Shoemoney System Review & Overview

Monday 1st March, 2010

After the dozens of very short “Getting Started” videos I’ve viewed over the past week, it was good to get back into something a little more meaty. While the other videos consisted of Jeremy basically flying through things on his own (as in no Jamie or Jeannie), it was good to get back to a “more traditional” (for the Shoemoney System anyway) format.

In this video Jeremy talks about the basics of social media, what it is, how we use it, how to “dominate” it and how we profit from it. Sounds positive!

Jeremy explains that when the web first started it was all about downloading content from websites. With web 2.0 it was more about us uploading to these websites and sharing stuff. Sites like Flickr and YouTube stand out here. Social media is the next step, where users share a lot of the stuff that is already on the web with other users through linking to them etc.

So the YouTube video that we uploaded, for instance, can then be “promoted” through sites like Facebook or Twitter or other social networks. By interacting socially through these sites — updating your status, uploading a video, commenting on other users posts etc. — you start to build up trust amongst your peers and they will begin to “tune in” to what you have to say more readily than they would have when you first started. Giving people some value to their lives is what it’s all about, and one way to do that is to provide them with something they want to see or read.

Jeremy talks about how he’s used YouTube in the past, how it’s brought him new subscribers to his newsletters, new clients to his websites and also how he’s profited monetarily from this (sometimes making upwards of $2,000 a month directly from it). He adds that YouTube is a great way to show the world how funny or how talented or how smart you are (amongst other things). Looks like I need to buy a video camera!

Jeremy then moves on to Facebook, and how to go about using that to make money online. Now, at the moment, I mainly use Facebook to see what my friends and family are up to and I only occasionally write updates myself. I’ve joined a few “Fan pages” but I didn’t realize that you could have many more fans/friends with a Fans page than you could with a ordinary Facebook page. Not that it bothered me until now, but there’s a lot more to Facebook than I had originally thought?

Next up: Twitter. Like Facebook I had originally set up a Twitter account but never really used it. It’s only been this year that I started to create a couple more Twitter pages (my first one was a personal account) and start to build a fanbase. In a couple of months I’ve managed to get over 2,000 followers on one account and several hundred on one or two of the others. These followers have started making an impact on my moneymaking sites, so I’m pretty happy about that (obviously). Coming up with good, regular tweets is not easy for me though (more outsourcing perhaps?), but it’ll work out eventually.

Likewise StumbleUpon, Jeremy’s next topic, is something I’ve only ever toyed with. I’ve promoted a few of my sites, as well as other people’s sites (people I don’t know, I mean), but I’ve never really used it to any great effect.

Delicious is next up. I have never even been to this website in all the time it’s been around, so I can’t really comment. I think I just thought “Who needs a bookmarking site? That’s what my browser is for!” without even giving it a look to see if it was any good. Seems that it is good, so I need to know about it pronto!

Jeremy then talks about Digg and Reddit. Once again I’ve never used Digg — mainly because it was technology based. I have used Reddit once or twice in the past though — years ago. The first time I got thousands and thousands of people to my site but, as it was a micro-niche site, the conversions weren’t really there. It just wasn’t the right demographic. It was exciting to see the stats counter ticking over at a fast rate though! Jeremy says that these two websites (especially Digg) are better for brand recognition or brand advertising than they are for generating profits. I’ve heard similar quotes from other internet marketers and SEO gurus.

Now I haven’t really said a heck of a lot about what is actually in the video. For instance I’ve not mentioned anything about how Jeremy makes money through these sites, but I have given an overview of the sort of sites he’s talking about — and this particular video is an introduction to social media after all.

As I stated earlier, I’ve never really used social media to any great effect. In fact basically everything I’ve done on social media has been “reactionary”, rather than pro-actionary. I’ve understood that I needed to know about these things, but never really understood WHY I needed to know about them — let alone how to make money from them. When I joined up to the Shoemoney System one of the goals I had in mind was to get a much better understanding on how all of these things “mesh” together.

There are some pretty major differences between how Jeremy uses the internet and how I use the internet. For a start he’s making a hell of a lot more money than I am, but that’s not my point. The main difference is one that is apparent right from the very beginning — intent!

Jeremy uses all these things to not only promote his websites, but to promote himself as a person as well. It’s Jeremy Schoemaker, the internet marketer extraordinaire, the husband, the family man, the joker, the straight talker — you get the picture! Jeremy is a character of flesh and blood and you start to get a sense of who he is as a person when you read his stuff.

With me there’s basically none of that. Unlike Jeremy I do not promote myself online as such. In fact, for the most part, I prefer to “detach” myself from my websites. I stay in the shadows and just let the content speak for itself. And it’s GREAT content I should add but, in the past, I’ve wanted it to stand on it’s own rather than have me push it. Not with every website of course, but most of them.

Now some of these sites are quite old and make absolutely no money at all, but most of those particular ones were created before I even realized the concept of making money online. I just did them because I wanted to. Other sites generate good pocket money, but not enough to retire on. Around $1,000 each month in total. That’s not to say that I’ll abandon my existing sites, of course. Just that I’m starting to work smarter and “grow” new ones. Like everything I try to do they will each have good content and, therefore, have great value to the end user. Personally I cannot stand sites that tell me absolutely nothing, and I won’t create them either — no matter how much income is involved!

So I need to reinvent myself — which is partly what I’m doing with the Shoemoney System anyway. I need to create new websites, revenue streams and a fresh way of thinking in regards to social media and other things. More than anything else I need to promote ME!. Given that almost my entire life has changed dramatically in the past two years it is a very good time to do just that! I’m not yet sure as to how exactly to go about it, but it will happen soon. Heck, it’s happening already. All I can say is that the next year or so is going to be a very exciting time for me!

As always, stay tuned to this station…

1. Neil Beck says:

   March 4, 2010 at 8:14 am

   Great blog! I have started my own as a newbie on the Shoemoney system, and I do mean newbie! I have no experience whatsoever of affiliate marketing etc, so all of this is very exciting. I have learnt a great deal to date, but have found you really have to play with websites, (such as wordpress) to learn anything. It’s great to see people like yourself with bags of experience getting something out of the course, and I look forward to reading your future comments. PS I like the chipmunk! I did something very similar on my own blog by posting my first ever youtube video. It has nothing to do with money making, or affiliate marketing, just a bit of fun! Good luck
2. Admin says:

   March 5, 2010 at 2:59 am

   Hi Neil. You’re my first real commenter by the way. I’ve checked out your blog and I’ve bookmarked it for future reference, so I’ll be lurking and commenting there every now and then.

   As for being a newbie — in a way I envy you. You have an opportunity to structure an online business from the ground up and, if the Shoemoney System is as good as Jeremy says it is, you’ll be doing things the right way from the beginning. Someone like myself, on the other hand, has generally had their fair share of failures, dead ends and wasted money.

   Not that I feel that much of my money has been wasted, because I learned things along the way — often what NOT to do. Other people would surely see it as wasted though.

   There’s also nothing wrong with failing every now and then — but if you can do things the right way from the start then you can save a heck of a lot of time!

   It sounds weird, but don’t worry about creating websites just yet. Learn the core stuff first. That’s important. The websites will come later.

   There’s a ton of money to be made out there — I mean I make money almost by default, and I’d make a heck of a lot more if I didn’t have sites which catered to tiny markets! However, those are the sites I like working on because that’s what I’m interested in, hobby wise. Plus for the first 8 or 9 years I was building sites ALL they ever did was COST me money, so I’m glad I found a way to reverse that trend in 2005.

   So keep plugging away at the Shoemoney System and you’ll be fine, I’m sure. Also keep in mind that Jeremy has almost as many haters as he has admirers, so take everything everyone has to say about the Shoemoney System with a grain of salt. After all it seems everyone has an agenda — whether it’s trolling, praising or commenting on forums or blogs to get you to click on their affiliate links!

   Good luck!