Why newbies always fail (seriously)

Some of these points are true, but you should be careful about using the word "always." Everyone, by definition starts out as a newbie, so obviously some must get past these hurdles or no one would ever succeed!

Hey Joe,

Here is a quote that I coined: "Imperfect action, is better than the pursuit of perfection."

Just go out and do it with what you know, if it doesn't work - so what! Make adjustments and try again. Successful marketing is all about experimenting.

Abul

I used to have this problem as a newbie but not anymore.

Find a good balance. Even though you don't want to be a student forever. You never wanna stop learning either.

For every 8 hours of work. I spend 30 mins learning. Works for me.

I think mbacak hit the nail on the head with this post. Bullseye:

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...heres-why.html

Thread makes perfect sense to me and I am a "newbie". Thank you.

Lazy
Unmotivated
Want a fish, don't care to be taught how to fish.
Lack of drive
Want everything served on a silver platter
Poor mindset
Pessimistic
Don't do research/lack of due diligence

Just some of the reasons some of the people I work with fail. I try to change them, but getting past what is mostly psychological blocks, it's unfortunately not easy.

There are only two types of people in the IM world:
Marketers and students.
If you want to succeed then you need to become a marketer. Of course keep learning but always make sure you are selling things to the students.

" always " ?
It's not true.
maybe many of them, yep, but not 'always".

Joe, lots of good advice there, but for those who didnt feel like reading all that, I just highlighted the most important part of your post....or the GEM I feel.

As soon as you start taking action and testing you will fail on some things, but work out, building a list and selling stuff is where the money is at.

When I was as newbie, I walked up to mike filsaime at a conference and asked how do I make lots of money.

I was waiting for him to give me some earth shattering speech. LOL haha.

He said, "stop asking how to make money, and ask how you can give VALUE To yuor market place"

Then he said, "build a list and sell stuff to them....that is how we make millions"

This is so true, and when you work out this is what works...you will never look back....and stop buying all those silly products and shiney objects out there to distract you.

Reminds me of Harry Truman's famous quote: "Imperfect Action is better than perfect inaction."

Yes, anything new takes time and effort. How long did it take you to walk? About a year? year and a half? As humans, we're used to watching and waiting and seeing to let our minds process and really formulate action.

I actually wrote a blog post on this phenomenon titled, "You need to stop reading and start DOING!"

When you`re a newbie it is very tough to see through all the bs

The way this industry works is we all go through the struggles at the start but the difference between us who end up doing well and those that earn nothing and stop is:

Those of us who succeed are a bit more stubborn, determined, focused and more scared of actually failing

That`s why some people make it and some don`t

When you actually become more scared of failing that is when you get your back side in gear

For some it takes 3 months others it takes 10 years

Paul

A big reason newbies fail, is because they are being sold trash. Most "guru's" job is to con you into buying something, not teach you how to make money. Most of these people play the numbers game, and offer no real value. They are always looking for ways to tweak their smoke and mirrors.

A newb should first learn keyword research and seo, then he/she will come up with there own ideas to make money online.

While I can't say I personally buy traffic I can say I would much rather buy traffic than a get rich scheme if it was that easy everyone would do it

How about a 99% rate of being ripped off by these IM Marketers that are just interested in making money for themselves.

We would stick longer to a program if it showed promise. There is always something missing so that you don't end up being competition.

I didn't buy everything, in fact I didn't buy anything. I never got out of the researching the offers stage. I would read how one person was making money and think I can do this. Then off to research it. While researching I would come across the next thing and get side tracked off to research that one. Finally, I decided I needed to stick to something and work it like a business. So I chose something that has relevance for me and that's what I've been doing for the last month (it's a start).

A lot of gurus out there are selling products while showing their CB accounts and promising that you can do the same with their proven strategies. Their strategies may work for them, but not you. The sad part is, newbies tend to jump from one opportunity to another. The moment they don't see result after implementing the strategy, they look for another strategy, and then rinse and repeat their strategies of jumping from one opportunity to another.

Get ONE proven strategy (which you are most comfortable with) and stick with it until you are successful.

Most importantly, have fun!

I agree but you HAVE to do research and prepare yourself before you go out and succeed. Its that first leap of faith and belief in your ideas after proper research that takes a person from newbie to success.

Sweet! I'm part of the 1% !! What's next? You're right though, the biggest problem we all fall in to from time to time is we worry about traffic too much and play the internet marketing dance without having our house in order! (Real substantial content!)

Ok, well Hi everyone! Just joined and I have no idea yet where the newbie forum is but hello anyway!

This thread caught my attention because I too have been suffering from this BSOS and have been a "student" for almost the last two years! Its been a real education that has given me a good idea of what I will want to avoid : ) i.e. all that BS marketing stuff, what I call the "But Wait! Theres More!" nonsense.

I came to the realization I needed to Get Stuff Done! Yep, GSD, that's what had been missing.

So now, just within the last few weeks I have begun to GSD. I have begun to setup a website, written a small ebook and setup an opt-in on a squeeze page. Now all I need is traffic.

See, all it took was to stop wasting time studentizing my life away and actually do something!

Now all I need to do is figure out how to get traffic . . . I wonder if there is a course on that . . .

98% of the people i know who want to make money online dont want to do anything. They want me to build and create everything for them. As a result... they get ignored with great vigor.

You are just right on, Joe! Many of us do suffer from information overload. But the best thing to do is to actually implement what you have learned, watched and read. That's it!

Yeah after your read some posts on this forum you will start to see that pattern. A pattern of complaining and whining because they're (the newbie) aren't making money.

And you're so correct. Most of them buy products and never take action. Instead if they would just start to take some action, buy some ppc, write articles, build a blog, etc and start to market and actually make money, then we would hear alot more success stories.

You know why these newbies fail? It all starts with the way they think, they don't believe that they could do it, they don't have confidence in their selves that they could achieve it. And they aren't willing to learn...

I think you are right on spot here. I personally suffer from the same mistake earlier in my IM career. Now I spend my money on stuff that can grow my business such as traffic, product creation and outsourcing.

This has got to be the most talked about question; Why do newbies fail?

It doesn't just apply to "newbies", there are some people who have been in this for years and still haven't made a dime online. The same old problem exists, it's either the lack of action, or the lack to persevere and stick in there till they make it.

Part of me agrees that you can learn alot from say the warrior forum however there are people teaching things faster and better than anyone else. I for one like taking courses. like mike dillard for example.

I was a "newbie" once I a haven't failed! Everyone makes mistakes and there are a variety of other factors...
But I'm from the professional category, not the "work at home", "make money online fast and get rich" junkie...

Those who fail, I think...
-create illusions in their minds...
-have no realistic goals
-aren't up-to-date with current SEO/SEM/SM trends and conditions
-don't know much marketing...
-know less about coding than the minimal skills required (you don't need to be a coding specialist, as we know... but there are basic things you need to know)
-put a lot of effort into things that don't work
-overspend themselves into techniques that don't work
-don't update their sites regularly
-don't have enough business skills and thus, have no effective business plans
-are too rigid, cannot adapt to the new conditions
-they have myths and "success stories" in their minds, not realistic strategies linked to their own business, nor vision about how they're going to succeed
-they don't really like what they're doing, they only want the money, not necessarily the lifestyle
-they give up too soon... I wouldn't give up, not even if generating substantial profits would come in 3 years (one needs a long term business plan, vision, ambition, you must believe in your self etc.)
-they spread their attention and don't focus on clear goals
-they make sites for search engines, not people
-they think people will like what they like: we must build sites that viewers will like, not what we'd like... clients are not thinking with the business owner's mind

...so either all of the above or some of the above...

plus some more...

in my opinion...

Maybe the dream (or idea) of being a successful person living a 'work a few hours a week' lifestyle is so gripping and such a consuming desire that many folks are just in it to chase that dream.

There is a lot to be said about actually being successful in the IM game, but at the same time, a certain percentage of this group (despite their protestations) who just are not interested in doing anything... They are on the hunt for that dream, and the act of buying the newest shiny product promising that dream is what fullfills their need.

How many times have we seen people proclaim they were never successful until they were FORCED to be- ie. they lost their job etc.
Up until that point, they were happy chasing the golden ring.

Newbie or not, success is made up failures that you have surpassed. It is part of the training process. So as a newbie, you have to find a reputable person that will mentor you in the field of internet marketing. Plan before you act and know the risk and consequences of every decision you make.

The reason we fall is so that we may learn to walk, the reason we walk is so we may learn to run and jump. Failur is success.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking you have to have 10 multiple streams of income all at once, so you must master 10 different types of marketing. Focus on one or two at the most at a time until you make a significant amount of money. And you seriously don't need a gazillion plugins or ways to do that.

As you say, learning and not doing. There has to be a time when you burn the bridges behind you, make a stand and DON'T quit.

We HAVE to start somewhere, and actually looking through the WF is a good way to help learn about Internet Marketing.

That being said, since there is an offer of some type on every page, how would I, as a newbie, know what to gravitate to, and what to shy away from? I've never bought an offer, but they are a PLENTY here and everywhere on the internet.

You say "start spending money on stuff that can actually grow your business". I can guarantee you this, as a newbie, that I have no clue what that would be. Hence, I haunt a few places on the net, this forum being one of them. It does help. But I'm not one to make any rash decisions on any offers from anyone too quickly, so some of what is posted here (and other places) does help. I haven't chosen what to do to start spending money on stuff that actually grows my business, but I've definitely not spent it on anything that hasn't...mainly because I haven't spent any money on anything.

Research, a mentor (a person who has been there, done that, and is willing to teach a person everything they know and not just take their money to get them on the "team") and seeing what highly skilled people do and don't do is necessary before jumping in to any business.

Or am I wrong here?

People fail because they don't educate themselves. I also think the home business industry tries to put the success behind the system instead of behind the person joining. You have the find the leader inside and you'll succeed.

A lot of people also tend to treat internet marketing as "something that I make money with", then end up frustrated as to why they can't get to the next level. It's important to view this as a business.

Approach what you do with the mindset that someone studying to become a doctor has. Be extremely focused and meticulous, as if this was a university PhD. You have to be up for the initial grind. You have to be obsessively focused and prepared to work hard if you want a true business. In the "real world" it's almost unheard of to earn 10k/month by the 3rd month of starting a business for the average person, so why suddenly come here with magical expectations as many do? All the top players in the internet marketing arena work very hard.

Take tremendous amounts of action on a few fundamentals. Not just action, but MASSIVE action. With MASSIVE action you'll get more results in a shorter amount of time, and be able to single out what works and what doesn't quicker. It's what separates the big players from the frustrated ones. I know the average person won't be prepared to do the amount of running, testing and optimizing marketing campaigns that I do daily. It's too much for them, and they would rather not be bothered.

Instead of profiling the vast majority of newbies that fail, why don't we focus on learning from the smaller number that succeed?

My experience in my own past experience and helping many others is:

1. There is a "certain" level of basic knowledge that is required mainly around 1) How money is made online (models like infoproducts, affiliate marketing, selling apps, services, advertising, etc...) - so they can focus down on an area that aligns with their interests/strengths, be confident they are chasing real money and be able to identify role models to watch in that space In my experience this is VERY important as 9 out of 10 newbies we end up working with are chasing business models that they are not at all interested in or have a particular strength in simply because they think they will make Millions. Learning the basic money models is a critical first step before you jump into anything.

2. Case studies and models - I don't know about you, but I learn a TON and get super motivated when I see successes...it improves your belief and faith that you will succeed and gives you some real advantages in terms of techniques to use to get rolling quick. Anything I want to master in life, I quickly frame my approach (#1 above) and then learn quickly from high achievers by modelling what they are doing. Sometimes you can shortcut via coaching/mentoring or buying one of their products - other times you can learn by just watching. I have used both approaches and benefited from both.

3. Action plan - put together a quick action plan around what you learned and what your expectations are...then DO IT! I know this was your original argument, and yes the quicker you can get to execution the better. I agree...with the only caveat being the two preceeding steps. The only other comment on execution is having a mentor or coach to bounce off your results - most people neither wildly fail or wildly succeed...instead their results end up somewhere in the middle where they need some help understanding if they should continue or alter their course...some experience comes in handy there.

4. Moving from beginner to advanced...I too am a big proponent of trial-error-adjust untiil you succeed...but there can be tremendous advantage to using point trainings, coaching, etc to help you refine and advance your results. A good example for me was copywriting. I did all of my own copywriting in the early days and had mediocre results (less than 1% conversion rate) - so I had to work like a dog to market in order to make decent money. I knew I wanted to be closer to 2% and in some cases exceed 2% so I paid for some coaching and within 2-months was able to double my conversions...still go back to that resource when I find a sales copy piece underperforming.

Sorry for being long-winded, but the issue you raise is important...used correctly training and coaching can improve your time to profit, not get in the way.

Jeff

I think that they come in this sector having wrong vision or no vision. If thye do not have a vision then how is it possible to get success in this challenging sector. It would be just waste of time and effort. They need proper guideline.

Great post and I totally agree with you. It's more sensible to spend on buying traffic and starting into a new business. You'll just get overwhelmed by the sheer number of business you need to manage.

Most people fail for one reason alone. They don't take action. They are afraid to take action because they are afraid of failure. They fail to realize that the more you fail, the better chance you have of becoming successful.

In the spirit of maybe focusing a bit on some successes, I offer a (not so quick) story of my own...

I had been on the internet, made a site with the help of an exchange student I met on AOL chat groups. I had no idea what a website entailed or how to build one. Long story short, he put up a listbot on the site and I suggested people sign up for my "steals and deals" service. (The site was about computer parts and electronics).
I had made good relationships with a few eBay power sellers who were doing an insane amount of sales on their websites and on eBay. One was culling computers (used) from office buildings as they upgraded their systems. He would take them back to his store (which grew to a small then medium sized warehouse) and then offer them on eBay. I made an absolute killing on my list- I had access to his live inventory and price list and would simply once or twice a week take 15-20 products of his, mark them up (insanely) and offer them to my list. of 10,000 members maybe 200 were regular buyers.

It all dried up when I lost track of list bot- they changed to a pay service and I had stopped sending emails out for an extended period of time due to distractions in my personal life. List was gone and the golden goose was cooked.

Fast forward, (and here is where the success part comes in...) I was fat and disgusted with myself. I needed to lose weight. I was sitting around drinking beer and watched an infomercial with Kevin Trudeau talking about 'the weight loss cure'. It was like 'wow'. The next day I saw the book for 20bucks in walmart and got it. Read it in like two days.

I was RAVENOUSLY hungry to finally lose some weight and thought 'hey, this is a great story! why not build a site about it?'

One of the best moves I have ever made regarding my 'internet marketing' sector of my life. I jumped right into it. I wound up on SiteSell and just used that system. I followed some of the program (I was just too eager to get into actually building the website to take the time to do all the stuff they said to do...)

Between October and the following February I wound up building 70 plus web pages. I made so many pages it was like I was going crazy. I woke up thinking about what other topics I needed to cover, I ate it, I drank it, I breathed nothing but it. For that period of time I did nothing but research the diet program and build pages about what I learned.

My home page said that- It was all up front and honest... "Im not an expert on this diet, but I am a real guy who wants to try the diet so I will research it and will put all my experiences and what I find out here"

Truth is, the site didn't make money appreciably until several months later. The traffic started at like 3-5 visits a day and slowly climbed. By February it was above 50 unique visits a day. I started to make some money from adsense. That month I found and added a clickbank product on a recipe book dedicated to the diet and BOOM! My profits began.

It is funny, In February I changed 'day jobs' and lost all motivation to work on the site. I kept it up (paid for a yearly subscription and that wasn't due until October, so...). But the funny thing is, even though I walked away from the site, the traffic continued to climb. The profits continued to climb. In September, I was earning monthly checks from adsense and had my payout limit set pretty high on click bank so wasn't getting monthly checks.
I decided to re-up the sitesell subscription for a year and added a few more pages.

All in all, I never got back into that 'eat/breathe/sleep' mode on that site again. So while it did make money (good money- 500+ a month on complete auto pilot, sometimes not even logging on for over a month) I simply lost traction to all the other sites who had webmasters who were still hungry to build bigger and better traffic and income.

Then the recipe book went into print rather than ebook (another story all on its own- that book was taken by clinics across the country and used without royalty leading to lawsuits that are still in litigation) and I lost that part of the website income stream.

Eventually, I found a really good product (just a book in hard copy) that taught me what it really takes to eat healthy and suddenly I didn't want to promote the crazy hcg diet any longer- and shut the website down.

Now, what is the lesson from that success (and eventual failure)?

I had success, and looking back on it, it was pretty easy. Why? Because it was all a part of something that really defined who I was at that point in my life. Everything I did was 'fun'. Like I said, it was in every part of my life- it was me. There was no 'secret' to building a website on nights and weekends for 5 months that would go on after that to bring in thousands and thousands. It was purely my intense desire to learn more and more about that diet.

Sure, I learned a lot about 'internet marketing' along the way... back links, paid ads, etc. etc. etc. But in the end, it all boiled down to pure and un-refined DESIRE.


To me, it seems, the real issue is this:
Everything on this forum is all about tools to help people do better at marketing something OTHER than internet marketing products.

If there is a strong and burning desire for a product or niche- the tools here can really really help.
If there is a strong desire 'to make money'...
well, the tools here might help some here and there, but this site will serve as a tool of unrivaled efficiency to empty your wallet as you chase the next biggest thing.


Sorry for a long rant to get to the point, but wanted to try to convey the importance of DESIRE (and just as importantly the FOCUS of that desire). Desire to know a product or niche better than ANYONE ELSE is good... desire to just make millions, I think, is rather common and not really an effective starting point.

thanks!
be good!
Curtis