Multiple Streams of Internet Income How Ordinary People Make Extraordinary Money Onlin E [Hardcover]

The principles in the book are a distillation of almost every marketing guru who has published a book. In fact, there is so much Jay Abraham in the book that I wondered if Mr. Abraham might have ghost-written it (or at least commented extensively on it).

Mr. Allen promises too much in the beginning. If you follow "the strategies and techniques in this book, you will be well on your way to Internet riches . . . ." Not only will you be rich, you won't have to work very hard for "the by-product of your start-up Internet business is freedom." If one percent of the people who follow this advice get to either result, I would be surprised. I suggest that Mr. Allen take 100 people, teach them his principles, and report back on the results a year later. Then, if they succeed as he promises, I will write a new review that gives this book five stars.

The strength of this book is in encouraging you to select your target audience and understand their wants before you think about what type of business you want to have and the services or products you want to provide. The advice about how to build traffic to your site, get income once they are there, and to build repeat business is all quite good at a general level.

The other interesting part of the book is Mr. Allen's description of how he changed his unique selling proposition over the years from "nothing down" to "hands-on-training" to "real-time millionaire mentors."

There's no bad advice in the book, as far as I could tell. It just overstates the ease of making money on an Internet start-up with limited investment capital.

Where else have people indicated that things are easy that you have found difficult? How about losing weight? How about getting into shape using the latest piece of equipment? What's the best way to evaluate these claims, without pursuing them yourself?

May the Internet bring you all the success you would like to have.

The new economy is knowledge based and based on expansive communication networks that grow in importance as related groups / interested parties meet each other and conduct business. Mr. Allen clearly understands this and I give him kudos for pursuing such an endeavor.

Here are the pros and cons of the books.....a personal opinion:

Pros:

1. The book is very broad and talks about sales, marketing and advertising, which is rare in such books

2. The book provides Allens example via his business.

3. The book was well written

4. Many excellent marketing books are quoted.

Cons

1. This book is a sales pitch. Mr. Allen clearly has sales copy experience which makes the book interesting but definitely somewhat misleading. He knows what he is doing and he has a VERY successful marketing / product track record. As a result, he is very successful in his Internet trials / examples. He has customers that already know about him, have purchased his products for the last 20 years and others that are interested. He doesnt mention this in the book enough and marketing costs are a HUGE variable cost to businesses. This will likely result in readers being too optimistic about their ability to generate wealth on the web.

2. The book was written by several co-authors. It seems as though Allen, in a rush to get the book out, heavily relied on so called experts within various parts of Internet Marketing.

3. He plugs various peoples products that are not that good. I have perused many of these products and it is hit and miss. Some are good and some are not so good.

My final thoughts on the book are this: Read it. It is worth the time for beginners. For those seeking a wide exposure to marketing/advertising/sales in an Internet world it is well worth it. There are some pitfalls though that I cant overemphasize.

Any business, irregardless of distribution channel, is a lot of work. Internet businesses require hard work, lots of sweat, lots of perseverance, lots of testing, lots of learning and, for those interested, they can be very fulfilling opportunities. If you are trying to make major money or simply pursue a hobby online via a personal website this book is worth reading.

Most of my reviews are in business / economics and I encourage people to read them, whether here on Amazon or at my personal website. If you are interested in economic history book I would encourage everyone to read The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner since it is more international in scope and deals with the lives and times of the most famous economists in history. If you are interested in economic development / evolution of U.S. property history I would encourage you to read Hernando DeSoto's Mystery of Capital but note his lack of focus on corruption in certain countries. A great general business book is by the management guru Peter Drucker entitled "The Essential Drucker."