I got an email yesterday from a client I did some work for several years ago. I was surprised to hear from him since after my last job for him he didn’t think he would need my services since he didn’t think he had a need for any more content.

At the time we talked originally I wrote his press release and an ebook. I encouraged him to start a blog. Write about the content in the ebook, I told him. Attract people with your expertise in this field, which was considerable. He said he “didn’t need content” for his website. He was the “expert” in the field and people would just “naturally” gravitate towards him and buy his ebook. Well, the people who bought the book loved it (I wrote it after all), but not enough people were buying it. I repeated my advice and he’s gone off to find a $3 an hour provider on elance to write his content for him. Really? You’d hire someone willing to work for $3 an hour to promote your $250 an hour services?

Since we spoke last he’s heard from “several very smart marketing experts” ($300 an hour for their insight) that he needed to actually blog a few times a week and put content on his page. Hmmmm…it all sounded so familiar. BECAUSE I TOLD HIM THE SAME THING THREE YEARS AGO! All he had was his name, photo and an “About me” link and a few Google ads on the blog. No contact page. No email. No phone number. It’s the internet after all. Someone might steal his identity or spam him. If you wanted to actually hire him you had to snail mail him at a PO Box (Yeah, that looks good) or contact him through his ebook after you bought it. He’s still not ready to commit to himself, his book, his site and his business. He’s bitter. After all, people should “just know” who he is and flock to him. Like I told him, it works that way in small, remote demon infested villages where you’re the only witch-doctor. It doesn’t work that way where you’re one of millions of witch-doctors all vying for the chickens and gold nuggets of the demon infested tribesmen seeking a cure. You have to stand out some way and great content, stellar customer service, help with general questions via social media sites, and networking is how you do that.

I have several other friends who also keep asking me why people are visiting their websites and not coming back or buying anything. One friend has nothing TO buy, no rates, just a vague sort of “I like to help people,” statement.
“Help them what?” I asked.
“You know, with whatever they need.”
“Like?”
“I can do almost anything, gardening tips, life coaching, computer virus eradication and I can help them set up a Word Press blog.”
“Where is that on the web site?”
“It’s not. People just know to ask.”

I’m not sure WHERE people got this “People JUST KNOW” fallacy, but that’s what it is. People DON’T JUST KNOW. They’re busy. They’re stressed. They want things spelled out for them.

“Seriously? If you wanted your car fixed would you Google, ’someone who can do anything,’” to come fix it?”
She blushed.
“That’s different.”
“How is it different? Do you really think people look for ’someone who can do almost anything,’ or do you think they look for ‘computer repairs.”?
“Computer repairs.”
“Uh huh. And that’s not on your website is it? Did I miss it?”
“No.”

These are intelligent, talented, funny, gifted people. They are my friends and I WANT them to succeed. But they’re not getting it.

I look at their sites and although none are as bad as *Don’s (*not his real name) , they all lack the same thing–CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT. They also need a good design, easy navigation, and a few other things, but none of that will matter if they don’t have content.

What really saddens me is that all these folks are great at what they do, but they:

1. Don’t want to share their expertise for free, not even a little bit of it. They think if they “give it away” that no one will pay them for it. Hint: I can read about how to fix my carburetor, toaster, or broken fridge all day long. It doesn’t mean I can or will fix it myself. If you are a marketing or business consultant, life coach or anyone else with a skill or talent, sharing what you know will BRING you clients who see that you know what you’re talking about and who want you to apply your talent and skills to THEIR unique problem or situation.

Don’t tell them how to fix THEIR specific problem for free. (Unless it’s small, and that can lead to bigger paying projects). But help them. Give them enough information that they can see you DO know what you’re talking about. You can’t show them that if you don’t share your information/expertise with them. Show them you know what you’re talking about. Think of what you do as a Case Study. People can read it, see how a solution worked and be inspired or motivated and impressed by you.

The whole reason they NEED you is BECAUSE you have the skills, background, experience and expertise you do. They are NOT going to magically acquire that because they read your blog. They’ll get tips that can help them, sure, and as those tips work they’re going to say, “Gee, maybe I should hire the dumptruck (YOU) to lay the gravel in my garden rather than carrying it in a handful at a time myself.”

2. Don’t have the time to put into it. I’m sorry. You’re telling me you WANT this success, riches, fame and to sell your stuff, but you DON’T HAVE THE TIME to put into writing content or connecting with people on social media? Get the silver spoon out of your mouth. Climb off your cross and go buy a lottery ticket. You DO NOT have what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. Making money online means committing to YOUR business. It means MAKING TIME to blog, to read, to write, to engage. If you can’t do that, or don’t want to do that, then HIRE someone to do it for you. If you can’t afford to do that or don’t want to spend the money, then again, you DO NOT HAVE what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. Get a job.

3. Can’t afford it. They say this as they’re booking their flight to Florida or the coast for two weeks at the beach with friends they’re sharing a $2,000 a week beach house with. They can take a cross-country trip to a lobster fest, or attend a concert at $100 per ticket rates plus dinner, cabs, hotel and gas for a $700 weekend for two, or a $500 professional baseball game with the kids and $8 hot dogs, but they “can’t afford” to hire a writer to create the content they want that will make them money over the long haul. Let me repeat myself. You DON’T HAVE what it takes to succeed online. You may have ten degrees, including a law and/or medical degree, but if you don’t do the basic things you need to do to create the kind of site you want, you will NOT succeed in this world.

4. Don’t want to read all that stuff. I send people tips, ebooks, information and videos all the time. Those who watch, read and apply the information consistently, SUCCEED. Those who don’t, don’t. Success is 98% showing up. What they’re really saying is, “I have better, more fun, interesting and exciting things to do than actually work at this internet stuff.” That’s your choice. But don’t email me or call me and ask me to give up my life to do it for you unless you’re willing and able to pay me to do it for you.

5. Think they’re not “expert enough.” I have friends with anywhere from four to six degrees - a veritable alphabet soup after their name and 20, 30, 40 years experience in their field, books, journals and what all, and they all suffer from low self-esteem. I have to ask, “HOW MANY degrees in widget polishing do you really need to have to take money for telling people how to polish widgets without feeling like a fraud?”

I’m always amazed that they all felt competent to have and raise children (some of them three and four kids!) without a degree in childhood education, or medicine, or psychology, but they balk at the idea that being an MBA and a CEO of a company for 5 years qualifies them to tell someone what they can expect if they start a business!! If NOT that, then what does?

“Well I’ve always WORKED for someone, so I haven’t ever really started my own business,” Jack said.
“Do you know about taxes, laws, structuring a business, hiring, contracts and all the stuff that GOES with having a business?” I asked.
“Well yes,” he said. “Of course I do.”
“Then read up on starting a business, figure out what you DON’T know, learn it, then teach it! Or teach the parts of business that you DO know and LOVE.” He brightened at that.
“I really like dealing with contractors,” he said.
So now he’s in the business of working with small business owners helping them navigate the business of finding and hiring contractors.
This is not rocket science. You don’t need your parent’s approval. Just do it.

There ARE ways to “Get Rick Quick.” They are:

• Buy a winning lottery or megaball ticket.
• Steal the money.
• Inherit the money.
• Find the money.
• Print the money yourself (the US Government likes this one).

I hate to break it to you, but getting rich online is like getting rich offline. It involves time, work, effort, networking, sales and customer service. It rarely happens overnight, but for the one-in-million that it happens to, it’s still work. Plus, your odds of winning the lottery are better than your odds of getting rich overnight with an ebook that you haven’t promoted and that no one knows exists. Gamble however you’d like. It’s your money.

I’ve been reading, blogging, posting, writing and learning for the last year. It’s been hard because I’ve also been making a living of sorts while I’ve been learning. I know what works. I know what it takes. It takes TIME. You don’t write five happy-feel-good blog posts and walk away and expect people to fall all over themselves to hire you for $500 an hour, or $400, or $100 or even $30. Other people don’t want to part with THEIR money any more than you want to part with yours. To get them to do that you have to give them more value and excitement than anything else their money can buy. How do you do that?

Start here. The following content is from Naomi Dunford, owner of Ittybiz.com:

Ittybiz’s FREE MARKETING COURSES: http://ittybiz.com/free-marketing-courses/

No matter what business you’re in, Naomi has free email course designed JUST for you. Same info, but she breaks it down into the jargon/industry you’re in so you can relate, such as:

Marketing for Touchy Feely Airy Fairy Woo Woo Service Providers

I am guessing that you would like to close your office door, put on some soothing music, and softly hum until the clients come to you. Then they’ll tell their friends about you and their friends will send you some money as well, and you will never actually have to utter what you do for a living out loud. Am I right? Have I got it so far?

Marketing for Bloggers: How To Get More Asses in the Seats

You’re reading the blogs. You know the ones. The ones that tell you how you can make six figure Adsense checks? And how to recommend a few products and you can make a few grand a month in affiliate payments? But the part they didn’t get around to mentioning was how to get the people to your blog in the first place. Yeah. We hate that.

Marketing for Coaches and Consultants

Do you remember when you first got into the business of helping people, and you heard about the other guys in your industry making an hourly wage that would pay off your mortgage? And you look back at it and give a little rueful chuckle and think, “I’ll settle for half of that if I can just get some damn clients!” Mmm hmm. Yeah, you’re not the only one.

Marketing for Designers and Other Artsy Fartsy Types

Maybe you went to art school or design school. Maybe you just hang out with people who did. Either way, you’ll know how weird it gets when money comes up. Somewhere along the line, you were quietly promised a life of loft apartments and filterless cigarettes and never having to think about, God help us, SELLING this stuff. Eew.

Marketing for Writers and Wordsmiths

When you were younger, you imagined what writing would be like. Maybe you imagined ink stained fingers, maybe the whirr and click of an IBM Selectric. Maybe — holy banoli! — the orange glow of a 486. You knew it wouldn’t be an easy ride. You knew it would be tough. You just didn’t know it would be THIS tough.

Marketing for Geeks and Techie Types

You like code. And numbers. And things that make sense. You dig databases and back ends and compiling stuff. You do not dig things that seem wildly illogical and emotional and impractical like how to make people feel nice when they’re sending you money. This one’s for people who speak Geek.

* * * * * *

Did you notice? Naomi is a freaking god when it comes to a clever and pissy turn-of-phrase. I get NOTHING if you go to her site and buy her stuff. She is the marketing wizard and where I learned a lot of my stuff. The aliens pumped the rest in, but Naomi laid the groundwork. She sells books and consulting and stuff too. NOTICE. She has TONS AND FREAKING TONS of FREE info! But she’s able to eat more than Ramen noodles and water for dinner now. Why? Because she DID the work, busted her ass and paid the price successful people pay, the price you’re trying to find at bargain basement rates. Not going to happen. So get over it.

Naomi rocks at what she does. I rock at what I do, but unless YOU listen, read and do the work or PAY someone to do it, or find a terminally co-dependent and talented slave to work for you for free (I’m no longer available, sorry), you have two choices: Do it yourself, or Get a job and bitch about how hard it is to be your own boss. I can’t help you. I’ve done all I can, as has Ed Gandia, Naomi and The Freelancers Academy. They are EXCELLENT models of how it can be done honestly, ethically, authentically and over-the-top. But it’s also a lot of work and none of them did it overnight.

When you’re serious about doing this, let me know. If you’re not. Good luck at that day job. Drop me a note every now and then and let me know how that’s working for you.