Hmmm. I have read the article and the replies and I found my self sitting back in the chair letting out a heavy sigh. I just find my self pondering when I hear responses to articles like this or attend panels and everyone just kindly agree. The example if "Fake Steve Jobs" is a good example of someone with a lot of content and not monetizing well. But what about the websites/blogs that has a ton of content that doesn't solve real problems and monetize well. Is it nepotism, luck, timing, who knows. Or what about the sites/blogs who have the model suggested and plan ahead and nobody cares.

You have to be enthusiastic about your work, heck how will you keep going. W. Churchill says, "True power is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." My opinion is that no one can predict what will make money and what won't. But, I do feel that people know when they are launching gimmicks or a webpage that they feel will make money and have no passion in it.

My final thought in regards to the following quote:
We should back this up in a exercise if Lisa and all of you agree. All babblers should reply with examples of websites/blogs that shows that a solid plan was implemented that solves real problems. We should clearly see the potential of how well it can do financially. Of if it is a way to detemine that it has done well financially.

I look forward to your thoughts.

SBI, in which many here participate is one. Ken does very well selling a product that costs $300 a year. A real need is answered. A great plan and marketing producing great success.

Just look at Lisa's two well known sites, 2createawebsite.com and her site on flat stomachs. She is doing quite well, honestly so, without being one of the scam type folks claiming to make millions.

As far as the quote from Winston Churchhill, it actually underscores the point about the need for personal interest in the subject of a site since what he is says is that you must have enough enthusiasm to be able to keep at it in spite of all obstacles. No one can do that if they don't give a hoot about the project in the first place.

You are focusing on a very important point when you think about looking at sites, and the authors of those sites, as a point of learning. I think I will reveal a secret about myself (not that I have tried to hide it). When I started following Lisa's 2create site and then continued with the forum it was not to learn how to make a website as much as to see how she was achieving her success. A great truth I learned long ago is that the best way to succeed at anything is to find someone who does it already and do the same thing. (That doesn't mean to choose the same content on a website, it means focusing on good writing and marketing if you are following Lisa.)

Real people achieving real success has been a long time interest for me. While I have nothing against making more money, that has long since become secondary for me. What I really enjoy now is helping others achieve success. That is why I stay on this site. It is great to see young single mothers learn to support themselves and young people learning how to achieve new goals. It is even fun to watch cantankerous old men learning to make more of their lives (no names here!). If I can help a little my life is made more meaningful.

Finally, on one specific. You wrote:

There are two things to be said here. First, there is an inherent contradiction. If no one cares then there was not good planning. Planning content is not enough. In the real world I have always been disappointed by one truth but I have still been successful because I paid attention to it. It is a cliche, but true. The customer is always right.

Whether on the internet or elsewhere, you have to sell what someone wants to buy. I never give up trying to sell people what they need as much as possible, but I always sell them what they want enough to make a nice living. It must be as simple as that or you won't be in business long.

And second, in my opinion a lot of people have given up on what could have been good sites for the wrong reasons. I hear them say, "The site failed." Usually a site doesn't fail. We fail! It may be better to say that we couldn't figure out how to make it succeed. It may be that it is in a field in which there is not enough interest or in which we have lost interest. But most of the time it is that we need to change our business model. The writing may be out of touch for the people who are reading it. More likely we need to learn more about marketing to make it succeed.

The point is that by accepting responsibility we have a better chance at success even if we move on to another project. If we don't there is a good chance we will just repeat the failure. By adopting this attitude we can at least ask ourselves the important questions like, "How could I have done this differently so it would have had a better chance at success?" (This doesn't mean we should not abandon a particular project if we think we are unlikely to be able to make it a go or if we just don't want to do so.)

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So it's better if I stop my blog and start a website, anyways my blog doesn't have much and I can copy the information or something.

What made you come to that conclusion? Not necessarily. I think the main point was to understand that if you are going to become successful with a blog (or a website) you have to understand the fundamentals of business/marketing. Whether you choose a blog or website depends on your own personal strategy and how you plan to present your information. Even though the content on blogs and websites are published differently you still have to do those things mentioned in the article.

And good points by the way, James.

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Hi Davids7

one of the major points that must be thought about when you try to create web content is the platform that holds this content, in other words as soon as you choose a niche you need to determine how you will present you work!!

There are three main types of platforms which are websites, blogs, and forums.

if you just know it all and only want to give others the opportunity to learn from your knowledge, then go ahead and launch a website.

If you have the knowledge but still think that it is best to let others leave some feedback and ask related questions then start a blog, also if you will have to add constant new content.

if you just want to scatter the wood and give others the chance to light the fire, and be creative and share their own Ideas, then don't hesitate to start a forum!!

Cheers, Amr

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Amr

You always make some good points but I have to say that by that definition, if strictly applied, no one would qualify to build a website! No one knows it all.

Even Lisa often points out how little she knows about many aspects of building web sites, yet she has one of the best sites out there to help people learn how to build web sites. What she does have is some knowledge that others need, an ability to teach it clearly so people who need to know can understand it, and a desire to help. She certainly knows a lot more than I do, and more than at least most of us on the forum. But no matter how much she learns there will always be more to learn. And even a website can have means for feedback.

The main point I am making is that a good content website does not have to be the product of the most knowledgeable person on any subject. Sometimes the technically advanced folks write above our heads. It does need to be written by someone who knows what is needed by a particular audience, someone with at least basic knowledge of the subject, and someone who is able or will learn how to communicate clearly some helpful content.

I think you will agree with this. Basic content websites are the best way for most people to start for long term success. I wouldn't want people to be discouraged from starting a content website in favor of a blog or forum because they do not see themselves as a great authority on some subject. If you keep learning yourself you will always have more and more to share.

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"We don't always get what we want, but we always get what we expect."

Well I've learnt that a lot of the most successful blogs started off as hobbies for very specific niche topics with a strong following. I guess you also need to know about strategic ad placement, affiliate marketing and targeting the right keywords when you do the seo as well.

Just like many things, when you are good at something you usually enjoy it.

But when you suck at something, you tend to avoid it.

For example I hated writing articles, but realized that article writing could be the missing ingredient to my success so I pushed myself to write better articles. The spin off was my posts were getting better and therefore attracting more traffic (gradually).

I think if you focus on becoming better on the skills needed to help slingshot your success you start to realize it's not a matter of 'if' but rather 'when'. The moment you realize this point you spur yourself to further develop the skills needed and at an ever increasing rate, soon enough things then start to flow better and your motivation elevates.

Then before you know it success just kicks down your door and slaps you in the face. It's truly a refreshing feeling!

But until that moment; you just need to keep the faith!

A bricks and mortar business doesn't make money overnight. The same thing is true for an online business . . . even a blog.

I think the issue or rather the problem is that there is no single recipe for making money online in a particular niche let alone online overall.

When you begin to learn a recipe which has a good chance of success in a niche then you have obviously made a few wrong calls in the past and learnt from them.

Looking at things from a different angle, you could use another person's system in the same niche they used it for and where they fell short of success you cleaned up. Maybe it's because your a different person than they are and you did something just a little bit different which made all the difference.

To sum up, whenever you limit yourself to someone else's recipe or system you are going to be at a disadvantage as there could be that one small variable that your not aware of that stops you short of success.

This is why to be successful you need to come up with your own strategy for each niche you target, with each blog or site you create. Just like a true Chef doesn't just cook other peoples recipes, but rather creates his own unique recipes or signature dish for each occasion.

To be a sucessful marketer you need to try different things and accept failure as part of the process of refinement rather than tie yourself down to a strict system which may have worked for someone else while hoping it will do the same for you.

Doesn't mean you can't steal other people's ideas though, just don't limit your own creativity.

That was my favorite passage from your post, bluefox. All of what you wrote was good but that paragraph above was key. If more newbies would realize this, they would save themselves from a lot of frustration.

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I have decided to start out my day with Website Babble. First I cleaned out my favorites and started fresh keeping only what I need for I start "packratting" and put in favs with the idea..I will get back to this later..which half the time I don't.
I decided to blog and have actually started and I have all kinds of content ready to go into it and since I got to save up for that SSI program which disappointed me to the point where I "almost" gave up and said the heck with it, fortunatly I'm not a quitter by nature.
These blog posts are great and now I'm going to focus on getting a blog done and maybe that will give me the pratice for my someday website!
Keeping my fingers crossed I stay on this path and I actually get something done!

Good for you, Sagie58!!

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Great article! solving problem, with in you Niche is the only way to make real money online!

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A good artical, but I disagree on some parts.

1) You can entertain on the internet to make money. That one guy she mentioned did! Money is money, no matter how big or small. What about the owners of Youtube? They intertain and make money!

2) You can make money blogging. Books, websites, blogs, poems, ect. all stem from one thing, content. Since acient times people made money with content, Homer the bard did, Virgil did, and Shakespeare did and they still do! I have bought their content. Even today you can. Authors of books make a living by selling their content (whether it is for entertainment or solving a problem) to readers. People like Lisa make money by giving their content for free and advertising for others in her content. Why then can't a blog that provides content make money?

3) You do not have to solve a problem to make good money. Does Tyler Perry solve a problem? He defiantly makes more than I do! Did Homer solve a problem? He made a living! Problem solving is good for some, but not for everyone.

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