” who promised to help me make a fortune online.

I wanted to understand how to use social media – Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, ad words, WordPress – and the tricks for integrating and making my efforts “go viral”. I wanted to make my countless hours at the computer – writing blogs, emailing, updating profiles, commenting on sites, tweeting – pay off… in real dollars.

I’d like to tell you what I’ve learned: Many of these guys (and most are of the male persuasion) use exactly the same formula that they will teach you to replicate, for a price. You begin by using a “landing page” on your blog or website to get people to give you their name and email address (“your mailing list is your gold!” they say) by offering free sound advice, via an eBook, podcast or video. You don’t even have to create the material yourself, they say, as there’s so much “good stuff” on the internet already, you can just recycle it.

Their point is, once you start building your email list, you “add value” to “build relationships” by setting up automated drip marketing campaigns to keep making new offers your list recipients cannot refuse. Every time they open an email from you (simple, unformatted, compelling) you get them to read/listen/watch your next offering that builds your credibility as “an expert”. As you do this, over and over, you add teasers to keep them “wanting more”, with bonuses for sharing your links. You hold free webinars and teleseminars with invaluable information (“I can’t believe how many people we have on the call – thanks!”). Not only must they believe you are a popular expert, but you must convince them that, as someone who knows what he’s doing and has already made a fortune online, you sincerely care about their success.

At certain points in this “relationship” you offer your “followers” a product for a few bucks. Those who are willing to buy this may be good candidates to larger-ticket items, like various levels of your exclusive “guaranteed success” program. “For just $19.95 a month you get ____, BUT if you’re really serious about making money online, you’ll give your self the gift and benefit of the whole program for just $995.” You also create scarcity – “only a few seats remaining” or “act now and you’ll also get…” Sounds like late-night TV ads for Ginzu knives, eh?

But the fact is, Ginzu knives, Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman and the current equivalents – like “make six-figures a year online” salesmen – sell millions and make their inventors and marketers a lot of money. People, in general, are trusting and gullible. We want to believe there are replicable formulas and simple programs we can use, and gurus we can follow. However, if you were like many of these guys, you’d already possess certain traits and resources: you’d be a super salesman, with a technical team and sharp marketing/manipulation skills. You’d have strategic alliances with some of the Big Players so you could use their email lists, and you’d eat, sleep and breath your sales program 24/7.

We know that the way these rah-rah Tony Robbins clones have made a fortune (if they are to be believed) is by selling their programs to people who are often desperate to get some cash flowing in now, and lack the technical expertise and financial resources – not to mention personality – to replicate the program…even after they bought, listened to and followed to a T, the 64 CDs, 36 workbooks and attended the “life-changing Live Event” on the other side of the country.

I’m not saying there isn’t much to learn when it comes to internet-based business, and those who offer excellent training programs. My concerns are the time and money you (or I) have to devote to this sort training, and whether it is in keeping with who you are, what you want to share in the world, how you can “monetize” your efforts with integrity, and whether these formulaic routes will actually “build relationships” and accomplish your goals.

If you want to create passive income or build/increase your business from your online efforts, here are a few things I’ve learned:
• Have a plan. Be clear about the services and/or products you’re offering and why.
• Be genuine. Make it easy for people to contact/communicate with you and buy from you.
• Know you can’t do it all alone. You need tech support and expertise. Don’t be afraid to outsource, and learn how to do that well and cost-effectively.
• Get a mentor or coach, join a Master Mind group, or have a buddy to whom you’re accountable for implementing your plan.
• Don’t be a sucker. If, after doing your due diligence, you buy a “how to” program, use it. Work it.
• Focus on just one project at a time. If you are using a WordPress blog, for example, become expert at that before moving on.
• Learn what efforts get you the most mileage and don’t waste time with the thousands of other “good ideas” or directions you could go in.
• Since “relationships are everything,” decide who you want to be in relationship with, and what you can offer them of true value.
• Be patient and realistic, not just about your own learning curve but about building your reputation and network.

I’d appreciate if you would share this article, if you feel it’s worth sharing, and leave your comments. Oh, and feel free to contact me if I can be of service to you. Thank you!