Believe it or Not…
Hey guys,
It’s great to see so many well formed opinions and comments both here and on Facebook. I’m really starting to understand who I’m communicating with. I somehow feel like this China232 project attracts some very interesting people. I guess if you even like our stuff at all, you probably can “think for yourself”. It’s a quality that I really respect.
I say that because I’m sure that you didn’t find this site because of our amazing advertising methods. I’m sure that you don’t use the site because of the website name. I know it makes no sense (long story and my fault). I am also sure you already know that this isn’t the only way in the world to learn English.
I guess we probably have a lot in common. Who knows, maybe we’d be best friends if we met in real life. We don’t speak the same “mother language” (I hate that term for some reason) but there might be some personality match. Of course that won’t mean you’ll agree with everything I say. I don’t even agree with everything I say sometimes. Lol. A lot of what I say probably depends on my mood. It’s true for all of us. We’re human.
I read a lot of books on marketing, advertising, and self-improvement (sounds retarded but some books are not bad)
I have changed my opinions about a few things since the beginning of this project. At first, I had the belief that if you make something free and cool on the internet, then you can make enough money from advertising to live at least a pretty cool life. I found out the hard way that it’s not nearly as easy as it sounds. For a couple years Add and I had to borrow money to pay for rent and food. I don’t expect you to feel pity, it’s just the truth and kind of hilarious now that I think about it.
This is my first business project and I’m learning “on the fly”, which means to “learn as I go along”. I think it’s impossible not to make mistakes. I’ll tell you a few of the mistakes I made in case you are thinking of doing an online business. Maybe you will just find the story interesting.
I first learned that I needed at least some kind of a business plan. I hate that lesson because I really wish the economy worked differently. I wish people could get enough money to live just by doing some kind of good to the world. I’m not trying to say I’m some kind of perfect human because I’m not even close, but I hate that CEO’s of cigarette companies make so much money for example. (I’m not judging you if you smoke by the way). These guys are smart but basically their job is to trick people and make them sick and die. It’s true, to a lesser extent, with fast food companies. I’m not saying these things should be illegal, it just kind of sucks that these people earn much more money than someone working all day everyday trying to cure cancer. I was hoping that the “cream would rise to the top” which is an English saying meaning that the things of highest quality naturally perform the best. Well, marketing and psychology change this game big time. I’m sure you already know, but go to Google, or whatever you use and type in something like “Best way to lose fat”, or “Best way to earn money online”. I guarantee you won’t find the best way. You will find the best marketers.
The next lesson I learned is that marketing isn’t the whole answer either. I’m happy to learn this lesson. If you read marketing books, you will find a lot of greed inside. Some are more greedy than others, but it’s quite unbelievable. I love psychology because I find it interesting. The best marketers basically say do something like, “Look for people with a big problem and sell them some quick solution to it”. They don’t talk much about making a useful product. It doesn’t matter. Before someone buys something, they are buying the belief, the idea, they don’t actually know if it will work or not. It’s why we see advertisements like “How I made 50 000 USD per month doing almost nothing”. There are enough stupid and lazy people to buy that kind of thing. It’s destroying the internet and it almost destroyed me. I never would sell that kind of thing, but I spent more time thinking about how to get people to find our website than I spent on making our website good and useful. This blog post for example, might be considered a waste of time by some business people. I might sell nothing, but I remembered that I’m not really trying to. I would be lying if I said that I don’t feel good when I see that someone bought our program, it’s how Add and I can even live, but it’s not all I care about. Not at all. That’s why I called this blog post, “Believe it or Not”. I don’t expect you to believe me. I hope you do but I can’t force it. I know it’s so easy to lie online. I see people do it all the time. I’m just telling my story and hoping that it is interesting to some people. I still have to do marketing stuff, it’s a business reality, but I’m going to do less of it now and more work on making the product better. I also want to say that I don’t mean “lying” when I say marketing. I just mean stuff like writing articles that might be kind of boring but easy to find on Google. No one will find this article on Google. You are reading it because you already know about this website from a friend or other marketing work I did. That’s the hard part when starting this kind of online business. No one in the world knows you even exist. It doesn’t matter how good your thing is.
There are some stories about great products that “go viral” but these are rare in real life and the stories are often untrue. Even Google and Facebook needed millions of dollars to start. A lot of stuff just won’t “go viral” no matter what. These lessons probably never will. You might tell some friends, but the lessons are too high of a level for most English learners. I know that already, but it seems boring to me to target beginners. If all I cared about was money, I’d work in a Bank in New York. Actually, a lot of people thought I should. My degree is a double major in psychology and Math (Not a big deal I know). The “math” part is perfect for getting a banking job. I don’t even think it’s bad to work in a bank, it’s just not for me.
Many of my close friends work for big companies. I watch them get high salaries every month. That’s the blessing and the curse of working in a corporate job. On the one hand you don’t have to worry about money because it just shows up in your bank account at the end of the month. On the other hand, you give up your freedom, at least to some extent. (By the way, I already know a lot of people love working in companies and I understand that). Anyway, for a long list of reasons, I wanted to do this project with my bro. I still want to, and actually more now than ever.
I’m hoping that this website is more to you than only an “English teaching site”. I hope I help you with your English big time, but I really hope for more than just that. I want my passion back. I really don’t know exactly why I’m telling you all this but I sometimes feel I need to just share my thoughts and feelings.
Love to hear your comments on this stuff boys and girls. Our Facebook page is best but if you don’t have an account than here is cool too.
March 22nd, 2011 at 3:24 pm
I think you’re right in everything you say, nowadays is easier to get into a company, do your job (you like it or not) and get paid at the end of the month.. But to do what you really want it’s the tough way, and a lot of people don’t like to make great effords in order to do what it really make them happy…. whatever, I love what you do ’cause it has and still helping me a lot in my english learnings..
John.
March 24th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Thanks John. The funny thing is, I thought I was taking the easy way out too because for me, getting up early sucks! I am so bad with schedules and people in suits telling me what to do. I actually hate wearing suits also because they take so long for me to put on. I move very slowly, especially in the mornings. I know some people like them, but I think everyone should be able to work in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I really don’t understand why business is still done in suits in 2011. Steve Jobs doesn’t need one. A lot of the world makes no sense to me…
March 24th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Hi, guys! I just want to say you’ve been an inspiration to me in my efforts to learn English. I first got acquainted with your work when I was looking for some spoken English audio materials on the Internet. Surprisingly, there isn’t much of quality stuff of that kind as one would expect.
So, I’m really giving credit where it’s due (to use the phrase from your latest blog) when I say that your mp3 lessons are worth listening to. Unfortunately, there’s no more free lessons, as far as I know, but I still read your emails most of the time.
Here’s a couple of things that crossed my mind when I was thinking about advice you were asking for. First of all, since I only know you guys from the emails and mp3s, it’s hard for me to put a face on your emails, so to speak. I never know whether it’s Andy or Add who’s writing, and even when I do, it doesn’t really help to picture the writer or speaker, of which I have a habit of doing, as probably do most of the people. So it’d be great to have a little picture of who’s writing every time you write something, if it were possible.
Here’s the second thought. I first tried to post this comment on facebook, but I couldn’t: there wasn’t such an option for me, although I’m registered on facebook. Do I have to be your friend on facebook, or be in your group in order to post? Anyone can post here, why not do it work the same way on facebook? By the way, it’s not really logical to have the same post being discussed in two different places on the web. People who want to leave a comment get separated from one another. I don’t know whether it can be worked around technically, though.
And finally, I’ve got a little question of my own to ask you, guys. In my journey of learning English I find listening the hardest and yet the most important part. And right you were saying that English schools are in general a loss of time and money, since they substitute real English for a set of exercises and tests that are only good for passing some test, but not for real life application of the language.
Anyway, since I think the best way to learn a language on your own is to listen to it as much as possible, referring to the script of what you are listening to if necessary, I’ve thought of publishing some texts (books, possibly) in English set up with audios of the same text and translation into Russian (since I’m a Russian). My English, no matter how good it is, isn’t perfect for reading texts for sale, so that’s where I need some help.
I’m new to this, and haven’t really thought through and through all the details, so it’d be cool to know your thoughts on the matter. You have my email. Talk to you soon,
best,
Timur.
March 24th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Hey Timur,
Thanks for your post. You put a lot of thought into it and I’ll definitely think seriously about all your suggestions.
I agree that having comments here and on Facebook is retarded. My original thought was that people would only comment on Facebook because I thought this might get too much spam or something. Anyway, it’s been ok so far. By the way, if you do want to comment on Facebook, you have to click the “like” button on the china232 facebook page. It is small and kind of near the top. I think Facebook is weird and it’s hard to find things sometimes. So many people have asked the same question. Anyway, once you click “like” you are a member of the Facebook “fan page” or whatever it is.
As for your question about the books, I’m sorry but I couldn’t catch the exact meaning you had. Do you mean do I think it is a good business idea?
Add does most of the tech stuff and I’m the guy filling up your email box.
Andy
March 24th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
It’s seems that I’m not the only one who is looking for passion back in life and it’s good to know that. I working in a big company and I have some oppotunities to go a step further with my carrer but sometimes I just don’t want to, because I don’t want to lose my time, my freedom. I don’t want to stay working until 9, 10 pm every day, during the weekends. I just want the same money and to do the same things…..enjoy my life.
I don’t want to have my account bank full of money at my 60′s without having fun over the years….
March 25th, 2011 at 7:28 am
Hey guys,
We just share the same opinion towards life. What you said is quite inspiring. I’m just going to quit my job because it’s taken up too much of my spare time. I remember that Jobs has said “follow your heart” on the graduation speech of Stanford. I think it’s the time now to do something I really like and enjoy my life. I hope you guys could keep going on.
Best wishes,
Juno
March 25th, 2011 at 9:31 am
Andy and Add, I strongly understand when you say “No one in the world knows you even exist. It doesn’t matter how good your thing is.” even though it seems so God/ the Universe/ life knows and will connect to you in unexpected ways. Keep the passion and needless to say you guys have our support ever!
Gisele
March 25th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Hey, Andy!
It’s me again, the one with the idea to publish books supplied with audio and translation. Not only I want to know your opinion on the matter, I’d like you to record audios for them.
I could use your advice, too. For example, decisions are to be made which texts to publish. I’d prefer it to be some famous books with ready translations, (I’ve got an idea how lay out the whole thing – this would be my part of the job), but I don’t know how to get all the necessary permissions to publish this kind of stuff.
By the way, instead of publishing a print version, we could start off by putting up and e-version of books on your site.
Consider it a business offer, something we should discuss in more detail.
By the way, I’m going to Thailand with my wife in a week. I know you’re fond of the place. Is there something special we should see?
March 26th, 2011 at 4:00 am
Hi Timur,
I’m not sure how to get legal permission for stuff like that too. We make all our own content so we never run into that problem. Anyway, please send me a fairly detailed “business proposal” on the contact form from china232.com homepage. Also, as for Thailand, I love the beaches. I like Koh Chang and Koh Phang An. Rent a motor bike and explore all the beaches on any island you stay. There are lots of cool places that each have their own charm.
Andy
March 27th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Ok, thank you, Andy. I’ll get to you sometime soon after I come back from Thailand.
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