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Are you ready to take risks?
October 21st, 2008I really want to talk about the fear of taking action today. While I don’t know if I can call this “fear”, there is something holding a lot of people from taking actions and it is the main reason I think some people will rise faster or reach success while others won’t.
The step by step guide to success
Why do you think ebooks are so popular? I’m not talking about the ebook you write and give for free just to get more subscribers to your newsletter (By the way, if you have a newsletter, please make it interesting!), I’m talking about 5, 10, 100$ ebooks sold with the help of ugly (but very effective) landing pages. Also, why step by step articles and step by step guides are so popular? Why the hell do advertisements like “You can become rich in three easy steps! If a 15 years old can do it, you too can!” work so well?
I say it’s because most people want to have success overnight and most people don’t want to work. Trying to sell a “success package” with a sales pitch like “You’ll have to work your ass off and sleep 4 hours per night for the next year to MAYBE get some sort of success” probably won’t work even if that’s the reality. I don’t know a single person who made money online overnight without hard work.
Anyway, you already know you have to work hard so let’s get back on track. So we know people buy these “Make money overnight” packages, but do they really take action?
Risk of failure
I think the main reason some reach success and some don’t is the fear to fail. For example, let’s take a “success package” detailing how you can make a million dollar within three months by investing 25,000$. Let’s say there’s a pretty well detailed way on how you can convert that 25,000$ into a million dollar. Are you going to take action? Are you going to invest 25,000$ to build that million dollar? Would you actually take a 25,000$ loan because you know you can convert it into a million dollar? Most people won’t. Why? Because of the “What if it doesn’t work?”. If it works, you get yourself a million dollar, but if it doesn’t work you just lost 25,000$.
On a smaller scale
This is a pretty extreme example and I personally don’t think I would take the risk of losing 25,000$ I don’t have, but let’s transpose this to a smaller scale. Are you ready to take some small risks? You know, I think it takes money to make money, but it doesn’t have to be a lot. By small risks, I’m talking about a small 10$ or 20$ here and there that could help you make 20 or 40$ after a couple of months. You’re not experiencing the results right away and it takes some time, but converting 10$ into 20$ is 100% ROI.
As an example, I bought OIO publisher (Shamelessly putting an affiliate link here) this month to manage the ads on frogstr.com and I will also be using it on other websites. OIO publisher (John Chow get out of this body) is 30$ with a promotional code (I used “johnchow”) and that’s what I paid for it. At the beginning of the month, I didn’t have a single clue if I would sell advertisements here, but I decided to take that 30$ and take a small risk. You know what? It’s already paid, a little less than a month later. The next months will be 100% profit and I can only see the amount of money to growing.
You see, when I say taking risks it has nothing to do with investing 25,000$. You’ll make some good investments and some bad investments, but in the end if you invest wisely it usually pay off.
Experiment
Taking risks can also mean just wasting your time. My first ever online revenue was through Google Adsense, but do you think it happened overnight? I actually tried a couple of niches and spent a lot of time building non-profitable websites before getting things right. I didn’t invest money, but I invested a couple of hours of my time every week without having a single clue if I was going to make money out of it!
Then I started making 0.10$ a day, then 0.20$ and eventually over 10$ a day. It’s important to accept that making 0.10$ a day for a month or two is actually OK and that eventually by working the same amount of time it’s going to be possible to double that amount every month.
Moderate risk taker
I’m a moderate risk taker. I don’t want to ruin my life by investing 10,000$ I don’t have, but I’m ready to invest some money here and there. It’s also important to consider that for some, 10,000$ might be a small investment: it’s relative to the amount of money you make and the amount of money you’re ready to invest usually grow with the revenues you’re making online.
Some have big balls and don’t fear losing it all. Good for them and good for you if you’re one of them! I really admire that because you really maximize you chances of making money, but you’re also maximizing your chances of losing it all unfortunately.
Take the risks
What I wanted to say was that if you don’t take any risks, not much will happen. These risks don’t have to be related to money: it can also be your time or anything you personally consider a risk.
You know, a lot of bloggers want to be at the top, but aren’t ready to take the same risks the big guys took.
25 Responses to “Are you ready to take risks?”
What do you think?
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Spending money? Most people won’t do a thing even when it’s absolutely free.
We are wired for cheap shortcuts and high expectations, nothing wrong with that. Wrong is being angry at life for those failing and not happening like plenty of people are.
Personally I am happy to spend experimenting with my blog but mostly I simply can’t because of stupid PayPal issues.
Reverse with advertising on my blog – if I can’t accept payouts from most programs then why bother?..
So in the end I am mostly on free budget. :\
Rarsts last blog post..Universal Extractor 1.6 final released
THE MORE YOU GET RISK, THE MORE YOU GET SUCCESS. By doing anything risk in life we can get more experiences, by more experiences we can learn how to get success…
m.Ismail
@Rarst: Yep, it’s sad to see most people not willing to spend some money and take risks and then being disappointed by their results. Why can’t you use Paypal? Because of the country you live in?
@M. Ismail: Of course that more risk is more success. Well, there’s a certain limit of course but I’m sure it is an essential aspect of success.
@Ben
PayPal thinks my country is not secure to send money to. My bank thinks PayPal is not secure to send money to. Dumb.
I should probably kick bank a bit but end of year is busy time. Ops, is that me not taking action…
Rarsts last blog post..Universal Extractor 1.6 final released
I would also say that I am a moderate risk taker, and that’s good enough for me!
@Rarst, haha, I know exactly how you feel!
Rajaie AlKoranis last blog post..Vrooom! Theme Released
Great post,
It actually made me want to go spend $30.00 to try to make $60.00. When it comes to life I am a moderate risk taker, when it comes to business I am more of a tight wad. I don’t like to take risks in business because of two things. 1 I don’t want to lose my money. 2 I don’t want to fail.
I have been slowly getting better about spending wisely which I think helps minimize the risk, but also will help maximize my profit.
Adam
@Rarst: Oh look at Rarst not taking action!
Hehe I understand how painful it can be to deal with banks!
@Rajaie: Moderate is good, you’re not risking your house! hehe
@Adam: Good, I’m glad it triggered the need to take some risks
I understand you don’t want to take risks in business because you don’t want to loose money, but take it as an investment. Investment usually bring money. While I agree you might loose some money, wise investments will pay off in the long run I think.
I definitely believe that you have to experiment with everything you do so you can get the most out of it. It is really difficult to go to the top if you do not take risks.
Franklin Bishops last blog post..A Unique Blog Design and Free Sponsors
@Franklin: Yes experimenting is definitely the key to success in this business. Experiment and find what works best for you. As always, experimenting usually means taking risks!
The greatest entrepreneurs have been the biggest risk takers. And congrats on the ad sales.
ZKs last blog post..The Blogworld this Week – 15 year old bloggers
@ZK: thanks buddy!
I also take the risk of buying oiopublisher. and I thought no one will buy ad spot on mine but i’m wrong. there are still some who buy ads on mine and it helps me to make more money.
Husseins last blog post..How To Have A Better Google Adsense CTR
Loved this post my friend. I am how you say a bloody big risk taker. I don’t mind spending $100 on something to see if something works, which I guess in relation to my salary is quite a big chunk. I’m hoping one day it will pay off with bigger rewards. Heck I’m risking $179.99 on my competition!!
Clog Moneys last blog post..E-book makes adsense earnings bigger ?
Really liked this post, its clear, concise and makes perfect sense. I’v had issues taking risks before – namely as I have have lost a lot of money with some of these risks in the past – but thats not to say that I shouldn’t still be taking them, rather be more cautious about the type of risks I do take, lol!
Again, good post!
Dans last blog post..Interesting Idea…
Right on the button! It’s really, really frustrating when you go onto fourms (just an example) and try to find something worth replying to or learn from but that whole forum is covered with people posting about “how do I learn SEO overnight” type things (its also a bad way of just trying to get links on forums…quality, quality!). Of course we all have to start from somehere but it really is frustrating that people aren’t willing to put the work in there, even if you give them tips and direct links to places that outline exactly what they are looking for.
ok rant over
Nice post by the way…
@Hussein: Yep, OIO is one of the best investment I’ve made so far. It helps monetize and really 30$ was a small investment considering you get lifetime updates of the software.
@Clogmoney: Thanks buddy! I must agree the “buy a flip” move was a pretty risky move and I post it’s going to pay off! Well, I’m sure it will. Maybe you won’t see the results right away, but it’s all about positioning yourself in this very particular niche MMO is
@Dan: Yep exactly! Of course the point of taking risks is not to lose money so if losing money is a bad habit for you, being careful before investing and taking risks is the key
@Leila: Totally agree and thanks for your positive comment
DigitalPoint Forum is a pain for that. There are just so many posts about how to get rich overnight and just too many people wanting to get rich overnight without working…
Without risk you never get any of the rewards. I have the oto too but I need a better design which i’m working on at the moment so I can maximize my advertising
Bruno Augers last blog post..Internet Marketing with Affiliate Landmines
I too am moderate with lots of experimentation (perhaps that came out wrong), but I used to be “not moderate” with lots also…bad move, find an even ground
Let’s say I was once like Jack…
Dennis Edells last blog post..Are You Like Jack?
Well, you know what they say about the man who never took a risk; nothing because he never accomplished anything. While I dont think you should gamble everything, you definitely cant hold back everything either.
Jennys last blog post..Scrapbooking Templates 101
I don’t there is any major risk involved in starting up a blog or even providing free services such as writing plugins or themes. The definition of risk comes into play when stakes are high! For example, when you want to take the blog to the next level by spending heavily on ads, probably you are taking more risk.
Usually, high risk ventures will have high returns as well.
I like your site, this post is very good, see you soon
cataratas del iguazus last blog post..Sres. USUARIOS, sus consultas aquí…
To earn alot and earn big we need to take some chances, we have to take risk for something to earn something…
Mocha Fudges last blog post..I love the way I am..
Small investments can start adding up into significant sums. Granted, if the ROI is there, no problem, but I think far too many people spend $20-$100 here there and everywhere, and get zero return for it, other than for something to sit on the shelf. There is also the time aspect involved….. evaluating one hundred $10 purchases, will likely take much greater time investment than a solitary $1000 investment. Then again there is the matter of diversifying risk as well. One size doesnt fit all.
As far as risk goes… done the high risk thing, got huge rewards one time out, and lost a shirt another time. It comes with the territory of startups. I will say though, recovery from a lost shirt is a real headache, but the worst part of it, is the much increased levels of risk aversion. Thats the killer imho.
Falled behind a little bit here!
@Bruno: Good stuff OIO is the real deal when it comes to advertising!
@Jeremy: I think risk is always proportional to what you have available to invest. FOr some, 5K is a small risk and for some 10$ is a big risk…
@Mocha: Yep, nice way of saying it
@Ron: Welcome to the blog buddy! I see mate, you seem to know what you’re talking about. Too many people will invest 20$-100$ here and there without any knowledge I agree and that can easily lead to disastrous results.
In any field of business, you really have to take the risk to succeed. Without the risk you will not have the determination to do more beyond what you can do.