I hate to be a miserable so and so (I really do) but this has been niggling me for the last week or two and the niggle is getting worse not better. I mentioned my feelings on exact match domains a while ago but I think this may be worse.

I have been looking at more than a few Facebook products lately and more and more of them are about how fast you can throw up a Facebook page. They are often giving you ready made niche packages, so they may include a page for weight loss, make money at home, and how to become a pole dancer. The templates look lovely they include a video sometimes and something to give away to people who “like” you.

Great idea, it takes all the work out of finding a niche, making images and a video so it seems like a must have. But it means your page will be one of a hundred, two hundred or maybe even a thousand other pages that will look exactly the same with the same images, same videos and all aimed at the same market.

Couldnt find a pic of him slapping anyone

So rather than having a unique page that builds your “tribe” with your own unique brand you are just shoving up a page which will be exactly the same as hundreds of others. I can’t imagine that is going to be too hard for Facebook to spot and deal with.

Didn’t we see this kind of thing with Squidoo? Then they changed the rules and everyone moaned and groaned but dont seem to have learned anything from it.

The real worry here is not that Facebook will decide to shut the pages of people who just use the same mass produced template. Although that would be bad for people doing it obviously,  the real worry is that people (you know my wife and her friends, the normal Facebook users) will get sick of seeing the same page everywhere they go when they look for diets (not that my wife or any of her friends need a diet obviously) and stop taking notice of any pages at all.

Once the public starts to distrust everything they see on Facebook then it will become tougher to make any income from it.

Facebook Is A Tool
My dad was a master brick layer (I think you call them Masons in the USA) and he always talked about looking after your tools and learn how to use them. You can be the best bricklayer in the world but it is all a lot harder with poor tools and if you have good tools but dont learn how to use them it makes everything you do hard work.

When people start with wordpress they always look for the easiest way to do everything, and I totally understand, but the problems start when something doesn’t behave how they expect. That is exactly how it is with Facebook, you can slap up a templated page that you put together using a plugin or a bit of software but what happens when they change something in the back end (notice I said when not if)?

You do not need to become a codemaster, but you do need to keep your eyes open and learn things outside your comfort zone (which is a lot easier said than done in my personal experience).

Putting a page up on Facebook is simple enough that you do not need software (although I did just see a image program designed for Facebook which I thought was good but it is not available yet) to do it for you. But really learning how to use the site is not so easy (in my opinion)

• The privacy settings are complicated
• How do you get real friends
• Why do some posts get more impressions than others
• Do I still build links to my facebook page

Becoming A Master Is Not Fast
Becoming a mechanic is not quick, lots of hands on learning and plenty of courses to do. Becoming a bricklayer took my dad years where he spent time learning what worked best. He listened to people and tried things out, he worked crappy hours and ended up drinking too much (in IM I find that many of us drink to much Coffee or Diet Coke).

Why do any of us expect to be a Facebook expert after buying one course which features a 40 page ebook (first 10 pages are all about the author and the last 3 pages are resource links) and a video telling you that you need a facebook account before you can do a page and that there are lots of people on Facebook..

You should read, you can buy courses and ebooks until you have no more money, but at some point you have to do it. Set up a page and get your hands dirty, don’t worry that it looks bad (I know mine does, but the next one will be better) and that you are unsure of what to do. That is called learning! It is not easy and it is not overnight but you can do it and once you have mastered it you will be able to just about anything.

Manual is The Way To Go
You will learn more by building your Facebook page manually than by just sparking up some software and having at it. I love software, but I try and do stuff manually first. Learn how to put a page together and then look at software, you may well realize you don’t need it.

Its About Being Real
Yes you can fake just about anything , but when you are trying to build a tribe they will smell it if you are faking. I would love to do a Facebook group aimed at American football fans, I know they are rabid and will buy things that someone they trust recommends. The problem is I know nothing about the game and have never managed to watch a full game. Sure I could do some research but it is never going to be enough to make me seem real to people who truly know and love the sport.

I am just getting into Facebook and am trying to learn how to do things the right way. It won’t be going anywhere so I do not feel the need to rush into it all. There is a right way and a wrong way to do anything and the right way is not always the fastest or easiest way.

Thanks for reading this far please do feel free to leave a comment below or even go to my Facebook page and leave a comment there. I

Ok this is a weird thing that I noticed.. About 6 weeks ago I bought 6 sites from someone, all made using the flexibility2 theme and reviewazon. All had equally crappy pages and no linking (can’t think why they weren’t making any money).

I changed 2 of them, I added semiologic reloaded as the theme and I put on a fixed 500+ word front page.

That is it, I didn’t do anything else (I know, lazy, disorganized etc etc).

In todays PageRank update the 2 which I changed have gone to PR1 (ooh hitting the highs there Paul)

The other 4 are PageRank 0

Now I will not pretend to have a clue what this means, it is not exactly a scientific experiment, I leave those to people who think about Google a lot more than I do. Should you go change all your themes for semiologic reloaded because of this..probably not, especially since it could be another 9 months till the next update.

If I notice any other strange stuff on my travels I shall update this post. Or has it been so long since the last update that everyone is now just going to ignore this one?

I sometimes feel like one of those old timers who sits on a rocking on their porch talking to anyone who will listen about the olden days.

I have only had a computer 10 years and have been making a full time living for 5 of those years. I have looked at a million and one sales letters, seen more “the death of….” than I care to remember and have become more than a little cynical in that time.

I do not get inspired when I see a post or sales letter about how someone did $100k in 3 hours after buying a product at 2am.. You know what does inspire me..

Heather, George and Jamie

Chances are you wouldnt know them if you fell over them but the fact of it is they inspire me. Not because they make millions (they don’t), but because they are doing it!

They are working every day towards making more money online than they did yesterday. Not a thousand dollars in 3 minutes, but just any sort of increase. They are all people I know from the WordPress Goldmine Forum and they inspire me.

I know that it may sound silly to be inspired by people who aren’t making “real” money yet. But I find the people who understand there is no such thing as overnight riches, no quick fix, no instant income inspiring.

Because they are dealing with reality and the reality of making money online is that it is hard work. It is a marathon not a sprint, it can be boring, lonely, frustrating and really really annoying!

It is hard to stick to a plan, there are new shiny things coming through your email box every day. Most of the sales letters promise instant riches, none of them talk about the grind. There is a good reason why they don’t ever tell you the truth, which we will discuss at a later date..

So todays Friday Thought is -Stick to the plan, even when it is boring, tedious and driving you nuts.

Once you have some income in place then feel free to diversify but until then pick a plan and stick to it.

I speak to a lot of new people, I don’t mean babies by the way, I mean people who are new online. Some of them just want to make some extra pocket money but far to many actually NEED to make some money.

We are in a recession/depression/deep crap (depending on which TV station you watch) and far too many people really need to make some cash to pay the bills.

Let me tell you about the worst performing site I ever built, I know most people tell you about the stuff that makes them money but I want to be a bit different and tell you about a flop so you don’t repeat it.

The niche was great, there was plenty of money being spent on ads for adsense, there was a product or two on Amazon that I could sell and yet the site made me $0

Why did it fail?

One simple reason

I never built it..

• I found a domain name, but didn’t buy it there and then.
• I thought that the niche was competitive, so surely little old me couldn’t really get anywhere in it.
• I went to a forum and asked “what do you think?”
• I thought about it overnight

These four things are the kiss of death!

One of the few things I can guarantee online is that if you don’t build a site it will NEVER earn you any money. I produce products and while I want a higher CTR, I am happy that I am selling. If I wait till I have the sales letter perfect it will never get done.

I see it all too often, “I was going to build a site but…”

If you don’t build it you will never know how it will perform.

The great enemies of newbies (and not so newbies)

• Procrastination -find a niche-buy the domain-build it. Don’t spend hours or days trying to decide.
• Over Analyze – Don’t spend days collecting the same info from different places just to try and prove to yourself a niche is a good/bad idea
• Over reach – You need to walk before you run, your first site is not going to make a million. Aim for some adsense income to start with and expand from there.
• Continual Education-Don’t try and learn everything there is to know in the first week. Learn what you need to know then take action
• Forums – Some (not all) forums are like pits of despair, there is always some trog who will kick you when you are down. Find a good one and go there to learn, but ignore any trogs.

I am sure there are more things I could list but these are the ones that come to mind.

I hope my first Friday Thought post helps some of you see that you can make it if you use your time well. I am no smarter than 99% of you and I have no magic skills, If I can do it so can you.

Do or Do Not There Is No Try (name that film)