Jeremy Shoemaker makes a lot of money online.
ShoeMoney (as we know him) is maybe the most well-known affiliate marketing millionaire. There are others, but few have been as interesting and outspoken.
Jeremy just launched the Shoemoney System – a training course that, Jeremy says, will teach you exactly how to do what he does and make money online.
That’s not an affiliate link above- I’m not part of the affiliate program. It doesn’t matter anyway: the ~500 spots available at $197/month sold out in just a couple of days. If you want in now you’ve got to add your name to the waiting list.
Do the math: Jeremy’s going to pulling in roughly $100,000/month through this educational program. That’s a lot of cheese.
He’ll be walking his new students through tips, tricks and how-to’s, all while pointing out the pitfalls they should avoid.
And I’d wager almost none of them will get rich.
A “system” suggests something proven and reliable. Something with a predictable outcome.
“Follow these steps and you’ll get outcome X.”
Jeremy’s success commands a lot of esteem – and it should. He’s failed plenty, sure, but he has managed to build an empire by recognizing trends, quitting the doomed enterprises fast and taking unique angles in monetizing web traffic. He’s come out ahead – way ahead.
That’s why we value him. That’s why we know his name. Because success of this kind is rare.
It’s rare because there are no maps to get there. It’s a combination of perception, business savvy, knowledge of the terrain and, yes, failing – failing often but learning quickly from the missteps.
As soon as there’s a map, the value is gone – the map gets passed around and hundreds of people are showing up where X marks the spot, and there’s no treasure anymore. It’s just a desert.
The problem isn’t that Jeremy’s system doesn’t work. The problem is that as soon as he shares it, the scarcity is gone – and it’s just a matter of time before the opportunity goes with it.
And if the system is your advantage, what happens when the system stops working? Where does that leave you?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
It seems like those real-estate courses you see on TV (late at night). Where one person made millions, and taught all these people who are making millions, and “NOW YOU CAN TOO”!!! Sure it probably worked for one or two, but what about when the economy tanked, and the housing market slumped what happened to the people that were in the course then.
Trying to follow exactly what someone else did will never work because things will never be exactly as they were the first time. Things change, environments change, and the people you’re dealing with or systems your dealing with change.
While it seems like a great idea at first, and I’m sure extremely profitable for ShoeMoney, I’d be willing to bet there won’t be too many people raving about their success after the course is over.
I think there’ll be one person raving about his success – ShoeMoney, who’ll be raking in $100k/month for probably a few weeks of work creating the videos and other educational materials.
Those real estate programs are precisely the same thing. Anytime there’s an easy 1-2-3 method for making money it’ll attract the desperate. These programs aren’t built to help people, they’re built to make the creators lots of cash.
Great points Mike. I can’t begin to guess how many little booklet adverts I’ve been junk mailed looking to “teach me the secrets “they” don’t want you to know” if I only agree to part with a paltry amount of $ compared to the riches that await me through their program.
And the only one guaranteed to profit is the seller of the system.
It’s a tough line to draw. I have no doubt there’s value in Shoe’s program. He’d lose his reputation pretty fast if he had 500 people paying $200/month each and delivered a bunch of lame advice.
But there’s still a glaring problem with anything billed as a foolproof system, especially when it comes to web marketing. Part of the problem is the people it tends to attract – the kind of people with the wrong outlook on making money and the trials they’ll have to face to do it.
Agreed… to me the value here is not in the “system” any more than any random late-night infomercial, for the “system” is not the answer as you have pointed out. But there is large value in having someone to ask questions, pick their brain, etc. For the right type of person, I can see that easily being worth $2,400 per year.
No doubt Shoe knows his stuff, and the chance to pick his brain has value.
But this post is written for the people who see the word “system” and think, “easy money.”
“Just follow these steps” does people a disservice – it doesn’t point out to them that if it’s business-related, “follow this steps” either A) has lost all competitive advantage or B) never had any.
With the right mindset we can learn from the success of others, but not by mimicking their processes.