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My parents taught me to not disclose the amount of money I make, Yet we spend hours bickering over the perceived value of facebook and twitter and how if we f

My parents taught me to not disclose the amount of money I make, Yet we spend hours bickering over the perceived value of facebook and twitter and how if we follow their examples, we too can have success. That's why this industry exploded the first time - real value is only measured in real dollars. A 'professional blogger' is blogging about how to make money blogging. What does that tell you? What it tells me is that he's been able to monetize something that seems unmonitizable, and that regardless of how much he makes, he probably has a lot of insights regarding the motivation of his customers, and their behaviour. In fact, he probably has better insights into what works and what doesn't that most VC's. Thus, the blogger has every incentive to inflate the numbers, or simply lie outright about the expected return. He has bigger incentive to describe methods that work for others, actually. As with any business, creating value for the customer is the main driver. This guy has been around for a while, and I'd like to think that's because some or all of the things he's done are working for others as well, and his reputation has grown because of that.

antonovka 17y ago
This guy has been around for a while ... This business strategy has been around a long time. Here are some other large modern examples: Amway was founded in 1959. [The FTC ordered] Amway to stop retail price fixing and allocating customers among distributors and prohibited the company from misrepresenting the amount of profit, earnings or sales its distributors are likely to achieve with the business. Amway was ordered to accompany any such statements with the actual averages per distributor, pointing out that more than half of the distributors do not make any money, with the average distributor making less than $100 per month. The order was violated with a 1986 ad campaign, resulting in a $100,000 fine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway#FTC_Investigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway#FTC_Investigation Herbalife was founded in 1980. A 2004 settlement resolved a class action suit on behalf of 8700 former and current distributors that accused the company and distributors of "essentially running a pyramid scheme." A total of $6 million was to be paid out, with defendants not admitting guilt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalife#Controversies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalife#Controversies
- run4yourlives 17y ago
  And both offer extremely informative insight on how to create a successful and profitable business. Let's just say both of those examples are much better businesses than 90% of the tech that's been released on the web to date. I'm concerned about the psychology of monetizing a product - because it's the same regardless - not the fact that their particular product isn't appealing to you. If you want to discount an entire examination of how people are convinced to give money to companies so be it. Given that I'm trying to accomplish that exact thing however, I'd like to understand as much about it as I can.
  - antonovka 17y ago
    And both offer extremely informative insight on how to create a successful and profitable business. Only if the business you're building is swindling individuals trying to build their own business.
    - run4yourlives 17y ago
      Yet both business still exist and are extremely profitable. Like I said, if you choose to discount the entire industry as unethical, believing it can teach you nothing, so be it. I however would like to examine what and how they continue to be successful, with the thinking that these people - ethical or not - have clearly captured a way to monetize their customers that has been very effective. These principles can no doubt be applied in much broader strokes to varying degrees.
      - antonovka 17y ago
        Yet both business still exist and are extremely profitable. Like I said, if you choose to discount the entire industry as unethical, believing it can teach you nothing, so be it. I'm curious what you think people who sell other people on selling people on selling people have to actually teach someone that owns a company that survives by creating? Other than how to sell the Brooklyn Bridge, that is.

antonovka 17y ago

This guy has been around for a while ... This business strategy has been around a long time. Here are some other large modern examples: Amway was founded in 1959. [The FTC ordered] Amway to stop retail price fixing and allocating customers among distributors and prohibited the company from misrepresenting the amount of profit, earnings or sales its distributors are likely to achieve with the business. Amway was ordered to accompany any such statements with the actual averages per distributor, pointing out that more than half of the distributors do not make any money, with the average distributor making less than $100 per month. The order was violated with a 1986 ad campaign, resulting in a $100,000 fine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway#FTC_Investigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway#FTC_Investigation Herbalife was founded in 1980. A 2004 settlement resolved a class action suit on behalf of 8700 former and current distributors that accused the company and distributors of "essentially running a pyramid scheme." A total of $6 million was to be paid out, with defendants not admitting guilt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalife#Controversies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalife#Controversies

run4yourlives 17y ago
And both offer extremely informative insight on how to create a successful and profitable business. Let's just say both of those examples are much better businesses than 90% of the tech that's been released on the web to date. I'm concerned about the psychology of monetizing a product - because it's the same regardless - not the fact that their particular product isn't appealing to you. If you want to discount an entire examination of how people are convinced to give money to companies so be it. Given that I'm trying to accomplish that exact thing however, I'd like to understand as much about it as I can.
- antonovka 17y ago
  And both offer extremely informative insight on how to create a successful and profitable business. Only if the business you're building is swindling individuals trying to build their own business.
  - run4yourlives 17y ago
    Yet both business still exist and are extremely profitable. Like I said, if you choose to discount the entire industry as unethical, believing it can teach you nothing, so be it. I however would like to examine what and how they continue to be successful, with the thinking that these people - ethical or not - have clearly captured a way to monetize their customers that has been very effective. These principles can no doubt be applied in much broader strokes to varying degrees.
    - antonovka 17y ago
      Yet both business still exist and are extremely profitable. Like I said, if you choose to discount the entire industry as unethical, believing it can teach you nothing, so be it. I'm curious what you think people who sell other people on selling people on selling people have to actually teach someone that owns a company that survives by creating? Other than how to sell the Brooklyn Bridge, that is.