Sorry! You AIN'T Gonna Make it in IM....unless...

[winebuddy]

I have a few thoughts and some of them may help some of the new folks who are just starting out.

1) Effort/Action - too many people spend all of their time reading, checking stats, checking email, posting, etc. ANYTHING but setting up systems, setting up landing pages and email followups - crap that's work and it's not fun. (of course, here I am posting - go figure) I have a full time job so I get up at 4am and work between 4am and 7am. Then I get home at 5:30, work out, and then sit down and work until 10 or 11pm. That means I get almost an 8 hour day in of IM work. But if you are working at the wrong things, it's because you don't have a....

2) Vision/Plan - most people new to IM think that all you have to do is put a few affiliate links out there and BOOM you will be rich. Sorry - this is not the way it works. The very best thing to do (In my opinion), is to learn how to set up an autoresponder optin page with a sequence of followup emails. The corner stone of any successful business is having tons and tons and tons of prospects for whatever it is you want to sell. Without prospects, you are wasting your time. So, your vision or plan, MUST include gathering prospects for whatever it is you want to sell. In order to gather prospects, you MUST know how to use an autoresponder. If your plan is to sell a "How to Make Radio Controlled Sailboats" ebook, then you need to find a way to target hobbyists who are interested in that and GET THEM ON YOUR LIST. Whatever product you choose the one thing you MUST have is...

3) Traffic - You can use SEO, Article Marketing, Web 2.0 sites, or PPC - it doesn't matter but it MUST produce traffic to your landing page. I have used a combination of SEO and PPC for a year now and can honestly say that the PPC traffic converts better. The cost per sale is higher but the traffic is highly targeted and gets people on my list to the tune of almost 100 a day for one niche. Just like a brick and mortar place, Traffic to a place equals sales for the business. In order to get prospects on your list, you MUST have traffic. Your VISION or plan, must include your traffic generation. DO NOT even begin to build a sales page or an otpin page unless and until you already KNOW and can VISUALIZE what you are going to do to get traffic. Will you sit up every night until midnight posting to get backlinks? Will you write articles for hour after hour with a link to your optin page? Will you 100% COMMIT to the vision and then do it? IF and only IF you decide and commit to succeed, will you need a...

4) Sales Page - your money page - the place you actually take your orders. This is the final step in the process - not the first one. If you are not willing to invest the time and effort to make the vision come true and spend the time to generate traffic, you do not need a sales page. You have to KNOW in your mind what the sales process is. You have to be able to imagine your prospects experience that you are creating for them. Having a sales page ONLY will get you some sales but having a PROCESS of traffic to landing page to email followup to sales page will get you extreme $$$$$$.

Just a few thoughts... Decide... Commit.... SUCCEED

[Daniel_Pereira]

I completely agree, with more "doers" out there then we would see a lot more successes as well. There seems to be a very strong correlation to the success stories and the people who worked their tails off to make sure things happened.

[Zeus66]

Great stuff! I honestly think the two major stumbling blocks are "analysis paralysis" and what I've dubbed "IMADD" - Internet Marketing Attention Deficit Disorder. People hem and haw, ponder, reconsider, overthink, and put off so much it's painful to watch sometimes.

A lot who do finally get started on something don't fully commit. If they don't see quick results, they give up and move on to the next "big" thing. The IM battlefield is littered with the corpses of such soldiers. Cannon Fodder IM. Hey, don't steal that one. It's mine.

Excellent reminder that this isn't rocket science, winebuddy! Rock on.

John

[katiec]

What a helpful post. I think a lot of people can realte to having a lot of planning but not so much in the "follow through" area.

[winebuddy]

The IM battlefield is littered with the corpses

Zuess - so true and so sad. Unfortunately, there are those that promote the "click a button and get rich" products which further hurts new people to this business. It makes people think that they can buy the RESULT without putting in the ACTION required.

That Tony Robbins/Kern video really inspired me and our sales people (I made them watch it), and several of them who had been doing nothing now have a belief and a certainty that they can do it and are taking massive action and getting results.

[Anonymous Affiliate]

So few succeed because this is business building guys, and statistics say that the majority of the start ups die out within the first year. Well, online start ups are no different.

The problem is not analysis paralysis, or information overload, or lack or skills, or anything like that. The problem is that some folks believe that they can make money online with a half-assed effort, whereas the reality is diametrically different: it's a lot of work, and you need to be smart, imaginative, organized and professional... just like in any other business.

[noghost31]

very good article here I have to agree I have recently finished college and cant find work in my related field so i started running a blog to try and earn a small income I personal spend 10 to 12 hours a day into now i sell nothing for profit i just write about what i learn along the way but I'm hoping one day my hard work will be rewarded..

[Zeus66]

Anonymous, you're right about the hard work part being a difference maker. But I'm telling you, analysis paralysis and the urge to move on to the next big thing are HUGE contributing factors. Don't discount them. You'll find all kinds of posts here in this one forum about those common problems.

Combined with what you mentioned, it's actually no wonder so few succeed. The "gurus" who painted the picture of easy money did nobody but themselves any favors.

John

[Daniel_Pereira]

Originally Posted by Zeus66

Anonymous, you're right about the hard work part being a difference maker. But I'm telling you, analysis paralysis and the urge to move on to the next big thing are HUGE contributing factors. Don't discount them. You'll find all kinds of posts here in this one forum about those common problems.

Combined with what you mentioned, it's actually no wonder so few succeed. The "gurus" who painted the picture of easy money did nobody but themselves any favors.

John

True that John, I hate those web pages that are literally full of garbage that show money flying out the computer screen with promises of $50,000 your first month.

The truth is that this stuff takes some smarts and it takes some hard work. If you are willing to work at it, you can start to make a lot of money. If you're hoping to get rich quick, then you better start working extremely fast and smart today, and hopefully you'll hit your tipping point within 6 to 12 months.

[methos]

Originally Posted by Zeus66

Great stuff! I honestly think the two major stumbling blocks are "analysis paralysis" and what I've dubbed "IMADD" - Internet Marketing Attention Deficit Disorder. People hem and haw, ponder, reconsider, overthink, and put off so much it's painful to watch sometimes.

John

Wow!

I thought it was just me.

Guess I better just do it and not worry about being perfect, huh?