Is Google Search still a thing?

[ladelle]

I was wondering if it was still possible to generate an income with online content like regular websites/blogs thanks to affiliation programs + Adsense. I’m not sure that it’s still the case nowadays, people spend most of their time on social media + they use Chatgpt.

[Schizophonia]

15 hours ago, ladelle said:

I was wondering if it was still possible to generate an income with online content like regular websites/blogs thanks to affiliation programs + Adsense. I’m not sure that it’s still the case nowadays, people spend most of their time on social media + they use Chatgpt.

It doesn't seem viable; it's simpler and safer to start a simpler business. I know someone who started beekeeping for example. He bought or built a hive and plans to accumulate more to sell the honey and make a living.

[ladelle]

6 hours ago, Schizophonia said:

It doesn't seem viable; it's simpler and safer to start a simpler business. I know someone who started beekeeping for example. He bought or built a hive and plans to accumulate more to sell the honey and make a living.

I think so too. I’m thinking about investing in vending machines, I’m not sure about it but that could be a second income in addition to my regular salary.

[Schizophonia]

1 hour ago, ladelle said:

vending machines

“I want the business plan that ask me the least amount of effort possible”

[ladelle]

35 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

“I want the business plan that ask me the least amount of effort possible”

That’s the goal 😜

[Olaf]

@ladelle

I thought about this business model for a long time, but ultimately decided not to pursue it because it feels like a get-rich-quick scheme. It's similar to dropshipping or many of the other online business courses where the creators make more money selling the course than they do from dropshipping, affiliate marketing, or whatever other method they promote as a way to get rich.

Sometimes the best way to make money is simply to focus on something you genuinely care about, your life purpose. Maybe take a look at Leo's course on finding your life purpose. I think that would be much more aligned.

I did dropshipping for about six or seven months, and I hated it every day. I made some sales, but I never became consistently profitable. I ended up losing a lot of money. I think I lost around 15,000 euros in total on dropshipping. In the end, it just felt like a waste of time because these courses create more competitors, making it incredibly difficult to succeed in an industry like that. Imagine competing against businesses making a million dollars a month, with employees working day and night, who have been doing this for five or six years. Do you really think you'll outcompete them in six or seven months?

It's a very difficult game to win. I've been in dropshipping communities where I saw people find a winning product, make $50,000 in a month, and then never find another winning product again, leaving them back at square one, because winning products only work for 1 to 2 months or so. So even if you do succeed, it often isn't sustainable in the long term unless you build a personal brand.

Sorry for the rant about dropshipping, I know you were talking about affiliate marketing, but I think many of the same problems apply. People have been doing it successfully for years, so how are you going to outcompete them and their teams? In many of these industries, the winner takes most of the market. Just look at fast-food chains: you only see a handful of companies at the top, like McDonald's and KFC. You don't see all the businesses that failed: you only notice the winners. To be the next McDonald's is nearly impossible, especially with no capital, employees, or experience.