Comments on: Getting Famous Online: Easier When You Have Money

By: Chantal

Chantal — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:07:06 +0000

i agree with the whole situation

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:42:25 +0000

David, yes, money does facilitate success online; however, it does not guarantee it. If one does not know how to invest wisely, then he may end up losing his shirt. For example, it takes both money and skill to create an adwords ad that will ultimately attract targeted visitors who may become paying customers. If one does not have the proper skills (eg. knowing how to do keyword research), then he may lose a lot of money with pay-per-click advertising. This is just one simple example of how one can fail online even if he has a lot of money to invest. My point is that money is not enough; a person must also have skills. Money makes things easier for those who Know How to invest that money.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:51:18 +0000

Jonathan "some money" is relative to who and where you are. I bet kids in Tanzania or Sri Lanka would look at $100 hosting on Dreamhost not as an obvious bargain, but as a hurdle. I completely agree with David on this.

By: jonson roth

jonson roth — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:57:18 +0000

David, I pretty much agree with you, though some creative individuals can do without. And what you described is bootstrapping – a time-honored way to build a business. Works offline and online.

By: David Peralty

David Peralty — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:40:23 +0000

Snook – glad you stopped by, and also very happy to see you disagree with me. I wrote the article with bloggers, podcasters and video podcasters specifically in mind. I agree that starting pretty much any project is inexpensive, but making it something bigger is difficult, especially with all of the noise out there online.

When I wrote this article, I wanted people to understand that success is difficult, and can be much easier when you can invest in yourself.

You are fortunate as your claim to fame isn’t blogging, it is a very specific and needed set of skills. You are even more fortunate, as you have the combination of strong programming AND design skills, which is rare.

Writers/Bloggers are seen in the light of being a dime a dozen. The same, unfortunately, goes with podcasters and a growing number of video podcasters.

I guess my questions for you would be – do you think you could make a full time living off your blog? Do you think your brand would be as big as it is today if you hadn’t found ways to invest in yourself?

As a blogger, I feel like no matter how many posts I write, nor how hard I promote them, the best way for me to grow my brand online is to invest in myself by purchasing advertising on other blogs, paying writers to help me build a larger stable of content faster, pay graphic designers to keep the design quality up, and many other things to keep things running smoothly and growing my brand.

If I stopped spending that money, I have a feeling my continued growth as a brand online would also stop.

Also, this post never meant you had to be daddy warbucks to afford popularity online, but that having the right amount of money to help back a project can give it a better chance of becoming a success.

By: Jonathan Snook

Jonathan Snook — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:27:42 +0000

I disagree. I think that it’s dirt cheap to get anything going. Dreamhost is under $100 a year. Sure you need “some” money but everybody does and I don’t think it becomes the deciding factor when it comes to success. But certainly the more money you have, the more you can use it to power other ventures to create a multiplier effect.