by Wilfried Voss, author of A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog
Just the other day I received another comment on the current Internet scam, may it be the Google Profit Library or the Web Profit Club, famously promoted through the “success” of Kelly Richards, a.k.a. Michelle Richardson, Melissa Johnson, and other names.
Let me quote the comment:
“I made the mistake of “fooling myself” and submitting my info for the internet scam fraud you wrote about in January, but because your article popped up, I called to cancel my account. They have an address, a billing department and a customer service department. I was able to cancel my account and avoid the $139 charge, but is the company valid? I see from your article that the advertising is fake, but what about this business? Are people doing this?”
1. Is the Company valid?
Yes, companies offering a getting-rich-system based on creating income through Google ads, despite a despicable business attitude, are valid – as far as I can tell. In turn, the services and advice they offer are are valid as well.
The Web Profit Club, for instance, is located at 11136 Ferragamo CT, Las Vegas, NV 89141, if you can believe their web site information. The first warning sign, though, is their very limited web site where the majority of links lead to the same page. The disclaimer, terms and conditions, and the privacy policy on their web site are written and presented in an amateurish way, and, when push comes to shove, they might not hold up in court. My estimate is that this is a one-man operation, proving that you can make money through the Internet… It is easy to set up a web site like this and pretend you have a customer service department, You just set up an e-mail address such as support@webprofitclub.com, and everybody is convinced that the service department, in fact, exists.
So, what’s the real scam, you may ask?
What these companies sell you as a service is common knowledge in the Internet world!
The scam starts with the simple fact that you don’t need these companies to start your own website and add Google ads. The Google Adsense service is free of charge, and it is available to everybody who runs a website. You can avoid services, such as the Web Profit Club, by buying Google Adsense for Dummies (a much better and at the same time cheaper investment for the same thing), or even use the vast information on the Internet, or even have a look at the Google Adsense tour.
The scam continues with promising fast cash and getting rich very fast. All you have to do is paying their monthly fee – an initial $2.97 sign-up fee plus a (hidden) monthly fee of $49.00 and $139.00 for additional services. The service description and charges may change, but the pattern is the same: You pay good money for something that doesn’t work for 99.99% of the users. On top you don’t need their services and you don’t need to pay them to go through that kind of experience.
2. Are people doing this?
I interpret the question as: Are people using the system as offered by the scammers? I don’t have any solid information, but I am sure that some users actually are using the system, and they may even make money out of it.
The question arises again, why should we not sign up with the Web Profit Club?
The answer is very simple: First, as I explained before, you don’t need the Web Profit Club (or whatever term they use these days; there is a multitude of similar services out there) to create your own website with Google ads. Secondly, the system will not work for the vast majority of users, and I will explain why.
How to get rich through Goole Ads – or not
The principe is easy: You create a website or blog, then you add Google ads. As I explained before, the Google Adsense service is free of charge and is available for everybody who runs a website. As soon as somebody comes to your website and clicks on one of the Google ads, you will have created an income between a few cents and a Dollar depending on the ad. Adding these ads to your website is fairly easy; the Google website will provide you the code that you just copy and paste. Also through the Google website you can keep track of your income, and Google pays you on a monthly basis.
Sounds easy enough, but there are a few obstacles; the most serious of them is creating web traffic. The other problem is that you cannot create sufficient income through only one website or blog; the average income will not be sufficient to pay for your monthly grocery bill, let alone a mortgage.
Okay, the solution is to create more than just one website, let’s say 500. Let’s apply some math to calculate the possible income: You run 500 websites, and each website draws 2,000 visitors per month. You assume that 2% of these visitors will actually click on an ad (it’s called the average CTR – Click Through Rate, and 2% is low). With an average payment of $0.25 per click and 40 clicks a day you will have made $10.00 per day per website. With 500 websites you make $5,000 a day! That’s $1,825,000 a year!
The saying is, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t. On the other hand, you may say, it’s not about getting filthy rich, and maintaining 500 websites seems a little out of reach. We just want to make a reasonable second income, and even if we are not quite as successful, we just might make enough money to keep us happy.
Okay, rule #1 in any business: Success comes only with blood, sweat, tears, and time – a lot of time. It doesn’t come with working 15 hours a week, and the rest of your time you sit at your swimming pool sipping your martini. Even if you spent 80 hours a week you will not see instantaneous success. As I wrote before, creating a website and adding Google ads is easy, but you will have trouble creating web traffic. Your web site is only one out of countless others in the world wide web.
My personal blog, at the time of this writing, attracts 4,000+ unique visitors a month. I got there by adding to my blog on a constant basis plus applying a ton of measures to attract attention. I reached the 4,000 mark after roughly 14 months. I, too, use some Google ads, but I have to admit my main focus is on promoting the books I wrote. The income through Google ads on my blog is roughly $20 a month. It could be more if I filled the whole place with ads, but, again, that is not my intention.
My advice, in case you still want to jump on the wagon:
1. Do not sign up for the Web Profit Club or similar services promising you the ultimate path to riches.
2. Open an account with a reputable Internet service provider such as GoDaddy.com, BlueHost.com, or others. Believe me, it’s easy. The costs will be around $120 a year, but it’s money well spent on a legitimate and honest business.
3. Create a website or, even better, a blog. My recommendation is to install WordPress on your website. This very website you are looking at was created with WordPress.
4. Sign up for a Google Adsense Account at adsense.google.com.
5. Don’t expect to get rich overnight.
Start out with a blog in a niche, about a topic you are knowledgeable and passionate about. The main rule is to create unique and valid content. The next rule is to create as much content as you can, and you need to do that on a regular basis. If your blog runs well, you can think about starting another one, and another one, applying the same principle. Nevertheless, the process will take time, and, still, there is no guarantee for success.
A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog
Last, but not least, if you want honest information on how to start a web site or blog and make money from it, check out my book, A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog (There is also a preview of the book). Honestly, I wrote it after learning about the so-called “Google Profit Library” and reading the book “New Path to Riches” by Nick Usborne (Don’t buy it. It’s a huge waste of time!). I deemed it was time to stop the nonsense. The book shows you step by step how to set up a professional blog with some advice on how to run it, and maybe even make some money from it. The difference is, you don’t pay me at all (I would appreciate that you buy the book, paperback or PDF), and the required investment of roughly $120 per year goes to your Internet service provider for running your web site. Also, check out myprofessionalblog.com. This is the web site I created to write the book, meaning I created the web site, made screen-shots and included them into the document.
