Is Making Money Online Only For Geeks?

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Let me first of all apologize to all the geeks and nerds out there for titling this post as such. But here is a consoling factor for you: I am a geek myself!

I consider myself the biggest nerd. I mean so what if I am a “metro sexual”, and so what if I look good, or groom myself well?  So what if I work out and got a bang on body, wear nice clothes, enjoy sports and everything else that a geek in its most conventional sense and definition doesn’t?

Who said a nerd or a geek has to fit a particular prototype? To me it’s all just a play of words (pun intended).  What I do admit to proudly is that I am always striving to learn more with each passing day.

One of my favorite hobbies is to Wiki or Google something (anything), learn about the topic and then use the results the first change I get – like to impress my wife for example.

Just the other day I was checking weather on Accuweater.com and I saw a warning for “weather related migraines”. Wow! The world is ending I thought.  So I ended up learning about “barometric headaches”, “atmospheric headaches” or simply “weather related headaches” due to changes in the barometric pressure (in English this means a chance in the weather).  Yes, I AM A NERD. I AM A GEEK.  I AM A GEEK-NERD.

See, not long ago people who operated online (a lot of Bloggers fit this profile) were often called “losers”, “turds”, “nerds”, “geeks”, “wormholes”, “anti social”, “frauds”, “scammers”, “cheaters”, “liars”, “manipulative”, “cowards (oooh)”, the list goes on and on.

While some is definitely true for some, a lot is not true for many of us, especially today when some of the more popular icons and their dogs are blogging and tweeting.  I forgot “dweebs” by the way.

Am I going too extreme again?

I mean let’s forget about perception. Who cares when you are making a ton of money online right?

Who cares if you are living a better life compared to your white collar neighbor who is a cube farmer somewhere 40 miles away from home who spends 3 hours of his life on the road daily right?

Ha, forget everything and let’s stick to the perception above.  The question is so what?

You have got to love the stereotypes our society sets up for us, which forms the perception of majority of the folk out there.

Let’s Clear Up Some of This

Bloggers are wormholes, anti social, losers, they are dirty because don’t shower or shave. Lol let me tell you a bit about me now to clear up a slightly skewed perception about bloggers like me.

• I am not even 40 and I am financially free – whatever that means. I just like saying it.
• I own several properties across the country out right
• I own several investments all over the world, going and growing
• I look good, I feel good, and I have ladies flocking all over me (shhh don’t tell my wife! But she already kinda knows that)
• I have started several successful businesses
• I do a lot of community service physically and by donating my money
• I dress extremely well, often on top of fashion trends. To give you an idea, just think of Express, Armani, Hugo Boss, DKNY, you get the idea)
• I am athletic and love both watching and playing sports (Yes all I wear is Nike and I have no problem with that)
• I actually don’t do Facebook or Twitter personally. It is a complete waste of time unless I am using it for a specific targeted purpose.  I truly believe those who are a bit too interested in someone else’s life have not much going for them in their own lives to begin with. So go get a life . . . or buy one. I am sure you can find one at a good discount out there
• I watch countless movies. Yes I have all the time in the world. God has also blessed me with the dollars necessary to indulge
• I enjoy billiards, bowling, traveling all over the world and shopping (not exactly the typical nerdy activities are they?)
• I enjoy reading a lot (now that is pretty geeky right there)
• I fly over 50,000 miles every year and have elite status with multiple airlines (oh yeah)
• I don’t think twice before spending my money on what I want
• I have about 67 other bullet points that make these look like nothing, but I very “humbly” won’t go there . . .

I do not get to do this often, and don’t plan on doing it in the future either. I also don’t name names and call people out, hence I will not mention the multiple recent articles I have read online and discussions I have heard on talk radio generally demeaning and bad mouthing bloggers.

I am hoping it was all just a bad dream last night.  If not, I am hoping I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  I just felt like this post was much needed.  But enough justification for my actions.

My message to the beautiful and ultra positive people out there that have stamped us with certain names is that I have no complaints about what you say and how you feel.  It simply does not matter, does it? Yes I might whack your #$%&Q^* off if I hear you tell me one more time to “get a real job”, but other than that “we kewl bro, we kewl”.

And for the aspiring online entrepreneur, or Geeks like me, just keep plugging away.  I have experienced that one will face adversity and criticism no matter what one does in life, so long as one chooses to do something different from the norm defined by our society.

I mean think about breaking the news in your office that you are retiring because your web business is making you twice the money your salary brings in.  Can you imagine the look on the face of the rest of the cube farmers?  Read my discussion on why you shouldn’t tell your family and friends about your biz or they will resent you.

But who cares right? You are the one living a “better life”, or at least one you have designed for yourself instead of being pushed on to it. So while the office dude looks more spiffy in his dry cleaned trouser with a crease down the middle, your soul is likely more spiffy than his, and perhaps your bank account too?

Even if not, at least you are happy doing what you enjoy doing best, unlike many who would rather cut their finger to get admitted to the hospital than go to work in the morning with the rest of the herd on the freeways.

So anyway, back to the title of this post, is making money online only for geeks? It just depends I guess on what your perception or vision of a Geek is. Are Geeks just Geeks? Can you partly be a Geek? Can you not be a Geek but have Geek-like tendencies?

Personally my answer is a BIG NO! Not many consider me a geek or a nerd, but I do! At least a part of me is.  How ironic isn’t it?  Just goes to show you public perception (though it matters in many ways and in many situations) can be royally thrown out the door as it applies to this discussion.

The reality is that anyone can do anything, particularly today as we start to see a shift in the paradigm and recent trends.  Stereotypes and societal perceptions are just that.  They really mean nothing.

So don’t let anyone tell you A from B or 2 from 3.  Live and let live like you likely already are, and the rest should fall nicely into place.  Just as Kent, who has the most horrible shot stroke I have seen in my life.

So how do you feel as a blogger today? What was the perception then and what is it now?  Is the perception changing? Or am I hallucinating?

8 Responses to “Is Making Money Online Only For Geeks?”

1. Harrison Li says:

   May 7, 2011 at 10:58 pm

   Ahaha well written piece,
   I like your bullet point list, some of the things like good looking made me giggle in real life, yeah and I agree with you we don’t necessarily have to be a geek to make money online but I believe it really depends on how someone defines the word “geek”.
   Harrison

   Reply
   • Sunil says:

     May 8, 2011 at 7:23 am

     Welcome Harrison –

     No matter how someone defines it, I think geeks are kewl 😉

     Reply
2. Chris Parsons says:

   May 8, 2011 at 6:55 pm

   The real question is whether you play Dungeons and Dragons like all the other “geek” bloggers….

   Bill Gates is a geek, and of course we’d all love to be in his position, but that doesn’t mean we actually want to be him.

   Reply
   • Sunil says:

     May 8, 2011 at 9:14 pm

     lol Chris no that I don’t – but all the more power to those who do. I have heard it takes some skills to play the game well, something certainly I haven’t developed. I see where you are going with the Gates comment. Welcome to the blog.

     Reply
3. Stu Lisonbee says:

   May 14, 2011 at 12:03 pm

   I started my first blog in 1998, back when the only people that had ever heard of the term were the bloggers. I was fresh out of college where I studied computer science (you know… geek stuff!) And back then, if you wanted to get your hands on blogging software, you had to create it yourself.

   I’m still blown away that today virtually everything you need to start a blog has already been created for you — and it’s all free! So, I guess you don’t need to be a geek anymore… unless you call being motivated and disciplined “geeky” 🙂

   Reply
   • Sunil says:

     May 15, 2011 at 6:24 am

     Stu – welcome to the blog. That is a great point you make. I suppose for someone who wants plain and simple blogging, we do have all the platforms available today that make the initiative fully turnkey. I suppose one does not have to be anywhere near Geeky to make money online in today’s environment. But – does everyone realize that except for those who are in the thick of things?

     Reply
4. Elsa says:

   September 16, 2011 at 5:50 pm

   Hi Sunil,

   Nice blog!

   I’m not a computer geek, but I’m a nerd. I’m also not telling anybody about what I’m doing right now (a little bit to my mom, but she still doesn’t understand what I’m actually doing). I’m going to “break the news” soon 🙂

   Reply
   • Sunil says:

     September 16, 2011 at 8:33 pm

     Welcome fellow nerd, and thank you. You should read my post on why you shouldn’t tell your fam and friends about your side gig. I am guessing you will enjoy the material.

     So how did you find the blog?

     Reply