When I was researching "Click Here to Order," there was a story I kept coming across time and time again.
Marketers would tell me how they were down to their last penny, ready to throw in the towel, on their way to looking for a day job... when something happened.
For copywriter Michael Fortin, who had already declared bankruptcy by the age of 21, it was the discovery of the power of a well-written sales letter.
For Matt Bacak, who had been interviewing millionaires while living in a one-bedroom apartment and eating ramen noodles, it was being asked repeatedly how he built his list.
And for me... well, for me, the first time it was an email from a Japanese company offering to pay thousands of dollars a month to localize my content. And the second time, it was sitting next to someone in a conference room while he checked his AdSense stats.
Some people call those moments "serendipity." Others call it "luck." I like to think there's a meaning in these things.
There's certainly a pattern. What all of these stories had in common was that the people in them - including me - were doing something they were passionate about.
That might sound strange when you're talking about things like list-building and copywriting but even marketing can be a passion. Becoming a successful entrepreneur can be a passion.
And running a website about a subject you love can certainly be a passion.
That's true even if the site isn't making any money - which is what's likely to happen at the beginning.
My most important goal now is to help other people make money from Internet marketing. But the first piece of advice I give people isn't to sign up for AdSense or join an affiliate network.
It's to discover what you love the most.
If you can build a business around something that makes you happy - even if that's the art of business itself - you're already a success. The serendipity (or whatever you want to call it) and the money will follow.
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
September 4, 2008 04:18 PM
That is fine advice...but easier said than done...I do believe that the passionate feeling about our work creates wealth..but not always...For me..I know what to do but am all mental thumbs on internet navigation.When I get instructions I cannot follow them as I have not a clue how...So a step by step in normal language would be great. Carol Stanley author of For Kids 59.99 and Over
September 4, 2008 05:28 PM
Passion..when intellectual-emotional-spatial intelligence combine to create intuitive intelligence, igniting the heart on fire....ALL is wonderful, even gold producing for Michael Phelps or Shawn Johnson. I look forward to the day our culture supports that individual unique miraculous genius within US all. Maybe time to meet at the O table and co-create and co-design the ART BANK of AMERICA....all run with the iOWNies engine. Love your perspective on the truth of marketing as you see it.
September 4, 2008 05:55 PM
Joel, you are such a wonderful writer. I have always been a believer in fate, destiny, or as I prefer to call it "serendipity". I think it is up to you to put in motion a "will" for something, and I do believe that the universe works to line everything up to bring it to you. However, you must be in tune with yourself and your surroundings, paying constant attention to everything going on around you, not to miss a "sign". I believe when people are in their greatest despair, they are quieter, calmer, their surroundings are slower, and they become more open to ideas, and opportunities that may have otherwise passed them by. We must learn to take time to be quiet and listen and let yourself be guided to what just may be your "destiny".
September 4, 2008 10:01 PM
Well said, Joel! You are right. It should be fun, what you are doing.
The first couple of years I wrote my weekly tips and tricks about the Internet, homepages and computers, I made almost no money. Then came AdSense and your book, and I started to get very much. But I would never have kept writing, if it wasn't because I liked what I did.
September 6, 2008 11:50 AM
THE BEST
September 9, 2008 10:17 PM
Joel, your blog is fantastic! Thanks for the great content. More and more, I am realizing, as Zig Ziglar would say, that I need to be a go giver versus a go getter! And you are modeling that in a great way for me!
September 10, 2008 04:05 PM
Hi Joel,
I recently purchased your AdSense book but notice you are not using Adsense on your site.
Why not?
I was hoping to see some live current examples.
The book is great by the way.
Take care