Calling All Newbie Warriors - The Newbie & The Bakery...

[Mike Shain]

One day a man goes into a bakery and tells the owner "I am completely new to this whole bakery thing and was wondering if you could tell me how to do it."

The owner replies "I've been doing this for years now, where do you want me to start."

"Are you familiar with a kitchen and all the various utensils you will use each day? Can you cook and if so does the taste appeal to the general masses?"

"I already have a successful bakery business - is there enough demand for bakery products in this area to support 2 bakeries? What are various products currently selling for? Can you make a profit from those price points?"

"What about a location? You need to be where the hungry crowd hangs out."

"What about remodeling the building, business license, dealing with building safety codes, dealing with the health department and the fire marshall?"

"Then there are the utilities - power, gas, water, sewer and don't forget the trash dumpster."

"How about the products you will offer? Do you know where to buy the ingredients in bulk and in sufficient supply?"

"What about employees? Do you understand the labor laws in your area. Do you know how to interview and hire good help?"

"What about your grand opening? How and where will you advertise your bakery?"

"When/if sales start coming in, are you familiar with basic accounting and book keeping, payroll, etc?"

"How do you plan to develop and grow your business?"

************************************************** *****

The above story is basically what you are asking us when you make posts like "I am new here and want to learn IM." Given that there is so much involved with internet marketing, its just not that simple to take a complete newbie and get them headed in the right direction.

In our story above a total stranger came into another stranger's business and basically asked him to show how he can open up shop and compete with him. Do you really think the bakery owner would take the time to help the newbie?

At least here at the Warrior Forum people help total strangers everyday and ask little if anything in return.

So before you make that "I am new and want someone to help me" post - remember the story of the baker.

[sashas]

Honestly, you shouldn't expect to make money if you haven't done 2-3 months of solid reading. Making money online is not a get rich quick scheme. Even the much quicker blackhat methods take some getting used to..

ALWAYS take notes btw! There are just SO many great tips floating around...they'll all come handy when you need to get traffic and make sales

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Netpiddler

In our story above a total stranger came into another stranger's business and basically asked him to show how he can open up shop and compete with him. Do you really think the bakery owner would take the time to help the newbie?

The single biggest problem people have in business is failure to understand whether (and when) they are in a service industry.

Service industries don't really compete with one another. There are more than enough clients to go around, and the limiting factor is time more than anything else.

When you help someone else get a foothold in your service industry, it's good for you. It means you spend less time telling clients "no." It means you can make your former clients, or new clients, happy - by sending them to someone else who provides great service.

In a service industry, this doesn't hurt your business. It helps. There's more work out there than you can possibly do, so you don't have to be afraid that you'll run out of clients. Indeed, my best clients from the WF have been referred to me by other writers.

[xtreme newbie]

The bakery analogy is a great one! It should be part of the "rules" to read when you first join the forum. There's an old saying that "you don't know what you don't know until you know". That's how I felt when I joined the forum a month ago. So I haven't asked a lot of questions. But in my silence, I've learned so much.

For me, finding the forum was like finding gold - and I'm the miner. The info you experienced Warriors give so freely and generously is helping me on what is a pretty steep learning curve. But I know I'd be a heck of lot further behind without your advice. So thanks for your patience and for even taking the time to share this "newbie" lesson.

[Mike Shain]

@ xtreme newbie - I am glad you enjoyed the post.

As with many things, with internet marketing there are:

known knowns - Things you know that you know.
known unknowns - Things you know that you don't know.
unknown knowns - Things you don't know that you don't know.

[gerardS]

Well, I am a newbie, I haven´t asked any question yet.
Probably because I think the answer is still somewhere I haven´t looked yet.
This forum is just impressive as you mentionned so clearly.
Here we can find answers to questions we haven´t even made.
And always coming from really knowledgeable people.
But anyway if bread was the only food on earth, there would never be enought bakers.
So your post just gave me more will to continue.
Thanks a lot.

[Mohammad Afaq]

It really is true that there is a lot of stuff involved in making money online and no one can give you one straight answer because it is possible that what worked for him may not work for you.

Nice post and I enjoyed it.

[xtreme newbie]

Originally Posted by Netpiddler

@ xtreme newbie - I am glad you enjoyed the post.

As with many things, with internet marketing there are:

known knowns - Things you know that you know.
known unknowns - Things you know that you don't know.
unknown knowns - Things you don't know that you don't know.

Well I can't wait for the day when I can move some of the IM "unknown knowns" into the "known knowns bucket"

[Paul Ho]

A pretty good analogy I must say.. I wonder what the newbie said after all the questions posed by the baker.. must've been like: "...Errr... Crap." haha.

[Niche Me]

Netpiddler,
You hit the nail on the head. I started researching IM in January of this year and then
joined a program that teaches the Unknowns. I was blown away by how many variables there are involved to IM. I came in thinking there might be a "Little" learning curve, to discover the curve was more like a mountain and I would have to take mountain climbing lessons.

once I realized this, I decided there was no way to just jump in so I started to read and take notes. The notes evolved into categories etc. Once I had a clear understanding of marketing and the various ways that it can be done I started to check out affiliate programs and devised a plan. Then I discovered my biggest obstacle, creating a website. After four months of intense reading and preparing for battle, everything came to a complete stop.

Either I was going to master this mountain climbing or I was going to have to admit defeat.
Not everyone would have this limitation, but they will have limitations. I know now that this is not something you can master in short order and will continue to struggle up the mountain until I get to the top.

I joined the warrior forum and spent a few weeks going through the different categories and taking notes. I saw many newbies asking for someone to teach them and I laughed. They had no idea what they were asking, because they didn't know they would be climbing a mountain.
Five months into this and I have just recently got a site up. Then I discover that you do not just get into the search engines within hours. Really there are many things left to surprise, even if you are in a good learning program.

It is like climbing a mountain at every turn. I really enjoy the challenge and the fact I never get bored and I don't see that ever being a possibility.
To every newbie, from another newbie, asking others to teach what you need to know to be an internet marketer is asking allot, trust me. You will need to join a structured program that takes you step by step. You can not leave out steps and if you try you will eventually get frustrated and give up.

I paid a years membership to an IM program and still it was not enough. The reason, I needed to have someone available to ask questions and get answers from.
This can be like going to college without a professor and I think a program where you have mentors will give you a better advantage over all.

There are people here in the Warrior Forum who offer great programs. I recently joined one of those, its the NichePowerGroup.com. I am not promoting this I am sharing what I believe to be a super way to learn what you need. What sets it above many others is that you have access to mentors. They are in the forum twenty four seven available and answering all questions. They also provide one on one time to coach you if you need.

There is the added bonus of having a complete niche site created and installed for you, Which is the perfect way to start learning wordpress a little at a time. The membership is less than $30 a month and a complete site installed is also $30.
All of this is less than my yearly membership to the other program that offered less.

I think this miss conception that anyone can become an Internet Marketer, is precisely why so many people think they only need a minimum of instruction. They
do not realize when they are asking for someone to mentor them how much is involved.
Thanks for starting this thread, I know it will surprise many newbies.

[Charles Boustany]

Oh Yes and how about $xxxK start up money
I love this kind of analogy
I remember an article I wrote asking what makes you think that you can wake up one morning decide you want to start your own business and be up and running by tea time. Although this couuld be possible if you had the knowledge and with help from your friends (both available here at the WF) making money will take a bit longer.
Cheers

[Jack Chua]

This is really true. If a person is thinking of entering into something that he or she has no idea of but is interested with, then it will be helpful to make a little research on it and if there are things that is really hard to understand then take it from there and ask assistance from the experts.