How Simple Can It Be?

[Engage]

Did you ever get an idea stuck in your head like a hungry stray cat that simply WILL NOT stop meowing until you feed it?

Can you help me feed this idea, or help me kill it?

Does web business really have to be so complicated? Are we really helping novices when we try to teach them so much?

Would many of us be better off if Adsense was the only business model available, and the only option open to us was focusing on writing quality content and getting links to it?

Obviously, experts like Lynn have the talent to go beyond Adsense, and benefit significantly. And some of us do too. I'm not talking about people who are already succeeding with sophisticated business plans.

I'm talking about everybody else, most people.

I observe my own behavior (Chronic Coding Disease) and the postings of so very many people wrestling with trying to understand the ins and outs of so many different business models, and so much fancy net technology, and I wonder...

Are we making it complicated on purpose?

Would many of us, perhaps most of us, be better off if we skipped most everything webmasters are always talking about, and instead focused our time, talent and energy on three simple targets?

1) Content
2) Links
3) Adsense

At what point does learning become an excuse for not working?

At what point is being really clever not all that smart?

When does more become less, and would less actually be more?

MEOOOWWWW!!!

Thanks!

[AlexNewell]

"Does web business really have to be so complicated?"

Nope, I agree with you and I think that keeping beginners confused is a big part of many revenue models, (no names mentioned)

"Would many of us be better off if Adsense was the only business model available, and the only option open to us was focusing on writing quality content and getting links to it?"

Again I agree, Adsense is much neglected and I suggest it often to people who are struggling with all kinds of complicated stuff. Funny thing is it is a pretty tolerant model and suits beginners.

"When does more become less, and would less actually be more?"

O Lordy, a poet or perhaps a Philosopher!!

"MEOOOWWWW!!! "

Or a cat!!

Simplicity Disclaimer

The writer of the above post is a Physicist and therefore prone to simplicity and the frequent use of Occam's Razor.

He is also the author of "The Simple Affiliate System" and his motives may be misconstrued.

[lisamariemary]

Complicate stuff? Yes, yes, and yes! We do! And we read too much. And we want to do too much. And we want to 'figure too much out' before we jump in.

But - relying solely on Adsense is a scary thought, in my mind. I guess it's kind of like Lynn talks about - not putting all your eggs in one basket.

Say you set up a site about ....um, eggs. You signed up with adsense and two other affiliate programs related to eggs - or perhaps the baskets in which to keep them.

Then you write like holy heck and work on your backlinks and work on becoming the eggspert in your niche.

And that's my 2c.

[chickblogger]

We totally over complicate stuff. All the time. Guilty as charged. But Adsense is or can be a complicated beast.

It isn't as simple, as below.

1. create blog
2. write content
3. cash checks

NO! Not that easy. Nothing is. Well, NOT IF YOU'RE A BEGINNER. Because a beginner doesn't know yet about keyword research, competition, click rates, placement, the role a niche plays in the whole equation, etc.

After SOME study, trial and error Adsense can be learned. But again this can be objective. Because success with Adsense to me, can be way different than success with Adsense to Lynn.

Maybe to me $100 via Adsense on a blog is a MAJOR success. To Lynn it can be a joke, who might rake in $100 per day.

So definition of success can and does vary.

Is Adsense easy? Wrong question.

Can you (or me) make a few bucks with Adsense without much fan fare? Maybe.

Can you (or me) make $100 or more per day with Adsense - EASILY?

No way.................

But. Please PROVE ME WRONG. LOL.

[chickblogger]

My reply went to moderation. Wonder what set it off?

[WAHumor]

I prefer a slight variation on your model:

Content
Links
A couple of affiliate products, then
Your own product if you like.

Adsense may be simple, but it simply doesn't pay.


People overcomplicating it all? You mean to continually overcharge for more complicated stuff, and so on and so on...

No way. Fuggidabowdit!


Dan


P.S. Read too much, do too little. That's the biggest problem of all.

[lisamariemary]

Missy - it seems to be kind of random sometimes. A few months ago, they dialed up the settings for the spammers and now it catches some of us sometimes. If your post doesn't show up soon, you can PM Angie and she'll set it free!

[Engage]

Ha, ha! Thanks so much for your replies guys, and your humor.

I humbly accept the honor of being promoted to Eggspert Philosopher Cat, and would like to thank the Academy, my mom, the film crew, and all the fine atoms which make up my eggly existence!

I definitely agree with Lisamarie that this is not "the one true way" business plan for everybody and all situations. My suggestion would be that new comers might stick with simple and Adsense, until such time they have reached some basic income goals.

Here's a key way in which a "less is more" approach would seem to benefit new comers. If there are few complications, there are few places to hide from getting down to work.

We all know that while everybody wants to make money online, not everybody is suited to this field, or ready to do the work. Most people who come to this business are dreamers, because the price of entry is so low.

The sooner someone finds out who they are, and whether they actually want to do this, the sooner they can get on to what is right for them, which may or may not be online publishing.

Ha, if I have anything to do with it, less is more probably won't apply to this thread. Thanks again for your comments, let's keep it rolling...

[AlexNewell]

Chickblogger raises a very important point.

The issue with

content => links => adsense

can be seen when looking at Ed Dales's description of Web business as a "Symphony of 4 Parts"

(1) Market Research - where 95% of mistakes are made

(2) Traffic

(3) Conversion

(4) Product

Whether Adsense revenue or amazon or other affiliate programs are used the market research is primary.

In particular, beginners seem prone to grabbing highly competitive keywords where they make no headway and eventually give up.

Anyone interested can see Dale's video on this below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mddjGRbpJLE

And part 3, conversion involves not just writing or adapting an article but also having some kind of website or blog to publish it, so more complication creeps in. And then there's link building!

It helps us all to refocus on the basics of marketing though - however we describe it - 3 parts, 4 parts.

We could even describe it as 2 parts; using the 80/20 rule let's say that market research is 80% of the job and publishing your articles on a blog with some adsense on it is 20%

[Engage]

Market Research - where 95% of mistakes are made

Yes, agreed, this is a very real problem. With a very simple solution. Join Lynn's Elite Group!

Could we amend the idea to this?

STEP 1: Identity topics we are passionate about.

STEP 2: Get counseling from real experts to narrow our topic list down to one topic.

STEP 3: Content, links, adsense.

In particular, beginners seem prone to grabbing highly competitive keywords where they make no headway and eventually give up.

I would suggest not introducing the subject of keywords until we have crossed the crucial threshold of earnestly building a real site.

And then, we might limit instruction to: Create article titles and page names out of phrases people are actually searching for.

Point being, the number one challenge is to sidestep analysis paralysis, and get down to work. Unless this is accomplished, nothing else matters. Web biz education should be very limited, until we have crossed this crucial threshold.

If we remove 95% of web biz education, the new user is quickly presented with the job of creating content, and thus pretty immediately comes face to face with the question, "Do I want to work at this or not?"

but also having some kind of website or blog to publish it, so more complication creeps in.

Imho, this is a major source of completely unnecessary complications. The most popular site building tools have way too many features for most users.

Imho, it's exactly like the rest of the consumer marketplace. Loading a product up with fancy features is good salesmanship (gives the seller lots to brag out) but poor service to most users. Remember the VCR with the 1200 page manual?

What webmasters want, and what we really need, are very often two very different things. As example, fiddling with the site design is a classic webmaster obsession, and a big waste of time, from a business perspective.

Apologies, I've designed and coded two content management systems from scratch, and am absolutely obsessed with such nerdy topics. And I probably should be doing content and links instead!

And then there's link building!

Yes, this really is something users should be working on from the start. I'd guess this might be the number one reason so many sites fail.

Happily, link building is a largely mechanical process, and the basics could be taught in a day in Lynn's Elite Club.

Given all the words I'm typing here, I'd suggest we not hire me to write the less is more manual.