Waiting for a blogging revolution

I just bought a ‘blogging course’ and now, I’m waiting for a blogging revolution. Yep! I bought a ‘blogging course’ and I feel scammed. Let me tell you why. This piece should help you, to not fall into the same trap and maybe even help you be a better blogger!

Note: You don’t need to read this piece if you’re not a blogger or aspiring blogger. You should instead check out some of my maps or other stuff you can find around here! Some are far more interesting !

So I bought a blogging course…

Yesterday, I saw a pretty add, on Facebook. It caught my eyes and I clicked on it. I realized I had already seen this blogger/influencer somewhere. I followed the links and found her website. Yep, I had already heard about her. I went back to her pretty landing page. While I did recognized all the marks of the trades, all the tricks everyone uses on landing pages that sell products, I read the whole thing nevertheless. It spoke to me. I reached the bottom ‘buy it now’ button. The promised e-book was only 5$.

I waited and hesitated a bit and after a while, I thought : “Just buy it already, it’s only 5 bucks”. So I clicked on the purchase button.

I didn’t like the fact that I had to use my credit card (I’m a PayPal Gal) and give my address. Why do you need anything else than my email address for an e-book? I already knew the answer to that: She is building a very complete & strong mailing list.

Bought the e-book anyway.

I know, I’ll be getting further emails from her. She has much more expensive and ‘in depth’ programs to sell. I’ll be the recipient of a, most likely well-built sell funnel, a series of email leading to a one time offer, that ‘I can’t afford to miss’, with super mega price reduction…

And I feel scammed…

I downloaded the e-book, grabbed a coffee, and started reading. 100 pages should require more than one coffee but it doesn’t when the book is written with pretty big fonts, lots of space and pictures.

I’m not being totally fair. The e-book I bought, was nice looking, well formatted and well structured. If you have no clue on how to start a blog, at the very lease it might give you some motivation and demystify some of the things that look difficult. I would even go as far as saying that it does include some basic, but useful tips!

However, in my sole opinion, it wasn’t worth 5$ and that says a lot!

Worst, some of the information provided was, bluntly put, false or at least misleading.

So yeah, I feel scammed… again… partially because of the quality (the course was probably another PLR product) but there might be other issues.

Quality is an issue but there is something else

Just a few years back, guides like the one I bought, were just saying:

“How to do this in 7 days” or “Do this and you’ll get massive result” or even “the secret of the stars“.

Some still use these types of headlines but most changed their style as people got tired of those. New copy forms developed.

Now everybody seems to be using these headlines plus something like:

“This is a no B.S. guide” or “let’s talk real” or “if I can do it, you can too“. They also say “this isn’t another get rich quick scheme“… If you say so, it must be true! The words “proven method and system” are very popular too.

Sounds familiar?!

Nowadays, it’s important to be relatable, accessible and authentic.

So what is the issue with being authentic? None of course. The issue is that very few people are truly authentic. The issue, with all those classes online, is that they are all, or mostly all, copycats, with just some twists on the wording & presentation, to get the “authentic” look. Add a few notes on your own experience, and taaada! authenticity!

If you don’t relate in respect of online classes, you may relate when you see this video about Instagram pictures:

Instravel – A Photogenic Mass Tourism Experience from Oliver KMIA on Vimeo.

Maybe I’m confusing authenticity and originality? Are you being authentic when you are doing the same as everyone else? Can you truly be yourself when you are copying others?

With regards to online classes and the information provided in such classes, please don’t get me wrong. There are bloggers out there who provide in-depth and accurate blogging / business advises, classes etc. Usually, they’ve been there for a long time, and they’ve seen it all, tested it all and they share it all. The quality of their work is unmistakable.

The issue may lie with bloggers who’ve been at it for just a few months and start teaching “how to”. They’ve only traveled part of the journey and still seems to be marketing themselves as experts. Some probably believe they are, who knows!

But the deeper issue might lie elsewhere: a blogger’s story

Let’s follow Phil on his journey…

Phase 1: Phil has just landed a new job, he’s happy with his paycheck. He has vacations and free time which he spends ready the news, a few blogs. Phil also spends time on Insta, where he sees a lot of people living a life that seems very different from his.

Phase 2: On day, Phil doesn’t get the promotion or the salary increase he hoped for. Phil isn’t so happy anymore. He reads more news & blogs and spends more time on Insta. He suddenly realizes that he wants this different life, others seems to have.

Phase 3: Phil starts a blog. It’s going to be big and he knows he’s going to make a lot of money. Phil just isn’t sure how!

Phase 4: Not much happens with Phil’s brand new blog so Phil buys a course on how to make money online. Phil follows the recommendation of the course and there are little improvements with his blog. He’s happier than he has been for a while.

Phase 5: Phil has been blogging for a few months now so, he starts blogging about blogging. He realized that, that’s what everybody else is doing and recommending.

Phase 6: Phil dips his toes into affiliated marketing because again, that’s what everybody is doing. Remember this course he took? He is now an affiliate marketer for this course and a few other ones. He gets a few bucks of commission, not much to brag about.

Phase 7: Phil has been told, he should sell his own course. That’s where the money is. So he takes everything he has learned from other courses and creates his own.

Phase 8: Phil spent a lot of time creating his course but again, not much happens. So Phil buys another course. This one is much more expensive but it promises to give all the tricks of the trade. Everything from “writing a copy that sells” to “automatic sale funnels” and lots of marketing techniques “you absolutely need”. This course is for advanced bloggers only. It’s going to change everything for Phil.

Phase 9: Phil sells a few of his own course but still not enough to quit his job and live “the life”. His dreams of making it big online are eroding although he has adopted a “fake it, till you make it” Insta profil, infused with a few cliché and quotes. There must be something wrong with him? Phil is considering buying one more expensive course. Or maybe some consultancy services.

Phase 10: Deep down, Phil is also considering giving up. He is so tired from working on his blog while working on his job. He has spent a lot of money on online courses. More than he has earned. Phil takes a break… a long break…

There are millions of people like Phil. Some give up earlier than him. A few manage to succeed.

The blogging World looks like a pyramid

If you read through Phil story above, you may have realized something: The blogging World (part of it at least) looks like a pyramid.

When you decide to become a blogger, at one point you will probably buy classes on ‘how to blog’. Once you reach this point, you enter a pyramid.

A pyramid where:

A few bloggers manage to sell online courses to other bloggers who recommend their courses to a hoard of aspiring / new bloggers. They do so until the later create their own courses that they will eventually also sell through affiliate marketing. Rinse and repeat and increase the prices as you climb up the pyramid.

The issue is that there is a thin line between an industry shaped like a pyramid and a pyramid scheme.

I know my Phil! He genuinely started out pouring all his heart, into his new venture. As time passed, he unfortunately got sucked into a wormhole of despair and disillusions. He desperately followed advises which he hoped would change his life. He lost himself in the process.

I also know there are millions like Phil because millions of blogs are created every year and millions die very quickly.

So I’m waiting for a blogging revolution

I’m a pessimist and an optimist at the same time. Most of the time I’m trying to be realistic! So yeah, I’m waiting for a blogging revolution or at least a more mature blogging industry.

Reasons to cheer

The blogging industry has become a vital means of communication. It represents an amazing opportunity for anyone to express any types of point of view and as such is an incredibly useful tool. Such freedom is a gift that can’t be taken lightly.

The blogging industry is still young. It’s like a teenager who thinks he knows everything, despite having so much more to learn and so much more to look forward. With time, it will learn and evolve.

Blogging is about sharing. Some may have lost sight of this but many haven’t. As the whole industry matures, readers have too. Such readers do take notice of bloggers who have remained true to their core. Readers are the main influencers of trend!

What would the future blogging industry look like?

It could be a future where bloggers realize the power they hold and use it as a means for change, not just to make a few bucks. A future where you don’t have to pretend or do things you don’t really want to do just to make it (like create a course you never wanted to create but created because you were told you had to!). A future which is better for everyone, not just a happy few who might have lost their souls in the process of ‘making it’. And hopefully a future where the industry as a whole, doesn’t feed on itself.

This might sound like a dreamer talk! But in fact, I believe that such evolution is required for the blogging industry to survive and thrive.

Is it completely unrealistic? Probably! Although, I am still optimistic that the landscape will change for the better in the coming years.

Changes might be forced upon us anyway and come from the real world

The online world can be seen, at least at time, as very different from the real world. A microcosm on its own.

But in the real world, real governments have taken noticed of this industry and want to protect consumers. They also want to tax profits made and probably not always declared!

A lot of bloggers don’t realize that there are numerous laws, from the real world, that already apply to them. For better or worst, regulations will keep growing and what might feel like a huge burden, could be a force for good.

A summary & conclusion, because this piece is already too long?!

I bought a cheap online course and I felt scammed. It made me think of the blogging industry as a whole and with Phil’s story, I showed you that, at the moment, there are some issues with such blogging industry and the way it functions. A lot of bloggers are starting a blog with great hopes and end up following recommendations which leads the industry as a whole, to look a little too much like a pyramid.

Fortunately, there is still hope! Hope that the blogging industry will mature and evolve into a more healthy and sustainable environment.

Just to be clear:

I’m not saying that everyone who starts a blog, want to make money. Although, if you look around the web, you’ll see lots of ads and affiliated links so you’ll know a lot are trying (I am too, so I’m really not blaming anyone for trying!).

I’m not saying all online courses are bad. I’m kind of saying that there might be more bad ones than good ones. That’s completely subjective, I admit.

Some will argue all capitalist ventures may look like pyramids so I’m just a communist! But I’m not!

If you read this piece, you may feel like sending me hate messages. But you don’t need to lose time doing so. I know I’m being harsh and maybe unfair. It may sound that it all comes from buying one bad course, but it doesn’t. I’ve just expressed an opinion and you are allowed to disagree without insulting me! Cheer up!