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Make Fast Money Blogging Products – My Reaction

Posted By Darren Rowse 10th of December 2009 Blogging for Dollars 0 Comments

make-money-blogging-fast.jpgToday a new ‘make money blogging fast‘ product is being launched into the blogosphere that promises those who buy it that they can make big money blogging – fast.

As this thing is launching and I’m already getting emails about it from readers asking if they should buy it – let me give you a few quick reactions to it and other products I’ve seen like it.

Do keep in mind, I’ve not bought the product so I’m making these calls based solely upon what I’ve seen in the sales material and what I’ve heard from charter members. Much of what I have written below applies to most of these kinds of products (and there are many).

Note: I’m not naming the product here (and I’m certainly not going to try to make a quick buck with an affiliate promotion), I just don’t feel good about promoting it in any way – for reasons that I guess will become clear below.

Make Fast Money Blogging?

Here’s the main thing – making money from blogging instantlyimmediatelyquicklyfast isn’t something I’ve seen too many people achieve (I’m actually yet to meet any). I have seen bloggers make A LOT of money blogging – millions of dollars in fact. It’s certainly possible to do – however in every case that I’ve seen the blogger has worked their butts off blogging for a long time, building their authority, credibility and by writing content that is original and useful – well before their blog started making money.

If you think you can flick a switch or change to a new system and instantly make a lot of money fast – you’re in for a fall. Don’t fall for that line – to make money in this game you’re going to have to work really hard and have a long term view of things.

Lots of Blogs Each Earning Little Bits of Money

OK – the methodology of this program is that you need to start a blog network – multiple blogs that each earn a relatively small amount of money, that mounts up to be a significant amount.

Sounds like a reasonable way to approach things and there is actually some truth to the methodology. I know a number of bloggers who have made some money this way, a few that even make a full time living from it.

I’m not going to knock people for taking on this model – it can work and I guess people do need to make a living. I even did it for a little while myself. However keep in mind that there is a cost of this method – something that I learned for myself the hard way.

The problem with maintaining lots of blogs is that while they each might make a little money that adds up to a reasonable amount – you end up with lots of blogs that don’t really amount to anything in and of themselves on any other level than that they earn a little money.

Perhaps that’s all your dream is (to make a little money from lots of blogs that no one has ever heard of) but what I love about blogs is the way that they open up other opportunities for a blogger. A blog can build your brand and profile to the point that it opens up doors for new jobs, partnerships, book deals, speaking engagements, friendships, business ideas…. etc. The problem is that most bloggers who have experienced these opportunities have worked hard to build a small number of blogs (usually a single one) which they’ve worked hard at – rather than spreading themselves thinly across multiple blogs.

My experience of a small network of blogs was that it while I was able to sustain 10-20 blogs (20-30 posts a day) that the quality of what I was producing was pretty low. I did get a little traffic to each from Google – but never really generated any regular readers, never had anyone comment, never had any opportunities open up as a result of those blogs.

It was only when I switched to having 1-2 blogs with quality, useful and original content that things opened up. As a result I slowly started to make real money blogging and more importantly started to see opportunities to leverage the profile of my blogs to bigger and better opportunities.

Using Other People’s Content

One of the main methods taught by many make money blogging products is to use other people’s content on your blog for the bulk of your posts. This one teaches that you should use other people’s content for the bulk of your posts and throw in some original stuff from time to time. They even give you tools to find and import other people’s content quickly (remember you need lots of blogs to make this work – so you need to do it quickly).

Again – this is something I dabbled in for a while. I did it all manually and tried to use the content in a way that added value rather than just copying and pasting in content (I also did it with the blessing of those whose content I aggregated and always acknowledge sources) – but in the end I dropped it as a method for a couple of reasons.

Firstly it was the most boring thing I had ever done (and I’ve worked on conveyor belts on production lines for 12 hour shifts – so I know boring). Blogging can be an amazingly uplifting experience – but copying and pasting in content is not fun.

Secondly it’s only marginally useful – there are ways of aggregating content from other sites that can be useful, but it always takes work and extra effort for this to happen. The method demonstrated in the product I’m referring to just mashes up a load of content from other sites in a way that doesn’t really help anyone. As a result a blog that does this as the bulk of its content isn’t really useful to anyone, except the blogger making a few dollars from it. The demonstrator describes the post as quality content – it’s not really. It’s on topic, it might do ok in Google, but it doesn’t really help anyone.

Thirdly – you end up a blog that isn’t really unique or original. This comes back to my points above about creating blogs that actually help build a brand or profile for you. If all you do with the bulk of your content is rehash and mashup other people’s content you’ll never get a name for being anything much more than someone who reads, quotes and links to other people’s content. Perhaps I’m crazy – but I’d rather be known for someone who has original, interesting and useful ideas than someone who whips up mashups of other people’s stuff all day every day. But maybe that’s just me?

Fourthly – while search engines unfortunately do rank this kind of content, I’m finding that they’re getting better and better at identifying truly useful content and junky content like this that is created purely to get search traffic. Sites like this can and do rank well but often they fall out of the rankings and in the long term don’t tend to rank well.

Note: at least the teaching offered in today’s course acknowledges sources of content with links and only uses short quotes from those sources – I don’t think it’s anywhere near as bad as some tools that scrape content, strip links and acknowledgements and automatically produce very spammy content.

Final Thoughts

In the end people will believe that they can make fast money blogging if they want to. Some people just want to believe the dream and nothing I can say will convince them. They’ll happily pay their $67 a month, create a few of these ‘blogs’ and a few months later realise that this isn’t a ‘fast’ or particularly ‘easy’ game.

If you’re tempted then please just pause for a moment and think about your objectives for blogging. If you’re looking to purely make money and you don’t want any real personal satisfaction or have any goals of building a brand or profile – then this type of model may actually work for you.

But if your dream is to build something that grows your profile as someone with authority in your niche, or to land a job or book deal, or to get invited to speak at an industry event, or to be quoted in mainstream media about your topic, or it’s just to build a blog that has loyal readers who keep coming back because you’re helping them…. then perhaps this isn’t the type of blogging model for you.

Your Thoughts?

PS: Interestingly the sales page of this new product highlights some successful blogs that make a lot of money blogging. They include Dooce and Mashable. I would argue that these blogs pretty much prove my point. They’re all about original and useful content. They are not about creating lots of blogs that each a little money – they’re about putting in a lot of work to produce useful and original content over a long period of time and don’t resemble anything I’ve seen about the actual product being promoted on the page.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. LOL – I actually “copied and pasted” part of this blog post and sent it to a few clients I work with who have heard recently of “Autoblogging” and all the hype.

    I made every effort to tactfully tell them that “Autoblogging” and anything like it is spammy at best.

    I also told them that the people promoting these ideas generally have put in TONS OF TIME and effort building lists, reputation, etc. They can then show their “potential buyers” a few little tricks and VIOLA, they get boat-loads of traffic.

    For a new blogger it’s just NOT GOING TO HAPPEN that way!

    Thanks for the confirmation! Appreciate your blog and all the effort you put in to create real content.

    Nate Moller
    MollerMarketing.com

  2. It’s very true that you have almost 100%control over a business if the product that you are selling, it’s yours. Clearly, you know where you want your product to be seen, how you want it to be known, you know all the details..and it’s really better for you to have the control.

  3. It all boils down to one thing…the best way to make money on the internet is to write a book about how to make money on the internet.

    People are always after a fast buck, so they prey on people who are after a fast buck.

  4. Hi Darren, totally agree and take on board the points your making in this post. I also went down the route of many blogs in many niches and the result was exhaustion and very little yield. I’m starting to concentrate on 2-3 blogs I have which I am passionate about. I feel kinda liberated since taking on this approach, its much more manageable. just find it a little difficult growing the traffic but hopefully it should grow with good relevant content and time.. Antway keep up the good work, i’m so glad I came upon your blog:-)

  5. Darren…you are spot on with this one.

    It goes back to being a “Jack of All Trades but a Mast of None”. I am working very hard on developing a more focused approach and keeping mys blog site centered in a certain arena. Like many of the comments above, I have gotten caught up in the past with the “make money fast” concept, only to find out that I “lost money fast” instead.

    It goes back to hard work, pushing through, and being consistent. thanks for the great insight!

  6. Another way to make people fool and earn good money from their money itself.

  7. “Get Rich Quick” schemes don’t work. Remember your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, … uh… all the way back to Adam and Eve, post-apple? They, as well as 99.9% of history’s population, had to work to live.

    Anyway, the great thing about building a successful blog is that it is FUN. You can learn a lot, you can meet great people, you can discover a lot about yourself that you didn’t know, and you can relish the satisfaction of Working Hard to achieve something! But it’s a slow process ….

    It’s like the difference between hand embroidery and machine embroidery, if you’ll excuse the niche-related analogy. Yes, with machine embroidery, you can get a quick colorful result. But, compared to hand embroidery, it didn’t really take that much skill to do it, the results are generally cheaper looking, it’s not going to withstand the test of time, and ten years from now, who’s going to remember you for making it?

    Yep. That analogy probably fell flat.

    I’ve seen a new software that’s just as you describe – I got a promotional e-mail from someone who is undoubtedly collecting affiliate bucks for it. All I could think was…

    How Boring!

  8. I read about this recently and my first reaction was “what a pile of rubbish”. I don’t know of anyone who made money from blogging straight away, it takes time and effort.

  9. I have come across all these products; I also used it on some of my blogs as a trial but to be honest, i do not believe in this system! You can make some money through adsense etc but its not worth it if you are serious about making serious money with blogging.
    Thank you!

  10. @Rich-
    My next PodCast is titled “The Method of Selling the Method.”
    You hit the nail on the head. Most of the money being made is not in “pink dog collars” or “Halloween costumes” but in continuing to sell the “magic” method on, and on and on…

    I will say this though: If a person wanted to spend $100.00 on one of these methods, there is useful information. Just not about getting rich fast and easy. :-)
    Peace

  11. Excellent information, I hate get rich quick schemes. Hard work gets results.

  12. When will the so called ‘gurus’ stop lying to unsuspecting newbies around the world?
    While putting up the sales letter, right in their mind, they know what they are about to sell will not produce results as quickly as they are painting the picture.

    I am very sure the word ‘conciense’ means nothing to these people.

  13. You’ve hit the nail on the head. You spread yourself too thin and you have lots, but no quality.

  14. Thanks for the wake-up call Darren!

    I’ve just started my “serious blog” this month and have a lot to say from personal experience and work in the field. It is hard work and a pleasure at the same time. It will never be boring when you’re expressing your own life observations and experiences.

    I was caught up in these make money fast sales pitches also because I did need money fast.

    All those sites did was take the little money I needed to pay bills with. I just like to think that people can be trusted but have learned that the trust must be earned.

    It seems fraud has become the way of the future for many business entities and we need more people like you to get us to put on our aware caps.

    I’m now writing my own original posts and it really is a lot of work but is much more rewarding and never boring when you have a real message of truth to deliver!

    Thanks for having one of the many hard to find honest blogs!

    May the blessings be,

    Andrew

  15. I would add that “bouncing off” another blogger’s post is especially wrong. Building upon someone else’s work without linking to the source is insidious because it attempts to cover it up. It’s called plagiarism.

  16. Maureen says: 12/16/2009 at 5:26 am

    Darren,

    I have always thought you were smart, but here goes my BUT:

    This is all your opinion. If you follow what is being taught, you have a much better chance of making some affiliate income faster…here is the big if: IF you do as they teach. They are NOT telling anyone or teaching anyone to spam! Its quite the opposite, but because you didn’t look into this further you really don’t know what you are talking about.

    You are a purist, and we all get it….you always have had that mindset, but, what do you call the B5 Media network?

    Your post here is not original…you can say it is because you wrote it, but the idea came to you from somewhere else. You even quoted some of their info…

    You are even a friend (if one can call you that now) of who you are talking about, yet here you are bashing them. Maybe a quick call or email to one of them would have cleared this all up before you threw them under the bus. Just another reason why you may be smart….but sometimes you really can be stupid and rude.

    I get it when people are upset for others using their work, but if they mention you and link to you…BE GREATFUL, the real spammers WON’T do that!

    • Maureen – I take your point, IF people do as some of these courses are teaching (not all, some do teach spam techniques) it is possible to make some money blogging. I guess the main issue I take with the way these things are sold is that they explicitly promise fast and big money. They give no indication that there’s work involved if you really want to build a big successful blog.

      The b5media network is actually an interesting case in point. I’m no longer on the management (i’m just a shareholder) of it these days so can’t speak about day to day stuff or even recent experience but what I did learn in the years I was involved more intimately was that in the 350 or so blogs that we started it was the ones where bloggers put a lot of time and effort into personalize posting that seemed to build the bigger blogs while the bloggers who just were slapping up rehashed content from other places on the web that didn’t really get far.

      In terms of whether I’m a friend of who I’m talking about – I’m sure I’m not. I’ve been interviewed by him on one occasion but have had no other real contact with him.

      I do agree that at least the techniques here acknowledge links – they’re not ‘evil’ as such – but I guess I wrote this post because people have been asking me for my opinion on these types of systems. I tried to write this in an even handed way – simply to point out that the type of blogging that I’m into and that I and others have had success with is quite different to this.

      The sales page of this product does not point this out – it points to blogs like Dooce and Mashable as examples of what blogs can achieve…. these blogs don’t use these techniques and I didn’t want my readers to believe that they can have these types of blogs using this type of technique.

  17. @Maureen

    I have to strongly disagree with you. In fact, my podcast that I posted today is on just what you said…

    PodCast Marketing “Gurus”- The Method of Selling A Method

    http://www.cybersmartwebmarketing.com/podcast-marketing-gurus-the-method-of-selling-a-method.html

  18. Angelica says: 12/16/2009 at 3:01 pm

    I think there is more to this than what any of us think we know, but, one thing I do know is that not everyone can be like Darren or any of the other big bloggers, and its stupid to think or let others think that anyone and everyone can be. Most of the bloggers who are big, didn’t get to where they are by just blogging for free. Most people don’t take the time and energy to do one blog right anyway, most people give up. I see no harm in multiple blogs as long as you aren’t creating spam.

  19. Hi Darren, great post! I totally agree that blogging is anything but easy, we can’t all be right up there with you as a ProBlogger after just a month or two. Give it time and stick to the key aspects you are trying to improve without trying to have all your fingers in different pies! Keep up the great work!

  20. hi great info keep up the good work here is something that put to work in what I do from day to day! There are several ways to market your network marketing business. Some of the most frequently chosen methods to market online are through online forums, blogging and article writing. Often, the reason why people choose network marketing is because finances are limited.

  21. I’ve bought an assload of blogging and IMing products over the years and none of these have taught me anything that I haven’t learned by going out there and headbutting the poop out of the blogosphere.

  22. Yes, how exactly can anyone come up with innovative ideas in 30 different areas week-in and week-out. A little diversity is good because you never know when you will hit a great niche, but going too far a field will kill your chances for success.

  23. i totally agree with you Darren. You have honestly narrated your past experience. I think you are right, quality matters more than quantity.Doing lots of blog can’t make money. Just concentrating quality time on few blogs can let us earn good money. But we have to keep patience. Patience is ultimate money.

  24. Now, there is nothing wrong making money like this, everybody needs to make money, but maybe people doing this falls into the same category as certain tele-marketing people selling spaces in directories that only has a few visitors once in a while. Doing copy/paste all day will certainly also kill every new initiative.

  25. To join the same business is not easy. With various blue prints nowadays, promising us to make money quickly is rampant. However, building the same business takes a lot of hardship before earning comes forward.

    To all who wanted to join blogging and earn much, think it twice. It would be advantageous to work within your interest than thinking about the amount you will earn from blogging. Remember, hardship plus perseverance equivalent to earning.

    The lesser interest you had the lesser quality you will generate. Blogging is good… but think it well!

  26. It is a very inspiring article. If we want to earn more than what we are expecting to achieve within the specified period, then a goal must be set up well. This would serve as a basis on how we will work forward.

    The reality in business world is too tight due to profound competition. Bare in mind, that could be a hindrance to achieve your goal.. So we will earn more dollars or $50,000 is achievable enough.. Think positive.

  27. I really enjoyed reading your article.This has some great information about internet marketing.I am seeking to understand more in this area, and this really opened my eyes. Great job and Thanks for the excellent article.

  28. To all who wanted to join blogging and earn much, think it twice.

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