My Hate Blog

Everywhere you look there seem to be more and more “Internet Entrepreneurs” claiming what they consider their birth-right to the fading Dot Com boom. But today, children, we’re actually going to look at what an Internet Entrepreneur is and isn’t.

Let’s start by going back to basics. The Dictionary.com definition of the word “entrepreneur” is as follows;

1. a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.

Let’s focus on 2 key points of this statement. Initiative and risk. I assume, as speakers of the English language, that you’re aware of what these words mean. Yet, clearly, most IE’s (As I’ll refer to them from now on) do not understand. They consider the running of proxy sites and myspace profile editing sites as part of their IE enterprise. Where is the risk and initiative in this? You can hardly call a $10 proxy site “risk”, can you? Your home isn’t at stake, you’re still going to be able to eat at the end of the day.

This, ladies and gentlemen is the basis of my argument. 14 year old high school kids attempting to run their own businesses pumping out $5-$10 turnkey sites DOES NOT AND NEVER WILL make you an “Internet Entrepreneur”. What it does actually make you is the equivalent of those guys selling cheap shit in the market. The kind of shit that you’d expect to wear for a week and then it’d fall apart on you. But hey, you already knew that when you paid next to nothing for it. You get what you pay for.

My other gripe with these so called entrepreneurs is that they rely on adsenes, YPN and all manner of other bullshit in order to generate revenue. Sure, whilst this might make you $20 a day, how much of your time is spent changing keywords? I don’t claim to know or understand how these networks work, because it’s not my bag baby, but ultimately your revenue is in the hands of a company that can and will at any time terminate your account and keep your funds, for no reason what so ever. Many adsense accounts get suspended for “click fraud” with no legitimate explanation as to what actually occured. Many of these networks also refuse to pay out to certain countries.

Instead of building a site like many hundreds of thousands already out there, with perhaps semi-unique content, why don’t people focus on what REALLY makes money? An idea or service that there’s little competition in, or even focusing on a niche. Create sites where users have to pay a premium to access enhanced content or features. Supply and demand, that’s where it’s at – the most basic fundamental marketing ever.

Because I don’t join the bandwagon and pump out these shitty sites, people say I have no “experience”. Experience of what, exactly? Wasting my time on a site trying to make money from other peoples clicks? I have no interest in that. Instead, I spend my time researching and implementing solutions that have NO adsense, no adverts that generate me money through users clicks. I give them a site that they WANT to use. A site that can make money through LEGITIMATE people wanting to place adverts on my site. I make money through users PAYING for something that they actually want. That, my friends, is where the money is. So, if you think that means I have no experience then fine, fuck you, I really don’t care. Whilst you waste your hours trying to tweak and perfect your mediocore keywords and targetting an already saturated market, I’m spending my time in a much better way.
You think YouTube sold for $1.5~ billion dollars because of how much it made through adsense on a daily basis? No, not at all. Look at the big picture here, and wake up and smell the coffee.
Bottom line: Whilst your sites may make you $20 or more a day, it won’t last. If you want to be an “Internet Entrepreneur” then come up with a good idea. Go get a big loan from a bank, offset against your house. Focus on that idea and producing something that people want to use, with the risk of you losing your home. Then you’ll understand what risk is really about, and as a result you’re more likely to make that site the best it can be to your ability. Then, if you make millions, you will have most definitely earned it.

I’m not saying you can’t earn money, perhaps even big money through clicks. You can and it’s been proven. But ultimately it’s a revenue that can be taken away from you at any time, leaving you with a site that’s not worth pissing on if it was on fire.

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