Here’s a very interesting article I came across while doing some research,
that you may find valuable. I hope it spurs you on to greater success.
- Nando
Thousands of aspiring Internet marketers come online
every year, filled with hopes of earning a full-time
living from the Internet. They learn HOW to actually
accomplish that, yet they never reach their dreams.
Many get so close, and yet they are stopped by ONE thing.
They are stopped by an insidious poison that is so subtle
that it kills all chances that they have of success in a
way that leaves them with a smile on their faces.
That success killer is a “class of poisons” called “The
Value Vampires.”
Value vampires are people and things that allow you to
gradually master a valuable skill, and then act as if
that skill has no value. It’s people and thoughts that
cause you to undervalue things that you create.
Symptoms of value vampires operating in your universe
include:
- You spend countless hours writing ebooks and then give
them away, or don’t even distribute them, because you
become convinced that the information that they contain is
“common knowledge.”
- You host teleseminar where you teach people things
that they need to know, and you don’t charge anything
for the teleseminars or recordings because you consider
what you teach “common knowledge” or “common sense.”
- You record interviews or teleseminars and then give
away the MP3’s, and PDF’s that you pay to have
created, because you become convinced that the
information they contain is “common knowledge.”
- You spend countless hours creating Camtasia videos
showing how to do things such as configure scripts,
generate website traffic, or create products, and then
you give the videos away because you assume that
“everyone already knows what you teach.”
STOP for a moment and examine what you’re doing!
You’re undervaluing your unique knowledge,
experience, and skills. You’re concluding that because
what you’re sharing is actually easy for you now, it
can’t have any real value.
After acknowledging what’s keeping your from actually
earning a living from sharing your knowledge and skills,
you need to ask WHY you behave that way.
If you are like many Internet marketers with a wealth
of valuable information, but aren’t earning a decent
living from it, the problem is very likely caused by
value vampires that you can readily “identify.”
These are people that you interact with everyday who
tell you “point blank” that you should give away
your hard work.
They imply that it can’t possibly have any real value.
They subtly hint that you should feel guilty having
the audacity to charge someone for your ebooks, audios,
videos, teleseminars, and even LIVE events.
At the same time, these value vampire consume virtually
EVERYTHING that you produce. They value what you produce
enough to ask for a steady supply of it, yet lead you
to believe that it has no value.
Do you see the inconsistency?
I’m not implying that you need to charge for everything
that you produce and share.
I AM pointing out that if you’ve been in business online
for years, know how to do lots of things, and teach others
how to do lots of things, and you’re still struggling,
you MAY be a victim of the value vampires.
I AM pointing out that if people are constantly asking
you for files that you create, then they’re confirming
that your “output” has real value, and that you should
probably be charging for some of it.
Step back and examine your online activities today. Ask
yourself if you are falling prey to “the value vampires.”
The first step to protecting yourself from them is
learning to recognize them.
After recognizing the problem, the next logical step to
finally building a profitable online business, is treating
it like a business. Ask yourself if you’d behave the same
way if your products were meals in a brick and mortar
restaurant.
Now that you’ve become aware of the Internet marketing
value vampires, the only reason you need be victimized by
them is that you enjoy it 
