Quick Ways To Make Money Online Work, But They Never Work For You

In a recent comment, Twyla asked:

There are so many Make Money programs online that are scams. Are there any online programs that are not scams? Most people don’t mind putting in the work if they can at least reap an average profit.

Now there’s a lot coming to mind about this…

For starters, I’d say the short answer is “No”. There are no quick ways to make money online. Not that way at least. Let’s see why.

I could begin with that getting rich by following a somebody else’s “simple” recipe out of nothing can’t possibly work. If I had a dead-sure recipe to get shamelessly rich, why would I share it with anybody? So they can get a piece of my cake? If at all, then because I could earn more by sharing / selling the recipe then by following it. Sounds logical, right?

But let me get more tangible on the matter…

I think I have a pretty sensitive “nose” for dubious business. It reliably “itches” each time I see one. And I have seen many. I don’t recall a single make-money-quick program (or any make-money-working-online program for that matter) that I would classify as serious business.

Now if you think this is merely accidental – that’s not quite true. There is an immanent property of virtualy all make money quick programs that ensures you won’t be able to make decent money from them no matter what they promise.

First, there is a certain percentage of make money quick programs that are simply a lie from the beginning. They promise an opportunity where there has never been one (except for those selling you the “program”). I won’t be even talking about these.

Then there are making money quick programs that are actually based on a real opportunity, but:

Every money opportunity (of this kind) is limited. The economic background behind it is this: The make money quick programs that you stumble upon are never creating new value. They are based on exploiting existing resources. Resources are always limited, and so are such opportunities. You can compare it to a gold mine: It is only worth as much as the amount of gold left in it.

Now, how do you get to know about such “gold mines” (i.e. the make-money programs)? Right, on the Internet. That means publicly. Everybody has access to that same information.

Now think about this:

If you would happen to discover a gold mine, would you (a) announce it on the Internet and sell it’s location to everybody for $15, $150, or even $1500? Or (b) dig as much gold as possible for yourself first?

Remark: If your answer was (a), stop reading, uninstall your browser from your PC and cancel your Internet access. You are too dumb for the Internet. 🙂

Everybody who answered (b) – follow me!

What would you say, how much gold is left in the gold mine by the time when you read about it on the Internet?

A-haa!

Think a bit further now. When do you switch from digging gold to preaching about it?

Right! When the amount of gold left in your gold mine is less than what you can make by selling your sermon (read: information material, tutorial, how-to). When it has become much harder to dig than to blather about it.

To conclude: There might have been some real opportunity behind a make money quick program, but by the time you get to actually read about it, the opportunity is long gone for good. All that’s left is an “abandoned mine”.1

The only chance you have to make a dollar in such a situation is to to jump on the bandwagon yourself. Buy the material once, learn whatever there is to learn from it (if at all), and start selling that information yourself.

Of course, if everybody did this, if everybody turned into a making money quick program marketers, there will be no buyers left soon. (Remember? Every resource is limited.)

So my ultimate answer on this matter is:

You could make money with such programs –
but by selling rather than following them.

A final ethical remark: Like many business, especially on the Internet, the quick ways to make money business lives from putting upon people who are more stupid than oneself. That’s certainly not a way to preserve one’s piece of mind on the long run. But of course, in order to feel remorse, one needs conscience in the first place. If you are free of such ballast, try your luck with it. 😉

1. And it could have been a coal mine just as well. It makes no difference once the gold, or coal, is gone. [↩]

5 Comments

• 
  Gary Riding October 15, 2011 at 4:41 pm

  If your a veteran on online marketing your very well aware that there is no easy money online. Every dollar that is earned is the fruit of long and hard work.
  • 
    Rex Santos July 12, 2012 at 1:14 am

    I agree! Many online courses nowadays that offers easy money are either hype or fake. If you wanna earn decent amount of money you need to work hard for them.
  • 
    Marshmalo August 31, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    Gary, this means that those 5-10 % who make enough money with ease are fooling others. I mean on top all of the top earners are passing valuable info (in any form) to the secondary ones and then passing it to the others.
• 
  jorge January 20, 2010 at 4:43 am

  i make money is from here http://100kblogging.com/?hop=chrisd10 made few bucks not alot but help me with some of my bills hope it helps
  • 
    Hackadelic January 21, 2010 at 4:19 pm

    Jorge, thanks for the hint. Your example nicely confirms my hypothesis: While they advertise with 5-figure incomes per month, it’s only a tiny fraction of it that people actually can make from such programs. Of course, sometimes “little” is better than “zero”, but then again, the time spent on producing small income short-term may be better spent on building up a business that would make you big income long-term. It’s everybody’s personal decision I guess.