The internet is a goldmine. It contains infinite amounts of money.
Harsh truth: The average person will never make a dollar online. That’s okay. We’re not here to shame people or talk down to anyone. My goal is to make sure you open your mind to the idea it’s possible.
Why me? I’m in my 8th year of doing it. I walk the talk. I do this daily to put tacos on my family’s table.
Here’s what prevents most people from making money online.
They treat networking like the lottery
You have to network (make friends) to make money online. Period.
If you spend your day reaching out to Oprah, Bezos, and Elon Musk you’re not going to make it online. That’s lottery networking. You’re relying on blind luck or kindness to get a reply/freebie. Try this rule of thumb.
- 80% of your networking should be with people who have similar results to you.
- 15% of your networking should be with people who have slightly higher results than you.
- 5% of your time should be spent networking with superstars.
They fail before they start (accidentally)
Dan Koe is obsessed with showing people how they can become self-reliant and self-paid. This message chain he posted explains the problem.
If all you do is focus on the problem, you become your own problem.
Everything has a failure rate. Everything worth doing online starts out as a long shot. What I do is focus on what can work. Many times it doesn’t. But in the process I find a path that does work.
They don’t write adult direct messages
If you can’t write a DM you’re screwed.
I get “Hi” and “Yo” daily. I get stupid requests, template messages, stuff that makes no sense and is full of spelling errors — the list is endless.
99% of DMs get ignored.
It’s a must-learn skill though.
The online world happens behind the scenes. It’s what you can’t see that allows creators to make money online.
My entire online business is built off the back of DMs. In 2014 I became obsessed. I A/B tested stupid numbers of DMs. I found a few templates and ways of engaging that work.
The templates became so effective that I was getting invites to go to Richard Branson’s island or meet Tony Robbins (not to brag). My boss at the bank I worked at couldn’t believe it. She made me run a workshop for all the bankers in our state to show them how I did it.
Here’s a DM I sent yesterday as an example.
The DM works because it:
- Shows research
- It fits her niche
- It’s deeply personal
- I mention someone she knows
- Even if she hates my message she can use it as content on LinkedIn
The one problem with this DM is it’s too long. Not every DM you send will be perfect. Aim for execution not procrastination.
Here’s another recent DM. (We’re both friends now and talk every day.)
This DM works because it:
- Respects their time
- Mentions one similarity
- Assumes they can’t reply
- Demonstrates proof of work online
- Offers to promote their work for free without kissing their butt
(Note the flame emoji below my original message.)
He replied back and said he gets lots of DMs and would love to chat. He has 100X the results on Twitter that I do.
Learn how to write a DM.
They get infected by the deadly skepticism virus
I’ve never met a millionaire skeptic. They’re all broke, spewing vomit on Twitter about politics and god knows what else.
The skepticism is valid from a distance. The average human is programmed to expect results quickly.
They want everything now! now! now!
Amazon shopping trained them. Netflix made it worse. UberEats turned us into weekend slobs. Unfortunately this programming is at the root of the problem. Hear me loud and clear.
- Bad news: It takes more than one year to make money online.
- Good news: If you can do it for 5+ years you’ll never work a job again.
There’s a healthy middle ground too. Making money online can be a monetized side hustle in the short term, until your skills level up.
Just because there’s an entry fee (time), doesn’t mean making money online is an impossible scam.
Open minds become successful. Closed minds stay unsuccessful. Your choice.
They listen to morons
There are loads of trolls online disguised as gurus. Their main gig is to produce satire content and gaslight you for ‘likes’ and money. Be careful who you follow.
Follow morons become a moron. Follow average stay average.
They feel dirty, sleazy even
Making money online can feel sleazy.
People who are jealous of what you want to do will label you a sellout. They say this because they don’t have the courage, knowledge, or discipline to do it themselves.
What helps me is this mantra?
“Part of the money I earn will go to help charitable causes.”
Now you have zero reasons to be guilty, and a powerful why. You don’t feel sleazy getting paid from a job. Making money online is no different.
They forget “no learn, no earn”
There’s a learning curve to make wifi money. I’ve spent years doing online courses to learn the business. My motto is this:
No learn, no earn.
When you spend money on courses and your own self-improvement, you’re improving. There’s a much more important outcome though.
Spending money on learning creates accountability.
If you get wisdom for free it doesn’t hit your brain the same as it does when you have to spend your hard-earned money to get it.
Most people will spend money on Netflix, the latest dumb phone, or designer t-shirts — but won’t pay for learning or networking opportunities.
Invest in yourself to outgrow your former self from one year ago.
Killer example
Earlier this year I bought a course. Over 1000 students had completed the course. It had 5-star ratings.
By the end of the course I wanted to kill someone.
The course was far too long, badly edited, and unclear in many parts. The worst bit of all?
The teacher kept slurping and making noises with their mouth every 60-seconds. It drove me nuts.
I requested a refund. The money came back within seconds. The teacher wanted to jump on a Zoom call to talk about my experience. They gave me some of the best information I’ve ever got.
A few months later they redid the entire course. They gave me a 100% off coupon to buy it again. The course was amazing.
I bought all of their upsells and an annual subscription to their community. The teacher and I are now friends. People often laugh when I tell them I do courses every month. “Don’t you have enough results already?”
Me: “A human mind dies when it stops learning.”
I view each course with this lens: Did I learn one new thing?
If yes, then the money is worth it.
They have zero discipline
Discipline is a survival skill.
Without discipline you wouldn’t eat, go to work, or use the toilet. You’d soon become a corpse in your own home.
Making money online happens every day. It’s a habit. It’s something you practice, like a rock band that rehearses before a big show (even when they play to 10,000 fans).
You can’t be a lazy ass and then expect that the billions of people you’re competing with online won’t outdo you. There’s no need to become a navy seal though.
Discipline is easy to visualize. Are the tasks needed to make money online in your Gmail calendar right now? If not, you know what to do.
They’re not willing to tell their story
Without content there is no money to be made online.
Content is a central pillar that makes everything else happen. The problem is you can’t see that reality up front. It’s hidden.
Hiding is what average people do to avoid personal responsibility for what they put out on the internet.
Anonymous culture online has had many harsh effects. Any monkey can create a fake username that makes them sound like Superman and then jump on a soapbox and post dumb stuff.
Storytelling is the way money gets made online. The best stories are real, not written by fake bots. Author James Altucher taught me that the best stories are vulnerable. You want to feel a little uncomfortable when you post stuff (some of the time).
The average person isn’t willing to put themselves on the line and talk about their defects, failures, or bad behavior.
Takeaway: you must be yourself online.
It all boils down to this
It takes courage to make money online. It takes courage to quit your job. It takes courage to show up every day. It takes courage to get smashed down and get back up. It takes courage to back yourself.
You need courage.
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