[netguy]

I still have many friends who kinda roll their eyes when I tell them I do earn some money from the web business. Many are still new to this "internet thinggy" and cannot see for the life of them that in the end this is business. For many people what I do (web design, hosting etc.) si just something totally weird. For them this is a game or something and not "real work".

Why are they like this? What would make them understand that this is a job just like flipping pancakes or driving a taxi car?

[Blair]

I also have to confrunt the same ignorance... Perhaps because it's something new for them, and their mentality isn't prepared to understand such a thing?

They tend to follow the idea that Internet is virtual, and virtual work / money isn't real. Of course, this is false, but anyways... You have to start and explain them all the details, for them in order to understand that it's just like a real normal job...

I had lots of friends who mocked me when I told them I have a business on the Internet. When I started to explain them better that it is just like a real business and what it takes to have success, the work you do and the money you earn from it, they suddenly became so interested that they even started to begin their own Internet-related business!

Some are just ignorant and they think that, as long as they don't know about it, it just isn't true or doesn't exist. Just ignore and let them grow up.

[puravida]

Haha... that is all so right! People have a really tough time believing something that is so against the grain of what they've been taught. Although, many people flock to the Internet now-a-days in the hopes of building an online business. Once people hear about it, many become interested.

However, I have found that quite a few people I've told about my online businesses decide not to bother because "it's too much work." I guess that just shows why they will probably never be the independent type of person. Not everyone is meant to do the same type of work, and that helps to keep the competition in this industry somewhat balanced. :)

[nexus]

Well, my friends have an open mind because they are the "net generation" and understand that you can earn monney from the net bussines. I hate most of the grown people for their closed way of thinking. For example, I tryed to explain to a 50 year old neighbour that his kid could use his name for AdSense since the kid isn`t 18 years old but he just couldn`t get it to his brain that Google is not a scam agency that seeks to trick you and steal your belongings in a modern way.

[puravida]

nexus, on Dec 5 2007, 11:14 AM, said:

Well, my friends have an open mind because they are the "net generation" and understand that you can earn monney from the net bussines. I hate most of the grown people for their closed way of thinking. For example, I tryed to explain to a 50 year old neighbour that his kid could use his name for AdSense since the kid isn`t 18 years old but he just couldn`t get it to his brain that Google is not a scam agency that seeks to trick you and steal your belongings in a modern way.

Yeah, some people are just not that open-minded and I think coming from the "net generation" does help. However, many active members of this forum are over the age of 30 (inlcluding myself) and quite a few are over age 50, so I think that we have a good mix of people here --all with open minds.

[usdollars8]

Hi,

People who work and make money from online business are few may be this is the reason why people seem not believing us

[puravida]

usdollars8, on Dec 5 2007, 02:37 PM, said:

People who work and make money from online business are few may be this is the reason why people seem not believing us

I agree for the most part but I would say that the percentage of people doing it is low, not that there are only a few. I mean, there are millions of people making "ok" money online nowadays. But, overall, that's a low percentage of the population.

[Geenie]

I think people act like this because it is still something new for many.

I get annoyed when i get that kind of reaction from my colleagues, friends and even family, but i try to put myself in their shoes.
When i do that, i realize they are not familiar to the internet life.

For them "internet" means chit-chatting and games, they are still in the beginning of this "techy" era and do not understand that i am not just wasting my time with this, but try to learn more and develop.

We all started the same way. We all "met the internet" through chatting, playing small online games, navigating on random sites and i never would have thought i will someday might make money out of it, but i managed to develop myself while other people didn't and i think this is why people are so freaked out and act strange when we tell them we actually do something productive with this "internet thingy".

[puravida]

Geenie, on Dec 7 2007, 03:35 AM, said:

We all started the same way. We all "met the internet" through chatting, playing small online games, navigating on random sites and i never would have thought i will someday might make money out of it, but i managed to develop myself while other people didn't and i think this is why people are so freaked out and act strange when we tell them we actually do something productive with this "internet thingy".

Very true, very true. I for one have heard all kinds of things like "you should take care of my dog all week, since you don't do anything all day anyway" and "are you ever going to go get a regular job and quit playing around all day?"...

Sometimes I wish people understood and took my online work seriously, but in the end it doesn't matter because I do ok for myself and have built some incredible companies. Now, I've invested everything I had saved (which was quite a bit) into my latest ventures. So, hopefully it won't be long before I can justify all my hard work.

Cheers,

Brandon

[netguy]

Hi hi .. I feel your pain Brandon :)

When I started developing sites almost 6 years ago, it was more of a "play" for me. I had my own projects and would really "lose" a lot of time on them. My folks were mad that I would waste my youth staring on that "darned" computer.

Years have passed. I started getting more personal sites and, weird as it might seem, people started wanting to hire me for their own sites. When I got home and told my folks: ok, here's 300 Euros I made on a site, they had an epiphany :D

That was the exact moment they realized I do not play. I do not waste time. I do make money. In my country this is a monthly wage. A good one. And I can make it in few days of work. Believe me, my folks are the first people to brag now about how much I work and how smart I am :)

[puravida]

netguy, on Dec 9 2007, 12:18 PM, said:

That was the exact moment they realized I do not play. I do not waste time. I do make money. In my country this is a monthly wage. A good one. And I can make it in few days of work. Believe me, my folks are the first people to brag now about how much I work and how smart I am :)

Wow! That's awesome. Congratulations on your success! :)

[Blair]

netguy, on Dec 9 2007, 07:18 PM, said:

Believe me, my folks are the first people to brag now about how much I work and how smart I am :)

I had the same problem with my folks... Even though my dad works in a similar domain, he was very sceptical regarding the way I've been spending my time online! He never thought I'd be serious about these stuff and I'd actually be making money out of it! But now they are also very content with it, even though they still don't really understand how these things work...