I don’t troll through Internet Marketing blogs. There has probably been 10 IM blogs that I have ever read a post from in my lifetime. I had an idea for a website and decided to go check out the popular IM blogs.
Problogger, Copyblogger, Matt Cutts, Entrpeneurs Journey, SEOmoz, Daily Blog Tips, Serarch Engine Land, John Chow, Shoemoney, Search Engine Watch were the top 10 on Winning the Web.
What a load of boring shit. I’m feeling my curmudgeon leanings after wasting my time looking over those sites. Have you ever visited one? What exactly are you supposed to get from all the highbrow blather? The Problogger dude turns over most of his writing to folks writing lightweight shit like “What does treating your blog ‘Like a Business’ really mean?”. Every d-bag in this business talks about making sure you treat IM/blogging as a business. Copyblogger ponders whether SEO copywriting matters. Has anyone in IM ever disregarded SEO? He provides a piechart and fancy research stats to come to the conclusion that backlinks matter. Gasp! I had no idea. Good that they can still get mileage out of the 5 year old knowledge that backlinks matter to Google. Entrepreneur’s Journey has embraced video to tell you how to grow your blog traffic. Oh wait. It was a shill for his video series. SEOmoz publishes useless posts to keep their site fresh in the hopes you will stumble into all their pay for services and products. Smart marketing on their part if you have an interest in all their dubious SEO tools.
The only one that I had any interest in before I dozed off was Dosh Dash…and then I realized the site is hardly ever updated and has php errors, so I disgustedly logged into this piece of shit blog and started bitching.
These top blogs, except Matt Cutts love letter to Google, all apparently make crazy money. They either sell some service or product that their cult can’t stand not to have or they sell ads in their 100×100 sidebar space. They are smart marketers. People are desperate for help making money online. The lemmings are eager buyers. The circle jerk continues to feed itself.
These bloggers circle around the same watering hole when updating their blogs. Like anything has changed in 5 years. It’s the same as it ever was for blogging and niche sites. Keywords, writing and backlinks. I think it’s why folksy bloggers like Griz haven’t blogged in a year. What else is there to say? How many ways can you talk about keywords, writing and backlinks? Not many. So you get fluff pieces on keeping your blog lively. Or how to get visitors to comment on your blog. Or should you Adsense or not Adsense.
New make money bloggers amble over to the same hole for a drink. And around and around we go.
The Alpha bloggers have herded the sheep. It’s amazing how much (apparent) money and visitors these people get for their offerings. I contend there is no magic ebook to help you. No need to open the membership door. No fancy video that will tell you different. I’ve spent money on it all. I’ve been there. And I have done that. It all comes back to keywords, writing and backlinks. All activities you can do yourself or outsource. All boring as shit activities. Why do people continue to go to these sites thinking they have some magic elixir for riches? Well, I know why. I just wish people would get a clue and stop. It took me 2 years or so to get it so I feel their ensuing pain.
Top IM bloggers make a living talking about IM. They invest heavily in their website to make it appear modern and professional. They create videos and write articles using well-funded research. Some are smart guys and have the ability to dig into the guts of this shit and describe things scientifically. Doesn’t mean it is worthwhile.
It reminds me of those flashy TV ads for junk like the Perfect Pushups or something. They spend millions of dollars on the set (website). They have professional scripts drafted (content). People are interviewed and rave about the product (testimonials). They incentive you to buy it (bonuses). The personalities are cheesy pitchmen (guberus). People buy the thing and it sits in the corner after 2 weeks (memberships and software).
Then again you have folks out there simply getting on the floor (keywords), lifting their body in a plank position (writing) and pushing it up and down letting gravity kick their ass (backlinks). Nothing fancy. Do a few sets every other day and the results are the same as if you bought a goofy product to do the same damn thing.
I don’t get the whole IM thing. Why are people drawn into their cult? Why so gullible? These people are making a shitload of money from convincing people this shit is harder than it is. Making money online is hard work. But it is not difficult. At least how I see it. Correction, I submit that PPC is hard and difficult. There are a lot of variables to making money off your paid advertising. But that is not what we do typically.
Somehow these sites have convinced people there is some grand scheme that has to be applied to make money. It is all self serving BS if you ask me. But what do I know? They are successful and I’m not as much. They are successful salesmen and I am just a tool with a negative blog. But I don’t want to be like them. I’ll gladly stand outside the gates and fling rocks in like a bored 13-year old.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the refreshing post! I couldn’t have said it any better. ..
It’s like getting a pair of socks from Wal-mart versus getting a pair of socks from The Gap. At the end of the day they’re both socks, yet I have to pay double or triple for the pair of socks from The Gap.
The people that follow these “A-List” bloggers believe that the socks the ‘A-Listers” are selling are somehow better than the socks sold on Griz’s site or even Lost Ball.
How many different ways can these sites keep chucking crap onto the wall?
It comes down to Content and Targeted Backlinks, how much more complex do we need to get?
I keep thinking the same thing. The A Lister blogs are boring. I find myself enjoying the smaller real bloggers out there that tell it how it really is.
Ahhhh….Shoemoney-brings me back to the days of internet noob-dom….is that a word?
I remember when I first got interested in “making money online” and of course I tripped across Shoemoney’s site with that adsense check. I just went back to his site…probably the first time I’ve been there in at least two years. That pic of him with that damn check is still there!
Thats why these guys can continue to milk the golden goose. No matter how dumb their advice, how silly their methods, etc they have an audience. I mean who wouldnt want to be Shoemoney…he’s got pics up now posing with hotties in Las Vegas at the latest affiliate hand job convention. Thats why noobs who come across his site buy his shit..Who wouldn’t want to be Shoe? A bald thirty-something who makes mad bank and poses with hotties in Vegas…only in America.
Speaking of rehashed stuff, or, as you put it, lightweight “sugar, honey, ice and tea” – lol..
I signed up for an IM video that happened to land in my inbox that claimed to have a “wiz bang” tip for getting links and generating traffic..
And this great link building tip was……
Wait for it….
“Create quality content and people will link to your website or blog!””
Who knew? Five minutes of my life I will never get back. Nuff said..
Robert C…….
Yours is the only MMO blog I read.
Because it’s different…
Hey buddy, I just came over to visit after reading all of Griz’s stuff in the last two weeks. Thanks for the great read. Please let me know if I can ever do anything for you. I’ll be around!
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