My colleague Lisa just posted something that caught my eye and really struck a chord with me.
You really ought to read it, it’s short and to the point (not at all like some of my ramblings.
But here’s a synopsis for the time and/or click impaired:
I recently mentored my best friend’s aunt who has been trying to make money online for the past few months.
We were talking about how I created my online business and she told me something that caused me to write this post today.
Like many people, her daughter is quite the skeptic about what I do. Something wasn’t quite adding up to her.
After hearing my story, she asked her mom…
If Lisa is so successful with her sites, then why aren’t all her friends and family doing it too?
Huh? … You would never hear someone say, If her restaurant is so successful then why don’t her friends own a restaurant too?
What Gives?
So why are online businesses perceived differently? I think it’s because the start-up costs are low and the Internet is so accessible. Someone once told me, I’m on the Internet all day on Facebook anyway so an online business should be right up my alley. … After all, it can’t be a real business because you aren’t driving into an office building to sit in a cubicle all day. I mean…. it’s just the Internet, right?
Bzzzt, Wrong. Fail. Spending 12 hours a day on Facebook, Twitter and occasionally throwing up a website in an hours and then bitching a month later that it didn’t earn money. That is NOT working online.
I’ve written many times about real people making money from the “Rest of the World” while living in the Philippines (and I mean Filipinos and foreigners as well). Or dividing their time between the US and the Philippines, mainly by developing and operating their own business.
Surprisingly, these are some of my least popular and least comment articles. A great many people SAY they want to have enough money to live in the Philippines … and a great many of my Filipino readers SAY they want a decent way to earn a living while they live here in the Philippines, but most people can’t be bothered, it seems, to actually DO anything about it.
Never mind though. The facts of my life are I live in the Philippines.
I earn a non-trivial income from honest online business ventures, and I enjoy helping people.
So I am going to keep writing, no matter who chooses to read it … or more importantly who decides to stay sitting on their ass thinking of reasons why they can’t, and how many decide to actually take action to help themselves and push off from the shore. If nobody else cares, I do … and that’s all that counts.
“When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much.
That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is – everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. (my emphasis) And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.”
Steve Jobs
Your thoughts?
Dave: don’t despair. I just ran 5 articles about business on LiP and they were just about the fewest comments ever. Sometimes you wonder, though, that all the bitchy and gossipy stuff always seems to generate the most interest, eh?
Yes I just read your last one, John. Excellent work. It really is a shame that so few people SAY they want to learn how but really are not the least bit interested in actually attaining any success. More fun to bitch.
By the way, a few weeks ago I bet I saw six or 8 articles in a week bitching about the Peso gaining a point or two against the USD. This past week the Peso has weakened more than point and a half, I haven’t seen any expat articles point out the advantage of that. So one-sided.
Dave: point taken on the exchange rate articles. I stopped reading them at all… Fixed income, tighten belts, blah blah blah. Then comes the pontificating about how much money is spent.
Around three years ago, I wrote a very detailed article about exchange rates and how they work. It re wives about five comments saying “thank you” and about five saying I am an idiot and out of touch with how bad things “really are” in the USA.
…. I gave up trying to even hold a sensible conversation after that
Howdy Dave! As someone who is learning about blogs and trying to generate a small income from them, I can tell you that it is work and it won’t ‘just happen’. Of course you know that, but I’m not surprised really by the number of people that do not. I know when I first started, I thought basically the same thing. Unless you happen upon a “hot” niche, then you could be just wasting your time with a site, especially if you don’t work it. Personally, since we are back from our Texas vacation were we got a lot of things done, I am more committed than ever to make my site work. I like your site and visit it at times, but seldom leave a comment. I will be visiting more often now and you can be sure see my opinion in writing on a regular basis.
Rich has been helping me loads and hopefully soon I will have things rolling well.
Glad to hear from you, John. I noticed you had been pretty quiet lately. I’m going to the US myself in a couple days to visit with my son in Colorado. Already can’t wait to get back to the Philippines and I haven’t left yet
Yo8u can do whatever you want, site-wise. One thing I see a lot of people make assumptions on is, “There’s money in having a blog”. Well, there is, but it’s often pennies. This site, for example, was not set up, nor do I keep plugging away at it for money. There are much better ways to earn online than to blog. And blogging can be a very consumptive, time consuming habit. I’d make a lot more if I closed this blog and focused my time elsewhere.
But it’s all good, my friend, it’s all good. Godspeed.