Hey Newbie, Here's the First Thing You Need to Do

12 replies
We know it's coming, we've seen it hundreds of times before. Someone new joins the forum. They start reading. There's so much information. So many details. So many opinions. So many people seem to know what they're talking about, but one says THIS and another says THAT and you don't know who, or what, to believe.

Then it happens...

...information overload knocks another newbie to the ground in a fog of confusion.

Then the pleas for help begin. What do I do first? What is the best method? Who should I believe?

Believe ME, if only for the next minute...

You're asking the wrong questions. You're asking people who don't know you to make decisions for you that aren't really ours to make. Look at all these things that we don't know about you...
  • your strengths
  • your weaknesses
  • your likes
  • your dislikes
  • your work ethic
  • how quickly you learn
  • how well you focus
  • what excites you
  • what bores you
  • your motives
  • your goals
  • your finances
Enough? I could add a lot more to that list, but I think I've made the point...we don't know you, so how can we tell you what you should do with your life?

Here's where you have to help yourself, then we can help you. This is the first thing you need to do. You have to make a choice. There are lots of ways to make money online. Try to get a feel for the big concepts, rather than the details of the methods. Ignore the off-topic posts if you're in a hurry.

You can learn all you need right here for now. When you get a good feel for what's available, pick the one that interests you the most, one that feels right to you. We can't pick what suits you, only you can.

Then start learning all you can about that marketing method. Devour everything you can get your hands on about it. If you have specific questions, ask. We can help you with specific questions.

Then, depending on how much time you dedicate to learning, in a few weeks or a few months, take flight little bird. By that I mean take action. Put what you've learned to use. You may fail greatly, or you may succeed. Failure will teach you more, but succeeding is more fun.

Whether you fail or succeed right out of the gate really isn't that important in the bigger scheme of things. Just taking action is the most important thing you can do. The failure to take action is the one thing, the ONLY thing, guaranteed to hold you back, and it will hold you back forever until you force yourself to do something.

Now listen, we've heard this before too...because you lack experience you may lack confidence. Is that important? Not really, it's normal. Do you think those of us that have found success at this didn't have our doubts, too? We did. Congratulations, you're not alone.

Truth be told, sometimes we still have doubts when we head into new territory. I have doubts every time I start a thread here. The thing is, we don't let doubt, or fear, hold us back.

Let me tell you something about yourself. You were born an original. You are far, far more rare than a mere one-in-a-million. You are a singularly unique and ever-evolving individual in the cosmic ocean of eternity! Think about that. I mean really think about that--you are the only you in an infinity of time and space! Good golly in a row boat--mind shift--rejoice in yourself!

As the only you in existence, you are entitled to make mistakes as you blaze your own trail. You are entitled to experiment, in marketing and in life, in order to build the kind of life you want to have. You only have to give yourself permission.

Do you?
#hey #newbie #thing
  • Profile picture of the author yachi
    Great Post....!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
    Dennis - I've been thinking along the same lines today based on some of the "help me" threads popping up. While I agree that one should pick a model and stick with it, that answer doesn't help someone find the best model suited to their particular skills and resources.

    Seems like there's a need for a guide that either lists the skills required for the different types of IM models, or a questionnaire that lets someone new answer a list of focused, survey questions and then scores it to help them choose the best model to start following (would that be an ebook, a WSO - lately everything I think of leads back to how I could make money from it!) If I was more experienced, I'd give it a shot. All I know is there seems to be a need....anyone willing to run with it?

    Maybe something like that is already out there, but I haven't come across one.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    That's a valid point, Erica, but I have to kindly disagree with your conclusion.

    A person has to be responsible for their own decisions and their own life. Everyone that is successful at this has faced their own moments of decision. When it comes down to it, would we really want a test that made our decisions for us? If so, maybe college is the closest thing to that with it's exams, skills tests, and trained counselors; or our parents, who probably would recommend college or the family business. Either way, you end up with a . . . JOB.

    Once we are in business for ourselves we have to make important decisions with regularity. Decisions that affect our livelihood, our families, and other people's lives. There isn't a book or test that can do all that for us, so maybe making a decision for yourself on which aspect of IM to get into is just beginner training for bigger tests that come later.

    To be honest, I think people wanting the answers handed to them without working their way through them is in itself a problem. Being given the answers takes responsibility away from the individual and places it in tests, books, and methods. There's always someone or something to blame for failure that way. Fear and doubt is what is holding some people back. Giving them the answers via a test won't remove their fear and doubt, it only changes which decision they will have fear and doubt about, but they still have to learn how to make decisions in the midst of fear and doubt if they are going to be successful.

    Making your own decisions is a necessary function of being in business. If you can't do that, how will you succeed? People want to overthink things. Make a choice and see how it goes. You can always make a different choice later. Entrepreneurship is for decision makers, risk takers, and people that aren't afraid to fail. It isn't for everyone. If you can't decide which direction to take on your own, maybe you should think about college.

    Sorry I couldn't agree with you, but I'm open for discussion if you'd like to try to change my mind.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
    I love a good discussion. (Plus - I have a feeling I'm going to learn something at the end of this one....)

    First, I agree with you. The reason I started in IM is because I prefer to make my own decisions and I suspect most us on the forum are the same way.

    That being said, my suggestion was not to give someone the answers, although I could see where the survey approach might do that so crossing that one off the list.

    I believe I've learned a great deal specifically because I puzzled through stuff myself. But it took six months for me to figure out what options there were for models and what each one required. I'm pretty sure I still don't know them all.

    I'm suggesting one insertion in your overall approach. Where you say "When you get a good feel for what's available", I say "here's an overview of what's available and what each one requires". Then send them off to do the research on whatever model they choose.

    For the sake of the discussion, let's say you can make money with the following models:

    PPC
    Product Creation
    Mini/Large Sites
    Article Marketing
    Offering an IM Related Service

    (I realize there's combinations of them all as variations.)

    When I started, I didn't know there were different models. I also didn't know that different models required skills in different areas or that they might require a different initial monetary investment.

    What I did know was what I was capable of - what skills I could bring to the table. I knew I could write, I could teach, I had my unique set of experiences, I had x amount of money to spend.

    Say I'd come to the forum and asked "Where should I start?"

    "Pick a model and just stick with it". Sounds good. I learn PPC can get a lot of targeted traffic very quickly and I head down that road and lose a bunch of money before I ever make a dime (get frustrated, quit, take up golf).

    Or the answer is "article marketing is a great way to get started" not knowing I can't stand writing or it takes me hours to write a paragraph. (That's like prescribing medicine to a patient whose chart you haven't read.)

    However, had the answer been "That depends, what skills do you have and are you willing to spend money first or do you need to make a little money before you can invest more in your business?" or "Do you like to write?" even. Some models take more writing than others and those who don't enjoy writing are going to get frustrated following that type of model.

    Giving the person asking the question more information about what is required of any model would simply allow them to make a better, more well-informed decision about where to start digging for their own answers.

    Then they can go research the model they think suits them best, decide if it's right for them and be headed down the road with a stitch more information about what will be expected of that model.

    Ack! I think we're saying the same thing but I think there could be a reference guide (short - one page) that says here's a list of the overall models and requirements (money, technical, verbal communication skills, written communication skills) and it would just help someone fine-tune where to go next.

    In either case - I enjoyed the opportunity to banter a bit and I do think anyone new looking for guidance should take your original post to heart. Asking blindly for help will likely only get them answers that won't be custom-fit for their particular situation.

    And, with that, I'm off to bed where I should have been hours ago!! (My attempt to get some leniency for the fact that I'm operating on way too little sleep. )
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by Sojourn View Post

      I believe I've learned a great deal specifically because I puzzled through stuff myself.
      That's a key thing you said, right there. Puzzling things out is part of the learning process, and going through the process trains you to "puzzle things out" when other problems arise in your business. I actually think it's an important part of the process.

      I'm suggesting one insertion in your overall approach. Where you say "When you get a good feel for what's available", I say "here's an overview of what's available and what each one requires". Then send them off to do the research on whatever model they choose.
      It could be helpful. It could be a great idea. I'm not sure any one person would be qualified to write it. To create a guide like a person should be intimately knowledgeable and successful in each area of marketing, otherwise they're just kind of taking their best guess, aren't they? Is there anyone so qualified? There could be, but I don't know any. It certainly wouldn't be me. The marketers I know have specific areas of expertise, but none I know have expertise in all areas of marketing.

      If you organized enough experts and had each one write up a guide for their area of expertise, you'd probably have yourself a product you could sell or give away to build a list, or donate to the forum in a thread. The individual guidance is probably already here though, it's just not organized in one place. Maybe you could use the search and find it, then start a thread linking to all the resources. It could be one of your greatest contribution to the forum!

      When I started, I didn't know there were different models. I also didn't know that different models required skills in different areas or that they might require a different initial monetary investment.

      What I did know was what I was capable of - what skills I could bring to the table. I knew I could write, I could teach, I had my unique set of experiences, I had x amount of money to spend.

      Say I'd come to the forum and asked "Where should I start?"

      "Pick a model and just stick with it". Sounds good. I learn PPC can get a lot of targeted traffic very quickly and I head down that road and lose a bunch of money before I ever make a dime (get frustrated, quit, take up golf).
      If you just picked, without doing the research on the models, then did you make a good choice? If you did, you got lucky. If you didn't, you were lazy and created a learning experience for yourself. For me, it all comes back to responsibility. An entrepreneur has to responsible for every single aspect of their business, including all decisions made. If you make a poor decision you need to learn from it, not go take up golf. This isn't a business that is sympathetic to those who give up easily.

      However, had the answer been "That depends, what skills do you have and are you willing to spend money first or do you need to make a little money before you can invest more in your business?" or "Do you like to write?" even. Some models take more writing than others and those who don't enjoy writing are going to get frustrated following that type of model.
      That would be helpful, there is bad advice here as well. One could say learning to sort out the good advice from the bad is part of the process, but it is regrettable that the bad advice is out there. To me though, the two most important factors in success in this business is having the ability to find answers on your own and being able to make decisions on your own. If a person doesn't possess those skills, and doesn't learn them at the outset, perhaps the problems they run into once they get started would be more costly.

      Giving the person asking the question more information about what is required of any model would simply allow them to make a better, more well-informed decision about where to start digging for their own answers.
      No doubt about it. I'd just say the information is here, it just isn't organized. If a person searches, they can find it. Seek and ye shall find. If a person only starts a thread to ask which way to go, and does no research on their own, perhaps that laziness is the trait that will prevent them from succeeding, and so, they spin their wheels, going nowhere until they stop looking for the magic button and start learning to puzzle it out for themselves.

      Having said all that, there's nothing wrong with asking for help. But an awful lot of people ask others to make decisions for them so they don't have to be responsible for the outcome. Perhaps the old proverb, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." applies here. If you give a person the answers you help them today, but if you teach them to find the answers for themselves you help them become an independent business person.

      In either case - I enjoyed the opportunity to banter a bit and I do think anyone new looking for guidance should take your original post to heart. Asking blindly for help will likely only get them answers that won't be custom-fit for their particular situation.
      I've enjoyed it too, thanks. What it comes down to for me is this...too many newbies want the magic button and don't do enough to help themselves. I've tried to help them see they need to help themselves. You could create the guide you're talking about and I would not find fault with you for doing so. It could help someone as easily as my words. Maybe it would help some people more. Different people have different needs. So I try to help where I see needs, and now it's your turn.
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      • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        Puzzling things out is part of the learning process, and going through the process trains you to "puzzle things out" when other problems arise in your business. I actually think it's an important part of the process.
        100% agreement! I actually enjoy the "puzzle" process. It is certainly where most of my learning came from.

        Reminds me of a time in my professional career where I had just joined an organization during a period of chaos. I was still pretty green and there was no answer book for anything. Several of us were brought in all at the same time, each with a separate area that needed some major overhaul.

        The work was demanding, filled with corporate pitfalls and stressful. To this day I credit it for teaching me more about business than college or any previous work experience. Had I been given the answers, I wouldn't have learned one-tenth as much.

        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        I'm not sure any one person would be qualified to write it. If you organized enough experts and had each one write up a guide for their area of expertise, you'd probably have yourself a product you could sell or give away to build a list, or donate to the forum in a thread. The individual guidance is probably already here though, it's just not organized in one place. Maybe you could use the search and find it, then start a thread linking to all the resources. It could be one of your greatest contribution to the forum!
        See, I knew I'd learn more from you. I knew I couldn't write it by myself - probably not even a single-pager. But I do know where the information is and all the models are well represented here. That's a project I could sink my teeth into and I like your suggestions. In fact, my head is now off in la-la land with all kinds of ideas.

        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        If you make a poor decision you need to learn from it, not go take up golf. This isn't a business that is sympathetic to those who give up easily.
        I'm glad you said that because I don't really care for golf. And, the quote in my sig says roughly the same thing.

        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        To me though, the two most important factors in success in this business is having the ability to find answers on your own and being able to make decisions on your own.
        Adding to list of skills necessary for success in IM. Actually applies to leadership, management, and being an entrepreneur in any business.


        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        an awful lot of people ask others to make decisions for them so they don't have to be responsible for the outcome
        I hadn't quite considered it that way. In fact, that one stopped me for a few minutes. I took it too literally but I think I see the point. Most aren't consciously looking to pin the blame on someone else for their failure, but subconsciously that's how they'll justify their situation.

        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        What it comes down to for me is this...too many newbies want the magic button and don't do enough to help themselves. I've tried to help them see they need to help themselves. You could create the guide you're talking about and I would not find fault with you for doing so. It could help someone as easily as my words. Maybe it would help some people more. Different people have different needs. So I try to help where I see needs, and now it's your turn.
        There are a couple of people I'm mentoring informally. I think I need to go back and analyze how I'm doing. Am I catching their fish for them or am I teaching them to fish? I want to teach them how to fish. Enlightening point!

        Loved every second of it, Dennis! You've helped me by taking the time to let me bounce my ideas off of you and by underscoring your points nicely so I really had to think pretty deeply about some of my own opinions and challenges. Invaluable in itself.
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  • Profile picture of the author William Gent
    Dear Mr. Gaskill:

    I enjoyed your post. I am new to this site and to internet marketing. I soon realized that like all things in life, there is no substitute for hard work. Who is it that said "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration?"
    I just completed and published an e-book. There is a lot of competition out there and clearly, to succeed, will require appropriate and innovative marketing. Good day to you.
    William
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    • Profile picture of the author diger
      Originally Posted by William Gent View Post

      Dear Mr. Gaskill:

      I enjoyed your post. I am new to this site and to internet marketing. I soon realized that like all things in life, there is no substitute for hard work. Who is it that said "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration?"
      I just completed and published an e-book. There is a lot of competition out there and clearly, to succeed, will require appropriate and innovative marketing. Good day to you.
      William
      Hello William,

      Glad you are getting started.. We all have to start some place. You touched on an exptremly important point in recognizing how important marketing is.

      The bottom line could be that marketing is more important than the product or service being promoted!! Why, - because with good, effective marketing ANYTHING can be SOLD.

      But you probably already knew that but a lot of people don't!

      Best Wishes,

      Diger
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      "Fostering 2nd-Incomes & Security", - Most $$$ programs don't work as advertised. There are exceptions. My Blog is here.
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  • Profile picture of the author WD Mino
    That is pretty cool D

    Nice twist on the usual. your right of course none of us can say exactly what will work for someone else. they know better then anyone.

    There are some universal things that need to be there regardless of aim of income
    a plan and a way to execute it
    a target market
    a willingness to fail and get up again
    a will to succeed
    a will to learn and learn and learn
    and a never give up attitude


    WD
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    "As a man thinks in his heart so is he-Proverbs 23:7"

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  • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
    "You are a singularly unique and ever-evolving individual in the cosmic ocean of eternity!"

    That was so DEEP...I had to read it five times to fully grasp it....wow...I love Warrior Forum
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  • Profile picture of the author jamesburchill
    Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

    As the only you in existence, you are entitled to make mistakes as you blaze your own trail. You are entitled to experiment, in marketing and in life, in order to build the kind of life you want to have. You only have to give yourself permission.

    Do you?
    I do, and while I do read the instructions before I dive in, I am still getting my proverbial butt kicked from time to time. I'm no rookie yet I have to say that while I get the rules of this forum - DAMN THEY'RE STRICT and there's no wiggle room.

    While I don't mind strict, the moderators don't moderate they obliterate. The very term moderate means to find balance, or some semblance of the middle ground.

    Now like I said, I understand that some folks are simply trouble with a capital T But I prefer to assume most are decent and trying to do right -- although it seems lately that many conversations on this forum have been about how harsh things are.

    Sure this forum is great place to be - I keep coming back, and I try to help all I can. But I should say the WF is not a key component in my business success, so I don't freak out when I foul up. But some people with lesser self-esteem will perhaps assume this is the "rule of law" and might even quit trying if they get ceremoniously slammed.

    I guess I'm saying that I understand the need for strict rules, but how we implement them determines the kind of members we create. If you want kindness - show kindness. If you want help - be helpful.

    And if you want a forum filled with hair-trigger folks who will shoot you down just for trying - then we know what that takes.

    Just my 2 cents worth.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by Sojourn View Post

      Loved every second of it, Dennis! You've helped me by taking the time to let me bounce my ideas off of you and by underscoring your points nicely so I really had to think pretty deeply about some of my own opinions and challenges. Invaluable in itself.
      And to your credit, it's clear that you do think for yourself. I appreciate that.

      Originally Posted by jamesburchill View Post

      Sure this forum is great place to be - I keep coming back, and I try to help all I can. But I should say the WF is not a key component in my business success, so I don't freak out when I foul up.
      I'm not a moderator so I can't speak to the majority of your post, other than to say they do their best, and that's what keeps this forum a notch above chaos. The sheer number of members here is staggering. Yet forums with 1/100th the number of members are more uncivilized than this forum.

      As for the part I quoted from your post, you get it - you are the key component in your business. You are the decision maker and the action taker. That's what so many newbies need to realize, because it holds them back from getting started.
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