The Biggest IM mistakes ever!

16 years ago

Believing everything you read here (or anywhere). There is so much misinformation around.

BTW most of my Adwords campaigns do better on the content network. I don't know why, but you're right that you need to monitor it.

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new guy 16 years ago

I always set a very low daily limit until I see the profit. Then you can let er rip
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Anup Mahajan

16 years ago

Chasing the next big thing and not concentrating on the basics.

The focus should be on building a solid business.

Cheers,
Anup

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sreenivas

16 years ago

1. NO ACTION
2. Blindly follow every thing told by so called gurus without testing your own ability to understand
3. Wasting time on unwanted matters
4. Stopping testing
5. Waiting for perfection

Some imp ones to list too many
Sreenivasa

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Shannon Tani 16 years ago

The way that I first learned about IM was through Google Cash. I thought it was a fascinating idea. But I saw that there was so much competition for Google Cash and other popular books....

So I decided to promote a smaller book that few people were promoting. Unfortunately, it was a low-cost book (which meant low commissions) and I was using PPC.

I lost quite a bit of money...

Love,
SHanon
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- lakshaybehl 16 years ago
  
  Srtiving to do so much more than I can possibly do!
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  Graham Maddison 16 years ago
  
  Ignoring advice about keyword research for my site, then getting to page 1 of Google with my chosen ones....but no site visitors.
  
  The penny really dropped then as I had to in effect, start over...this time though I did my research.
  
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Simon_Sezs

16 years ago

1. NOT testing
2. NOT making a plan
3. NOT Sticking to the plan
4. Spending too much time doing nothing while online (surfing, checking email, ect.)
5. NOT learning the "computer part" of the internet (HTML, PHP, Javascript, how to upload, FTP, ect.)
6. NOT thinking outside the box (or the "blueprint" mentaility)

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TheMagicShow

16 years ago

Using the content network and placement targeting is an untapped goldmine, set your budget low and play around there. I use the placement targeting and have had over 200,000 impressions that cost me less than .25 per 1000 impressions, im hitting some pretty large social sites.

Cheers,
Magic

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Barry Walls

16 years ago

I was at SBI a for while. I learned a lot...however I think "follow your passion" was, looking back, awful advice (for business people...great for hobbyists)

I remember a woman who built a beautiful site on SBI about removing cat pee smells from your home. I've seen stranger niches, but not many.

It made $45 a month in its second year. I remember people congratulating her on it and Ken, who encourages everyone to be their best and is a really wonderful person IMO, was enthused by her "success". Slow and steady wins the race was the battle cry.

There is a issue with slow and steady in internet marketing that took me a little while to grasp. When you are in an industry where everything changes quickly, slow and steady isn't an optimal strategy.

Go where the money is! Thats my advice. I don't care how competitive it is, in fact, the more competitive the better...as I'm learning. Google isn't the only way!

Why do great thieves rob banks? Because thats where the money is!

If you want a hobby...great...write about something like cat pee.

If you want a sustainable, long term and growing business that gets you free from the rat race, ...make sure you will get paid properly by your customers and make sure your list attrition rate is less than your new customer acquisition rate. Learn to Identify holes in your marketing funnel...then plug them...then automate customer acquisition.

Barry

PS - If your business can't run without you...you don't have a business...you've got a job. Set up your business to run without YOU ASAP...then you have an asset that you can capitalize down the road when better opportunities present themselves.

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Heath Sanchez

16 years ago

Originally Posted by bigjock

I was at SBI a for while. I learned a lot...however I think "follow your passion" was, looking back, awful advice (for business people...great for hobbyists)

I remember a woman who built a beautiful site on SBI about removing cat pee smells from your home. I've seen stranger niches, but not many.

It made $45 a month in its second year. I remember people congratulating her on it and Ken, who encourages everyone to be their best and is a really wonderful person IMO, was enthused by her "success". Slow and steady wins the race was the battle cry.

There is a issue with slow and steady in internet marketing that took me a little while to grasp. When you are in an industry where everything changes quickly, slow and steady isn't an optimal strategy.

Go where the money is! Thats my advice. I don't care how competitive it is, in fact, the more competitive the better...as I'm learning. Google isn't the only way!

Why do great thieves rob banks? Because thats where the money is!

If you want a hobby...great...write about something like cat pee.

If you want a sustainable, long term and growing business that gets you free from the rat race, ...make sure you will get paid properly by your customers and make sure your list attrition rate is less than your new customer acquisition rate. Learn to Identify holes in your marketing funnel...then plug them...then automate customer acquisition.

Barry

PS - If your business can't run without you...you don't have a business...you've got a job. Set up your business to run without YOU ASAP...then you have an asset that you can capitalize down the road when better opportunities present themselves.

Excellent advice Barry! Thanks for sharing.

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Steven Fullman

16 years ago

Not taking advantage of the fact that most people aren't marketers!

'specially in the smaller niches.

Missing the chance to dominate...Dang!

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GailTrahd

16 years ago

1. Not remembering that people outside of IM aren't marketers
2. Not learning the software for the membership before opening it up (learned REALLY fast!)
3. Giving only content to the list and no recommendations
4. NOT getting started when the Internet was expanding years ago and move my offline business online - would have been a perfect fit - have to train yourself to see opportunities and think outside of the norm.

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jensrsa

16 years ago

Not spending money on a good training course earlier. Taught myself for 4 years before I baught Corey Rudl's course.

Jens

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Brad Spencer

16 years ago

1. Not building a process map of your business.

2. Not attending seminars to meet new people.

3. Not giving enough to everyone else.

4. Not building a process map of your business (listed twice b/c it's that important)

5. Not implementing and testing your process map.

6. Not focusing on quality.

7. Buying a 100+ dollar product without a plan on how to use it.

8. Not implementing free tools like EZA, Stumbleupon, etc.

9. Not bartering your current knowledge in exchange for something more.

10. Not taking a break when you need it and burning out just before you succeed.

These are ALL things I've done and they've held me back. Luckily, going to conferences and drawing process maps got me back on track!

Cheers,

Brad Spencer

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jensrsa

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Brad Spencer

1. Not building a process map of your business.

2. Not attending seminars to meet new people.

3. Not giving enough to everyone else.

4. Not building a process map of your business (listed twice b/c it's that important)

5. Not implementing and testing your process map.

6. Not focusing on quality.

7. Buying a 100+ dollar product without a plan on how to use it.

8. Not implementing free tools like EZA, Stumbleupon, etc.

9. Not bartering your current knowledge in exchange for something more.

10. Not taking a break when you need it and burning out just before you succeed.

These are ALL things I've done and they've held me back. Luckily, going to conferences and drawing process maps got me back on track!

Cheers,

Brad Spencer

Well Brad, it's not the mistakes one make that count in the long run but what your learn from them and how you overcome them.

Jens

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impact-productions

16 years ago

Being caught up in the hype for Google Nemesis.

On the plus side, at least there was a money back guarantee offered and I got away before racking up a host of Google Adwords fees.

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Takuya Hikichi

16 years ago

Not testing site functions using among different browsers.

My first (small one) launch worked everything fine on Firefox and it didn't with IE. Later I was told it was because I was hosting that site with Godaddy and Godaddy didn't always work with every script. Then the staff there confirmed that it was indeed the issue.

So I kept on getting support tickets from people wanting to buy but couldn't proceed, and I almost made it sound like these customers were the ones who didn't quite know what they were doing because other orders kept on coming in.

It only came through Firefox....

I should have tested it with both browsers. Oh well.

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yuyuan 16 years ago

Using excel sheet and free mailing list subscriber software to capture opt-in email addresses... and in turn lost half of the total subscribers when I finally decided to pay and use Aweber. (While importing lists to aweber, they need the subscribers to reconfirm their email addresses, which usually cause opt-outs)

Lesson: Not to save the money that need to be spent.
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- Patrician 16 years ago
  
  Not doing due diligence.
  
  Don't feel pressured by time sensitive/limited quanity emotional triggers. Take your time and think about things before you spend your money.
  
  It's real easy to Google people, programs, etc. BEFORE you pay for something.
  
  Check the scam boards (although these, take with a grain of salt, as any disgruntled loser can blame the program because they expected to get rich overnight and are embarassed when they realize how stupid they were to believe there is free lunch).
  
  ... and while 'where there is smoke there is fire' can be true sometimes, there is also the 'herd mentality' and lots of disgruntled people will come on and fan the flames.
  
  95% fail and I would say 75% of them are vindictive.
  
  Faulty thinking: - Don't worry about it, Paypal will refund.
  
  If the person/program has ripped off a lot of people who have demanded refunds, their account may be depleted of funds - nothing left to refund with. oops.
  
  A common tactic of scammers is to 'delay' or keep promising they will take action - this is so that the time limit to get a refund, charge back, or even to file a dispute with a credit card will have passed by the time you finally realize they are never going to do anything.
  
  Very common excuses include illness and death in the family. Am I so heartless to hassle someone who has been diagnosed with a possibly terminal illness?
  
  More delusion: Law enforcement will fix this and if not there are lawsuits.
  
  Reality: (1) The FBI won't help you if it is under $500k because they are totally overwhelmed with fraud, etc.
  
  (2) Even programs with hundreds of complaints to various online 'enforcement' agencies continue on without being stopped. Overwhelmed again and the crooks know it.
  
  (3) It is extremely expensive to file a civil lawsuit - probably way more than you lost if you are lucky.
  
  Note: Freedom of speech does not protect you against libel and slander lawsuits. Be careful what you say about people who rip you off.
  
  Even someone that has 100 people complaining: If they have not been arrested and convicted of the crime, then for you to say they are a criminal can be construed as libel.
  
  A common tactic of these people is to threaten you with libel for exposing them - this will tend to shut you up.
  
  State the facts of what happened to you and have your documentation to prove their claims were false, and any attempts you made to get a refund, etc.
  
  Sorry this all sounds so tawdry - but it is stuff I have had to learn the hard way and hope you will not ever experience any of this -
  
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Heath Sanchez

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Takuya Hikichi

Not testing site functions using among different browsers.

I hear ya Takuya!

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godisgood

16 years ago

1. Not checking if the program is legitimate or not
2. A mind set that money making online is a quick scheme
3. Consistently inconsistent in planning
4. Does not engage in any marketing research
5. Lack of Focus, belief, and passion
6. Doesn't understand that small things and every small steps matters.

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Lloyd Buchinski

16 years ago

Big Mike posted an especially memorable one in a similar thread, and since he
hasn't put it in again, I'll do the typing for him. (I always wanted to be my own
boss but so far have just got as far as being my own secretary, but I didn't
get that on merit.)

The thread asked for the worst mistake you've ever made and he said something
like "Hands down, giving my wife my paypal password."

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Heath Sanchez

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski

Big Mike posted an especially memorable one in a similar thread, and since he
hasn't put it in again, I'll do the typing for him. (I always wanted to be my own
boss but so far have just got as far as being my own secretary, but I didn't
get that on merit.)

The thread asked for the worst mistake you've ever made and he said something
like "Hands down, giving my wife my paypal password."

Hahaa! I can relate to that!

Lloyd, the link in your sig doesn't appear to be working..

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Lloyd Buchinski 16 years ago

Originally Posted by Heath Sanchez

Lloyd, the link in your sig doesn't appear to be working..

Thanks for the info, it looks like it got scrambled a bit in the forum move.
I'm not here that much these days and it probably would have taken weeks
for me to notice that.
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willdlp

16 years ago

Originally Posted by bigjock

I was at SBI a for while. I learned a lot...however I think "follow your passion" was, looking back, awful advice (for business people...great for hobbyists)

I remember a woman who built a beautiful site on SBI about removing cat pee smells from your home. I've seen stranger niches, but not many.

It made $45 a month in its second year. I remember people congratulating her on it and Ken, who encourages everyone to be their best and is a really wonderful person IMO, was enthused by her "success". Slow and steady wins the race was the battle cry.

There is a issue with slow and steady in internet marketing that took me a little while to grasp. When you are in an industry where everything changes quickly, slow and steady isn't an optimal strategy.

Go where the money is! Thats my advice. I don't care how competitive it is, in fact, the more competitive the better...as I'm learning. Google isn't the only way!

Why do great thieves rob banks? Because thats where the money is!

If you want a hobby...great...write about something like cat pee.

If you want a sustainable, long term and growing business that gets you free from the rat race, ...make sure you will get paid properly by your customers and make sure your list attrition rate is less than your new customer acquisition rate. Learn to Identify holes in your marketing funnel...then plug them...then automate customer acquisition.

Barry

PS - If your business can't run without you...you don't have a business...you've got a job. Set up your business to run without YOU ASAP...then you have an asset that you can capitalize down the road when better opportunities present themselves.

Thanks Barry,

I have been wracking my brains trying to come up with a niche, so this advice is really helpful. I see a couple of other guys mentioned the same thing on the old forum as well.

There is merit in this strategy I am sure.

Will

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minisite911

16 years ago

Originally Posted by sreenivas

1. NO ACTION
2. Blindly follow every thing told by so called gurus without testing your own ability to understand
3. Wasting time on unwanted matters
4. Stopping testing
5. Waiting for perfection

Some imp ones to list too many
Sreenivasa

I'm gonna have to agree 100% with this one!
These are EXACTLY the same mistakes I've done, until I suddenly realized that it was silly!

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sparrow

16 years ago

Not starting a List sooner

Ed

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emini_guy

16 years ago

I once abandoned a perfectly good business that I had been working on for years (not very hard, the money was easy) because I got bored.

The dumbest mistake ever! I could easily be making more money from it now than ever before...

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Scott Ames

16 years ago

Originally Posted by emini_guy

I once abandoned a perfectly good business that I had been working on for years (not very hard, the money was easy) because I got bored.

The dumbest mistake ever! I could easily be making more money from it now than ever before...

Oops... I think we all get bored at times.

You look a bit young to be marketing

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Steve Peters Benn 16 years ago

Hey Heath,

Someone once posted a thread like this a long time ago, and some people complained that it was too negative. I actually think, as long as the mistakes show something constructive then they are well worth passing on.

I've made two major mistakes. One was trusting an employee to do the work they were paid for and the other was trusting a contractor who tried to screw me over. This contracter has a habit of helping out business and then literally stealing them from the owner.

Sometimes when the company goes under because he has closed down their website, he sets up a company with a very similar name, and reopens the website. I was lucky in that I didn't lose everything, but I could so easily have done.

I guess my point to people would be, be carefuly who you trust.
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Rod Cortez

16 years ago

1. I lacked focus in the beginning.
2. Jumping from program to program.
3. After investing in several IM infoproducts I didn't realize that I had more than enough information and education to start earning a nice income.
4. After investing in several IM infoproducts I didn't follow any of the advice because I let my ego get in the way.
5. I was too trusting of people.
6. Once I quit my job, I mentored people for free. I'm never doing that again.
7. Assumed that my direct mail copy writing skills would easily translate into the web; I was wrong.
8. Once I had decent traffic, I neglected to test and track my traffic.
9. I neglected to tweak my sales copy on my webpage, my ads, and you would have thought I would have known better.
10. Many years ago I tried Google Adwords without reading Perry Marshalls Adwords guide. It was a painful lesson (ouch, ouch, ouch, I'm still smarting from that one).
11. At the turn of the new millennium, I didn't seek out JV parnters. That easily cost me six figures out of my pocket.
12. I thought I could do everything on my own (lesson: if you don't eventually outsource or hire, you cannot grow beyond a certain dollar limit).
13. I lurked the Warrior for years before I registered and actually began connecting and networking (another painful lesson).
14. I didn't check out the WSO forum for years (ouch!).
15. When I first started out I threw out all the time management lessons that I learned in the offline world, so it took me 18 months before I broke the $1,000/month barrier; looking back I should have been able to do it in 1/16th the time.
16. At first all my autoresponder series only had 3 to 7 email messages in it; that easily cost me another six figures out of my pocket.

I'm sure I could come up with 100 more, but these popped into my head this groggy morning......

Rod "I-Think-Chris-Sutton-Stole-My-Coffee-Mug!" Cortez

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Jeff Schuman

16 years ago

I do mostly affiliate marketing and made the same mistake I see a lot of people make. I did not focus on getting one program profitable before adding a second program. After awhile you are in multiple programs and not making money in any of them.

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jhongren 16 years ago

i feel the biggest mistake is not to invest in books, mentor and courses. Investment in terms of money, time and effort.

Cheers,
John
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Heath Sanchez

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeff Schuman

I do mostly affiliate marketing and made the same mistake I see a lot of people make. I did not focus on getting one program profitable before adding a second program. After awhile you are in multiple programs and not making money in any of them.

I totally get ya!!

It wasn't until I dedicated all my energy on one list, that I started seeing results. Now I'm able to spend my time making them great products which I usually give them for free. They love me for it and I earn their trust.

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pjs

16 years ago

1. Not testing the checkout process
2. Not building a list
3. In reference to #2 - Not writing your own emails (I am a firm believer in *always* writing your own emails.)
4. Not remembering to test, test and test!
5. Just because I can write better custom software, doesn't mean I should.
6. Setting un-realistic goals too soon. Beating yourself up when you don't hit goals.

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Hardi Wijaya

16 years ago

There's tons of way to do IM. I can't comment specifically on one because all has pros and cons. But what I find amusing is that many people don't realize this biggest mistake -- "Quick to blame whenever things don't turn out right".

For example;

* Some people say they waste time and money on safelist, but people like Mike ...... make real money from it.
* Some says content network can dry up your money, but there's a way to make it pay for itself.
* Some blame on list building.
* Some blame on not targeting at the niche.
* etc etc...

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist" -- Dom Helder Camara

Hardi

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BeeJay

16 years ago

Eating curry in front of the computer...ever tried to pry a Laksa prawn out from behind the 'Y' key? Sheesh!?!

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Jag82 16 years ago

My biggest mistake:

Selling other people product first. I should have created my own and sold mine first.
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Heath Sanchez

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Ben Sayer

Eating curry in front of the computer...ever tried to pry a Laksa prawn out from behind the 'Y' key? Sheesh!?!

Don't get me started on that bloody 'Y' key!

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Tony_D

16 years ago

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Wild Boom

Banned 16 years ago

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Matt J West

Banned 16 years ago

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JD Nunes

16 years ago

Worst mistake I made was trying to use predesigned sites that didn't work...finally I made my own, and it's going pretty well.

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AndrewCavanagh 16 years ago

I'll try to frame this positively based on the mistakes I made MANY years ago starting out:

1. Using a free autoresponder service...dumb dumb dumb. I had thousands of subscribers rendered more or less useless by trying to do it free.

Pay to use Aweber. Of all the things you could do in an online business building a list of people who trust you and will buy from you over and over is probably the most valuable.

2. Taking too long to learn how to put a good looking functional website online (to be fair this is a whole lot easier to do today).

But for many people getting started online it's a huge step forward just to put a website up and know you can do it and then to develop the skills to put up a site that looks good.

3. Confusing a "hungry market" with a "hungry market you can get easy and economical access to".

eg. Everyone knows there are a whole pile of people who want to lose weight and will pay money to do it...that's a hungry market.

But getting to that hungry market online can be exceptionally difficult.

Creating a weight loss product to sell online is a recipe for failure unless you already have easy access to an actual definitive list or group of people you can contact.

For example if you have a joint venture partner who has a list of 10,000 people who've bought his "exercise for weight loss" product and he's ready to email his list with an offer for your customized "diet for weight loss" product that's a real hungry market.

If you don't know exactly who you're marketing to and how that is the FIRST step in the product creation process.

Find easy access to the hungry market FIRST. In other words search for lists etc that you can get easy access to.

4. Taking too long to create high priced back end products as part of a product funnel.

Once you have customers who are buying from you online it's vital to create a product funnel with progressively higher priced products and services.

You make a whole lot more money this way but more importantly you're doing your customers a disservice if you haven't created back end products and/or services that guide them every step along the way.

5. Taking on too many projects instead of focusing heavily in ONE tight niche and building a large list and credibility in that niche.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh
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Bob Monie

16 years ago

2 Killer mistakes

1 - Trying to do to many projects at once, not building a solid foundation for any.

2 - Way to much Research and not TAKING ACTION.... Dont think bout it, do it.

Geeeez, if only i could go back in time and know then what i know now.

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Dixiebelle 16 years ago

I have made a lot of mistakes since I started in Niche Marketing, but there is one I have to constantly remind myself not to do:

Waste time trying to do something myself, instead of paying for help from someone who knows how.

Dixie
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- 1 reply
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- busdevnet 16 years ago
  
  Did not Use "Exact Match" with adwords for a very busy keyword. I wanted only 100 clicks / day and it produced more than 1000 within a few hour. Even G Analytics was too slow to show me update of number of clicks.
  
  But that made me learn lot of things.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  semmyw 16 years ago
  
  Information over load, NO ACTION, Blindly follow every thing told by so called gurus without testing your own ability to understand, Wasting time on unwanted matters, Stopping testing , Waiting for perfection
  
  Thanks
  
  4 replies
  
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  SpeedDemon 16 years ago
  
  I would have started a list much sooner and not taken on a partner when I was just starting out. Turns out neither one of us knew what we were doing at the time and that project was a complete disaster. I would have learned much more trying to go through the entire marketing process myself instead of trying to split our workload.
  
  Thanks
  
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  Frank Murphy 16 years ago
  
  Lack of proper action
  Lack of proper keyword research
  Not harnessing the power of videos
  
  Thanks
  
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  macchiavelli 16 years ago
  
  My biggest mistake was paying a webdesigner $1000 to design a single page website.
  The website looked good but I never converted 1 single sale for me
  That hurt.
  
  Newbies, always look for cheaper designers because designers are everywhere!
  If one asks $1000, there will sure as hell be one who needs work and will do the same for $100
  
  Thanks
  
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  tamtu 16 years ago
  
  Get distracted by the hype and going after it and learning it was pure waste of time and getting nothing done in the end.
  
  Thanks
  
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Heath Sanchez

16 years ago

Originally Posted by Bob Monie

2 Killer mistakes

1 - Trying to do to many projects at once, not building a solid foundation for any.

2 - Way to much Research and not TAKING ACTION.... Dont think bout it, do it.

Geeeez, if only i could go back in time and know then what i know now.

Hey Bob!

Yep that procrastination is a killer!

Thanks
1 reply

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Gary McCaffrey 16 years ago

My big mistakes...

Creating a 20,000+ list with a cheap autoresponder service that eventually disappeared overnight.

WebLawGenerator.
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- 1 reply
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- Heath Sanchez 16 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Gary McCaffrey
  
  My big mistakes...
  
  Creating a 20,000+ list with a cheap autoresponder service that eventually disappeared overnight.
  
  WebLawGenerator.
  
  Ooohhhh that's gotta hurt Gary! How did you recover from that one?
  
  Thanks
  
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luckystar

16 years ago

Beign a fellow newbie, the problem i would want everyother person to avart is the problem of having the money first. this will stop one from going through rigorous training required before starting. So acquring the accurate kwowledge of IM and money will follow.

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Click http://www.thecurepoint.com/makemoneyonline to learn how to make money using automated email marketing platform

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jhongren

16 years ago

My mistake:

Trusting that my mentor will consistently believe in me and I later find out from his friends that he thinks I AM JUST A SMALL FRY. :_(

John

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[Attention Offline Marketers] Make $500 With 1 Email?
EBAY Marketing Blueprint Shows You Exactly How

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Scott Ames

16 years ago

Cleaning my office before doing any work and thinking I'm making progress because I'm busy.

Thanks

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Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill

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The Biggest IM mistakes ever!

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