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I'm tired burnt out of online business

Discussion in 'General Business' started by DinoJRG, Aug 3, 2014.

  1. #1
    I'm going to pour my heart out here. I'm burnt out of online business. I've been doing it for about 12yrs and it's been a real bad gig. I've watched trends go away before I could sell out and I had to take the loss. I've seen my effort go down the drain as the internet changed. I watched the first penguin update turn my network from the value of $50,000+ into a few hundred.

    I have made rich. There are millionaires who sit on their throne all from sweeping the carpet from under me.

    I'm burnt out. My personal life is so empty because I've been trying so hard to survive online and make a decent living. Every time things would look up then something came and BOOM, back to a part time wage. I have wasted my prime and my life doing this and I'm tired.

    I have a problem. I cannot scam people. The scammers are the ones who make a decent wage.

    How do you seniors stop yourself from being burnt out? I'm so tired I don't even feel like living for another year.
     
    DinoJRG, Aug 3, 2014 IP
  2. NetStar

    NetStar Notable Member

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    #2
    You haven't found your niche.

    You can't rely on a single source of promotion to be successful. If you depend solely on Search Engines you will ultimately fail when they change their algorithm or if other sites find a way to out rank you. You need to make a web site that can easily be found via multiple search engines and social media outlets.. Your site should also be easily promoted by word of mouth and offer something for visitors to want to return.

    So many people get burnt out from not seeing success. You should try setting goals for yourself. Your first goal should be something easily achieved. Your second goal should also be reachable and your third goal should require more effort but still realistic. Once you start meeting your goals you have succeeded.

    Get a full time job that offers you a good living. Then during your spare time work on an online project that you really enjoy. Now you can take the pressure off from yourself because you aren't focusing on finances but rather the quality of the project and the joy it brings you from doing something you love. Once it becomes financially successful then consider doing it full time. There is no sense on becoming dependent on something that isn't dependable.
     
    NetStar, Aug 3, 2014 IP
  3. Matei Gavriluta

    Matei Gavriluta Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Try and "copy" a successful business. If you lost already 50k, than you could lose another 50k. That's a lot..You need a good manager and someone to teach you where, how, etc! I know people who said " I am not smart and because of that I have smart people near me". Now they have auto pilot sites doing 10k per month and they do nothing...Don't try to do all by yourself, that's my suggestion. Get some pro
     
    Matei Gavriluta, Aug 3, 2014 IP
  4. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #4
    Our generation are going to change jobs over and over during our working lives. It looks like this one has run it's course and it is time for a new direction. Talk to friends, look around at what other people are doing and make plans to join them. You may have to take a cut financially for a while but having passion and zest back in your life will make it worthwhile.

    All the best for the future.
     
    sarahk, Aug 3, 2014 IP
  5. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #5
    Hey, I feel your pain. Can you pick one or two projects, hit them really hard till they produce $40-$50 a day? That would help you stay afloat till better times find you again.

    As long as you're able to pay your rent and electric bill, you can easily survive on rice and beans, beans and rice. I don't think you should discard the experience you've accumulated over the course of 12 years and move to something else. It just makes no sense.

    As far as dealing with being burned out. Just don't pay much attention to it. Almost all entrepreneurs have to go through that at one time or another. My personal advice would be: When the frustration over the time lost overwhelms you again, do not succumb to the feeling of anger or rage as that is the single destructive emotion that will negatively impact your mental capacity, heart and digestive conditions. And I am sure you know that already.
     
    qwikad.com, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  6. NetStar

    NetStar Notable Member

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    #6
    Or just get a real job so you don't have to eat rice and beans and live in poverty. Generally you leave your job AFTER your web site sees success and is generating enough money for you to live comfortably on. You generally don't launch a web site and cross your fingers and hope it all works out because this is going to be your sole source of income.

    The original poster needs a JOB. That's all. He's simply trying to live off a hobby right now.
     
    NetStar, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  7. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #7
    @NetStar and that's the advice I usually give too. It would've been a completely different story if this marketer was a noobie. The guy has 12 years of IM experience, he's in his thirties, so he's got some life experience too, you don't think he can spring back?

    As one of my friends said: Google is a bitch. It came, made us all feel good, f*cked us all up and left.

    I just think he needs to give another shot at it, without relying on Google's SE.
     
    qwikad.com, Aug 4, 2014 IP
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  8. DinoJRG

    DinoJRG Member

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    #8
    Those days have come and gone. It's not that I cannot afford to keep myself healthy. It's just because I've been rolling around with this online thing for so long that I have not created a professional career. Mainly because I saw light at the end of this tunnel of working online.

    Online business has changed. I actually have money to invest but with the collapse of adsense paying out and the direction of how people are making money now, I wouldn't even be able to invest for a stable income if I wanted. Heck.....google has turned into a celeb & world known corporation search so SEO is somewhat out the window now.
     
    DinoJRG, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  9. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #9
    I see. So, what are your short and long term plans then?
     
    qwikad.com, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  10. DinoJRG

    DinoJRG Member

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    #10
    I don't have much plans. When the first penguin came out I went from 60K visitors per month to about 2,000. I spend a couple of months trying to bring traffic back but was not as successful as I hoped. I could tell I was not the only one because the flippa & DP site auctions turned into junk. Mostly people were just selling crap they made/stole 24hrs prior to the auction. No one is selling established stuff.
    I come back a year later and it's the same. Who ever is earning online is not doing it with adsense, affiliates, seo, or any of the old ways.

    In my early 20s all of my friends dropped off of my phone list because they partied all week long without a care in the world and I worked online(learning). Life just didn't turn out as I thought. I figured that it would pay off but it didn't. They settled down and made a career the traditional way such as college and I got no where quick. Any progress I've made got shut down and I just kept starting over with different methods of earning.

    I'm just trying to build up my monthly revenue to something stable so I can have room to play and try new things. I've only been purchasing super low earning sites with adsense($10-80/Month) to try to build it up. There are not many for sale though.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2014
    DinoJRG, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  11. dscurlock

    dscurlock Prominent Member

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    #11
    So you invest in someone else's problem...They can not get their failed "adsense" site that pays $10/mo
    anywhere, you pay them $100, and i suspect within a year it probably tanks, then you lose even more...
    and in my opinion, adsense just isnt relevant to me, its not the future, its the past, still ticking, but outdated...
     
    dscurlock, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  12. DinoJRG

    DinoJRG Member

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    #12
    I agree. Adsense is the past. Problem is people like me have learned all of the wrong things like adsense and link building. I don't have a clue where the future is.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2014
    DinoJRG, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  13. dscurlock

    dscurlock Prominent Member

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    #13
    adsense = google = adsense
    (means you rely on google to take care of you)

    and google got rich off of desperate people....
    google is rich - you are not....
    google got rich off you...
    get it?

    You spend $20-$100 and make $1
    how much more are you willing to lose?
    some people just dont get it....

    and if you make anything as a result of SE, then feel
    blessed, as it is not guaranteed, and could end tomorrow....
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2014
    dscurlock, Aug 4, 2014 IP
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  14. DinoJRG

    DinoJRG Member

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    #14
    So what do you think is the more realistic market that is more stable for earning nowadays?
     
    DinoJRG, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  15. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #15
    You are not working online (as in a "gig" as you state above.) You are trying to start a business that happens to be online. You talk about SEO, link-building, AdSense, etc., but say nothing about what you are selling and who you are selling it to. Ultimately, that is what matters. Do you have a product/service that people will buy and that you can make a profit on? If you do, there are many ways to go to market both online and offline. If you do not have these basic requirements for a business, then nothing else matters, Google Penguin notwithstanding.

    You could use a mentor (not an expert on Internet marketing, by the way) who could guide you through the process of building a successful business. Here in the U.S. there is SCORE (a group of retired businesspeople who provide free mentoring to budding entrepreneurs) and there may be something similar in Canada that you could connect with. You need to be sure that whatever business you are working on is premised on sound business logic.

    By the way, it might make sense to get a part-time job, even if on a project basis, doing web development, setting up ppc campaigns, getting them on eBay, etc., for local businesses while you work on your own business.
     
    jrbiz, Aug 4, 2014 IP
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  16. Mazakustrum

    Mazakustrum Peon

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    #16
    So you are have been doing online business for 12 years and you still haven't figured out that it's extremely volatile.

    I used to have a website that had more than a million of impressions per month, and my mistake was I got too comfortable thinking that I will always be on top. When it started to lose traction, I realize the niche was a lost cause so I left and took my savings and went into employment for a while to draw up my plans.

    Now I'm back with a much bigger dream exploring a new niche. My mistake was that I did not innovate. It is the only way you will stay in the game. Stay ahead of your competitors and get big enough to become an enterprise so that you can hire people to do the innovation for you while you worry about the executive stuff and take vacations every few weeks and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
     
    Mazakustrum, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  17. dcristo

    dcristo Illustrious Member

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    #17
    Umm, what? Google being popular makes SEO less relevant how exactly? That would make SEO more important, not less.
     
    dcristo, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  18. DinoJRG

    DinoJRG Member

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    #18
    I was talking about how google created the recent updates to make sites move aside for world known brands and hollywood stuff. That being said if you are not nascar or disney than the rankings you will get will be restricted. The result is SEO is not good anymore.
    Google search throws dumb sites up high now. Examples: search any animal. Check out the top 10 results. In most cases it'll be bigshot known corps. You can do all of the SEO you want but when that penguin update punches through all is lost as some corp will overtake your position.

    I know this online gig changes but no one could have expected google to screw everyone this bad. Now google is making a giant mark by eliminating normal everyday people trying to do business online and the internet is being limited to bigshot corps.
     
    DinoJRG, Aug 4, 2014 IP
  19. NetStar

    NetStar Notable Member

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    #19
    I laugh at stupid statements like this. Google's sole goal is to show the online searcher the most relevant information they are looking for. Instead they have to battle day in and day out with web sites trying to TRICK the search engine in displaying not so useful pages.

    SEO is a vicious term. It can be a vicious practice. SEO in the simple sense is JUST making sure your pages show relative clean content and link relationships with other relative clean web sites. But once Google releases an update everyone goes ape shit trying to find ways to draw more traffic to their web site instead of focusing on relative content.

    Link building use to be an exchange of links to take advantage of another sites relative traffic. Now it's just the practice of trying to get a better page rank to receive a bump in results. These sites should be penalized.
     
    NetStar, Aug 4, 2014 IP
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  20. Ferzy

    Ferzy Member

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    #20
    Build something from scratch where you know that you can deliver the most value, and don't rely on any specific marketing channel - seo, social media, or etc - that can pull the rug out of you at any time. The best way to be anti-fragile is to diversify.
     
    Ferzy, Aug 4, 2014 IP
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