The number 1 newbie frustration

[Easy Cash]

What would you say is the number 1 newbie frustration?

The one thing that always trips up most newbies.



Just after 1 - not a list, but hey if you wanna make a list - go for it.

I would say it is;

'information overload - too much information coming from every direction'

[Jared Alberghini]

#1 Newbie Frustration : How to get started.

Take a step back, and think like your customers...

I just had this strong feeling tonight to share this simple thought-reversal technique with you all...

I have read about this many times... how you need to think like your customers in order to write a proper sales page, or come up with proper pricing structures that will be well received by your particular customer base.

On a particular project of mine, I was debating whether or not to offer a monthly membership fee, or a one time lifetime membership fee...

Here's where I 'Reversed my thinking' when I put myself in my customer's shoes (which I have also worn a few times myself, purchasing different products/memberships/etc... as I am sure you have worn yourself...)

I took a step back and thought... I really like this product, but I don't want to be locked into a monthly fee... If this product that I am very tempted to buy right now was a one time 'lifetime membership fee' I would purchase immediately...

Now, I'm in no way saying that one time offers are better than monthly membership fees... no way, no how... in the bigger 'business' picture, surely a monthly residual membership fee is the best way to go for your business... but it depends on the product.

In this particular product's case, once I took a step back and thought about it as though I was a customer, it was clear that I needed to go the 'Lifetime one fee only' route, simply based on the product/offer itself, and more importantly, based upon my true emotions that came out of nowhere when I was thinking like a customer.

My point is, take a huge step outside yourself, don't think about the best thing for you, or your business... but try to focus on what the best things for your customers are... because without them, you have no business!

Now... what are your thoughts on this simple yet powerful technique, and how do you put yourself in YOUR customers' shoes?

- Jared

[Ryan Dodson]

My #1 is information overload

[chad90382]

I think the number 1 newbie frustration is trying to find the right opportunity. There is SO MANY scams out there! I can only tell you newbies to research and find that right home business for you! Find a legitimate company that has a good proven track record. My home business has been around since 1998.

[Kevin Riley]

Observing for the last few years on this forum, I'd say that information overload and too many options is stopping many a newbie from focusing on one path and getting to the goal. I see far too many who start one thing ... don't see instant results ... hop on another thing ... don't see instant results ...

My advice to newbies: Make a decision and stick to that path. Be persistent and put the blinders on to all those other shiny attractions.

[Eric Lorence]

That the "Cash ain't Easy"!... sorry, couldn't resist.

[Wayne Liew]

Originally Posted by Kevin Riley

My advice to newbies: Make a decision and stick to that path. Be persistent and put the blinders on to all those other shiny attractions.

Totally agree with you, Kevin.

Newbies are overwhelmed by all the figures posted by different gurus, without knowing that they achieve those numbers by doing different things.

If you are a newbie, you should only choose one method to start off online and shut off everything else, including gurus that are doing something else to make money online.

Remember there might be 50 ways out there to make money online and hundreds of methods to build traffic. You will be either mad or laying in the coffin (joking ) by the time you master all of them.

[cloudchaser22]

They buy one product, if they doesn't work, they lose hope. Then buy another product. If that product doesn't work, they lose hope, then buy another product. By the end of 3 months, they have bought 10 products but no progress, and still no hope.

I know because this has happened to me. Don't fall in the same trap. Stick with one product until the very end, and even when hope seems hopeless, still keep going!

[LindaC]

The number 1 newbie frustration is what niche to start with.
Trips them up everytime.

My Best 2 U,

LindaC

[Corwinnx]

I say that information overload is the symptom, not the cause.

Telling a newbie, IMHO, to 'choose a path and stick to it' is the equivalent of telling said newbie to find the needle in the haystack.

The number one problem I see with 'newbies' is a desire to earn an income from their own business where they get to be the boss, usually with no formal education or business training.

I'm not preaching that anyone need run out and get an MBA for IM. Not at all.

But my business education teaches me that this "Internet Marketing Thing" is an entire industry, not just 'a' business.

I believe that the lack of direction is caused by that lack of business knowledge.

The first thing most newbies lack is a plan, a plan that incorporates several factors into what their 'direction' is going to be, but to even make that plan, they need some knowledge first.

For instance, what we call a 'freebie' or a 'giveaway' is known in business as a 'loss leader'. It's where the business owner takes a financial hit on a front end product to gain the customer, in the hopes that eventually the customer will purchase more, and more expensive products, thereby making up for the 'freebie' they got in the first place.

Additional sources of revenue need to be incorporated into each and every business plan. In our 'industry' we know that we can make money as affiliates for other people's products, but we also know that having our own products is by and far the most profitable and the most stable model to control, as 'affiliate marketing' is often shaky ground. Imagine writing 100 articles promoting a product of someone else all over the web, only to have the vendor suddenly close up shop. This does not a stable business model make.

BUT, affiliate products that 'complement' our own products are far more easily controlled and will be 'additional sources of revenue' for our business.

CPA- again, not a stable business model in and of itself. But incentivized traffic can and should be an additional source of income incorporated into all business plans. I personally find it a good exit strategy for the viewer leaving my page. If said viewer elects not to buy my product, I can offer it to that viewer for free in exchange for his participation in a CPA program, thus saving my sale, even if it's only at a fraction of what I would have made had the viewer bought my book.

This could go on and on, and I don't usually ramble. But this is the basic thing I find the newbies having the hard time over coming. They see all these myriad opportunities and they are all often promised as the next best thing to "MAKE A FORTUNE ONLINE IN 30 DAYS OR LESS" and no one is explaining to them how "ALL OF THESE THINGS" should be incorporated into their business plan and model. And many of the 'make money with this method books, portray the 'tactic' as a 'business model' when in fact it's best use is as an 'additional source of revenue' for a different business model (Adsense is a perfect example of this.)

Couple that with no real education in this field and that's the problem with newbies. Ebooks are great for general ideas, but whe the newbie is stuck and has a question, that e-book doesn't talk back. Seminars are a joke. Nothing but product dumps, sell-a-thons and infomercials. There is no "class", no "school" nothing but "buy my next ebook and it will magically put $100,000 in your paypal account in 7 days."

What newbies need is mentorship and coaching. Hands on, real live TRAINING. And I am not talking about a 4 or 5 day 'seminar.' I mean 6 months of twice weekly 'classes'. There are far too many facets of this 'industry' to learn it all in less time than that.

I blog about this particular topic often because it is near and dear to me. So thanks for the opportunity to get up on my soapbox and preach about this topic that I'm so passionate about. I'm a business man first and foremost, and I tell people 'if you want to make money on the web, sell stuff on ebay. If you want to start a business, you better learn about 'BUSINESS" first.

-Marcus

[PotPie Queen]

I think the hardest newbie frustration comes from the "self-education" aspect of all this.

It's not like a college class where you sign up and have to complete tasks to earn a grade. All the while, the complete syllabus is right there and someone is telling you what to learn and how to learn it.

I don't think it is as much the lack of a plan of action as it is the lack of a plan of learning.

Just my two cents =)


Jennifer
~PotPieGirl

[cloudchaser22]

Originally Posted by PotPie Queen

I think the hardest newbie frustration comes from the "self-education" aspect of all this.

It's not like a college class where you sign up and have to complete tasks to earn a grade. All the while, the complete syllabus is right there and someone is telling you what to learn and how to learn it.

I don't think it is as much the lack of a plan of action as it is the lack of a plan of learning.

Just my two cents =)


Jennifer
~PotPieGirl

I agree with this. But I think a lot of newbies just try to learn as much information as they can on what works as it gives them a happy feeling, but never take action to go through the whole nine yards. I don't know, I think it's a lot easier to read a manual on how to make money than it is actually doing it.

[CBMoneymachine]

The number 1 frustration is knowing what to promote, doing a load of work and then reading something that tells them they are in the wrond niche and they start all over again only to read something else that tells them it's wrong. Its a case of the grass is always greener on the other side. Oh yeah not to forget procrastination - with too much info available peple spend too much time reading everything and not doing anything.

[tdpubs]

It took me almost 9 months to figure out what I was doing. I come from a brick and mortar marketing world and thought I knew the Internet. I got caught up in the conflicting directions of the various schools of thought.
I'm ADHD and had a hard time sticking to a method of driving traffic.

The key is to feel secure in your market knowing that the ones you choose can help you pay your bills and give you some play money. Once you can feel confident that the market is service-able, pick your method of promotion and give it a full month of solid work. Gage your results and give it another month of tweaking to improve your results. Keep going - don't give up if you are getting small but consistent results,do more of what works. Keep identifying the processes that work for you.

Dennis Francis
DiD Publishing Inc.

[alyoung]

Either doing too many things and not being focused on 1 or 2 things that make $ or not doing anything due to information overload.

[Julian X]

I think the number 1 newbie frustration is how to make money online and after that is niche research .

Best Regards,
Bemodo

It's information overload and lack of implementation.

I've been doing this for a little while now and I still get overwhelmed... the internet is so awesome. It's hard not to get rapped up in it.

You can shop... read news... order pizza... watch T.V.... meet people... and more.

Even forums are distracting.

[Angela V. Edwards]

Originally Posted by Eric Lorence

That the "Cash ain't Easy"!... sorry, couldn't resist.

Yeah, that's probably the biggest one, for sure. The next one is, like the others said, information overload.

[Asher]

In my opinion... the number 1 newbie frustration is...





"HOW COME I'M NOT MAKING MONEY?!?!?!?"




Yep. Otherwise, they wouldn't be newbies.

Asher

[tommyp]

I think the reason for jumping from thing to next thing is not always that people don't want to do the work, it's not being certain that their effort will pay off. So they get doubts and see the next thing and get into that. Then they hear about another way of doing things and begin to doubt again and move on, and over and over. It could be that it's overload and too many options, but getting enticed by all the options is because of doubt about what they thought would work, and not that they lose focus because of options. No one likes to invest time in an unproven and uncertain thing, but after making an educated choice some risk needs to be taken.

It also takes a long time for things to click for most most people. It's one thing to understand something on a superficial level, having a mental ascent to it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they 'get it' and take it to heart.

That's why proven blueprints or paint by numbers type stuff are popular. They want the tablature and not have to learn how to read music.

[WebSlicers]

Originally Posted by Eric Lorence

That the "Cash ain't Easy"!... sorry, couldn't resist.

Very true, indeed! You have to work really hard to earn them. Especially these days...

[Hamida Harland]

For me it was a lack of technical knowledge - it took me a long time to even learn how to FTP. Everything just seemed so difficult at the time.

[ragnartm]

Making sales to your list, when I was 16 I built a list of 38 people in 3 days, using a simple method that I'm still using but has become about 80% less effective. However I haven't made a single sale or commission check from my list yet. And I think that's the #1 problem for many newbs (not the complete newbs maybe but people who still consider themselves newbs) to sell to your list.

Just my opinion,

[mjbmedia]

Originally Posted by tommyp

I think the reason for jumping from thing to next thing is not always that people don't want to do the work, it's not being certain that their effort will pay off. So they get doubts and see the next thing and get into that. Then they hear about another way of doing things and begin to doubt again and move on, and over and over. It could be that it's overload and too many options, but getting enticed by all the options is because of doubt about what they thought would work, and not that they lose focus because of options. No one likes to invest time in an unproven and uncertain thing, but after making an educated choice some risk needs to be taken.

It also takes a long time for things to click for most most people. It's one thing to understand something on a superficial level, having a mental ascent to it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they 'get it' and take it to heart.

That's why proven blueprints or paint by numbers type stuff are popular. They want the tablature and not have to learn how to read music.

spot on in my opinion.

If a newbie knew beyond all reasonable doubt that if they did method A on product F every day for the next 3 months that theyd make a consistent profit after 4 months of $2000 a week, you bet theyd do it?
But they dont know that, sure Mr Guru has done that but thats Mr Guru who knows 500 times more than Mr Newbie and has a list of 60000 and already has $4000000 in the bank and...........

The newbie needs to do what the guru done when the guru was in the newbies position, NOT do what the guru does now.

Yet all the gurus are licking each others butts endorsing each others new product launches in between surfing and getting drunk, that aint gonna make a newbie any money.

[lordgalex]

My opinion is:

"What they did, isn't what they hope"
That's happening to me too!

[Teenage Genius]

THE BIGGEST NEWBIE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS (Brought to YOU by : TeenageGenius Solutions)

1. Problem: Information Overload / Paralyed Learner

Solution: Take a step back. You probabily know all the basics as you have read so much information. Now its time to act. Choose ONE step-by-step and follow it word-for-word, do exactly as it tells you. See how that works out. Keep doing it and repeating it for a week, see what you learn and what you earn.

2. Problem: Give Up Too Soon / Move Onto Something Different Too Quickly

Solution : Incase you didnt know, success happens just after you QUIT, but you quit, so you wouldnt have seen it or experienced it! - Stick to one method, lets say "Bum Marketing" when you have learnt what to do for one product, do exactly the same as you did with the first product (which you was told to do in a step-by-step) for ANOTHER PRODUCT. Then ANOTHER ONE, the ANOTHER ONE. Use the same methods, just change the product. And TWEAK your pages by changing the Keywords to better ones, experiment, test, change, test, change, test, stick, test, stick, test, change. (Keep testing your keywords, if they arn't getting traffic/results then change then and continue to keep testing them, when they do bring you traffic/results then stick with them and continue testing!)

TeenageGenius Solutions.

[CBoy]

- scams: e.g. being promised something then being upsold for the "secret"
- info overload
- technical execution
- not seeing significant results fast enough
- everything seems difficult to learn or do

I know this isn't 1 thing but thought it might help.

[Habitat]

Not knowing where to start or who to trust. Not understanding the lingo - not seeing results..and not staying focused. And a whole bunch of BS ebooks.

[hazlan]

Newbie here. Here are my list

1. How to get started.
2. Information ovrload
3. Scams of all the so-called gurus.
4. No startup cost.
5, No techical aspects(like creating a website or a blog)
6. Reading and gains information from forum but still no idea on how to start.(damm kookoo)
7. No one-to-one mentor whom are willing to teach you the ropes.

However with this forun, i learn more everyday. Thanks to the warriors

[AskJesusLeon]

I would have to go with information overload, so many "gurus" out there all telling you to do this and do that...

[ejfern22]

Information overload is the number one newbie frustration for sure. When I first started in internet marketing there was so much information out there about internet marketing that I didn't know what was true and what was BS. When you get started with IM information is the key to success but you need to have the right information or you will fail.

[Scott Million]

That's a great one. Too many options, not enough focus...that took me a while to overcome (specialize in one thing and run with it 110% vs. try a bit of everything)

Originally Posted by Easy Cash

What would you say is the number 1 newbie frustration?

The one thing that always trips up most newbies.



Just after 1 - not a list, but hey if you wanna make a list - go for it.

I would say it is;

'information overload - too much information coming from every direction'

[Sean Gipson]

The number one newbie frustration for me has had to be info overload.
Being someone who likes to read alot anyway, I found myself just coming
to the forum and reading and reading to my eyeballs were about to pop out.

I soaked up so much information that when it was time to put everything that I had learned to the test, my brain went on a major vacation, I had all
of these money making tips and ideas in my head but I did not know where
to begin to start with all the information that I had gathered from this mighty
forum.

So just within the last few months I changed my focus and my way of thinking. Taking action is where my focus has changed. Before, taking action
for me was just coming to the forum and reading all that I could and thinking
that when I did get my first site up it would be perfect and smooth sailing because of all the reading and learning that I did here in the forum.

Guess what? With all of the everyday reading and learning that I was doing,
I still did not have any sites up. So taking action for me now is alot less reading, and more of building sites. I think Eric Loviere stresses this alot, just
get a site up and start selling something, you have to start somewhere.

Sean

[karlp295]

#1 I think it's definitely trying to stay focused. when ı was starting out every page screamed at me, click here and ı just got more and more confused.

As you continue and with more experience you can manage to avoid going off track though it is still easy with all that info out there.

#2 filtering out the scams and crap

[Joe Campbell]

I know I suffered from too much info and started to stray away from learning what I needed to know. Now I'm learning from someone step by step and it keeps me focused.

[jbsmith]

#1 issue I see come up with my subscribers and membership site customers is Knowing what business they are in (or picking one if they don't yet have a plan) such that it is lined up with their interests and strengths.

You can learn all of the system, plans, formulas and use all of the tactics, strategies and tools you want but you will not be successful if you don't clearly identify a market, a desire and corresponding value proposition of what you can bring to that market in exchange for profit.

The good news is that once you have clarity on WHAT you will deliver to your hungry market and HOW, then you can navigate the IM tips, techinques and strategies much more effectively as you only choose those relevant to your market and business model.

Jeff

[Spike SpiegelIM]

The boatloads of information, self study stuff that you'll have to tackle at first is indeed overwhelming. I wondered what works best or if this method works at all. That and the lack of immediate results...

[athena08]

I would definitely say that information overload is the first newbie frustration. It makes it difficult to choose the right path to stick with. You constantly get pulled in so many different directions especially if you subscribe to a lot of lists. Initially I did this to learn as much as I could from the successful marketers, but now I find myself unsubscribing to take control of my inbox and my time.

Secondly, once a path is chosen, it is so important to stay focused and take action with what you learn to see it through to fruition.

Thirdly, many buy in to the false statement that it is easy to make money online and take that to mean that it doesn't require much work, and that is false. There are many ways to make money online but all require some effort initially.

[bnking23]

Reading these posts is almost embarrassing, as it has caused me to realize that I'm guilty of suffering from information overload. There are so many ebooks and articles and websites out there. It's unbelievably easy to read something, which leads to something else to read, which leads to something else...blah, blah, blah. It can become an uncomfortably long road, which ultimately leads to getting absolutely nowhere with making money. Thank you for making me realize this!

[Clark]

Not having a detailed plan that is scaleable.

ADD is also a huge frustration.

[JasonParker]

Originally Posted by Easy Cash

What would you say is the number 1 newbie frustration?

The one thing that always trips up most newbies.



Just after 1 - not a list, but hey if you wanna make a list - go for it.

I would say it is;

'information overload - too much information coming from every direction'

Do some polls and market research.

You'll find the #1 frustration in all levels of IM is always Traffic.

[Ken Preuss]

All good points made so far. However....

Virtually everything people have listed as newbie frustrations are *symptoms* rather than the disease itself.

I contend that the reasons like information overload, lack of focus, lack of taking any action, lack of sticking to one thing, etc......the reason all these things happen is because:

The real first step is being SKIPPED 99.99% of the time.

What is the "real" first step? It's this:

Figuring out WHO you want to serve with such unwavering commitment that it doesn't just inspire you to think about it, it literally consumes you.

Forget all the self-help books. When you uncover this for yourself, all seeming deficiencies such as lack of motivation, lack of action, and lack of results...all of these things immediately and completely disappear.

Ken

[dhudiburg]

In think in terms of frustration, it's gotta be information overload. But that is a symptom of lack of focus.

Pretty much what 90% of others are saying here, but I wanted to get my "vote" in too.

[ogthnog]

As someone still pretty new to IM, I would say my #1 frustration was not really knowing what works. The 1st ebook I bought basically said to promote the ebook on adwords. It didn't say anything about the kind of $$$ you have to invest in your campaign. So I invested $100 in an adwords campaign and managed to sell 1 ebook.
I wish the 1st thing I would have come across was bum marketing.

[mbrown]

I don't believe there is a #1 cause for frustration although I would tend to believe that they get most frustrated when they don't make money while do absolutely no work. Not to get deep into cultural or social debates but as a whole society struggles with one main problem - taking action.

While many take action they fold up and quit at the first sign of struggle. Instead of fighting through the learning process and taking the time to learn the things they are not doing correctly - they fold.

There are actually several problems that tie together to cause frustration on a mass scale leading to the high fail rate in internet marketing.

Here are a few of the big causes that frustration sets in....

Their own mindset. Many newbies come in thinking you will never spend a dollar and you'll make a fortune. When in actuality it's possible to make money online without spending much but not likely as a newbie.

People expect to become rich by doing nothing and spending no money. Good luck finding that in anything you do- anywhere. Think about what people invest to get an offline business off the ground. One way they could alleviate some woes is to get a good product teaching them step by step how to build an online business and of course they must actually taking action or get into a good coaching or mentoring program where they must likewise take action.

Speaking of business that's my next point. Most people come online looking to score FAST EASY money instead of making a business out of what they do. When sales don't start rolling in, that's when more frustration comes in eventually they give up. Treat your online work as a business and land more success.

Some refuse to learn the technical aspect and basic skills of using online functions to make money. For instance if you want to open a membership site there is a slight learning curve w/o taking the action to learn or if you want to write an e-book you need to know how to format and use a pdf file etc.

Going back to their own minds one thing I always noticed from running offline businesses is that the majority of people want to be lead and told what to do. Without direction from someone else they struggle... that type of person needs hands on mentoring - there is nothing wrong with that mindset it's a habit of life for many. But thats's the point - most people don't understand exactly who they are or what they want or where they want to go.

2 types of goals always come to mind. Measurable and un-measurable.
Measurable means that you can track and achieve the goal. I.E. I will quit my job within 3 years by marketing (insert field) online. Then of course you'd have to take the needed steps to get there - but there is a path.

Un-measurable is an open ended goal with no means of tracking. I.E. I want to quit my job. Or I want to make money online. A well thought out goal has a plan and course of action and that is up to that person to take it.

Does it mean success is guaranteed? No. It's never possible to guarantee success or for us to guarantee someone else. That must come from the individual.

Ultimately it comes down to the person wanting to make money online what is thier mindset and are they going to take action?

Can't get traffic? Learn how - overcome and adapt. Get an e-book on it, take a course...

Can't make your own product? Learn how. But, if one is unwilling to learn or even if they learn... but don't take action success will not happen.

Just what I've learned in business over the last 12 years.

[youallnome]

Information over load is definitely a killer when you are new to running a business online - no doubt!

But surely lack of targeted traffic has to be the number one newbie frustration?

If you are getting good quality traffic and you are converting some in to sales, then information over load is just a small burden.

But if you are not getting targeted traffic, and therefore not making money, then most newbies start to look for better or different information...

Hence the over load.

Getting targeted traffic to your websites is the number one task for any website owner. So if we are going to over load our brain, then driving traffic is where we should be over loading it.

But converting the traffic to paying customers then becomes the frustration.

The joys of internet marketing - - Don't you just love it!

[Li Weng]

what newbies should do - take action, take action and take action.

Of course you want to be doing things right, but doing things wrong is better than not doing anything! if you do things wrong, there are solutions to make it right. But if you don't do anything, there's no solution for that.

[Punkaj Dube]

The number 1 newbie frustration is "How to take action".

[Christie Love]

Poor newbies. I would say the biggest frustration is... information overload. Whew, I sure remember those days. I thought my head was going to explode.

[iMerickz]

yeah i am a newbie and let me have a say..
i think the #1 newbie frustration and also the #1 hurdle that prevents a newbie taking the first step out is information overloaded !!!
i started reading and trying to learn this IM stuff since last Oct 2007. since then i have been buying and buying and reading on all these money making tricks and methods and i think if you tell me ask me a IM method, i am sure more or less i have read or heard it before. but because of the exposure to so many methods and techniques, we tend to take action on 1 method, never taste any success then lose heart and skip to the next method.
there are so many methods that claim that they can earn money in 24hrs, but to me i think as a newbie we need to focus on one and really persist in the method. there is no short cut to success, i believe.
now i am trying to re-focus and re align my direction. hope that i can really find the direction to success.. lol