One Mans Goal Fights Back
One Mans Goal Progress Report
Marc Galeazzi from Make Money With One Mans Goal has been through a roller coaster ride since he bought the site from Bryan Clark. Over the months, Marc has suffered ridicule, which conversely has resulted in a heap of new visitors and many new followers of One Mans Goal. But being a newcomer to making a living from blogging is not the easiest thing in the world, and imagine how it would feel trying to learn Wordpress, Affiliate Marketing, SEO techniques and a host of other vital things under the critical gaze of thousands of bloggers.
Well that’s precisely what Marc has had to put up with.
I’m going to compare Marc’s experience in making money online with my own experience. I’m sure most of you had an experience similar to mine, rather than to Marc’s.
I began blogging for bucks not much over a year ago. I knew nothing then about how to make a living on the internet and still have much to learn. But I did have the advantage of being a blogger. I knew the basics of most free blog hosts and a smattering of html, so at least I had some sort of start. And as I was unknown (and still learning SEO), I could learn in privacy. I could make mistakes and no one would mock me. And I could learn about money making techniques until I was ready to face the internet world.
In comparison, Marc never had that opportunity. He was new to blogging on Wordpress. He wanted to make money online and he felt that buying One Mans Goal would be a step up the ladder; a money making blog all set up for him. His optimism may seem naive to some, although now I’m not sure that’s the case at all. However, I do not think Marc was entirely prepared for what this would mean. From the moment he purchased OMG, he was in the public eye.
Just imagine how it must feel when every post you make (even every comment) is analyzed and criticised (even from those genuinely trying to help you). And you know you are likely being watched by thousands of people. Some of whom will want to see you fail; to say “I told you so”.
If you are an authority in the Make Money Online world it can be bad enough at times. Fame is nice, if you want blogging fame, and many bloggers are less likely to criticise an ‘A lister’ (they hope for some ‘link luv’ instead), but even so, the authority bloggers still get their detractors. However, unlike newcomers to blogging, they have built up an army of ‘loyal suporters’ to back up their words.
Not so, if you have been open and honest about being new to blogging and making money online from the outset, as is the case with Marc. The detractors will declare you open season and even your fans with feel free to criticise your efforts.
And somehow, you have to keep going with your dream to make money on the internet, despite the untold stress this can put you under.
Can you really imagine how that feels? I bet many of you would give up, sell up, and tend to your wounds, before you even began to try making money again.
And for a while it looked like this was going to happen to Marc; that his roller coaster ride was going to go off the rails. When I wrote my post about a comments confrontation with Bryan Clark, I was feeling quite concerned about Marc and the future of One Mans Goal, but I’m hoping now that my concerns were unnecessary.
Marc is made of stronger stuff than many of us gave him credit for. And people respect that. Along with all the criticism, he has received help and advice from some of the best minds on the internet. And Marc has quite rightly taken advantage of this.
Justin from SEO Zombie has offered Marc Great SEO Advice and Grizzly, who can teach novices and advanced webmasters how to Make Money, is busy showing Marc how to try to get back his PR ranking, along with other great advice on how to Make Money With One Mans Goal.
And with Marc’s increased interest in making a success of One Mans Goal has come renewed help from other less expert but willing participators (including me). For a while we feared the worst and our participation lessened, but now we have seen the turn around. We know now that Marc means business, and many of us are doing our best to help him according to our abilities.
What this has produced is a truly interesting concept. One Mans Goal was always geared towards newcomers wanting to make a living from blogging, but even newcomers to earning online, can forget that the true blogging newbie needs more help than simply telling him about SEO techniques and Marketing. Many real newcomers need help with actually building the blog itself.
For example, those of us who have been making money on our own Wordpress blogs for some time, tend to forget that not everyone knows How To Add Meta Tags To Your Wordpress Header. Hell, when we started out, we probably didn’t know about how to read blog stats or How to Set Up A Domain Name. But these are all of genuine concern to many new bloggers, and they can watch Marc go through his learning curve with all of them, helped along the way with advice from his commentators.
And when you count in the fact that many of Marc’s commentators are experienced internet marketers, you can find really great advice about the different ways to make money online which makes the comments of OMG invaluable. Marc has made friends on the internet, an important process of blogging, and in return, his friends are helping him the best way they can.
And don’t worry about Marc taking the wrong advice. He is a genuine guy who appreciates help, but this doesn’t make him a pushover. He has learned to sort out the good and bad advice for himself, and watching the process as he builds One Mans Goal into a viable money making blog is fascinating and informative.
Despite the fact that Marc says he wishes to keep his target audience wide, I think he has actually found it, perhaps without realising. One Mans Goal has become a place where bloggers with varied degrees of experience of making money online can come together. They can not only help newcomers learn how to build money making blogs, but can also discuss different blog building and marketing techniques among themselves. No one has to feel marginalised, because all of the commentators are at different levels of expertise and experience and have different input to offer.
One Mans Goal is growing into a helpful and informative blogging community which can help people make money online. Some of this is down to the commentators and background helpers, but an awful lot of this is down to Marc’s enthusiasm, willingness to learn and persistant belief in himself.
As Marc said, when discussing how best to offer A Free Blog For OMG Readers:
There are no problems for a problem solver
Marc, you have my respect; loads of it. Kudos to you. You truly deserve success.





@ Zania: Really awesome post loaded with great compliments to Marc and the OMG crew. When I look at what Marc has gone through, I start to realize that the whole “apparent fiasco” was… and still is… exactly what Marc needed to help make his investment EXPLODE!
Though I’m not sure how or even when OMG will become totally self sufficient.. but I know it’s on the way and that’s pretty darn exciting.
Anyway, great post that includes some great resources thanks for another awesome read.
Stumbled!
Thanks PB
And I agree, One Mans Goal is not self-sufficient yet, but now Marc has taken a stand and decided more what he wants to do, it’s looking like it could be, especially with the back up he is getting.
I will be so pleased for him if he can prove the doubters wrong (and that, originally, included me).
But having said that, I certainly wouldn’t recommend the path Marc took in buying an existing MMO blog to any other newbie wanting to make money blogging. The only reason this will work for Marc is because of the publicity he got for being the first.
And, whether people like it or not, he has Vic and others, including Frank, whose link I bet you clicked
to thank for that).
Marc has a much cleverer head on his shoulders than many of us originally gave him credit for.
He’ll make it, especially if he continues to take the best advice.
I got lost at Frank… seriously no clue! It must be the morphine!… Okay, who’s Frank?
Oops, sorry!
Frank writes Op Tempo.
He wrote a post about One Mans Goal too.
But the original link was the one about ‘blogging for fame’
Zania,
That was really nicely put. I couldn’t add a thing and I truly hope Marc makes a success of this. A person could hardly start out under tougher circumstances and he has surprised me with his determination and willingness to learn. It’s also nice to see the community rally to help him - says a lot about the bloggers in this end of the pool.
Btw, you have a great writing style Zania. Always love reading your posts!
Thanks Grizzly,
I’m glad you like my long posts.
But then, I like your long posts too
Glad you agree about Marc too. He is showing what he is made of now and surprising quite a few of us along the way.
And I couldn’t agree more about that tough start.
Yes, publicity can be good, but it’s also a bitch of a place to be when you are learning.
Thanks for the comment.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
[...] really cannot say it better than Zani did in the post One Man’s Goal Fights Back. Zani really says it all. I just wanted to point you guys there, because we can all learn something [...]
Thanks for the mention Zani. The Social Blogging Success series was one of my favorites to write.
I still think Marc made a bad investment paying $10K for OMG unless his primary objective was MMO blogging fame rather than profit. As you noted, he got the fame he paid for, whether he wanted it or not. Perhaps he can make money from it too without being yet another MMO rip-off artist.
Thanks for the comment Frank.
I loved the Social Blogging Success Series too. Irony at its best (and help if you really want to go that route…).
Agreed, Marc did make a bad investment. His original intention may well have been blogging for fame. After all, there are some on the net who make it *appear* easy… and for someone new to the make money online niche, why should he have known any better?
But I really do not think that Marc is a ‘blogging for fame’ kind off person. At least, I think he has changed his mind if he ever thought this was the way to go.
As Grizzly said, Marc is willing and determined to learn, and he’s taking advice from the right people too (and so far, seems to be ignoring the bad advice).
I don’t think he will turn into another MMO rip-off artist. I hope not anyway!
Great post zania.
I really like the direction Marc is taking with his blog and I hope he can use the site to get some of his investment back. Its takes some skill to get to $10,000 back, but he seems highly motivated and that’s one of the most important traits when trying to make money online
Thanks Justin,
I’ve watched you helping Marc from the start, from the harsh comments about his guest posters (and that guest post was awful I have to say), to the time when you could really see he was taking your SEO advice.
Yeah, it’s gonna be tough making enough money to get that $10,000 back and then carry on and make real money from One Mans Goal, but he’s got the right attitude so often missing in the make money online niche.
Thanks for the link by the way, much appreciated
@Zania - thank you for the post and the links, I really do appreciate it. I’ve never really pointed it out before but one of the reasons I purchased the site was to show people that you have to start somewhere. It is hard to look at peoples established blogs and knowledge and step in. This way others can see how a regular person can step in and make it. Also, it will be cool to have the whole journey documented when I do make it.
I’m not content to live a life chained to a desk or having someone look over me, secondly I’m not down to sit back and watch my friends have that fate either. I’m doing this for myself and my friends and its not going to stop.
@PB - I’m wondering the same thing. At this point I’m not sure if it is me you is going to be able to monitize it. However, I do think that if I keep funneling people into my email list (now at 600) and my RSS feed at 799 if I can move these numbers in the 1000-1200 range I will be able to sell the blog to someone with a nack for interent marketing and they will get their moneys worth and I can get my 10,000 back. I’ve alread registered the domain for my future blog (I want it to be more personalize to me) (www.makemoneygoplay.com)(I want to focus on why I’m trying to make money, which is to play outside. I’m also buying a ditigal camera to take you all along with me for so of my bike rides. Yesterday, we started on the top of CoalBank Pass (10,600) rode up to the base of Engineer Mountain, locked up the bikes and hiked to the top 13,??? and rode 4,000 vertical feet down another trail and hiched a ride back up the pass to the car. The wildflowers are amazing this time of year. I just wanted to start aging the domain and I’ll start trying to get it indexed. This way when I’ve build up onemansgoal to something that is worth 10K, I’ll be ready to crank my own blog.
@Everyone thank you for all of the support
You’re welcome Marc
And you’re going to have one hell of a documentary of your journey. As you said, you had to start somewhere, but that somewhere wasn’t where most of us start!
As to getting your money back from One Mans Goal further down the line. The whole 10k… perhaps there are some waiting in the wings already
But if they are, go for that price (at least). Don’t lose out.
My other half was interested in that bike and hike.
Seems you may have at least one reader waiting for your new blog to open already. So how about putting an intro page up there, to explain what it’s all about, and ‘come back soon’?
Just a thought…
Sounds like an interesting concept too. And I just bet you can make it work!
Freaking awesome post! I had heard about this, but didn’t know much about the site or the new owner. I may have to go take a look!
Thanks JK

You see, I don’t procratinate all the time
Yes, do have a look at One Mans Goal. It’s real enlightening how people will rally round to help someone.
As Grizzly says, it says a lot about bloggers in the MMO and SEO niche.
We are good people really
Cool, I’ll check it out…only cuz you said so lol
Good stuff.
I’m going to incorporate the bike and lifestyle post into onemansgoal, so you won’t have to wait. I just need to go to walmart and I’m being lazy
Thanks Marc
I understand lazy too…
July 28th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
[...] One notable example is One Mans Goal which has been slapped with PR0 and I’m feeling bad about it as I’d like to see Marc doing well after all the ridicules he has received when he first bought the site. If you aren’t in the know who Marc is, here’s an interesting article about how Marc is fighting back. [...]