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103 of 110 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
good for some people, June 24, 2010
This review is from: KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays (Hardcover)
I have been looking for legitimate ways to make money online and got this book to help me do just that.
Some of the book was great, but there were also a lot of confusing and unorganized parts. In short, the book was all over the place.
Some of the sections were very basic and others more advanced. I'm not sure if it's for a beginner or somebody that is advanced. It doesn't really focus on one group. You'll get something out of it I'm sure, but if you're like me, only about half of it will apply to you. Because of this, I'm rating it right down the middle.
A few days before this book, I read Laptop Lifestyle - How to Quit Your Job and Make a Good Living on the Internet (Volume 1 - Quick Start Guide to Making Money Online) and was glad to have done that, since I feel it helped me to "read between the lines" with the information in this book. There were times when reading this one that I was going right along with the author, understanding what he was saying, but then he'd lose me by jumping to something else without finishing the thought. At the end, I was left with a bunch of odds and ends of a big picture but no real plan of action for making money now, with the exception of Adsense ads on a blog I have. If all the needed information to make a good living online was in this book, it wasn't organized well. He talks about blogging a lot, so perhaps this book was developed from random blog articles?
Just to give you an example of what I'm talking about, the first part of the book is a very basic section he talks about setting up a blog with Blogger. Then he talks about adding ads to make money from it. I was with him at this point and that's what I've done so far. He gives a list of banner ad companies and talks about Google Adsense and that was helpful to me. If you are not online at all, this is a good thing to read to make that happen although some of the finer details and technical terms are not explained well. If you've been doing this a long time, maybe you'll do better than me at figuring out how it all fits together, but if you've been doing it a long time, you're probably beyond a free blog on Blogger, too. I just started and am already seeing the limitations.
I enjoyed the part where he talks about "7 Types of Content" to put on blogs. For example, posts that review things, posts that interview people, "Top 10" lists, and Q&A posts. This gave me some good ideas and was the highlight of the book for me.
Then he starts to get more advanced and talks about buying articles to post on your blog, which I think is a good idea, because I'm busy. My hope of saving some time didn't last long though because when I went to the site he recommended, it appeared to be brand new, with only a few articles to purchase.
This is the kind of "back and forth" you get with this book. One minute you're following along and completely with him, then there is a detour that kind of derails the plan or at the very least confuses it. One minute he's doing something for beginners, like helping you get a free blog up, and then he spends an entire section talking about legal issues of posting testimonials.
Then he talks about passive revenue with membership sites. Then speaking. Then coaching programs. Then branding strategies. Then how to deal with PR and media people.
There is a lot of information here, but very little detailed information. If you are looking for a book that is going to guide you step-by-step to a business that makes money online, this is not it.
What this book does well is give you little ideas you can use in an existing business. The only problem there is that he jumps around to so many areas, he doesn't give the finer points of anything. I was hoping for more specifics.
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38 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Way to Beat the Recession...But there's a WORD OF CAUTION..., July 26, 2010
This review is from: KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays (Hardcover)
I've been following Joel Comm as a teacher, friend, and mastermind partner for several years and he never ceases to amaze me at how well he is able to take a very complex subject and somehow get it down to an understandable system. This newest book is just as good (if not better) than his others...a sign of age and wisdom perhaps...but I think its more likely because of the fine results he's experienced as he himself does what he recommends to you.
Before I say more specifically what I like about the book, I just want to acknowledge the timing of this book...It is Perfect. Never before in our lifetime has there been a stronger need for giving people a solid way to make some extra cash. And, for some people who are more proactive than others, a whole lot of extra cash. I say that because I truly believe this book will empower the "action taker" to set aside the worries over money and enjoy the good things life has to offer.
In my opinion, this book is geared down to what we call the "Newbie Level." However, I consider that a good thing for several reasons. First, because I would rather have a book that is thorough and gives me the option of skipping sections, rather than being confused and wishing for more. SEcond, benefit is that some of us are a little thick headed and need to be told the same thing 2, 3, 4, 5 times or more before we will believe it and take action. (It's sort of a guy thing, like not wanting to ask for directions when we're driving.) Additionally, some of us learned somethings wrong (from green teachers) and we need to be set straight. Lastly, the Internet changes very fast, so it is always helpful to get the most up-to-date lessons, tips, and strategies.
If you're more than a Newbie, this book is for you too, because it has the strategy for what I call a bestselling business. You want to become a celebrity author, speaker, or coach, then just follow the strategy that Joel has laid out...the basics are all there. Joel is very shy on putting numbers in the book (the FTC has really cracked down on that recently), but I know that by applying the whole enchilada, you are looking at a 6 to 7 figure income.
KaChing gets 5 stars because it is exactly what we need and it accomplishes its task of showing anyone with an open mind how to create a viable Internet business.
A WORD OF CAUTION about a bigger picture issue.
Please allow me to share with you about an important new challenge to Internet businesses (which I believe is worth spending time preparing for)... and that is proactively managing your Online Reputation. Although Joel Comm covers the area of branding well in KaChing, I would highly recommend getting Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier.
Take it from a person with experience in this, even though you might have great products and excellent customer service, you will still have customer problems and issues. People are people (but I think at least one in every thousand is wired backwards). So, it is inevitable that you will get some bad product reviews, or even worse, revengeful customers who will try to ruin your online reputation. If you don't pay attention to this, you might find yourself with an Internet business some day that has a broken KaChing bell.
Wild West 2.0 tells you exactly where to look for online reputation problems and then how to repair them. Proactive Reputation Management should not be delegated to your webmaster. From my experience it is now a critical management and marketing issue that concerns everyone online.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book if your online business is blogging!, September 10, 2010
When I bought this book there wasn't too many reviews and so I relied a little on the title to sway me 'How to Run an Online Business that pays and pays'. That was what I was after and so I was hooked.
Initially I was a little disappointed, not much, but a little hence the 4 stars. I say this only because I felt the book largely centres around blogging your passion, your expertise or what interests you. Many of the tools, techniques and advice that Joel Comm discusses tie back to making money from blogging. Sure you can make money from your online business via blogging, but I just felt it was a little too one dimensional, as Joel Comm didn't look too much past this (blogging). Some online businesses are not just about blogging! Having said that Joel does discuss affiliate marketing and ways to make money from your site via membership and coaching programs but again its geared around your knowledge and doesn't touch on other online business strategies for those who may be trying to make money online via other initiatives i.e. selling products.
That said this book is easy to read and isn't overly complicated. Joel Comm delivers by providing a number of models on how to make money, most of which are geared around Google AdSense. He does though delve into AdSense discussing the importance of ad layout and formatting. At times I found I couldn't put this book down and was getting carried away with how I, someone who has never considered blogging, could maybe make a living from it. Joel Comm inspires you and makes you believe you can. I've never heard him talk, but he writes passionately, which I believe gives what he says credibility. If he believes it then I will too. Importantly he is a realist, advising making money from an online business takes time, effort in building networks and then more time. It doesn't happen overnight.
If you blog and want to make money from it, then I'm sure this book will help as many of the tips, tools and techniques suggested are clear and easy to understand. If you run an online business selling a product then I believe there are better books on internet marketing, searching engine marketing etc.
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